Who's eggs are these?

[CatatonicBug]

I posted this in at the end of my thread in the photography section, but no one has responded, so I figure I'll re-post here.

Ok, it's been several months since I've been here, but I just noticed something this evening that shocked me! I think I have eggs! They weren't there yesterday... My sevrum has been munching on the algae scrubber in the last week or so, but I figured it was only because there was a bunch of algae on it. The thing that confuses me is that I don't know which fish these eggs came from. The sevrum is the only sevrum in there, so there is no way it could have mated. The yellow labs might be the owners, but the sevrum chases them away from the scrubber if they come close. The only other fish are 3 tetras and 3 otos. There is also 1 "mystery" snail.

Can anyone identify these eggs? What should I do wth them? I fear that if they are labs, the sevrum may eat the fry (if there are any). Any ideas??

 

[bs6749]

Ottos aren't known to breed in captivity and there are far too many (probably 600) for it to be an otto.

Tetras are egg scatterers and do not breed like this.

If I'm not mistaken, yellow labs are mouth brooders and would be holding the eggs rather than laying them. Even if that's not the case they aren't the labs as the severum is protecting "her" eggs.

You got it, it's the severum's eggs. It's not uncommon for a female to lay eggs by herself. The eggs are unfertilized and will turn clear in 24-36 hours after they were laid. Maybe you sould get a male severum and see what happens. The "mouthing of the algae scrubber" that you described is typical prespawning activity for this type of fish.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Thanks BS. I was just about to ask what I should do with them, and decided to check on whether they had turned clear. They are gone! Maybe the Sevrum figured out that they were barren eggs, and ate them? Would be cool to breed her though. How do I tell that one is a male if I were to go try to find one?

 

[bs6749]

Yup, in order to conserve energy the parents will eat their eggs if they decide that it is not the right condition in which to raise them. This can be from stress, or simply being unfertilized. She will use the eggs as nutrition for herself.

I'm not too familiar with severums to be honest so I don't know exactly how to sex them. I've read that males are generally more colorful than females though. Maybe someone at your LFS can tell you if they have any males or not. I'd get one that is about as big as the female and that has nice color and shape. Don't be afraid to hold out for a nice specimen and don't settle for "what's available at the time" if you don't like what you see.