Help! - Unidentified eggs stuck to sides of aquarium

[doctorp]

I have eggs stuck to both sides of the front of my aquarium... in the area near where my power heads put out their flow. I have no idea who put the eggs there as the assumed breeders in my tank - Pair of Kribs, pair of Apisto Cacatuoides have caves that I would assume they'd use. Anyone know what type of fish lays eggs in this manner?? Here's my tanklist for a 55 gal:

3 - Bosemani Rainbows; 2 - Trifasciata Rainbows, 1 Yellow Rainbow, 1 Turqouise Rainbow, 2 Clown Loaches, 1 Female & 3 male Kribs, 2 German Blue Rams, 1 male & 1 female Cacatuoides, 1 bronze cory cat, 1 speckled cory cat, 1 golden wonder killiefish.

Any help on who might have put the eggs there would be great. Should I leave them there or move them into a holding pen??? Thanks!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Moved to the Breeding Forum.

Do you have any pics?

 

[Mosaic]

What do the eggs look like? Do you have any snails in there? I think if they were fish eggs, they would have already been eaten unless parents were watching over them, but only the cichlids would do that and they don't leave their brood out in the open like that. It'd be obvious, as the parents would be nearby.
If you want to try to raise whatever hatches out, then move them now, but it might be tricky if you don't know what they are. Some fry are hard to rear without knowing their species specific needs.

As a side note, your male:female ratio seems as though it would be very stressful to all involved. Ideally you should only keep a pair in the tank, unless they haven't paired up yet (and if thats the goal, you need more females). But I digress.

 

[bs6749]

The GBR's ans the apistos can pretty much be ruled out because they would be guarding them and would not lay them ON the glass. They would choose the substrate, plants or other objects such as driftwood, or in caves.

My GUESS would be one of the catfish because it would be easier for them, compared to the others in the tank, to spawn on something flat and vertical.

 

[doctorp]

I have no snails in my tank so that's not a possibility. As for the male, female ratio on my kribs it used to be 3 males & 2 females but one female died. The third male is a holdover from my first krib brood that I haven't been able to catch yet and trade in to the LFS. I started with 2 pairs and at one point had 2 females and 21 males after the first brood hatched and grew a bit...good thing I've sold/given away most of them. The rainbows are so tough to sex that I haven't been able to get a pair together yet.

I'm beginning to think it's one of the cory cats. I read that cory cats can self-fertilize and they are one of the few breeds that often lays eggs on the glass and leaves them alone. So I guess I can wait and watch... or take the eggs of the sides and put them in a breeding net to protect them. I've never used one before... do they work?

 

[bs6749]

If it were me I would leave the eggs alone unless they come off of the glass easily. You will probably ruin most of them if you try to take them off of the glass. You never know... maybe some of the little guys will make it.

Also, just because you don't have snails doesn't guarantee that you don't have snail eggs. If you recently purchased some plants the eggs could have been in there and those snails may have laid the eggs. I had this happen to me before. It was a MESS. I was throwing out 75 little snails EVERY day!

 

[doctorp]

OOOhhh... now that is a new possibility... I did put some java moss in my tank in the last week to give the Cacatuoides some cover for their cave area. I guess if they do hatch into snails the clown loaches I have will 'take care" of removing them...

 

[Mosaic]

Well, at least you have the loaches to take care of them, if they are snails.
My original thought were the cories until I saw you only had one of each, as they do indeed lay eggs on glass sometimes, though they usually move their eggs elsewhere later. I hadn't heart about the self-fertilization thing though. An alternative to a breeding net is a tank divider to keep the other fish away from the eggs, and you may be able to raise the fry in their own little area of the tank.

How big are the eggs? Can you describe them?