Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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?
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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Goiku,
Dude, I went to Petsmart today and guess what I saw,
HIKARI "BABY BRINE SHRIMP"!!! They do exist after all!
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
raymond : i have really enjoyed following your updates...............keep them coming
jim
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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:
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re: Discus Pair about to breed
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 = )
Re:Discus Pair about to breed
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
Re:Discus Pair about to breed
Hello every body
Dropping the water level during the spawning process will not stress the pair?
Cheers
Tariq
:juggle:
Re:Discus Pair about to breed
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.
Re:Discus Pair about to breed
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..
Re:Discus Pair about to breed
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 ;)