Okay. Thanks for taking the time to answer everything. I know I'm a pain. It's just sooo frustrating to finally get them spawning, and feel like a total failure when the fry die (I heard you, and appreciate the fact that it could be so many things, but I really feel like one of the main problems is something I am doing! Here's a summary of what's happened in the past few months:
Black/gold pair- 5 spawns. 1st she got some wigglers, but they were eaten. 2nd she had 60 free swimming fry for 2 days. Then, eaten. I sectioned the pair off to one side of the tank. 3rd, she had about 100 free swimming fry for 3 days, and they died. (No explanation. They went from swimming for 3 full days (eating with orange bellies) to dead in the gravel. Mom found 6, and put them on a leaf. But they never swam again. Disappeared that day). Each hatch, the fry lived longer. I removed the gravel on the sectioned off side. 4th spawn: she only got about 20 wigglers, and none swam. 5th spawn is now. I pulled most, which ALL died without even wiggling. The eggs were stained blue in spots, so they were probably dead quite a few days, in which I was hoping for a few to survive. This may have to do with the freezing weather. The heater may not have done a good enough job. It's REALLY cold! But, the main tank wigglers ALL are still alive (unless I missed her eating dead). I'm afraid to even do a water change. Lol. Seems like every time I touch anything, everyone dies! ?. These 2 fish are the healthiest, prettiest in the tank. Maybe because they're divided off, with no interaction with other fish....and no gravel?
White pair: BREEDED FOR THE PREVIOUS OWNER!!!! So, except for age, it's just not possible that it's the fishs' fault the eggs didn't live. I was told they were 1 year old. I purchased them to "induce spawning" in the tank in sept. It worked. I tried to leave their eggs the first time, but the pair are them (previous owner pulled eggs). They spawned 2 more times. I pulled the eggs. Got wigglers, but they'd all die before swimming. The male got sick. He began hiding behind the castle, and only coming out to eat. He had "scrapes" all over him. I never saw him flick. EVER. I never did figure out what he had. In the end, his scales started sticking out, but he wasn't bloated. When he came out to eat, he swam just fine. The only other male angel had recently "come into his own" and took over the tank. The white male was picked on a bit, so I assume he got some bacterial thing after getting his butt kicked. I tried salt, many meds, and everything I could to save him. I came home one day and be was lying on his side on the gravel. He tried to get away when I net him, but I figured he'd suffered enough.... His mate started swimming with the striped male (only other male). She'd go up and try to lip lock with him, but he'd throw his head up so she pecked his chin instead. Now, she sits and stares at the black/gold pair and their wigglers. I pray she's just not sure what to do if she's not breeding....and not sick with whatever the male had. I tell you this for 2 reasons: 1. Maybe the black/gold fry ARE being hit with something bacterial! How would I determine that? And, any ideas what to do about it? The big white fish seemed to get better when I fed kanaplex and the oxytetracycline food from angels plus, but I ran the full 10 days of feeding TWICE, and stopped when you told me that if the other breeding pair ate any, it may affect the fry. 2. I finally got my fish spawning by turning off the bubbles. I learned that by going on and on until you noticed that 1 key thing I was missing. I keep hoping that will happen now.
On to the most important pair, who are in a totally separate tank, with just cory cats. I've never had health issues with these 2, but the male black marble has blue/green sparkles on his gills that worry me. Anyhow, this is only their second spawn. I wasn't even sure they were male female. Their first spawn produced 10 wigglers, which I pulled. These were the ones "trapped in fuzz". I had 2 live for 2 weeks as belly sliders, but never swam. This second spawn has produced about 60-100 wigglers that are jumping around the bottom of the 2.5g tank. Some are now "swimming" and landing on the sides of the tank and sticking again. This is not really swimming right? I was wrong about the time. Today is actually day 7. Now for the weirdness. I tested the water as you suggested: ammonia-0, nitrites-0, KH-2, gh-3....ph: no clue!!! If your phone is the same number, I sent a picture. The ph test comes out a darker blue than the highest number. The high range ph does not match any color on the chart. I tried twice! Also, the eggs I left in the tank dead looked like cotton balls when I removed them last night. And there was fuzzy stuff keeping them stuck together. Isn't that fungus? On the other hand, I noticed some wigglers (now dead) that looked like the fungus was "spreading to them". In retrospect, it was more like a white spot on part of the wiggler. That's bacterial? What do I do about that? I
Questions:
1. If something bacterial is killing my fry from different pairs in diff tanks, wouldn't the problem have to be the water? How would I fix that? Can you dose the tank with anything?
2. I asked about feeding because there are 2 SWIMMING fry. Shouldn't I feed them in case the rest are belly sliders? Or is day 7 too soon? I would rather have 2 live than none.
3. My pull process is: within 10 min of fertilization (fish are fanning by then) I pull whatever the eggs are on. Per instructions on the m.blue bottle, I add 5 drops per gallon (so 12 in the 2.5g). I heat the water before hand with a 15g heater. I add the airstone 1/2 inch away from eggs. Remember, only 13 eggs out of 300-400 eggs turned white. All the deaths occurred to WIGGLERS. I covered the tank with aluminum foil, and other than shining a lamp and using the light on my camera to look at them, I haven't touched the tank. I won't get hurt feelings....I WANT you to tell me what I might be doing wrong! I mixed spring and distilled bottled water for this tank. I'm over getting offended....I just want to get this right! I'm now on this "if I can't do this, I'm a failure" level, and welcome ANY advise!
4. The water in the wiggler tank is getting low (I used siphon to remove dead last night). Should I attemp to top off? Or still just wait? Can I dose prime just in case at this point?
5. In case any live, when do I put sponge filter in, and can I use a new one? I'm afraid to use any cycled by parent tanks...in case this is a bacterial issue.
6. If any black/gold wigglers live, would that mean it WAS a water issue? Since I changed their tank to all bottled water also?
7. What would cause a high ph if the gh and kh are both under 3?
I would love to have a few successes to help determine the problem. I would do anything to see just 1 baby grow up! I hope you're right....and they just need more spawns under their belts to get this right. I'm really considering buying a breeding pair, putting them in their own tank, and see if those eggs live. I hate not knowing what I'm doing wrong. Sorry for the long post. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the effort you've given this project....and I really may have to compensate in some way.
Black/gold pair- 5 spawns. 1st she got some wigglers, but they were eaten. 2nd she had 60 free swimming fry for 2 days. Then, eaten. I sectioned the pair off to one side of the tank. 3rd, she had about 100 free swimming fry for 3 days, and they died. (No explanation. They went from swimming for 3 full days (eating with orange bellies) to dead in the gravel. Mom found 6, and put them on a leaf. But they never swam again. Disappeared that day). Each hatch, the fry lived longer. I removed the gravel on the sectioned off side. 4th spawn: she only got about 20 wigglers, and none swam. 5th spawn is now. I pulled most, which ALL died without even wiggling. The eggs were stained blue in spots, so they were probably dead quite a few days, in which I was hoping for a few to survive. This may have to do with the freezing weather. The heater may not have done a good enough job. It's REALLY cold! But, the main tank wigglers ALL are still alive (unless I missed her eating dead). I'm afraid to even do a water change. Lol. Seems like every time I touch anything, everyone dies! ?. These 2 fish are the healthiest, prettiest in the tank. Maybe because they're divided off, with no interaction with other fish....and no gravel?
White pair: BREEDED FOR THE PREVIOUS OWNER!!!! So, except for age, it's just not possible that it's the fishs' fault the eggs didn't live. I was told they were 1 year old. I purchased them to "induce spawning" in the tank in sept. It worked. I tried to leave their eggs the first time, but the pair are them (previous owner pulled eggs). They spawned 2 more times. I pulled the eggs. Got wigglers, but they'd all die before swimming. The male got sick. He began hiding behind the castle, and only coming out to eat. He had "scrapes" all over him. I never saw him flick. EVER. I never did figure out what he had. In the end, his scales started sticking out, but he wasn't bloated. When he came out to eat, he swam just fine. The only other male angel had recently "come into his own" and took over the tank. The white male was picked on a bit, so I assume he got some bacterial thing after getting his butt kicked. I tried salt, many meds, and everything I could to save him. I came home one day and be was lying on his side on the gravel. He tried to get away when I net him, but I figured he'd suffered enough.... His mate started swimming with the striped male (only other male). She'd go up and try to lip lock with him, but he'd throw his head up so she pecked his chin instead. Now, she sits and stares at the black/gold pair and their wigglers. I pray she's just not sure what to do if she's not breeding....and not sick with whatever the male had. I tell you this for 2 reasons: 1. Maybe the black/gold fry ARE being hit with something bacterial! How would I determine that? And, any ideas what to do about it? The big white fish seemed to get better when I fed kanaplex and the oxytetracycline food from angels plus, but I ran the full 10 days of feeding TWICE, and stopped when you told me that if the other breeding pair ate any, it may affect the fry. 2. I finally got my fish spawning by turning off the bubbles. I learned that by going on and on until you noticed that 1 key thing I was missing. I keep hoping that will happen now.
On to the most important pair, who are in a totally separate tank, with just cory cats. I've never had health issues with these 2, but the male black marble has blue/green sparkles on his gills that worry me. Anyhow, this is only their second spawn. I wasn't even sure they were male female. Their first spawn produced 10 wigglers, which I pulled. These were the ones "trapped in fuzz". I had 2 live for 2 weeks as belly sliders, but never swam. This second spawn has produced about 60-100 wigglers that are jumping around the bottom of the 2.5g tank. Some are now "swimming" and landing on the sides of the tank and sticking again. This is not really swimming right? I was wrong about the time. Today is actually day 7. Now for the weirdness. I tested the water as you suggested: ammonia-0, nitrites-0, KH-2, gh-3....ph: no clue!!! If your phone is the same number, I sent a picture. The ph test comes out a darker blue than the highest number. The high range ph does not match any color on the chart. I tried twice! Also, the eggs I left in the tank dead looked like cotton balls when I removed them last night. And there was fuzzy stuff keeping them stuck together. Isn't that fungus? On the other hand, I noticed some wigglers (now dead) that looked like the fungus was "spreading to them". In retrospect, it was more like a white spot on part of the wiggler. That's bacterial? What do I do about that? I
Questions:
1. If something bacterial is killing my fry from different pairs in diff tanks, wouldn't the problem have to be the water? How would I fix that? Can you dose the tank with anything?
2. I asked about feeding because there are 2 SWIMMING fry. Shouldn't I feed them in case the rest are belly sliders? Or is day 7 too soon? I would rather have 2 live than none.
3. My pull process is: within 10 min of fertilization (fish are fanning by then) I pull whatever the eggs are on. Per instructions on the m.blue bottle, I add 5 drops per gallon (so 12 in the 2.5g). I heat the water before hand with a 15g heater. I add the airstone 1/2 inch away from eggs. Remember, only 13 eggs out of 300-400 eggs turned white. All the deaths occurred to WIGGLERS. I covered the tank with aluminum foil, and other than shining a lamp and using the light on my camera to look at them, I haven't touched the tank. I won't get hurt feelings....I WANT you to tell me what I might be doing wrong! I mixed spring and distilled bottled water for this tank. I'm over getting offended....I just want to get this right! I'm now on this "if I can't do this, I'm a failure" level, and welcome ANY advise!
4. The water in the wiggler tank is getting low (I used siphon to remove dead last night). Should I attemp to top off? Or still just wait? Can I dose prime just in case at this point?
5. In case any live, when do I put sponge filter in, and can I use a new one? I'm afraid to use any cycled by parent tanks...in case this is a bacterial issue.
6. If any black/gold wigglers live, would that mean it WAS a water issue? Since I changed their tank to all bottled water also?
7. What would cause a high ph if the gh and kh are both under 3?
I would love to have a few successes to help determine the problem. I would do anything to see just 1 baby grow up! I hope you're right....and they just need more spawns under their belts to get this right. I'm really considering buying a breeding pair, putting them in their own tank, and see if those eggs live. I hate not knowing what I'm doing wrong. Sorry for the long post. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the effort you've given this project....and I really may have to compensate in some way.
) Unfortunately, I don;t have a spawning under air at the moment so it will be difficult to shoot a video with the correct amount of air for the size spawn. You may just want, in the future, to keep a slow steady stream of bubbles going so that there is a gentle amount of water movement going over the eggs. Since the eggs are not really using that much oxygen out of the water, the need for high aeration is not there. Add in the fact that M. Blue is an oxygen carrier, you don't need a lot of surface agitation to acheive high oxygen levels in the water. 
