Strangle your fish part 2

[roger]

Well after about 4 days alone in the tank the two love birds indeed did decide to make eggs. They must really have it in for me, 1st the decide to breed just as I go to move them into their new home.

Now comes the salt in the wound .. They decided to lay their eggs on the one place that I can barely see in the entire tank.

The tank wasnt setup for breeding in mind, but more to provide them some cover so that they could relax. A little drift was added to break up the flow of water from the canister filter. The pot just something else solid for them to play behind. Well they laid their eggs on the side of the pot that you can barely see from the front and if you look from the side you get a good view of the drift wood. ;D

Ill post a pic so that you can see or maybe not see the eggs. Its tough to get a good photo but I didnt want to snap to many pictures incase the flash scares them.

Basically follow the nose of blue and you can see the lightly colored patch on the edge of the pot.

[Denny]

hey roger,

cut the fish some slack, there are many people who don't want what they do in their bedroom to be posted on the internet! ;D

jk- best of luck with your fish.

denny

[DarkDiscus]

Roger,

Good luck! Maybe it's good that you can't see the eggs - you won't be as tempted to keep looking at them and disturb them!

John

[roger]

I looked in on them this morning and I could see the eggs better. Not because my eyesite was any better but most of the eggs looked to be white so Im guessing "dad" didnt do his job. It was hard to tell, but there may be a few that arent turning white. I should know more when I get home tonight. They must have just laid the eggs before I got home last night since blue still had the tube down.

Who usually takes care of the eggs, the male or the female?

Heres a clearer picture of the eggs/parents/pot

[allan_mark76]

Just a little note: Most of us here would kill for an opportunity to have discus pairing off and laying eggs. Give them a little slack and be proud of your achievements. ;D.

A-

[roger]

Got home from work yesterday to find the pot cleaned off, not exactly a suprise there. Ill be headed to the store this weekend for a couple of chunks of PVC to use as a breeding cone.

And yes Im happy to have a pair (and I say that losely) that doing the egg thing. I did find out that the red is a SS and the blue is a SSxBlue Turq cross. The fact that they bread in pure tap water is what makes me the happiest since my tapwater is about perfect for African Cichlids :)

Now if they can just keep it up, Im willing to let them have tank space for 6 weeks. If not then in they go into the community tank. Right on back to the dating game for them.

[Ryan]

Hi Roger,

Couple things... First, since your fish are smaller I am assuming they're young. As you said, the male might not have done his job. Or, it might not be a male (sometimes you have two females pair off and spawn).

Once the male does mature, they still might not have successful batches in Florida tap water. Guess you'll have to invest in an R/O unit next ;D

Ryan

[roger]

Ryan

There young alright, and Im not expecting them to get it perfect. Atleast not yet that is ... If the fish from Cary come in soon enough I can afford to leave these guys in the 29 or maybe move them to the 20H.

Since the eggs where duds I still dont know if I have a boy/girl pair or not. Any idea how many times I should let them breed before I put them back into the main tank?

The RO unit is on my shopping list, but I initially planned on waiting till february/march time frame purchase one. My fish will get the added bonus of the water. Im getting the RO so that I can get decent tasting drinking water! :bounce:

Of course I could lower the pH by running CO2 into the tank via the yeast generator. That generally brings the pH down to about 7-7.2. That wouldnt help with the hardness, but I can always try and see how things go.