Re: Artificial hatching

[David Sanchez <barbax2@yahoo.com>]

I talk to so many Hobbyists with the problem of
'parents eating eggs', 'eggs do not hatch' etc...
[Insert your own problem with eggs here] So often
artificialy hatching them only gives us meager results
anyway. The Important thing to look at is the
microsiemens or the counductivity of the water. This
is a superior way to measure the water quality as well
as the dissolved solids. Take a test of the
microsiemens of your source water and see how the
value changes as the water becomes more polluted with
urine, feces, nitrates, etc...  You will be surprised
how that value can change especialy in crowded tanks!
I have source water that starts out with a mirosiemens
of less then 10 and stays at about 30 in my breeding
tanks, in holding tanks where may have over a hundred
Apisto's this value can go up as high as 450! Many
Apisto eggs will simply not hatch under these extreme
conditions. I reccomend you invest in a counductivity
meter if this continues to be an issue.
For the eggs to hatch I could talk to you about The
proper pH and Hardness levels but these are common
knowledge, the real issue is the counductivity many
times! I would say that of the people I talk to who
can't get the eggs to hatch most of them, [as long as
we have the proper water parameters]would resolve
their problems by keeping these values in check. To
accomplish this we need to maintain a very high water
quality. I like to use good biological filtrat ion ie:
sponge filters and good regular water changes. 
 I can tell you this,egg eating ust is not an issue
for me and I hear of so many out there that struggle
with it. All of you out there that have been to my
fish room have always seen thick shoals of fry being
cared for by their parents all the time. It is not
magic we just need to watch the microsiemens.
Nothing against those that artificialy hatch the eggs
but for me I will compare my production to any that do
it artificialy. For me it's just to much work to do it
artificialy.99% of the time it is not the fish that
has the problem but us the hobbyist thats is lacking
in some area
Invest in a counductivity meter you will be surprised
at what you learn. Good luck to you


===
David Sanchez
Casselberry, FL
http://www.mindspring.com/~barbax
barbax2@yahoo.com
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