Who can help me with a egg tumbler!

I just made an egg tumbler and want to know how much movement the eggs should have. I striped a Flameback Hap. and have about 25 eggs. The tumblers had egg in it for 2 day and I already have fungus on a few eggs. I used it on some fry with egg sacks for 5 days and it worked pretty good.

LITTLE TO ALMOST NONE! Eggs are super fragil. I had to learn from experiance and it took me about 300-400 fry to figure out what I was doing wrong. Little little movement.

They should be swaying side to side and not bouncing.

I don't have experience with cichlid eggs but use them for other purposes. Depending on how it was made, you can adjust the air flow to where it just barely lifts the eggs and let gravity take over from there. This will keep the eggs in a constant motion and at the same time be very gentle with them.

The trick I used was to add a valve to the air pump so I could fine tune the lift.

did u get your valve installed to adjust the air flow??
i hope the link i PMd you was helpful!

I agree, Good luck and this is a awesome experience to watch!!

In 2 days I ended up with a ball of fungus eggs. It started with 2 eggs so I removed them and it went down hill from there.

I had the eggs moving around pretty good. I am using the air from my main blower so I have air cocks drilled in the PVC pipe so I can adjust the air flow. I'll try again!

Thanks for the info. and the links.

Just a few tips I have learned......To help keep the fungus on the eggs away I use Hydrogen Peroxide at 1 ml per 10 gallons. This will not hurt the eggs or the fry. I stop using it as soon as they a wiggling around. I do water changes 3 times a week on the tank at 50%. Also does your tumbler have a screen above and below the eggs? You may want to consider doing this to avoid them raising into the air bubbles which can damage the eggs and lead to them dieing. Also I have learned eggs that look like fungus is starting sometime are them actually developing. Run 2 tumblers and transfer eggs you think are bad to the second one to see if they actually hatch. I am not a pro but have had some good advice and tried a few things different each time. Hope this helps

I am using 2 bulls eyes from a spong filter. 1 is inserted in the end of a 1" uplift tube that comes with the spong filter. Here is where I have the screen (on the bottom) The other bulls eye is inserted in the top of the tube. This is where the air line is connected. I only submerge it about an inch in the water. I left the tumbler in the display tank with the parents. Will the Hydrogen Peroxide affect the other fish?

I made mine using PVC pipes, a tube that holds florescent light bulbs and screen material. Found the design online actually. Works very well in promoting water circulation in the up draft. This is where the valve comes in handy to control this flow.

Let me see if I can find the plans again.

Stand by....

Here ya go...this is the design I used.

DIY Egg Tumbler

The only mod I made to it was to add an additional screen to the very bottom to keep debris away from the eggs.

Little to no movement!

3 more batches of eggs and I lost two of them to fungus. The other batch of eggs had eye spots on them when I striped them. They are developing very well. I had the eggs barely moving, they would slightly bounce if the fish really stired up the water when I fed. Some of the eggs are white when I take them from the female, I wonder if those are bad eggs to begin with. I'll try again.

My peacock eggs would turn lighter just before they hatched. So do not give up on them yet.

Alton S wrote:

My peacock eggs would turn lighter just before they hatched. So do not give up on them yet.

Thanks! I have a few more holding so I'll give it another shot.

I read an article on this and it said to tumble eggs according. Frontosa eggs are very versitle and can handle more flow. Haps are not as forgiving but can handle a bouncing. Peas have the most delicate eggs and just lifting off the bottom is about right. Also to help control the fungus use Hydrogen Peroxide at 1 ml/10 gallons. I have used this and have not had it hurt the eggs or fry. I can say it does help with the fungus on the eggs too.