OMG! Discus laying eggs!! yay and uh oh...help!

[sarafish]

Well i came home at lunch time today to fing one of my discus dead! I was sooo sad, i had him for 8 months and he was growing well. So I GOT HIM out then went to work, mentally prepaRing myself to to a full tank clean again this week when i get home.
SO I get home and look over at my tank and notice my big white discus swimming weird next to the filter and i think '0h god no - not again!" And i run over and SEE that HE is fertilazing EGGS on the filter, left by my COOL red and blue pigeon! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! A full year of hard work has paid off!!! Only now - WHAT DO I DO??? Do i stop the filter? Can I clean the tank as normal??? Do i HAVE to seperate them?? - because they are guarding them. I know i shouldnt get my hopes up but i cant help it.

My tanks specs are all wrong now - ive soo moved on ... now i have 11 discus- 4FT BY FT tank, planted, air curtain, temp 30 -32c Discus vary in size from 2in to palm size - 5 - 6in. Had most of them a year.

[sarafish]

Also im in american living in australia so it might take time for me to get yer reply. Thanks for any help.

[theredchaser]

Unless you have a backup filter, I'd just keep the filter running. Mine used to lay eggs on the filter intake and on my heater until I added a black pvc pipe.

If you seriously want to breed and have soft water available as well as a 30 gallon empty tank, then separate the the pair after the eggs hatch or get eaten (most likely the latter) They should lay eggs again after about a week. The trick is to do a water change with slightly colder water to induce them to spawn. My discus used to never spawn and people kept saying it was my water quality. It turns out it was because my water changes have always had slightly hotter water. I used cold water and they spawned on the first try. Also, feeding them nothing but frozen/live foods will get them more eager.

Congrats on your spawn! It seems your discus aren't egg eaters so you already have a lot of work cut out for you.

[sarafish]

Now that you mention it my last water change I used colder water because the temp was a bit up, awesome, good to know, thanks! Now I have an excuse to get another tank! How big do u think for a breeding tank?

[sarafish]

how long do the eggs take to hatch?

[ESOXLUCIOUSS]

Well done mate, any pics, update us regularly please...

[theredchaser]

The eggs hatch in ~48 hours. A good size breeding tank is ~30 gallons for a hobbyist, 20 for a serious breeder. A sponge filter is the best type for these, along with wc's. If the eggs turn white, it means they were infertile, whereas if they are still reddish, it means its still good. Before you start setting all the stuff up, make sure that the male is actually delivering the goods. :bowing: Sometimes the water is too hard for his junk to penetrate through the egg. Or sometimes an inexperienced male just doesn't really know what he's doing and misses the target.

The pair will spawn many times and will be together as long as its not bothered. Its good to take things slowly and let the pair learn about being parents. If they start pecking on the glass or random things, it means they are ready to spawn again, so just use the cold water trick in a few days.

You should post some pictures too :nilly:

[Star_Rider]

how long do the eggs take to hatch?
3-4 days.. they will be wigglers in 3 in 3 more days they will be near the parents.
discus fry feed on the slime coat of the parents.
as mentioned your best bet is to move the pair to a separate tank for breeding

[shawnhu]

This story reminds me a lot of what I am going through, I lost a favorite Discus, only to find that the others are starting to breed.

[sarafish]

What color are the eggs when they are fertilized? I think the male may be infertile....they eat the eggs after 3 days, the eggs get a slime over them sometimes (mould) and thats about as far as ie got. But they keep laying eggs every 4 days so ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????