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Two of my discus just laid eggs, and we didn't want them to spawn. Of course, I don't really mind, but they've gone and laid the eggs on the filter input. I'm worried that the babies will get sucked into the filter as soon as they hatch. I've gotten some advice, and I've been told to remove the filter tube into another tank. That is possible, as I have another tank with water in it, but I'm worried that moving the babies and parents may shock them and possibly die. Could somebody please, PLEASE help me out here!!!

I don't think that you can move the fry away from their parents, as they will eat from their parents for the first days.

You can switch off the filter & use a Hang on Back filter on the other side of the tank, instead.


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In all honesty, you will likely lose them all with any kind of power filter. If you are really intent on breeding them, and raising the fry, you should place the pair in their own tank, and use one or two sponge filters. As previously stated, the fry, if left with the parents, will eat the slime coating from the parents bodies. If you want to raise the fry separately, you can try, but it is very difficult. The eggs will fungus very easily and quickly, so you will have to use something to prevent the fungus. Then you will need very small foods, like infusoria, microworms, etc. If your parents don't eat the eggs, it is usually best to leave the fry with the parents.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Hi,

Transfering the eggs is quite hard but if you want to you are going to have to use the water from the tank that the eggs are in and tranfer the eggs and parents over to the other tank, keep the eggs submerged in the water when you transfer them. If you only want to transfer the eggs then do so but be prepared for the feeding schedule which will consist of using a hard boiled egg and egg white and an enamal dish and 2 hourly feeds. Its quite intense and you will only have a very small survival rate this way.

If you want detailed instructions of the manual raising please pm me and I will send you the full instructions.

Trace

Last edited by trace-russ at 18-Nov-2005 15:47

Hi there...

Ok, Discus breeding is a HUGE future interest of mine, and I've been doing some homework with successful discus breeders that I know and I have seen their setups..

First off, congrats on your breeding pair ! The fact that you have discus spawning attests to your excellent water quality. Make note of your current water parameters and record them. Heck, even share them with us !

The first batch is as good as gone in your current setup.. based on that, you have time to prepare for the next spawn..

Edit: Trace Russ, please if my info is off base then please correct me. Also, I'd love to see any manual relating to discus if I could ? If so, thanks very much

The easiest way to do this, is let the parents tend to the developing eggs and fry. Even fanning the eggs to keep them from fungusing, and they will eat any fungused eggs.. Parenting however, can take some practice.

You can either place your discus pair in their own tank (recommended) or, remove the other fish to their own tank... Either way, the tank you plan on having the pair in will need a sponge filter with good bacteria present, and a breeding cone, if you cannot get a breeding cone, I have heard of pvc pipe being used.. If you start running the sponge filter in your established tank, it'll be ready in 4 weeks.

The parents slime is an important diet requirement but when the fry are free swimming, you will want to start feeding live baby brine shrimp at least a few times per day. Feed the parents high protein foods from here out to keep them in good condition. Frozen bloodworms seems to be the thing.. I have 2 pounds of it on the way for my angels and smaller cichlids. (If they all spawn around the same time I'm in trouble, and may find myself renting tanks in someones fishroom if possible)

You may find yourself needing at least one growout tank to start as your discus continue to spawn. You can make some nice extra money selling juvenile discus however it will be time consuming and you'll need to prepare. You may find this really rewarding and end up with a fish room as well as a part time job !

Of course, if this is all too much, you can sell your breeding pair (definately more valuable now, but even more should you have at least one or 2 successful hatches to prove the male is fertile) or leave them in your existing tank, and don't change a thing. (which would be a waste of a breeding pair !)

Best of luck and it would be great to see pics of your discus parents.. What strain are they ?

Regards,
DaFish

Last edited by DaFishMan at 01-Dec-2005 19:08

The Amazon Nut...

Hi,

This is a breif outline of the manual raising of discus and some other cichlids. I know some pple raise angels this way.

What u need to do is:

Let the parents lay, cover the eggs with a cover of wire mesh so they can still fan them and when they hatch take out mum and dad. Lower the water level to about the tip of the cone or whatever they layed on.

When they are starting to free swim, boil a hard egg and mix this with a raw egg yolk. drop the water level down to about 2 inches and collect the babies in a enamel dish for feeding only. Smear the mixture around the dish dont use too much and let them feed on this for a few days. Feed them 5 times a day this way and change 50% of the water 3 times a day, make sure the water is the same temp and ph as the removed water that you are replacing.

After about a week start adding some live baby brine into the mixture and decrease the amount of egg mix still 5 times daily until they are eating the baby brine only, still do your water changes at 3 per day until they are eating the brine only.

Introduce other foods, decrease the feeding down to 2 times daily, feed them stuff like osi small fish food and crushed flake and wait for they to grow. Try to get hold of some live blackworm they love this.

This is a lot of hard work and the survival rate is not fantastic but good luck let me know how you go.

HTH

Trace

Last edited by trace-russ at 02-Dec-2005 01:55

Additional info, from a discus breeder.

"Discus fry should begin to eat baby brine shrimp 8 days after they hatch. That does not mean that you need it then but I think it makes it easier on the parent/s.
I noticed that discus fry raised artifically on egg yolk grew at half the rate of the ones that stayed with the parents and ate slime. Slime is good stuff but the parents could kill the fry or if it is a big enough spawn the fry will damage the parents. It kinda makes sense to remove a parent because they seem to fight because one of them wants to breed again. At 10 days most of my fry are eating so much bbs that I do not have a problem with removing both parents."

The Amazon Nut...