George,

I’m having this same issue with Procatapus, and I hope respondent’s will provide some insight on you post.  Very nice post.  I’d encourage anyone with suggestions to respond.

Best Wishes, and Happy 4th of July,

Jim Langan, AKA Webmaster

I have tried several different medications for fungus control. Have not seen any yet that is much better than the other. My latest is using the formula that Ed Warner has in his book. Will see how that goes in the next few days.

I have tried several different medications for fungus control. Have not seen any yet that is much better than the other. My latest is using the formula that Ed Warner has in his book. Will see how that goes in the next few days.

Which species?

Here’s one thing I did in the past: put eggs in one of those hang-on viewers like Lee used to make, inside a tank that’s kept warm and lit on a reasonable day/night schedule, with a few sprigs of java moss in it. Put a slow trickle of air into the viewer tank (which you fill with water so it stays submerged.)

Wait a few days, usually that gets tricky eggs that were close to hatch for me, perhaps it convinced the fry it was time to get with the program especially if they’re close. Never used any chemicals directly in this setup no fungicides or whatever.

Mostly all of my killies are having this problem with hatching. Aphyosemion as well as Gardneri species.I get many eggs, not a lot of hatching. If all of my eggs hatched I would need another fish room.

I often fell like I am talking to myself on these forums with such a little response from a club with so many members.
Anyway my latest batch of non annual eggs that I had stored in the Ed Warner solution do not show any real improvement as far as hatching percentage goes. Still most eggs just will not hatch. Maybe some one is trying to tell me something. At my old age maybe it is time for me to get out of the hobby?

Since it’s happening to multiple species, it would seem likely that the problem is environmental.  The medication is a good place to start, but since you’ve had the same results with different formulae, I guess that can be ruled out.  This would leave me with more questions than answers.

Is your water exceptionally hard or soft?  What sort of temperature are the eggs kept at?  Do you use tap or aquarium water for the eggs?  Do you sterilize the containers before reuse?

And maybe the most useful question: have you previously had success with these species?

For over 40 years years I have always used aged tap water for everything with a bit of methylene blue for the eggs. Since I have had this problem for over a year now. I have tried many water combinations in my spawning tanks as well as in my egg containers. RO/ Tap water, RO/mineral replacement, distilled water. Nothing has helped. My fish room temp. is around 72 deg. f. I have tried other fungicides and even tried not using any fungicide’s with the eggs. Nothing has made any difference. I have reached a point where I do not think it is the water. I have also sterilized my egg containers with bleach solution, so I do not think they are the problem either. I too have begun to think it may be environmental, but how? That is the question.

Also my tap water is not too hard or soft. Sort of in the middle. PH around 7.2

Have you tried any of these eggs on peat or in peat?  If they still won’t hatch, I suppose the next things to look at is diet and environment in the breeding tank.

Yep, I did try them on peat with the same problems. These are species I have had for years in the past with no problems. I first thought the water makeup was the problem, but I have changed my mind on that since I have tried so many combinations of water with no luck. My fish room is in my basement in a separate room.  I just picked eggs from several varieties and have stored the containers upstairs in my bedroom. Seems silly that this would help, but I am willing to try anything at this point. Will see how this plays out in a week or so.