Questions for more experienced breeders.

Recently got back into discus. I purchased 8 4.5 inches red melon discus from Uncle Sam's discus and could not be more happy with the fish. A few days after acclimating a pair formed and laid eggs in my 125. I was very happy because I purchased the fish with the intent of breeding them. I took the pair out and moved them into a 29 gal. I am running the tank on air with one sponge and one water bottle filled with Fluval biological media. The water parameters are perfect (no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate). They laid more eggs on the breeding cone, but the majority went white and rotted away. Only four had gotten fertalized, so I took the cone out and cleared the eggs off so the fish could start again. This time I got ten eggs to hatch and go free swimming. However, upon hatching, the majority of the fry kept to the bottom and did not begin feeding off the parents. This persisted until today. I lost 3 of the fry, and only one has begun feeding off of the parents. The male discus uses his pectoral fins to remove the fry from his body, but the little bugger if persistent. I come home today to find six of the fry still alive, but a whole new batch of eggs on the breeding cone. So, I have several questions. 1: why arent more of the fry making their way onto the parents? 2: why did the fish lay more eggs? 3: is this just because my fish are new and need practice? Or is there something else I can be doing to get better results. Context, i have been told by local pet stores who use the same water company that the water is relatively hard. The ph comes out of the tap at 7.4 to 7.6. I am doing a 50% water change a day after feeding beef heart. The water is heated to the same temperature as the tank water (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Any input is appreciated. Not looking to raise the fry artificially.

HI Ricky,
Welcome to SimplyDiscus! and Congrats on your new Fish from Uncle Sams.

If the pair only has a few fry they will lay eggs again and eat the few fry that survived the last spawn. Its a survival mechanism. It takes alot of effort for them to raise their fry and if there aren't enough to make it worth while and trigger parenting they will not raise them. It sounds like your pair is still young and the male is probably inexperienced. I would just let them keep practicing if you want to breed them. It may be better though to put them back in the main tank to grow some more. If they actively start breeding now they will sacrifice growth.

Red Mellons can be a problem to breed in higher pHs, You may want to lower the water to just above their backs when the fry go freeswimming if you choose to bred them now. It may help the fry attach.
Hth,
al

Thank you so much! Your advice is very helpful!