Try skipping the additives for 1 or 2 water changes and then use 1/2 of what the directions say but before you add the mix to the tank test the mix. Try to get the tds to about 70 ppm. Many have good success just adding tap water to RO. I don't use RO because my water is good from the tap but I used to and I used tap water then. If you have good quality water from the tap, just hard you can try using that too. It takes some time to get things right.
Screen Over Discus Eggs
- Thread starter 125gJoe
- Start date
I was speaking with a commercial breeder yesterday about similar issues. His comments were:
1- Discus (and Angel) eggs don't fertalise very well in hard water or high pH for that matter. He obtains the best viability if GH is below 2 (~about 40ppm) and pH around 6
2- He never bothers to try and keep babies from Discus that is under 2 years old. Young females are often too nervous and young males (which tend to be better at raising fry) don't defend the eggs well enough. As they get older, the males become bold and will push the female away if she starts eating the eggs.
3- You can raise the fry artificially but feeding timing is critical. A food of suitable size (usually brine shrimp that is no older than a few hours after hatching) has to be available immediatly when they start feeding (~3 days after hatching) and should be available virtually all the time for the first week
I would appreciate any agreement or disagreement with the above from your own experience.
1- Discus (and Angel) eggs don't fertalise very well in hard water or high pH for that matter. He obtains the best viability if GH is below 2 (~about 40ppm) and pH around 6
2- He never bothers to try and keep babies from Discus that is under 2 years old. Young females are often too nervous and young males (which tend to be better at raising fry) don't defend the eggs well enough. As they get older, the males become bold and will push the female away if she starts eating the eggs.
3- You can raise the fry artificially but feeding timing is critical. A food of suitable size (usually brine shrimp that is no older than a few hours after hatching) has to be available immediatly when they start feeding (~3 days after hatching) and should be available virtually all the time for the first week
I would appreciate any agreement or disagreement with the above from your own experience.
free bird, I agree with all 3 points.
Joe, I have been using RO water mixed with tap water for about 10 years now and have never added anything else. I, as stated, have bred Discus and many of the real soft water Apistogrammas along with a few other real difficult species without any problems. I'm sorry but I did not understand that you were already using a RO system.
Joe, I have been using RO water mixed with tap water for about 10 years now and have never added anything else. I, as stated, have bred Discus and many of the real soft water Apistogrammas along with a few other real difficult species without any problems. I'm sorry but I did not understand that you were already using a RO system.
Thanks everyone!
How can Kent's R/O Right and Discus Essential be that far off
on their directions?!
I'm not going to add that stuff on the next few water changes.
It's good I decided to get that TDS meter, or else I'd never know how "off" the water is.
Also, I thought the TDS meter was just used to test the quality of the R/O filters from the system and whether they needed to be changed.
I've been adding the Kent product directly to the tank, instead of a large bucket and checking the TDS... A mistake there...
How can Kent's R/O Right and Discus Essential be that far off
on their directions?!
I'm not going to add that stuff on the next few water changes.
It's good I decided to get that TDS meter, or else I'd never know how "off" the water is.
Also, I thought the TDS meter was just used to test the quality of the R/O filters from the system and whether they needed to be changed.
I've been adding the Kent product directly to the tank, instead of a large bucket and checking the TDS... A mistake there...
Oops, big oops... Too bad just about 'everything' is in "fine print"!
I skipped a line on Kent's R/O Right..
It's says, to the effect, of checking TDS before adding...
Well, I didn't have a TDS meter until recently. So I decided on the 'general' explaination of how to add this product. That caused the TDS to jump wat too high!! ......
Wow..
So - Hopefully, I won't need screen over the eggs, soon to be laid...
Or, which also may be the case, is that the pair are too young yet.
What's great is the water will be "right" .....soon...
