Some questions with spawning

[BreatGritain]

As promised here's an update.

Didn't get the Discus into a breeding tank in time for the second spawn, but assumed as it's only their second ever attempt that it wouldn't matter too much.

Turns out, most of these eggs have hatched into wrigglers! In the process now of moving the rest of the fish from the community tank into what was going to be the breeding tank (it's big enough), just moving them slowly, so as not to distrurb/scare the parents.

Put a pre-filter on my external filter, which i'm hoping will work, and i'm slowly dropping the water level day-by-day to a managable level for the mother.

OHhhhh i'm so excited.

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I don't know why my pictures are sideways on here...

[rickztahone]

Fixed the pictures for you

[Pardal]

Looking good! Tom
Soon you they will have them in their "shoulders" good luck
Keep us update it.

[BreatGritain]

I'm heart-broken and in need of some advice desperately please...

They started free-swimming today whilst I was at work. Of the 50-or-so wrigglers I guestimated I had, I can only see 8 in the tank.

I found one in my sponge filter, which I beleive it still alive. I've switched my external filter off, though I checked the make-shift prefilter I made and i'm fairly sure that there was nothing in there.

Where've they gone? And how do I stop it happening to the survivors?

[rickztahone]

I'm heart-broken and in need of some advice desperately please...

They started free-swimming today whilst I was at work. Of the 50-or-so wrigglers I guestimated I had, I can only see 8 in the tank.

I found one in my sponge filter, which I beleive it still alive. I've switched my external filter off, though I checked the make-shift prefilter I made and i'm fairly sure that there was nothing in there.

Where've they gone? And how do I stop it happening to the survivors?

You have to be realistic in this. If you want to breed discus, you have to provide them the best possibility of fry survival. This means, bare bottom tank, preferably a sponge filter. Sometimes the sponge filter attracts the fry, but some people have covered it with a mesh in the past to prevent this.

Now at least you know they are a confirmed pair and they have practiced at being parents. They may have eaten some, lost some to the filters, if you have tank mates, they more than likely ate them.

[BreatGritain]

Thanks for your reply Ricardo.

I can't argue with your logic. I think I half expected something like this from the start, but I can't beleive how attached I've become to these fry. It's madness when you stop and think about it.

I'm not sure what to do next to give the remaining fry a shot - do I remove the sand substrate - or is the damage already done?

I know my sand lowers my PH, do I risk a PH shock through WC's if I remove it now?

I've removed all tank mates except one cory - I just can't get to it, it keeps hiding near the parents, it's worked out that i'm not going anywhere near them.
Although I'm fairly certain the parent's will have killed it by the end of the night as they're being quite brutal protecting the fry.

I've removed the plants and as above the external filter....

Arrghh I could cry.... I won't... But I could.

[rickztahone]

Lol, the joys of being a discus owner

Here's the simple truth. You need to ask yourself, do you really want to raise fry? Do you know what goes in to raising them?

Luckily for you, it seems you have great breeding tap water, or are you using RO?

Since you got the water part taken care of, you are actually off to a good start considering.

The more difficult part is actually raising those fry. You need to be ready to feed them as soon as they can't feed off the parents any more. You have to be willing to put time in to raising BBS, doing massive water changes, and be willing to cull if you need to.

Additionally, you need to have a lot of tanks to raise these fry. You will need at least a 55g tank. Do you plan on keeping any of these? If so, do you have a plan on what you would like to do?

These are some of the most basic logistics that need to be considered, but there are more as well.

Now, ask yourself again, do you really want to start raising fry?

[BreatGritain]

Honestly? Breeding never crossed my mind - that was untill the first time I saw them lay eggs. It felt special. Really special.


I've done my best as researching what it takes to raise fry - the best you can from reading words on a screen or in a book. I'm more than happy to do the water changes - I already keep discus, so i'm almost hardened to daily (or at the very least, every other day) WC's.. lol. And I gathered i'm lucky - no RO unit, it's all tap water.

I've got two hatcheries set up for BBS.

The think I will struggle with is culling - I have clove-oiled adult discus before when required - but to the fry I've raised? I will struggle - but if it needs doing it will get done.

I think I can do this... but i'm certain that I want to.

Plus, with people like you so happy to advise, I think i'm in with a half-decent chance.

[BreatGritain]

I'm sorry to bump an old thread, but really wanted to share the news.

These guys hatched on 23rd December and are eating BBS now. W/C's are a nightmare when the fry want to investigate the shpyen, lol.

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[rickztahone]

That is sweet! I am glad it worked out. Now that you are on the breeding side of things, how do you feel about this thread? Have your views changed? Are you solidified in your decision?

[BreatGritain]

Thanks Rick.

I'm not sure. The things I expected to find hard ( getting the fry to eat bbs, etc) all went very easily.

The things I expected to be easy are actually quite difficult - the red turq got heavily stressed so I seperated her back to the community tank.. it took me four hours to do because she wasn't intimidated by the net, so she wasn't swimming away from her fry...

I'm glad I've done it, but won't be raising any more for a couple of years... lol.

Thanks for everyones advice on here, it really helped

[rickztahone]

Thanks Rick.

I'm not sure. The things I expected to find hard ( getting the fry to eat bbs, etc) all went very easily.

The things I expected to be easy are actually quite difficult - the red turq got heavily stressed so I seperated her back to the community tank.. it took me four hours to do because she wasn't intimidated by the net, so she wasn't swimming away from her fry...

I'm glad I've done it, but won't be raising any more for a couple of years... lol.

Thanks for everyones advice on here, it really helped

lol, that sounds like someone recently raising fry for sure, lol