Last night when I was getting comfy in bed I heard my fish making a lot of noise, they are on the other side of the room, so I got up and checked on them. I saw them all chasing each other around the tank, the 2 males were going after the female more but the males didn't have any breeding tubercles so I didn't think they were doing the love dance and I had just fed them so I thought they were just really excited about the food. Well this morning while Im trying to wake up I hear them making noise still, I get up and turn on the lights and there are eggs everywhere and they are still going at it. I saved around 15ish eggs, not that I have the room for them since Im over stocked from the last time they had babies over a year ago but I want to get my breeding award this time. It also gives me even more reason to get that pond that I've been wanting

We just had a few days of rain with thunder storms thrown in here and there so I guess thats what triggered it but shouldn't the males have some breeding stars?

I just went and checked on them again and there were atleast 50 eggs stuck to the strainer of the filter and I felt sorry for them so I took it off and stuck that in the breeder box too

Heres a pic I took of a piece of gravel with eggs on it with my moms cell phone

Well, congratulations, Courtney! Isn't it amazing what a little weather can do to fish...
The males don't neccessary have breeding stars, some of mine never had any. Some have such a low number, that its hard to see, and some only get a small whitish coloration on the first ray of their pectoral fin. If your fish have a lighter color, you might never even notice that.
How do the eggs look now? Whitish or clear? If clear, you know the drill - start the brine shrimp "factory"....

Wow that's so neat! Mine do a whole lot of bumping but I never get any eggs Good luck with them!

Thanks

I took a closer look at the 2 males and the one has none but the other is just slightly white on the pectoral fins. He is also the one doing the most bumping but the other did jump in every now and then. There are still so many eggs in the tank that I left to be eaten since I cant have that many babies, she must of had hundreds. I really hope they get eaten before I see the little eyes forming cause then I'll feel bad and have to take them out too. I do see a few that are whitish though, I'll be taking them out later today.

The 2 fish in my avatar are the babies from the last spawn. That was in December of 04 I believe

Wow, those two babies have grown nicely! How big are they now?

The orange one is about 3" and the white one is about 2 1/2" both without the tails. I have another one from that spawn too but shes only an inch long, shes also white. Its weird both the white ones are a little different, they both have deformed mouths but they do eat pretty normal.

Yesterday as the sun was setting the light was coming in the window and was shining right in the tank with the eggs and I could see something moving in them. I couldn't make out anything since they were still all clear but I could see movement

It's so exciting to raise fry! Do you have more pics of your first fry?

Nope my avatar pic is my only one of them.

Im leaving today until Sunday so I hope they dont hatch until then. But today I can make out their spines and their eyes

Don't worry, Courtney - even if they hatch (which they might, actually), they still feed of their egg sac for 2-3 days afterwards, and do nothing but stick to glass and plants. No need to feed during that time, which should give you some breathing room when you get back...

Well some are already hatched, quick little buggers. I was just hoping to rest after I come back before I had to start being a momma to some babies

All the babies that hatched in the tank with the parents are gone but there are atleast 30 doing just fine in the 5 gallon. Maybe later I will try to get a pic of them

Yes please, pics, I love pics of tiny fishies!

I tried to take a pic but the camera wouldn't focus on them so once they get a little bigger I'll try again

Yeah, darn camera. I got one like that - had to wait for a month until you saw more than a blurry thing in a tank...

Just a little update on my fry. I lost 6 of them so far but considering I still have 40-50 (kinda hard to count) I dont think thats bad. Every few days I try to take a pic but since its a camera phone I cant get it to focus so they are just a blur. This is the best one I could get, its from around a week ago.

I know it's difficult to take pics of those little guys! But I liked that pic! Keep us updated!

Thanks I held the light to the side of the tank and it made them look like they were glowing. I still have to figure out what Im gonna do with all of them when they get bigger though