Discus fry

[Sportsnutim]

When to move discus fry? My blue and orange discus layed and hatched 14 fry about two weeks ago and they are doing well. From my understanding eventually the parents will get irritated and eat the fry is this correct? When and how is the best time to move them? I have dealt with fry before and was not successful because I did not have baby brine shrimp and they starved. Thanks.

 

[pinkertd]

If they are no longer eating mucous from the parents slime coat you could separate them now...the parents job is done. But surely separate them if you see the parents cleaning a surface in preparation for spawning. I believe this is the only time that the parents may go after the young ones.

 

[fishorama]

The guy I got my discus from said the growing babies can sometimes overgraze & hurt the parents but he was talking about many more fry than 14. You can start offering bbs while they're still with the parents so they don't have to go cold turkey on slime coat.

 

[DiscusOnly]

I removed the frys from my 20 gal tank about 10 days after they were attached and became free swimmer. Some people keep them longer but I had to remove mine since it was getting too crowded and the parent started fighting.

I personally would not raise any batch less than 50 (unless they were albino). I find that the amount of time and effort you put in makes it worth while for a few frys. I also cull a lot of mine so starting out with a small batch is a bad start.