My first discus fry batch

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Flavius

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Aug 31, 2005
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I kept hearing how difficult is to bread discus, so I must've been extremely lucky cause I did nothing to achieve this, it was not even something I strived for. I have no idea about my pH, hardness, etc. I don't even do water changes religiously, although I do have a semi-automatic system that spares me of carrying buckets. I also found the eggs extremely resistant, I was able to move them from one tank to another, then heater broke and temp dropped 5 degrees, but the eggs survived.

So my 3+ years old Giant Flora male paired up with a somewhat younger Pigeon Blood female in the community tank at the beginning of the year. First the eggs were caviar to the people, then they learned how to defend them and I ended up with wigglers in the community tank. Some batches later they were able to raise them to free swimmers (couple of days old), but that was pretty much it. Eventually they all got lost either eaten or dead in the gravel. Then 6 days later in September they laid another batch of eggs. That's when I started feeling guilty cause I realized they want babies so much. So I knew I have 48h to setup a new tank and isolate the parents and the eggs already laid on a branch.

The reason I didn't set up a breeding tank before is because I hate those bare thanks where the only things you see are the heater and the pump. I struggled so much to have a gear free show tank, I even found an external heater. And know those extra pipes and everything, just ruined all the looks, but I had to save the babies. So this is how it looks like:

DSCN0733.JPG

There was lots of trial an error:
- I wanted to spare a full setup, so I went with interconnected tanks. Drilling was out of the question, I didn't wanna ruin the show tank. So I went with a siphon (green vertical tubes)
- then I initially put the small pump in the breeding tank. Two problems with this:
- vibration from the pump attracted babies and couple of tens ended up dead facing the net, probably starved to death. So I moved the pump into the main tank and let the siphon work the other way around
- second problem: siphon dead slow, much slower than the pump so it was about to cause an overflow. Then I moved the pump close to the surface, so flow would stop if level decreased. Then it would catch air and never be able to restart once the siphon would level even. Solution: placed a faucet on the pump tube, to be able to adjust flow to match the siphon. Problem solved
- air stone vibration caused the same problem as pump vibration, fry attached and died. So I just use the pump tube to create some bubbles
- suction cups: fry are dum enough to attach to anything dark and round, so had to remove those too
- heater probably killed a few fry too, was thinking about removing it and simply let the flow heat from the main tank. It would only drop 1 degree Celsius. But I was afraid flow might stop for a reason
- and of course I had to place a net on the siphon. This still causes problems, it clogs easily so I have to shake it twice a day
- bottom siphoning twice a day and that's pretty much it. Water changes are done in the main tank only and water gets circulated in both thanks
- last problems that is still unsolved. Tank is placed on a granite counter top and it proved to be a disaster: fallen fry lost in the granite pattern, almost impossible for parents to spot them and move them back to the breeding site. I was thinking about putting a dark background below the tank but that is not good either cause it will just attract fry. White not good either cause fry are white too. Any recommendation? Yellow, perhaps light pink or something?

So the result is about 50 fry 7 days old (counting from the day they became wigglers or 9 days from spawning). Even though there were probably 200 eggs, I consider this a big success. Will strive for more survival rate on the next batch.

Timeline:

- start: eggs laid in the evening
- 2 days from start: wigglers (Oct 1st)
- 5 days from start: free swimmers, high mortality rate (reasons above)
- 6 days from start: fry either attached to dad or dead on the floor, few roamers being chased and brought home by mom
- 7 days from start: fry more and more confident, great swimmers, easily finding parents. No more deaths
- 8 days from start: fry start to attach to mom too, but still spending more time with darker dad
- 9 days from start: growth visible see below - I was afraid to use a flash on them :)

Time to start the BBS hatchery.

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Flavius

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Aug 31, 2005
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Thanks, questions remains what am I gonna do with that amount of fish? I might need to start selling :)

I think my question got lost between the lines: any recommendation for bottom color to make it easier for parents to spot fallen fry?
 

discuspaul

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Jun 22, 2010
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Many breeders recommend and use a white bottom. As the fry grow, they'll pick up some color & darken sufficiently for the parents to spot them, so the white bottom shouldn't pose a problem very soon. Most breeders start selling them when they reach 2" -2.5", for about $15.- $20. each, with moderate discounts for purchases of say, 6 or more. With daily good wcs and several small feedings a day (6-8) after the attachment period, they should reach 2" fairly quickly.
 

Flavius

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Aug 31, 2005
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Btw, what is the best time to start feeding BBS? They are 7 days old counting from hatching. I saw some people start feeding at day 10. Is it too early to start the BBS hatchery? It'll take two days to start hatching.

Btw, great to watch the fry swimming around their old men. They look fat and healthy, no more sliders on the bottom. Except one that is half the size of the others, but still swimming great. Hope he'll survive too.
 

discuspaul

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Jun 22, 2010
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Yeah, I would start the bbs hatching right away. When they hatch, you could immediately try feeding small amounts, a couple of times a day, to see if you have any takers - and go from there. All the best to you - it's kind of exciting, isn't it ?
 

Flavius

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Aug 31, 2005
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It is, definitely. There is a lot of cheering going on from my side. Could watch them all day long as they seem to chip off bites of their parents' slime coat.

Started the BBS hatchery, but realized the eggs expired last year. Wonder if they'll hatch, otherwise I'll have to buy knew ones.
 

Flavius

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Aug 31, 2005
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Bucharest
Another thing I realized is that using a spawning cone with a base might improve survival rate a lot. Wrigglers falling from the top might have a good chance to re-attach along the way down, if not they would collect on the base and not fall to the bottom. As opposed to the branch I used, where they would fall straight to the bottom and get lost in the dirt. I'll make sure to put the cone in the tank next time.
 
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