Discus Pair... Happy & Sad

[Hungriee]

I did a WC and trimmed my plants and cleaned my canster filter then noticed one of my checkerboards bullying my other discus so I moved her temporarily to my 40G Community. I noticed once I moved the Discus, my pair in the 50G laid eggs again. WAHOO, So it was this discus thats been causing stress. Yes they laid eggs, but I lost one of my mini clown loaches that I've had for 8 months this morning. =(

My pair laid on the same tree branch again and I noticed that I have mini wigglers already, orange circles with strings coming out. IM SO EXCITED, this is the 11th time they laid but all failed, Crossing my fingers this time, hope they dont eat them.

The strangest issue, is the male starting movin some of small wriggling eggs to a branch nearby. Is this normal? Im nervous bc I have two other discus in the tank but they dont come even close to the eggs, and my cardinals are smart eenough to stay away. My tank is a heavily planted tank and I do WC every two days.

Im new to having baby discus (crossing my fingers) what should I prepare as food? I read I need BBS, Im not sure what CBW is.

where can I get these? & how much feedigns per day

[yourchoice]

Other fish and gravel plants makes it hard for the parents to do the job.They may decide just to eat them.
Need to put the pair in a bare bottom -sponge filter tank.I had 2 small spawns this is how I saw what happened in my case.Their is a very critical period of about 24 hours where the wigglers become fry.When they start swimming they will go all around the tank (an intake will suck them up)and sometimes just lay on the bottom to regain strength(want bare-bottom so the parents can find them easy)
.The parents will go collect them up and spit them upwards to get them to attached to the parents back trying to get the fry to start eating the slime coat of the parents.After 5-7 days start feeding freshly hatched baby brine shirmp.

[Hungriee]

Since they are already in the tank with soil/plants, should I move the parents and the wigglers? Or Should I just let them eat them? & Move the parents to a BB tank to spawn again?

I have a 20G LONG tank BB, ready. Do you think its big enough a pair to spawn ? For now its empty just running with one 2.5" Discus till I move it to my show tank. It s running an AquaClear HOB, but I can set up a sponge filter in it.

[yourchoice]

Best option to set up another tank.If there is more than 50 wigglers you could move the othe fish out.They are too delicate to relocate.

20 long 12inches tall? would work but I`d rather give them something more regtangular 29-40g.

[pam916]

I keep my breeding pair in a 20 gallon high, bare bottom with a sponge filter. It was what the breeders I talked to reccommended. They seem to do fine. Mine spawned several times in my community tank and ate the eggs and then produced wigglers and the parents were so busy chasing all of the other fish away that the babies just got tossed all over the place and they quickly disappeared and that is when I put mine in the breeder tank, they laid eggs a few times and ate them, had wigglers and ate them, then they finally settled down and actually raised a brood.

[Star_Rider]

if they are in a community tank with other discus..anything you do now may cause stress and the parents may eat the fry.

your best bet , if you want to keep trying to raise discus.
move the pair to a separate breeding tank. bare bottom(20 is the smallest).

it is bare bottom because it it easier to keep a bare bottom tank clean.
plants can be kept ion pots driftwood is fine . usually tho a breeding coen and a sponge filter is SOP.

btw trhe usual course is.. eggs-wiggler-free swimmers.

eggs(viable) normally hatch in 3-4 days.. the hatchlings(aka wigglers) will remain for 3-4 days then become free swimmers.. with discus the free swimmers usually feed off the parents slime coat.

you can start hatching BBS in 1-2 weeks.(depends on the brood and parents.)

[Hungriee]

if they are in a community tank with other discus..anything you do now may cause stress and the parents may eat the fry.

your best bet , if you want to keep trying to raise discus.
move the pair to a separate breeding tank. bare bottom(20 is the smallest).

it is bare bottom because it it easier to keep a bare bottom tank clean.
plants can be kept ion pots driftwood is fine . usually tho a breeding coen and a sponge filter is SOP.

btw trhe usual course is.. eggs-wiggler-free swimmers.

eggs(viable) normally hatch in 3-4 days.. the hatchlings(aka wigglers) will remain for 3-4 days then become free swimmers.. with discus the free swimmers usually feed off the parents slime coat.

you can start hatching BBS in 1-2 weeks.(depends on the brood and parents.)

where can i get BBS to hatch? Right now I have wigglers that are wiggling on a piece of wood that the parents moved the eggs from. I did lose some wigglers or they just didnt hatch. Originally I had about 50+ now I only counted 30+. Hopefully they stay alive :dance2:

As for now, Im not sure what I can do since they are all still in the heavily planted tank with 2 other discus that the male chases out; and cardinals and 4 cories. Should I move the dither fish? or moving them could cause stress ? Im afraid wiht my net in the tank they will just eat all the wigglers before I catch any fish.:cry:



Originally Posted by pam916
I keep my breeding pair in a 20 gallon high, bare bottom with a sponge filter. It was what the breeders I talked to reccommended. They seem to do fine. Mine spawned several times in my community tank and ate the eggs and then produced wigglers and the parents were so busy chasing all of the other fish away that the babies just got tossed all over the place and they quickly disappeared and that is when I put mine in the breeder tank, they laid eggs a few times and ate them, had wigglers and ate them, then they finally settled down and actually raised a brood.



I only have a BB 20G Long tank setup, I guess its small. I do have a 20G High laying around, but it use to be used as a filtration setup which is now cleaned up but the glass is permanently stained which has prevetned me in use to house fish again.

[Hungriee]

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[pam916]

You can get bbs eggs at most pet stores, petsmart stopped carrying them because they say that frozen bbs is just as good. I have tried both and I disagree, the babies barely even notice the frozen, but they aggressively pursue the live, they will stay alive a couple of hours in freshwater is what I have been told. I don't know if you have craigslist in your area, but if you do you could put an ad and see if anyone might want to trade your 20 gallon long for a 20 gallon high if you can't buy a new tank right now. You can order bbs eggs by mail also. Good luck and let us know what happens.

[Hungriee]

they all died. =(

failed again. Hopefully the 12th time they spawn I will have baby discus, just when today was the day for freeswimming, i came home and they are all gone.

Im thinking of taking the pair out to a sep tank? Should I cycle the tank or can i just run one of my filters and pull some water from my 50g to the smaller 20G?

i do have a 20g HIGH but it used to be a wet/dry filtration system and now its stained on the glass - i tried cleaning it nd scrubbing 2 get it off the glass isnt that clear on one side but tank still usable. You think i should risk having my pair in that tank?

[PopPopsfish]

Get yourself set up with the Brine shrimp and relax, this happen all the time with Discus and Angels. Get a 20H and put the pair in there when they spawn you will have a better chance of the Discus raising the young. When you are successful you can sell off the babies and you just paid for the tank. Think of the tank as an investment or an insurance policy.

[MIKE D]

To answere your cycling question you asked use the water from the main tank. It has all the beneficial bacteria that your tank needs to cycle. If you have any decor that could be moved out of the main tank and put into your new tank that will help speed up the cycling process as well. For the HOB you mentioned I would take some of your filter media from the old tank and squeez that into the new HOB to kick start the cycling process.

I had a breeding pair of angels in a 20 long when I first started keeping fish and they wouldnt spawn for me but when I moved them in to a 30g they went nuts and started laying eggs everywhere but none of them ever made it. I still have the pair they are living in my 55g with my discus. The male had an unfortunate run in with another male angel and he had the crap kicked out of him so now he has 1 eye and swimms tilted. They havent mated since that day.