Good day All,

Brand new here to this forum, been keeping Malawi mbunas since last year october.

I have an 80 gallon bowfront set up with various species of malawis.

The other day, my fryeris spawned, and the female had so many eggs that she couldnt pick up all and so some were left on the rocks.
I was wondering, would the eggs that were left over be fertilized? Or do they have to be picked up by the female to be fertilized? I thought it would be worth a shot to save the ones left over and tumble them to see what happens.

Your input would be appreciated.

Hi bdaCichlidlover and welcome,

Sorry, not much help here -- I'm not sure if fertilization occurs in the mouth or before they are picked up, but if they aren't picked up pretty quickly, I don't believe they would remain viable for long, even if they were fertile.

Did you get some into a tumbler soon after the spawning? I'd be interested to know how that turns out.

Fertilization takes place after the female picks the eggs up. I would say its a safe bet that those eggs are going to be sterile.

Indeed

With most Malawians the Male entices the female to follow his egg spots on his tail.The female then releases the egg,picks it up and the male secretes his milt.The female ingests the milt at this time(normally at the time of the pickup).So the fertilization is done in the mouth of the female.

However that is not to say that these eggs are not fertilized.The eggs can still be fertilized outside via the secretion of the milt into the water.You will need to get these eggs into a tumbler of some sort.If you dont have one get an ice cream contain(minus the ice cream Hmmmm ) place the eggs in water and run an airline tube from it to an air pump.The eggs should be lightly moving around.If your air pump doesnt have a control valve the use a clothes pin or vice grips to regulate the air.

If the eggs turn white after a few days then they are not fertilized or have died.

Good luck and keep us posted

Derek

Thanks for the reply.

After they spawned, I carefully collected what I could of the eggs and put them in a drinking glass, inside my fry tank, (blocked the fry off with a piece of glass) with an airstone to give them a current. But they kept being sucked out of the glass into the tank, so i got tired of that and put them in a rubbermaid plastic container, with a battery powered pump. Unfortunatley the pump malfunctioned, as I was at work, so it was no telling how long they werent being tumbled. I noticed that they started to turn white and fungus got to them, so I had to throw them out. i thought it wouldve been worth a shot saving those extra eggs.

This was the female fryeris first ever spawn, so as of now shes swallowed most of her eggs, but for a few.

Most Malawian mouthbrooders spawn as Finsofafrica said, but there are a couple of species that practice "external fertilization" and then the female picks up the eggs. One of these is Cyrtocara moorii.

That said, if the eggs were anywhere near the male while he was courting the female, they have good odds of being fertile, but no guarantee.

If they turn white, they aren't viable. Tres Bien!

Many eggs from Malawians (depending on diet as well) are whitish to begin with. You won't know if they are good or not until day 5.

I guess it depends on how you see "white"!

I find them more of a beige or pale yellow when fertilized, snow white when they aren't. It can be difficult to discern between the colours, though.

But, as you said, Lisa, they are white to begin with, so I shouldn't have phrased it "if they turn white"....I should have said "if they stay white". Tres Bien!