Angelfish Eggs Turning Black

[ianeberle]

My angelfish spawned two days ago on a breeding slate and I have since moved the slate with the eggs on it to a 2 gallon tank I have. I took some rigid airline tubing and put it next to the eggs to aerate the tank. I also put some Methylene Blue in the water to prevent from fungus.

About 12 hours after putting the eggs in the tank, some started turning black. Then after a full 24 hours, about 30% of the eggs were black. It has been 48 hours since I put the eggs in the tank and now 50% or more are black... Does this mean they are growing fungus?

The tank is using pure RO/DI water and it's heated to about 80 degrees. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Andy Sager]

My angelfish spawned two days ago on a breeding slate and I have since moved the slate with the eggs on it to a 2 gallon tank I have. I took some rigid airline tubing and put it next to the eggs to aerate the tank. I also put some Methylene Blue in the water to prevent from fungus.

About 12 hours after putting the eggs in the tank, some started turning black. Then after a full 24 hours, about 30% of the eggs were black. It has been 48 hours since I put the eggs in the tank and now 50% or more are black... Does this mean they are growing fungus?

The tank is using pure RO/DI water and it's heated to about 80 degrees. What am I doing wrong?

Possibly nothing.
This may just be a chemical reaction to the R/O water and meth Blue as dead or unfertilized eggs usually turn white not black.

If this is a first spawning for your fish, historically, it will be a bust so don't fret about it. Angelfish usually take a few spawns before getting the whole breeding thing straight. I usually use these first few spawns to look for 1 hatched egg which will mean that I have a true male/female pair and that they are fertile. The cost of raising that 1 or 2 fry will be more expensive than fish so I usually don;t try to save them. It sounds cruel but you'll see why once you have spawns of a few hundred fry that you need to deal with.
In the future, if you chose to move the eggs, you'll want to use 100% of the water they were spawned in and not new water. This will ensure that any problems were not caused by a different water chemistry (i.e different PH or hardness level). In my albums section in my profile, you will see a drawing of the proper placement for the air in regards to the eggs in an album labeled "Instruction Charts"
You may also want to check out a thread titled "Wigglers at last" in this breeding forum. It's an ongoing thread with current breeders, commercial breeders (such as myself) and first time breeders all about breeding Angels. You may find it helpful.

Hope this helps

 

[ianeberle]

I will go check those things out now. This is their first spawn, so I wasn't counting on many of them actually hatching.

How long does it normally take your eggs to hatch? They've been in my hatching tank for 2 days now.

 

[Andy Sager]

I will go check those things out now. This is their first spawn, so I wasn't counting on many of them actually hatching.

How long does it normally take your eggs to hatch? They've been in my hatching tank for 2 days now.

At 78-80 degrees, they should hatch in 72 hours. Warmer temps will shorten this timeframe and colder temps will lengthen the time. With shorter hatching times however, the fry tend to be more fragile so I try to keep my hatching temps at 78 -80.
As I sugeested, use these first few spawns to confirm fertility. My very first pair ever to lay eggs were two females. Large spawn, no hatching Don't give up on the spawn until all the eggs have either died or hatched.

Keep at it