Anti-fungal for eggs

[Oneiroid]

So I've got a fresh batch of German Blue Ram eggs, about 20 hours old now, and it looks like about 4 of the eggs have turned a whitish color. I am assuming this is fungus. I have done some pretty extensive poking around on the web to get more info on anti-fungals and whether or not they are recommended, and it seems that there is a real split down the middle on opinions. Half say use it, and the other half says to trust the parents to keep the eggs clean and pick off the infected ones.

I am thinking this time around I will not use an anti-fungal since rams have such a short gestation period anyway. Instead I will do frequent water changes and do my best to keep the tank clean. Then, see what happens.

If anyone here has any opinions or experience with anti-fungal types, I'd really like to hear.

By the way, here is a shot of mom and dad:

Edited November 24, 2005 by xerxes

[African_Fever]

If they just turned white, most likely they simply weren't fertilized. It's when they get fuzzy that you've got the fungus to worry about. I picked up some Methylene blue a while ago when I was first getting my petricola to breed, and I don't think it really made any difference. With cichlids often being such good parents, I really wouldn't worry about it.

If you felt dextrous enough, you could go in with tweezers/a pipe and attempt to remove the unfertilized eggs yourself as they are often the first ones to get fungus (but not always).

[granitetanks]

As with african fever I agree that it is quite common for some unfertalized eggs to turn white. Actually I don't think you will ever experience a batch that don't have a few white ones. I would not get too concerned unless you do get a fungus. Also even with some fungus I would not get hasty with chemicals unless the fungus get severe. Chances are you are harming the fry that don't have fungus more than the fungus itself would spread especially with good parents.

[Oneiroid]

Actually, I've discovered the perfect anti-fungal (IMO). I've been separating the eggs into thier own container and using Hydrogen Peroxide (3% solution from the drug store) with quite a bit of success with the first two batches of eggs. Yes, some do turn white which I blame on either infertility or poor water exchange through the egg. But no fungus.

The peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent which can serve both as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Not recommended to dose with fish or bio-filters in the tank (although I have heard of people dosing this directly in thier fish tanks for algae control... I wouldn't gamble it though). After about an hour of dosing, the peroxide breaks down into its base components: oxygen and water. Bonus. As a result, the water is not contaminated after dosing and will require no diluting of any sort.

Use at a rate of 1mL per gallon, or 10 drops per quart. Repeat dosage every 12 hours or so until the eggs have begun to hatch.

Cheap, efficient, and clean.

[Oneiroid]

If you felt dextrous enough, you could go in with tweezers/a pipe and attempt to remove the unfertilized eggs yourself as they are often the first ones to get fungus (but not always).

Dislodging the white eggs from the surface with a pin then sucking them up in an eye-dropper seems to do the trick. It's pretty easy if the eggs are in their own little container so you can see them better, and no damage is done to surrounding eggs.

[Oneiroid]

(Perhaps my little Hysdrogen Peroxide blurb should have been put in the DIY section...)

But to answer my own initial question, I would say using [Hydrogen Peroxide as an] anti-fungal for eggs separated from their parents is a very good thing. But I would also agree with African_Fever that it is probably better to leave the eggs with the parents... provided they don't eat them.

[Tanker]

Nice suggestion! My bettas bred again this weekend and even though I tried anti-fungal treatments, I still lost all to the dreaded fuzz... But I am also thinking my male may be sterile... thisis four times they have bred and four times with nothing but little white balls that fuzz up in 12 hours. This time they were yellowish, tho... and still, the same thing.

I'm going to find a new male... see if that changes anything... once her fins are healed, of course he REALLY tore her up, this time.