Discus Pair about to breed

My discus breeding pair has been off for over 30 days, since the female had some problems (ph was too high and she didn't like it, although eating all along)
yesterday I removed my 2 aquaclear 200's frm my 30 gallon tank and it's currently running on 2 hydro spoges instead now, the male and female are constantly cleaning the breeding site and the female's made a few practise runs already,
my male is 1/3 bigger than last time he spawned

I expect her to lay eggs either tonight (gtg to work soon) or early morning, but defenintely it's going to happen soon, this will be their 1st time in this tank and with my homemade pvc tubes, there's a few pictures on my site and I'll post more on it this weekend
I'll be screening these eggs this time (the pair is not proven yet) so i'd like to see some wigglers atleast = )


thanks
Raymond Wong
http://www.sfu.ca/~rww/Aquariumstart.htm

[Jeffery_Doty]

Raymond,

Good for you!  What kind of discus pair do you have?  I agree with you, screen the eggs to make sure they are fertile.  I hope the pair will care for the babies this time!

Jeff
Oregon

My pair is supposed to be red turq, nothing super special = ) but they're nice, the male seems to have a bit of brown in him,

My pair laid eggs before i left home today around 6:30ish
it's2:30am now so I'm going to screen the eggs,

I can't remmeber, when do i drop the water level? after I see wigglers, and do i stop water changes and stop feeding th pair?
i know it's posted somewhere can't find it now, but if you can post it that'll be nice
thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Hey congrats.



Now i don't know if i should offer you advice or not. You said Red Turqs were not special. I love Red Turqs they are among my favorite.


Okay i will help you.
first
Dorp your water level as low as you can and still have your filters working Disconect any type of Power filtration try to keep with sponge filters. For instance Drop your water level just above your Lift tube for your hydro sponge filter. By doing this the pair will have it a little more easy when the fry hatch as far as gathering.
Second
Go ahead and stop feeding now or feed real light clean foods (Blood Worms) until they hatch. And stop your water changes. Make sure your Ph is low so that you don't have a fungus problem or health issues with the pair from lack of water changes.
Third
Dim the ights but never turn the light off. I would turn the aquarium light off, and then leave a light on across the room or just the room lighting it's self. You want light in the tank. Just not alot of it . Maybe in the equivalance of what a Candle would give off.
Fourth
Refrain from any cleaning of the tank. Or Alot of walking past the tank. You want to avoid any comotion near the tank. This also means you really do not need to check on the eggs every 10 mins lol every two hours is sufficiant but every 6 to 8 hours is better.


The trick to it. Is that you must keep any stress off of the fish. The eggs and fry will stress them out more then you ever imagined. Some people like to continue the water changes and feedings through out the spawning process. I found out quick on my Discus that I can not get away with that for everytime i do a water change i end up with some missing eggs and fry.

If you got the screen on and they are still caring for the eggs your next big obsticle will be when the fry hatch. When the eggs are laid and when they fry hatch is when you will see most of the discus eat the Spawn.

After the fry hatch and are grazing on the parents side slowly fill the tank back up. Remeber no Stress.  Then the next day start back with water changes and regular light feedings.

I hope I answered your question and I hope it helps you.

Bill

Opps, they're special to me = )
just they wern't some funky crazy strain out there these days = )

thanks for the information I'm going to print it out = )
ok time to read it carefully,

the funny thing is I removed 2 aquaclear 200's from this tank yesterday!
there's currently 2 hydro sponge filters in the tank so i can drop the water level as much as I want (i guess)
so the next step for me is to drop the water level to around where the eggs are... brb
ok done

they've spawned previously 5 times, i think I saw wigglers once then i did some stupid things and all the eggs/wigglers were gone, last 5 spawns were mainly unsuccessful due to my own fault, eg changing water, lights completly off, etc etc,
well the male's 1/3 bigger now before he was smaller than the female, now he's bigger than the female nice size but I think he'll still grow

I'm not too sure if they're fanning the eggs through the screen but they're always swimming around it looking in

does the screen have to be all the way ot the bottom of the pvc tube? i cut mine too short it's hanging 1" from the bottom

opps another modify/update
after dropping the water level (around 1/5 since I made this pvc tube quite high in the tank, the female was taking care of the fanning before the cage (and in previous spawns) now it's the male mainly fanning the eggs but he's pecking at the sponge filter? (is it like angels he's preparing to move the eggs to another site?)


thanks
Raymond




???

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

Good luck!  I can't wait to get to that point, but I'll have to suck it up, 'cause my fish are not likely to start spawning any time soon...

BTW:  I have been INTENSIVELY studying discus and have looked at strain after strain and some of the BEST looking fish I have seen have been red turqs.  Just 'cause it's been around a while, it doesn't mean it's not great!

John

[Bill_P.]

Hey Raymond


Makesure you didn't drop the water past the tube on top of the hydro's thats what i ment earlier.

The should fan the eggs thru the mesh. The mesh only needs to keep the fish from actually getting there mouths on it but close enoughthat they can fan them. so I would not think the height matters as long as the eggs are covered.

Yes they normally do rebed the fry after they hatch.

My discus pairs all picked at the sponge filter. They never did anything to it. I just thaught they were wierd.

Discus Do breed alot like Angels But after the fry hatch is where the differances come in.

Well it sounds like your off to a very nice Start.

Good Luck
Bill

Personally I like the red turquoise over the blue (just my opinion)

hmm both parents are fanning through the cage, so I'm pretty happy about that, err one problem my cage is a plastic one not a metal one it's kinda floating and it's 1" above the ground, should I make a taller cage or just leave this one as is?

thanks for the information

I can't drop the water level to the tube of the hydro sponges since the eggs were laid pretty high up but I think i get the picture = )

I have 4x3" red royal greens that came in from www.adiscusdream.com 1 doa and 1 i murdered by accident = (
I didn't get a confirm yet I believe I have 4 oriental leopards comming in on monday, (April?!?!)

I really would like to do some cross breeding between red turq and some PB's just to work on some genetics etc etc, but that's in the future while I'm stilll trying to get some wigglers out of this pair!!

They fanning through the plastic cage, I'm happy about that, gotta wait a few more days
before I see some wigglers (i hope i do )

HELP?

I'm not too sure if this is a major problem, but here it goes, not much of the eggs have turned white, it's been 24 hours previous spawns I would see around 20 eggs turning white at this point in time, then (i know u told me not to bother the pair) I took a flashlight to shine on the eggs there's a few tiny creatures crawling around the eggs and on the pvc, < 1mm in size, hard to see unless u stare carefully

they seem to be crawling around < 10 of them form what I've seen so far, crawling not swimming, moving quite fast, doesn't look like planaria ( i  think)

any suggestions?

thanks

just an update incase anyone wanted to know about my eggs,

time since eggs were laid: 43 hours
status: I can clearly see eyes developing (or maybe I'm biased cause i want to see wigglers)
eyes forming on about 50% of the eggs, all other eggs are clear, 5% have turned white, no signs of fungus (yet, and I don't want to see that much of it)

thanks

[Bill_P.]

The Clear eggs are Eggs that did not Get fertilized by the male. Well Raymond looks like tommarow night you will have wigglers


Bill

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond!!!

Keep us up to date on what's up with the eggs.  This is most exciting.  I have a year or so to go until I get to that stage, so I have to live vicariously through the rest of you all!!!

John

Should be near the 45 hour mark right now,
Seems like arounb 50% of the eggs are fertilized/developing eyes, is that a good number? for this sapwn (6th spawn last 5 were gone due to other fish eating the eggs/me changing the water/or lights went off,complete darkness, this time the cage was applied to see if there were any wigglers)

But it's their 1st time in this new tank, new environment, the pair seem to be interested in the eggs they're always fanning and swimming around the pvc tube gaurding it

thanks (next update in about 10 ~ 16 hours depending when I get home = )

Ok new update:
hours since spawn (is this the correct word to use or jsut since laid eggs?) : approx 53 hours, I see a bunch of wigglers, no fungus yet, but the other eggs didn't develope eyes,

the pair are anxiously looking in, I'm so tempted to take a few macro shots of the wigglers off the pole, but I don't think the pair would like that too much, I'll consider doing it tomorrow = ) (after a nights rest for me to think about it)

Bill, you're a genius you guessed right I did see wigglers tonight,

muhahah, my male is fertile (or so i think)
but there are still these tiny creatures crawling around my eggs/wigglers, those are still bothering me)

thanks
(are my updates boreing everyone? if so I won't post anymore updates except off my site)

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

You're not boring me!  I want to see what happens.  Plus if anyone gets bored, they can always stop reading!

John

Oh , thanks for the support darkdiscus = )

nothing new in terms of pictures, soon i hope,
It's around the 60 hour mark right now, I counted there's 19 wigglers only, small number the rest haven't fungused yet, they're turnig white (so I'm guessing fungus will be next) one thing is for sure my male's fertile and I do have a male-female pair,

still in the wigglers stage, I'm guessing free swimming stage will be 24 ~ 48 hours later?

Well I'm guessing the # of fry that make it to free swimming stage will even be less, if my pair does take care of fry will they take care of a small number liek < 20 or would they just eat the fry?

thanks

[Bill_P.]

Raymond,



Awesome, Congradulations.


Yes you were using the word spawn in the right text.

I would say 48 hours to 60 hours before they are free swimming. The Female will more then likely rebed them alot as if she didn't ever want them to swim. she will keep rebedding until the fish just will not stick any more.
I still wish i new what you little bugs in the tank were. I figured the fish would hatch regardless of them. Still wish i kew though.

Well keep us posted. I like seeing people go thru there fisrt spawn.

Bill

[Bill_P.]

RAYMOND,,,,,



Hey I need an update man i need my Fix.


How are the fry doing


Bill

Hmm let me calculate how many hours have passed
:
around 82 hours,
there's not that many fry left, only about 10 in total, 7 are on the pvc tube and the other 3 are on my sponge filter ?!?!

at this # of fry I'm afraid the discus won't take care of the fry and eat them all instead, (just my guess)
I really hope a few make it though, or do u think for the remaining few I should just pull them out and place them into a 2.5 gallon tank and see what happens?
(since the pair spawns every 6~10 days when healthy?
any suggestions

thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Hey Raymond



Remeber they are going to move them and it will lok like she is chewing them up and spitting them out agianst some other surface of the tank. People have said numerous times that there fry was eatin only to find out that they have free swimmers a couple of days later. Just don't jump the gun on stressing out the fish.

Bill

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

Hang in there...  They may yet surprise you.  You'll probably not have better luck if you pull them out now.  Plus the parents may get it together...  You never know.

Let us in on the progress.

John

[Bill_P.]

Hey raymond,


Was it all in vien did thay all die.



Bill

there are 5 fry left, some are 'hovering around' almost in the free swimming stage,
not too many fry but it's worth watching them seeing if the pair cares for them = )


thanks

[Bill_P.]

Raymond,

Question this is the pairs first fry right?


if it is it's good experiance for the pair.


Bill

Hi Bill,

for the pair it's the 1st time the eggs got to the wigglers stage, other times they eggs were gone before this point (no cage)

no worries I'll see what they do with the remaining fry left,
the good thing is they're expect to spawn again soon = )


thanks

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

If they do make it, you know you have to keep them all as a momento of this occasion.  Plus they will have PLENTY of slime coat to graze on and will hopefully grow well!

Good luck!!!

John

it's been almost 5 days, the 5 fry are swimming by the parents and eating off their slim coat
looking good so far

thanks

[Bill_P.]

Cool man. Have you started your water changes back



Bill

Hi Bill,
no water changes yet
starting tomorrow

thanks for the info
Raymond

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

Hey!  The folks are doing good.  I think this experiment will work out well for you and REALLY well for them, as they'll get the idea and routine down better for the next time.

Good job, pops!

John

Not the greatest update but here it goes

Hmm not too sure where the 5 fry went,
but I have a new batch of eggs = )

oh, it's been 7 dyas since their last spawn


brief history of my pair : 5 spawns in a row around 7 days apart from each one, then a break of over 40 days, (female had problems, ph shock etc etc) then now round 6 was 7 days ago and now onto round 7)

Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Raymond,


Probably what happened is the Pair wanted to breed agian. So to do this the first fry has to be gone. So they eat them.


Bill

Hello,

I hope that's the reason that the fry were gone, but this time when I get to the wigglers stage I'll turn the airsupply down in the sponge filter,

Here's my breeding tank's current set-up:
30 gallon tank, 250 watt heater, one sponge filter and pvc tube for the pair to lay their eggs on,

pretty much that's it, any other suggestions?

thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Nope that set up is probably what 90% of the people on the forums use.

tank,
Heat,
Sponge,
Air supply,
Breeding Surface,


All the equipment a Discus Needs

Bill

Hmm, not too sure about using an aquaclear is that for grow-out tanks?
cause with the aquaclear the reason i took that filter off was because i couldn't drop the water level (without the waterfall effect from the aqua clear's)

thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Raymond,


The Power filters are a Choice. Some people use them some do not. You can go a very long way with Just Sponge filters and Frequent vaccuuming of the tank. I would use the aquaclear if you have it. Use it for the Grow-outs just make sure you use it in conjucntion with your sponge filter. Clean the filters on the Aquaclear oftend. Some people like to put a pre filter on the power filters lift tube and clean it evey water change. This Will lengthen the time between Cleaning the main filters on the aquaclear. Just keep in mind what your objective is. Keep the junk off the bottom and the water params good. using a Aquaclear filter should only be used for mechanical filtration. You can however but a cell pore slab with a sponge filter in the AC and Get the best of both worlds. I would not recommend trusting that to do all your biological as it could easily fail. Back it up with the Hydro's

Hope that helps

Bill

Here's a minor update
56 hours since the spawn
this time I do see fungus growing on the eggs that wern't fertilized, only about 10 wigglers (more like 7 let me count again)
I'll have to see what happens on this round

thanks for the support
Raymond

[Pat_in_NC]

Raymond,

Great thread!  I read thru it last night and it was like reading a good book--I couldn't wait to find out what happened next!  Keep us posted with how this pair makes out--perhaps start a new thread with the next spawn?  

It sounds like the parents are slowly making progress.  I am crossing my fingers for you that you can get these guys to point where they are free swimming and feeding on their parents slime.  Perhaps the next spawn or two they will learn their parenting skills.

Keep the updates comming!

Pat

Pat

Hi,
thanks for the support,
I'm not too sure how many hours it's been but the fry are still in wiggler stage, should be free swimming though
I'll update you guys here for now, then later I'll write a better looking journal on my webpage, still around 10 fry
not awesome but it's decent for their 2nd set of wigglers

Raymond

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

These guys are going to get it down, I'm sure.  They sure seem active enough and certainly into breeding.

John

There's < 10 free swimming fry, 3 of them are still hanging onto the cage part, when they fry swims away the parents suck them up and spit them back onto the pvc tube, tehre's a few fry trying to follow the parents and a few fry that are lost, the water level has been dropped almost 1/2 way in my tank hopefully helping those lost fry find the parents better and the air flow has been reduced in my sponge filter

Raymond

oh just looked into my tank again, there's a few fry eating off the female's slime coat!! = ) good sign
it'll be cool if they raise these guys up,
I think last time I removed the caged and the pair wanted to breed again after that  =)

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

They seem to be getting it!

John

While on the topic of breeding, I noticed in my 48 gallon discus tank that the rams (part of the bottom cleaning crew) were attacking my discus, upon further inspection it was because they had laid eggs themselves = ) and were gaurding them = )

About my discus pair: there's 10 lost free swimming fry, sometimes they're with the parents sometimes scattered throughout the tank, I've dropped the water level to around 1/2 mark (or to where the filter tube on the sponge filter can keep working) next time spawn i'm going to do a few things different, 1) no cage 2)cutting the air intake tube to 1/2 on my sponge filter

that's all for today's update
Raymond

Is it too late to buy a smaller Sponge filter?

I believe the heights of all the hydro sponge filters including the air intake tube are the same? just the diameter of the sponges? or do u mean a completely different brand of sponge filter?

Raymond

I saw some not so good sponge called "Lee".

here's another update of my discus fry
It's been around 8 days since their spawn
# of fry left : 3
# of fry eating off the parent's slim coat: 1
the other 2 seem to be 'lost fry' the one that is eating off the parent's slim coat is growing at a lot faster rate,
the water level of the tank is still 1/2 way, started minor water changes (around 5%) everyday so far, bottom of the tank has a lot of poop from the pair, I've got to be careful when I do my next water change so heopfully I won't syphon the ramining fry = )

everything's looking good so far, next spawn, no cage it'll all be up to the parents

thanks
Raymond

[Carol_Roberts]

Have you started to try to feed the lost ones?
Carol :heart1:

Hi Carol,

acutally nope, since I can't really find them myselves they're always hiding behind the sponge filter so I can't really see them unless I'm staring at my pair for a while and one happens to appear

the only fry food I have avaliable is Mike Reed's no BS fry food, no hatching of bbs for now
thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Hey raymond,

You can always try Hakari frozen Baby brine.

It would be aleast something more then Mike Reed's stuff. I like to use mikes stuff in conjunction with other foods. Not sure if that helps you any.


Bill

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

You could get some brine eggs and make up a hatchery for the next batch of kids you get.  It would be very helpful to be able to have some on hand.

John

Hi Bill,
I'm not too sure if my Lfs carry's Hakari's frozen BBS? is there such thing? I think I've seen other brands before though,

John - The reason I was staying away from Live BBS was because I was never really good at hatching them, either that or I need to search better for a better method of hatching them, I tried using the inverted pop bottle tehnique, others say use the marine salt mixture for higher hatch results, I believe the brand was , hmm I forgot ocean something, it's the ones with the orange letters they sell them in pales at my lfs
oh and I think my source for brine shrimp eggs wasn't that great when I think ordering from brineshrimpdirect I'd get better eggs? etc etc?

How about decapsulated brineshrimp eggs? have you guys tried those with discus fry, I've got 3/4 can left of this type of food

yep 3 swimming fry, looking good, now 2 of them are always constantly on the parent's side

thanks
Raymond

[Bill_P.]

Raymond,

Yes they make Hakari baby brine shrimp they come in a blister back of cubes. Also decapsulated brineshrimp eggs will work also. The object is to feed your discus food small enough to consume. One of the main reasons why live baby brine shrip is so effective and widly used is because that it moves in the water. The Fry are attracted to this movement. Thus means they take to food faster.

If you have the time to hatch out brine shrimp do it. Why arguee with a mothod that has worked for years and still works today.

Bill

[April]

yes Raymond get your eggs from brine shrimp direct. i hear their hatch rate is high
your may have been a lousy brand that dont hatch. try again. and put a bit of heat'. i used a light that was warm . or.......blend up some live worms to nothing like juice and feed it. bearing in mind you only have a few to feed so a drop at a time

[mench]

Ray,I currently have 11 fry on my pairs backs,this is from a pair that constantly eats the eggs...They mostly let them get to wiggler stage then it's lunch time.This time I covered the eggs and now have 11 little guys about the size of a dime.I don't use brine shrimp either,not much luck hatching them,I just take my frozen  beefheart and use a razor blade and scrape off some for the fry,so far it seems to be working ok,they are eating like little hogs.
I will post some pics later...
Good luck with your pair,they will get it right soon,I am sure,keep trying.
Mench

Hi Mench,

how old are your 11 fry now? just curious and size? approx.

I got my decapsulated brineshrimp eggs from brineshrimpdirect.com
pretty decent service, quick and responsive

Raymond

Hmm I have a problem,
my discus spawned last night and I also have 2 free swimming fry still eating off their parent's back and I'm feeding them Mike Reed's food and they're accepting that without problems,  so what should I do now? pull the 2 fry out? or keep them with the parents?
hmm

help?

Raymond

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

Hmm.  I'd think that if you pull them it could mess up this most recent spawn.  Do they seem to be paying attention to the existing young?  They are coming up on 2weeks now, right?  It's a good question, better left to more experienced discus folk.  Personally, I'd pull them and risk this spawn.

John

Hi John,
yeah it's almost the 2 week mark, the fry are starting to have a little bit of shape as opposed to just a line and a dit

I'm not too sure what you mean by paying attention, when the fry are eating off the parent's back they don't seem to mind but they swim around the spawn site and fan the eggs once in a while, not as often as when i had the cage the last 2 times

thanks
Raymond

[DarkDiscus]

Raymond,

I was just sort of worried that the parents would kill them to devote their time to the new brood.  If they aren't minding having 2 hangers on, you could leave them and see what happens.

John

[Pat_in_NC]

Cool Raymond! Keep us posted as to what happens.  It does sound like they're getting to be better parents each time.  As I understand it if they have a full brood on their back something inhibits them from spawning again.  In mammals this is a hormone produced by the mammary glands while a mother is lactating that inhibits further ovulation.  I wonder if the babies eating slime off the parents side has a similar effect.  I wonder do angelfish, which will sometimes care for their young rather than snacking on them, still spawn if they have a brood (since the babies of these related cichlids apparently don't feed on their parents slime it would be a test of this idea).  

By the way did you put a cage around the eggs this time?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goiku,

Dude, I went to Petsmart today and guess what I saw,

HIKARI "BABY BRINE SHRIMP"!!!  They do exist after all!

Sweet,
i don't think I saw any Hakari frozen foods the last time i went to Petsmart, although that was a while ago,

Here's a minor update,
I have no idea where the larger 2 fry went and the small wigglers are all gone = (

Hmm I guess this pair is doing better, I guess I'll let them keep going at it withoutu the cage, if necessary after a few more times I might try the cage method again

this time after 2 weeks I'll pull the fry out instead of leaving them with the parents (? just a thought)

thanks
Raymond

[jim_shedden]

raymond : i have really enjoyed following your updates...............keep them coming

jim

Hey Jim, thanks for the support

no new updates, they're eating well, and they should spawn soon =) almost on a weekly basis

where in canada r u located?

thanks
Raymond

[daninthesand]

Hi Gang :wave:

I just now finally finsihed reading this entire thread. Since I have never bred discus it was very exciting to read! I hope to have a pair breed, never mind, even get any viable fry at first. One step at a time!

Good job! :thumbsup:

[Pick]

Really enjoyed the thread Raymond!  Do you have fry again?  I went to your website hoping for more photos.  I did see the photos of the pair spawing on the flower pot.  I was wondering how you made the PVC cones and what you used for mesh as you described in your earlier posts.

TC

Ah crappy, my pair spawned again
this time I think everything should be good = )

Let see, I got the PVC tubes from home depot and the plastic mesh/grid (supposed to be some type of fencing, but I use it for everything now = ) )

PVC tubes came in 10' so i got the dude to chop the 10' into 2 so I could fit it inot my car, then used a saw to cut pvc pieces into 8 lengths or around there, then silicon glued it to a piece of slate (i think it's too small need bigger pieces)

let's see this time it's round 10 (8 days since last spawn)
the difference is the lights are not dim anymore(more like full blast) and the temp is lower int eh 82 ~ 84 degrees range, just did a 40% water change yesterday also = ) and they did it on the pvc tube thi s time = )

right now it's the female taking care of the eggs last few spawns it was mainly the male

wish me luck guys or I'll have to start feeding my male viagra = )

sorry no new pix, my 2 discus shipments from mike wells are awesome, they're starting to show patterns (red royal greens and the oriental leopards, well the alencerxwild reds are still brown no signs of straiations on the top, but i'll save the pix for another topic = )


Raymond

[Pick]

Raymond,

Could you possibly tell me the diameter of the pipe and post of photo of it and the mesh so I know what I'm looking for?

Thanks,

TC

Hi TC,

no problem the diameter of the PVC tube I'm using is 1.5"
but it doesn't really matter some people perfer a larger diameter, as for the mesh it comes in a 30' roll, hmm i'll try to be more specific, let me try to find the part/catalogue ## for u and u can ask the home depot guys to get it for u, it's usually in the gardening/fence department, it's has 1cm grid

thanks
Raymond

acutally I've got to re-read this whole thread again,
there's a lot of good stuff in here = )

[hanleong]

just a 5cent worth of suggestion

the other hobbists I've know in Singapore would normally bring down the amount of air bubbles to a minimum just days before the discus lay their eggs.. no other types of filters are to be used.

The reason being that the water in the tank will be more calm and therefore the success rate of the male fertislizing the eggs will be higher.

From what I have observed, these people normally have a hatch of about 150++ fries and the success rate of them growing up is about 80%

well.. just to share the info... I am also a newie and my first pair of discus have just spawn about 30 hours ago

wish me luck!

Hanleong, Singapore

[Discus_Lover]

Hello every body

Dropping the water level during the spawning process will not stress the pair?

Cheers
Tariq
:juggle:

Raymond: Took me a long time to read the whole story. One advice from me is to check the PH. Never let it drop below 5.5. IMHO that's why your fry disappeared. If you Have to drop the water level. Drop it slowly over the course of 7 days before free swimming. With a low water volume. The fluctuation of PH is high and it will sure kill the eggs. If you feed the parents at that stage. It will make the situation worse. Just bring it up with tap water. Water softness is not important after they have hatched. Just my 2 cents. HTH.

Tarig: It's not necessay to drop water level on Turks. They have no problem attachment. It is important for the lighter color stain and had problem attachment from previous spawns.

Terry: Use the grey electical PVC in Home Depot.

Jimmy.

[Smokey]

Great story;
Could not stop reading....
all you need for a hollywood movie; romance, suspense, missing characters(fry), on-the-edge-of the seat story..So, what has developed since ????

I need an update..

Hi all,
Was i enthralled! and did i love the thred! hats off to you guys, firstly for showing me that as an amature i can attempt to breed my discus and secondly for continuing the updates.
i have 2 amazing red turks that have paired but are only 13months, 3 10 month pidgen reds and 3 younger malbroughs.
after a few unsucsessful attempts to keep discus (having 8 years mix tropical experiance) THESE SEEM TO BE DOING FANTASTIC.
i hope in the near future i can live these experiances for myself.
Keep up the great work and threads.
gl all
Larry ;)

[Smokey]

Hi Larry;
I certainly agree with you. The people on SimplyDiscus certainly do take the mystery out of keeping the "KING OF FISH"..
My new discus are in the air right now; (coming from downunder) and I am excited....!!

I see a Canadian flag...come on over to the bright side...what is your location (?)..

Smokey

[larry lob]

Hi Smokey,
sorry mate the flag was a mistake god knows how it got there! I am from london england.
agreed the about the mystery but you got to appreciate the info and hopefuly it will help us make less silly mistakes.
take care.
Larry
P.S how do you sort the flag out ? lol ???

[ReeferKimberly]

ok this thread is about a year old.... i was reading it and i never got to find out what happened :( . anyone know??? it's like a discus movie :)
kimberly :-*

[Smokey]

Started to re-read this post. I can not believe it started back in April of '02... goiku asked for advice regarding discus/eggs/fry..You should start at page 1 for the complete story!!
Bill - offers some very good advice... very timely.
DarkDiscus - is right there, anxious as the rest of us.
Carol_R. has joined the discussion
April - good o'l pril...always on top of everthing. Remember back then she was just one of us.lol...
Smokey joined in the conversation - September/02: I remember I was so excited... I was awaiting my first shipment of discus.
Then suddenly.... nothing... as if everybody disappeared... no more updates from goiku..... wonder what happened{???}.
kimberly reserrected the post... thank kim.
But what has happened?????????????
did the leading characters quite?, was the movie cancelled??, what...what...what...

Smokey

[April]

heres what happened....remember...he lives near me.
he got all my marlboros from me..about 5 full grown ones all for the price of 50.00. much to glenns dismay and pat_in_Nc shock. as he loved them and thats why he got discus.again as he liked my marlboros.
Well....Raymond quit discus for now...after a few problems and hes very busy with school and work.
so.he sold or gave my marlboros to another person here.
then.she was moving and had them up for sale at a garage sale!!!!! selling them for 75.00 each!! so..i said those are my fish and i dont want them passed around to people who cant care for them. when i went to the garage sale.after taking off work...there were 4 of them there. two were in a corner shaking and pecking and ovipostor down. so i said i'll take those two. my other friend took the other two.
she is now laying eggs everyweek.
the male didnt fertilize or is not fertile. not sure. but i now have her with my male who has raised fry. another marlboro. Glenn is getting the pair. and maybe we can swap fry if he gets them going.
so.for now Raymond or goiku is out of discus. but im sure one day he will get them again when time allows.
me.....i bought the marlboros from mike and cary as fry. 2 inch. for 35 usd each and rebought them again for 75.00 each. and who said this was a money making hobby? lol. but well worth every cent just for the fun.

[ReeferKimberly]

ahhhh ok thanks a bunch brew!! now i can slide back into my seat :) . i read the whole thing and was very dissapointed to see it just come to a halt b4 the climax.
thanks again!
kimberly :-*

[Smokey]

WOW... what an ending.
Yet we got to see what a discus can go through, in its life.
so, the discus are back home and in good company. Wonderful rescue, April. Hang onto the screen rights.

Sorry to here of Raymonds demise from the wonderful world of discus.

Smokey

[April]

Raymonds specialty is planted tanks. and im sure one day when he has more time he will try again.
hes also limited for space right now .
but.he sold his 90 gallon tank.

[Smokey]

To who ???.

[April]

no idea
asked me if i wanted it..then never heard again. but he had it in the buy and sell. so im sure someone got it.
he had just bought it last may.