Discus eggs remain amber in color but don't hatch

[montelovers]

Hi everyone.
Well, one of my pairs laid eggs the other day. We caged the eggs up finally to see if they were fertilized properly. Usually, one of them eats them up within the first 24 hours.
Now.. we waited a day, then the next.. then a third. The eggs remained amber but it almost looked like fungus or mold took over. None of them turned white as we thought they might but never hatched.
We have them in 90% RO/10% tap, BB tank, 30 gallon.
I haven't checked the PH lately but it's been hovering around 7 the last time I checked. KH around 2-3. Tank is cycled.
When they laid the eggs, we didn't add anything (mythelyne blue or anything else). Just wondering if further precautions are needed in a BB tank like that.
Thanks.

[Tye]

It's tough, but keep being patient! Depending on the water chemistry, eggs can take from as few as three to 5+ days to hatch. (Unfortunately, I have no clue how long they'd take in your chemistry...not much help!)

If the eggs are still amber/orange, they're still alive!

[montelovers]

We took the cage off yesterday and the female had a feast.
Some of them had some sort of fluff growing on them so we figured they were toast... but amber toast.
They spawn fairly frequently so we'll have to try again. We figured it was probably to do with bacteria, fungus, something like that. Next time, we'll add Maroxy (or a very low dose of Peroxide since we don't like Methylene blue is doing to the tanks and the biologicals).

[Brad]

Why a cage? The parents need to tend the eggs. by fanning and mouthing the eggs to keep fungus off and circulate water around them.

[Sharkbait]

Why a cage? The parents need to tend the eggs. by fanning and mouthing the eggs to keep fungus off and circulate water around them.

I think the cage was meant to protect them from the parents eating them

They do not necessarily need to be reared by the parents. Many accounts have been documented of artificially raising discus. Of course many extra precautions have to be made.

[montelovers]

We put a guard around the cone to protect the eggs from the parents that tend to enjoy a caviar feast usually. We wanted to know if the eggs were actually fertilized. The parents would go up to the guard and try to fan the eggs. The impression was that if the eggs stayed amber, they normally would not fungus unless one egg was not fertilized and affected the ones right next to them.
However, in this case, the eggs remained amber for 3+ days but some sort of 'fluff' was growing on them which we interpreted as fungus but it could be something else.
Putting a cage or guard in front is suggested in many sites so we thought we'd try to see if the parents actually did their job. We haven't had one successful batch from them until this point.

[moon]

Often a young pair will eat the eggs of fry. It will take a few tries for them to get it right. I've had that kept eating the fry for 6 months. Then one day it happened. They are now very protective parents.
Be pattient.

[montelovers]

I was not so much worried about the parents eating the eggs. I was more curious as to what was happening to the eggs (with what appeared like fungus on them). I know what fungus looks like on white eggs (similar item on discus as on my GBR eggs) but on amber eggs... never seen that before.

[joode]

Hi, Montelovers:

Congrats on your happy breeding pair!

I don't like meth blue much either but if used correctly it will really improve your hatch rates.

I tried peroxide with my last batch and it did work pretty well. Problem is there's no real set dosage to go by so you're flying by the seat of your pants....so to speak! Although peroxide is quite safe make sure mom and dad aren't close as a direct shot will harm them.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[montelovers]

Well, they went ahead and laid eggs again. So, we put a guard on them right away and some maroxy daily. We'll be very patient with them (even though they might look like having some amber fungus growing on them after 3-4 days) and see what happens. If, after a week, nothing, then... well... onto the next batch I guess. Must have been some spring air going around yesterday. Two pairs of my wife's bettas laid eggs, this pair of discus and two other pairs around the house (one other pair we believe are two females but we simply can't catch them on the act, the other pair we're also still trying to figure out the genders). Big fingers crossed now.