My first discus fry batch

11 more died while I was at work and another one just now. I lost a total of 20 so far, almost half of the batch. It's a total disaster. pH is 7, same as the tap. All other parameters, nitrites, ammonia are OK. I don't thinks it's the water, they would've died sooner.

I finally saw a few going after BBS, but not with a huge appetite. Many just float at the surface.

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at this stage I would be guessing you are losing the babies to bacterial issues.
it's actually quite common as a problem.

the problem is often attributed to the food that is left behind when un eaten(yes I realize you are doing daily water changes) but, the food is a vessel for bacteria
however I am not certain I would call water sitting out for 1/2 day would qualify as 'aged' water.. I age water in large 7 gallon water safe (aka food grade) bins.. it ages for several days with circulation and controlled temperature.. the water is RO/DI and is recontsituted with additives..tho in young fry tanks I pref to not do anything to the water since it is changed out daily at a minimum of 50%.
I also tend to keep the water a bit acidic to slow progression of bacteria.

also keep in mind that sometimes the young fry are just not quite healthy enough to endure the life in an aquarium..

it could just be you've done everything you should do and this batch of fry are just not up to par(health issues)
see how it goes and don't give up...
 
I'm actually doing the WC in the show tank that is connected to the breeding tank, so the new water doesn't go directly into it. Not sure if that helps.

I wonder if moving the fry into the show tank would make any difference, after all it's the same water. I'm confident they would be able to find their parents, but perhaps not the BBS that could get lost in the gravel. Not that they go for the BBS fallen to the bare bottom either.
 
Bodycount: 22 :(

At this rate I'll be happy if I can save any number of fry. About 20 still looking normal, 8 swimming at the surface. I hope it's just natural selection.
 
Flavius said:
I'm actually doing the WC in the show tank that is connected to the breeding tank, so the new water doesn't go directly into it. Not sure if that helps.

I wonder if moving the fry into the show tank would make any difference, after all it's the same water. I'm confident they would be able to find their parents, but perhaps not the BBS that could get lost in the gravel. Not that they go for the BBS fallen to the bare bottom either.
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Honestly I believe this is where your problem could be.
most breeders would not share water from an established tank but keep the breeders in a more isolated tank where you can control the parameters easier and control the incoming water.
the fact that the breeder is sharing water with your display tank could be contributing to the issue.
the young discus don't have much in the way of protecting themselves as they have not developed their immune system so they would be very susceptible to bacterial issues.
it is one of the major problems when having breeders. I have successfully bred Angels by using isolated tanks for the fry, they are (in my case) removed from the parents at the free swimming stage and place in a controlled growout tank that gets at minimum 50% daily water changes.

you would need to try this to see if this helps, I have rarely seen discus raised in any other way but have actually raised angels from egg to dime sized in the parents tank.(most often I find the parents eat the young tho). even those are controlled isolated systems that do not share water for systems.
 
I'll try on the next batch. Was hoping I could spare a full setup, but it seems not. I was kinda confident sharing with the display, cause it's a 50G with only one discus, a pleco and 2 corys.

Bodycount: 25

So 3 more died last night, it's an improvement compared to yesterday. A couple more floating, but those healthy 20 still looking good.
 
Hang in there they may make it.
 
31...

How about using methylene blue, is that safe on fry?
 
I wouldn't recommend that.. it's great for the eggs but not for fish.
hydrogen peroxide in low concentration is prob safer..but the issue will continue since main tank water replenishes your breeder.
 
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