Do you ever have to worry about divorce with a discus pair?

Hi,

My name is Steve and I'm a long time reader here but have not posted much.

I have kept fish for many years but never had a pair of discus before. I picked up a pair of white carnation's that are roughly M6.5-7", F5-6", and very clean.
They were in a friends tank with 8 others when they paired off and started to breed and causing issues in his show tank. He told me they did have wigglers once but did not last very long due to tankmates. They spawned at least 10 times for him and took a hiatus for two weeks once they hit my tank after the move. since then they have spawned every 5-7 days for the past 3 1/2 months. roughly 15 times and every time the wife eats the eggs in less than 2 days. I do see eggs a couple at a time turn kinda white like an unfertilized egg but not really fungus at least before she eats it. Right now they are in a 90 gal and I plan to move them to a smaller tank once I can get moved myself. I know the water here is quite hard and have read that this can either create a case on the egg to stop fertilization or can also not allow the fry to hatch. My friends water was also hard but probably not as hard as mine.

My question is,

they are lubby dubby all the time and a pleasure to watch move around the tank, but I'm worried they could turn on one another or stop breeding completely due to the failures. Should I worry with discus? I've bred many fish over the years and would like to take this on soon but its not possible in the short term. maybe 3-4 months.....

I'd rather sell them on to someone then let their passion dissolve, if it's going to be a problem down the road.


Thanks,
Steve

It can happen but there's no reason to worry about it unless it happens with your pair. IME they are most always loyal to one another.

That makes me feel better!

Thanks,
steve

I agree with Liz, especially in the absence of another discus to leave the relationship for. You could try putting a cage over the eggs to keep them from being eaten? Sometimes it takes time for a proven pair to settle and get it right again after a move as well. I reckon they'll come good if you're patient :thumbsup:
Some pics or vid would be nice :p

Make sure that your water parameters are conducive to hatching, as well.

Thanks for the replies,

Once I find another good hosting site for my pics I'll take care of that dan!
still pulling from photobucket to be honest so I have my old stuff..

Liz,

Can you be more descriptive on water parameters? Is there truth to hard water causing eggs not to be fertilized or stop the fry from hatching?
I think it is from what I read but have no experience to back it up. Most of my breeding has been with African cichlids and plecos so never had an issue with hard water.

They spawned again last night which was only 4 days since she ate them. I've watched them and he does go over the eggs to fertilize after every pass she makes laying them. I was concerned
because it has to take quite a bit of strength for her to keep this up over and over again. She produces about a 2x3" patch and then patrols but never leaves the area. always in the same place on the glass high in the tank. Will you see any cloud/milt when the male fertilizes the eggs cause I do not and started to question his ability if it's not the water causing the issue. But from experience all the fish I have bred I've never seen a cloud/milt like you would from say a salmon.

I plan to put them in a smaller tank to make it a little easier to soften the water once I get through a move.

Thanks for the input and we will see how this goes.

Steve

I can't see any milt coming out. Males are often slower to mature than females but if he's making passes he's either producing sperm or is well on the way.

Hard water can be a problem. Can you post your pH, kH, gH, and TDS? My shop doesn't have a TDS test probe, but some stores might. If you don't trust your test kit the fish stores often do this for free. It's the kH that and TDS that most often cause the problem with hatching. If you've bred Africans in the past your water may well be too hard for hatching Discus eggs.

Steve you can post images <2mb directly to SD from your computer or smart phone using the image tab shown here. When you open the tab it gives you the option of loading from your computer or device, or a URL from a hosting site. It's a great feature in this forum!
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Thanks to both of you with quick answers.

I'll post some pics hopefully later tonight just so I can also find out how clean these fish really are.
I had no idea the site was set up that way, most need another site and only a link pasted into this forum

I do not trust the test kit but will see if I can get it checked through lfs. But I know the water is hard from every time I have tested it with multiple kits.
Where they did breed and produced wigglers at my friends house the water was also hard, but probably not at the level of their current home. that's why I would like to try to lower it in a smaller tank once I have the space to do it.

If I can't then I'll probably just enjoy the 2 lovebirds in the 90 gal as long as I can!

Thanks again,
Steve

No worries mate! Sounds good, looking forward to seeing your love birds :thumbsup:

I will get some better pictures but this is all I have right now.
and yes I'll clean the glass before I take them :)

I think they are pretty clean, but I'm a novice discus judge and I'm interested in your opinions.
They have been on a long honeymoon I tell ya

Here you go,

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Generally cichlids will not eat their eggs unless the eggs are bad and they will know before you do, what does their diet consist of

Jeanne

They're a nice clean looking pair Steve. Definitely worth working with if you can get them doin the biz'. Failing that, a nice pair to enjoy watching! Well done getting the pics up mate :thumbsup:

All the thanks go to you Dan for helping a newb here :)

Jeanne,

I hear you on the eating. I'm hoping its the hard water stopping them from getting fertilized! I believe that to be the case because the eggs turn a whiteish but only a few at a time.
IE: as the eggs turn and get eaten in reverse order of being laid until they are all gone.
The patch gets smaller and usually they are all gone in < 30 hours...

they have colorbits as a staple and they also get live blackworms, frozen bloodworms, and spirulina.
He's a pig but she is very polite if you know what I mean.


along time ago when I was first introduced to discus there was a breeder 10 mins away called Apple Valley Discus
I had never seen discus this big and she had babies in bowls everywhere in her fish room. However, this was short lived because they were moving to virginia within the next month. I offered to buy whatever she could not bring with her so I ended up with a 100 dimes to put in this same 90 gal tank. She was the one that told me to just feed them colorbits like a dog and provide some treats every now and then. From what I could see in front of me, I followed her recommendations to the rule and I only lost a couple and ended up keeping 25. this was the most beautiful tank I think I've ever had. I don't remember the name but they were the solid blueish green with red eyes, I think they are called Mercuries today but you guy's would know more than I.

Thanks for all the input,

And Hi Al in case your reading this, it's been a while since I've been down to visit and I hope you and your family are all doing well!


Regards,
Steve

Haha, cool Steve, and it's my pleasure to help when I can, but despite being a hobbyist for nearly 40yrs keeping and breeding a little bit of most things, I am still a newb when it comes to discus. Looking forward to tracking your progress with this pair. Love to see a full tank shot of your 90gal when you get a chance! Peace mate :thumbsup: