oh YEAH they did

I found fish eggs in my window tank. This should not be a surprise. Nor should it delight me, but I'm ecstatic. Even though my cherry barbs spawn all the time, I never see eggs- the parents often turn right around and eat them before they fall far, if not the kuhlis or shrimps get them I'm sure. So seeing eggs is something new for me.

Here's one though, on a bit of hornwort in the window tank.

I'm puzzled if it really was the serpae tetras, though. I looked very carefully to tell the males from females- but all my serpaes seem to have a lighter patch at the base of dorsal fin. If any of them is a male, it's Blank (the one missing an eye). Would the females go through spawning motions and lay eggs without a male? or am I misidentifying them. I suppose it's possible the pair of lamp eye tetras (the other common name for red-eye) laid these eggs- they're even harder to tell apart male from female but one does look a bit plumper than the other.

Regardless, I don't expect much. Both these fishes the parents usually eat the eggs, and I don't even know if they're viable- most of them look opaque. If it's serpaes the eggs will hatch in 24 hours, if the lamp eyes, a day later. So we'll see. Either one, I doubt the fry would live. This isn't a mature tank full of microscopic things for them to feed on, and no way am I setting up another tank to tend baby fish. I know how much crazy work that is.

But hey, if one survives on its own that would be super cool. Here's three in the rhizome of windelov fern.

At least, I think I see three- arrows indicate where.

Another one on the end of the rock.

Fish aren't the only things busy multiplying in this tank. Did you see how many new windelov fiddleheads coming up (2nd pic)? And I have not once dosed ferts in here. Not only are lots of new leaves uncurling, today I just saw the tiniest little bit of windelov with a root growing on the end of a mature leaf...