I resently rejoined the Aka after being away for several years I received the revised Beginners Guide and noticed that Aphy elberti was listed as an advanced fish. I have 2 pairs that are laying about a dozen eggs /wk I have been moving them from a mop to a small container for hatching I am using methalene blue in the hatching container. I have had eggs in it for 3-4 weeks but no hatches or eying up. I touched some of the eggs and they are not firm but have not fungused My water is soft and neutral ph witha temp of75 Any sugestions would be appreciated

Do you know which location or strain of elberte you are working with? Some like it cooler, maybe closer to 70 degrees some warmer closer to 75 degrees. My biggest problem with elberti is first to get eggs and second to not get a terrible sex ratio. Since you are getting some eggs the temperature you are using may not be out of line. The pH and hardness seem ok but maybe slightly higher calcium hardness is needed for the eggs to harden. Try a TDS of around 130ppm minimum to see if that helps. I would cut back on the methylene blue and just use a dark place to keep the eggs. That is all the methylene blue does anyway. Maybe try moving the mop to another container of tank water once you see some eggs and just wait a month to see if you get any fry.

Hi,

I think that your problem is the eggs are not fertile if they do not eye up within four or five days at 70 deg.F. They have not developed fungus because of the dye (MB) you put in the water, but good fertile eggs are very firm like little rubber balls. Eggs are only very soft for a few minutes after being laid as the egg membrane tightens up soon after.

I think your water being too hard is why the eggs are not fertile. I have bred many elbertis hundreds of times in the last 35 years in the hobby. I have found the best water values are a hardness of 50ppm or less. A ph of 6.9 or less is great but not below 6.0.With a few exceptions, most elbertis will breed in the temp range of 70 to 76 deg. F. A. elberti Bafole tends to like its water towards the bottom of that temperature range as it is a Highland form of A. elberti, found in Highland plateau streams 500 or more meters above sea level. If you can find a copy, I was the guest editor of a double issue of JAKA a few years ago that is chock full of breeding info about elberti locations and exiguums. It wa a special edition on the Kathetys group. It has many very good color photos in it as well as an article on where the different color forms of elberti are found in Cameroon.
I hope this helps.

Regards,

Monty Lehmann