I have two pair of blue eggersi. They are in their own tank. I use peat or sand to collect eggs. While feeding bbs a small fish (appears to be a female eggersi) appeared from its hiding place ate and retreated. Is it possible for eggersi to skip the drying period? This tank held black knight rams previously so I know it’s not from this. But I do keep f. garderi and a. australe in other tanks (not in jumping range).

Notho eggs can skip diapause and hatch in water but I doubt this is what you are seeing. If you catch the fish I expect it will be an australe or gardneri that snuck into the tank as an egg on plants.

It is a female n. Eggersi. She is fully grown now and breeding. Is water incubation not successful enough to be a option when breeding (nothobranchius)peat spawners?

Hello,

I have water incubated Nothos. It takes about 3 weeks at 78oF. I used shallow water in a petri dish. Some peat came along so the water was slightly peaty (I picked the eggs out of peat I collected). Once I saw well formed eyes with a gold ring around the iris I hatched the eggs by adding them to a small container with several table spoons of freshly prepared peat.

I have seen N. korthausae hatch out spontaneously from being spawned into the gravel of a planted aquarium but all the fry that hatched this way were belly-sliders.