mouldy eggs?

[supafreak]

when i saw a few fry swimming about I picked up the shell in my 5g tank that my calvus has been in for soooo long , and a bunch more came out when i picked up the shell, but also some mouldy eggs came out. What would have caused more then half of the eggs to not hatch? I got as many of the foul eggs out as i could with a turky baster, but i still can't get mom out of the shell. I'd like to return her to her bigger tank and reunite her with her mate, but she won't come out for long enough. any suggestion?

 

[TankGirl]

The eggs may not have been properly fertilized, and she may not be doing such a great job of keeping the water circulating around them - not uncommon if she is new at this. Why not just pick up the shell and put the shell back in the tank with her mate, then remove it when she comes back out, or leave it there for her to use again.

 

[supafreak]

well, I could pick up the shell and put it back into the larger tank, however i'm not certain that the fry are all out of it. Every time I pick up the shell, it seems a few more swim out, and i know they would make a nice meal to the other fish in the big tank if there are any left. Do you think she will leave the shell on her own when her babies are all out? I'l like to remove her form the tank because i'm concerned of her eating the babies. Is it ok to feed while she has babies? Someone once told me that if I feed things like frozen brine shrimp that it will cause her to have pray instinct and then eat her own babies. Is flake food ok? The egg sacks are completly gone, and i'v been feeding powder fine flake foods