Luminatus breeding

[Cherie]

Ok, my P. luminatus laid a single egg (which fungued) and now nothing. I have 3 males, 1 female, and 1 smaller fish that looks female but acts male (flaring, but fins are shorter, seems to be coloring up as s/he grows). I got them in February 2021 and they’ve grown quite a bit since then. 
 

They are in 10 gallons of water with a coop large sponge filter and a tiny tetra pump. They have two mops and guppy grass. Bottom is mulm and a bit of sand (moved most sand to the new 20g).

A0, Ni 0, Na 10, gh6, kh 3, pH 7.4, T 76.6 (heater)

Feeding live (mosquito larvae and bloodworm) daily. Feeding CoOp jar BBS and repashy powder as well. They are eating like pigs, flaring, and swimming through the mops constantly. I pull at least three times a day to check for eggs. 

I’d like your thoughts. 
 

I’m wondering:

1. Too many males? Two of them are more red than orange so was thinking leave those two with the known female and take the other two out  

2. Too warm? I got the egg when I didn’t have a heater so temps dropping at night  

3. Too young? They’re at least 4 mo old and were small when I got them  I’ve read females usually breed once at 1 year old (if this then why the egg??)  

4. Are they just eating the eggs constantly? I’m trying to keep them full  

I know I should be patient - but I’m bad at that. 

Thanks for your help. 

[Fish Folk]

I am 100% not patient. Totally with you there!

I’m new to this species — is the top photo your female?

Im persuaded that if you get enough light on her, you may be able to look through her abdomen to see if she’s full of roe or not.

With mop-spawning Killis, separating the females from males and feeding both a variety of quality foods can greatly help with reproductive organ development.

A few healthy black worms would go a long way because of the high fat content. Be careful about bloating from too many blood worms though. Live Daphnia would be great.

[Cherie]

Thanks! Yes that is my for sure female. I’ll have to see if I can tell she’s got eggs. She’s pretty tiny. 
 

C

[Fish Folk]

When you look at some egg-laying female fish, you can see right through the translucent scales and spot eggs. They’ll almost look like a pile of tiny golden-pearl BB’s

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

YouTube video I found super helpful. He uses mops to spawn them. I have a trio and another 7 in qt. Really like these fish. 

[Cherie]

@Beardedbillygoat1975Thank you! I love his videos. 

[Cherie]

So while I’m sitting here all grumpy about blue-eyes, my rabbit snail goes and produces offspring for the first time in a few years. 
 

Universe tossin’ me a frickin’ bone here 😂