severums spawning

Question
QUESTION: hi
i have a 550 litre tank
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 30
ph 7.6
temp 29 deg c
in the tank i have
3 cigar sharks (Leptobarbus hoevenii)
1x 18" sailfin pleco (L083)
1x 9" upside down catfish
4x severums (2gold, 1 male 1 female about 6" and 2green, 1 male 1 female about 5").
the 2 gold sevs i know are a breeding pair as when i bought them 4 weeks they were guarding eggs, not many eggs, i would say about 20-30 on the side of the tank, the eggs were white so i take it the male didnt fertilize them, anyway about 3 days ago my gold sevs spawned in my tank on a flat bit of slate so i decided to remove the stone (so the pleco and catfish wouldn't eat the eggs) and put it into a 90litre tank hoping that the eggs would hatch, when i looked on the stone all i could see was about 15 eggs, i thought they should lay between 100-1000 eggs?.
i have just looked at the eggs now and they have all gone white.
what i want to know is:
why is she laying so few eggs?
why do they keep going white?
is my water ok for breeding sevs?
am i doing the right thing by removing the eggs due to the pleco and catfish?
is this normal for sevs to keep getting it wrong?
is there anything i am not doing that will help?

i would really love to get a few batches of fry from these fish, they are lovely fish and my wife wants some to go in her tank when i manage to get some to hatch.
many thanks for your help

kris



ANSWER: Hi Kris,
Severums are my favorite cichlids!

Its a well known fact that a pair of Severums may take a good up to 10 spawnings before they get things right. It all depends upon the individual pair, some may take a shorter time to get their business organized and others may take longer. Fertilized eggs will be a brown-tan color and of course infertile eggs will be white. Normally severum eggs hatch in about 3 to 5 days. Any eggs that were missed by the male usually turn white within a day or so. Whenever the babies hatch, the pair move the "wrigglers" to a special 'nest' which is a pit dug in the gravel and will guard them viciously.

I think the answer to your breeding questions mainly leads to that your pair just need more time to sort things out and get experience. Its possible there were so few eggs that some fell off the slate or the female or male ate some as she were laying (I've seen even reliable angelfish parents do this)

I think since your sevs are spawning so frequently your water is just right for them. Clean water and lots of good quality food with protein and a balance of vegetable matter is always great for keeping them in breeding condition.

Don't give up, I'm sure your Sevs will get it right very soon!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi,thanks for the reply but what about moving the eggs to another tank or will they be ok in with the plec and catfish?
many thanks

kris

Answer
Well, most likely not.

Is there any way you could move the pair to their own spawning tank of around 20 gallons or so? With a sponge filter from an established tank... that would be the best option.

Some other things you can try is to use a tank divider to separate the pair from the other fish but its no guarantee the fry won't eventually  swim through the holes in the divider, somewhat unlikely but its possible of course. Or as you have been doing, once the pair have laid, remove the eggs. This is not very recommended by many fishkeepers though because it is said that the babies raised by people won't exhibit very reliable parental instincts when they themselves spawn. But I can't say for sure if that's true.

I wish you the best and I hope this helps!
Karen~