Male not Catching Eggs

[ChibreneyDragon]

I've never actually encountered this, I've had egg eaters, I've had bad daddies who ignore the nest...But I've never dealt with a male who wont even CATCH falling eggs.

I gave them a light so they can see, and Im worried that the males HM fins are to large for good mobility...even though he can embrace and built a huge nest.

What can be done to encourage the male to catch and pick up eggs?

So far the female has actually spit eggs into the nest, after having eaten half of them.

[Myates]

A male may not catch the eggs due to the eggs not being fertilized.. they may wrap and look like it's going good, but they could be just slightly off.

That would be my guess as to why he didn't go and get them..

[indjo]

It's an individual thing. I've notice there are more and more bad daddies lately. It's not related to long fins. In fact all of my current PKs are bad daddies; egg/fry eaters, never build nest, not picking up eggs - you name it. While my long finned DT siblings are great daddies. It has nothing to do with egg fertility either, because I can artificially hatch them. I have no explanation as to why nor do I have a solution to avoid it. Sorry.

[ChibreneyDragon]

He started catching a few, but the female has put up almost all of the eggs.. then she looks at him lazing near the top like, wtf is WRONG with you, and they embrace again.

How do you artificially hatch eggs? Ive never heard of that.

[aemaki09]

ehh, one of my males took like 15-30 minutes to catch on that the eggs were already on the ground by the time he started looking, towards the middle of the event he started catching them, and at the end he picked up all the ones he could find on the bottom of the tank. He'll get the idea eventually. First time spawners really are clueless at first.

[indjo]

I use an ice cream bowl; a 1ltr oval plastic bowl or a round plastic cereal bowl (about 15cm in diameter). Put in about 2cm of new, clean water, carefully spoon the eggs into the bowl. Spread them as best I can - to avoid bad eggs ruining good eggs. (btw, eggs that have been picked up by the parents will float - IDKW). Then place the lid on top to reduce bacterial growth (not secured - so it's easy to take off without disturbing the eggs).

I don't need heaters (I live in a tropical area). If temps are low and unstable I simply place it in a warm tank or place it my room. If you place it in a heated tank, make sure the bowl floats evenly (not tilt). Then I cover the whole tank to reduce debris getting into the bowl.

After 24-48 hours, they begin to hatch. I pick up the rotten eggs with a small stick like a tooth pick (you could use tweezers). Sometimes good eggs get caught in rotten eggs but will hatch so I don't immediately throw them away..... Then I slowly add 100% water to the previous water using a drip system ..... don't make the water drop. Make it "flow" from the side of the bowl. Hopefully this will reduce ammonia. I also add a common pond snail to eat rotten eggs I can’t pick up and later, uneaten egg yolk.

Sometimes I feed a drop of eggyolk once they’re free swimming. 1-2 days later, I acclimate them to a grow out tank. Then release. The percentage of hatch depends on how good the eggs were in the first place. I've had 0% hatch. But have also had 100% hatch. My average is around 60%.

If all that is too troublesome, you could leave everything in the breeding tank - use lower water level (about 3" or so - actually this has little affect except it makes me feel better. LOL). Take out both parents when they're done spawning and hope for the best. ..... Good eggs will hatch. And strong fry will survive. But you might not get that many with this method, specially if you have tons of snails in there.

[ChibreneyDragon]

I dont have any snails, but I may get some after they hatch. The female basically showed the male what to do, and now she is in her recoup tank and he is taking care of the nest.

I may try the artificial method after this spawning, it sounds interesting.