My discus have laid eggs! What now?

[BGK2]

Hey All,

2 of my discus have just laid eggs on the inlet pipe.
The eggs are orange in colour and they seem to be defending them.
They are in a tank with 4 other discus.

I have several questions as this is the first time I have kept discus properly / had eggs.
1) They have laid eggs on the pipe which is near the top of the tank, how do I change 90% of the water if the eggs are near the top of the tank?
2) Is orange eggs a good thing?
3) When can I expect them to hatch? or when will I know they will not hatch / are unfertilised?
4) Should I move the 2 discus into a separate tank? (I don't have 1 right now, but I can purchase one)
5) Any other things I should be aware of?

Sorry I haven't done much research in breeding discus yet as I did not expect them to breed so early.
I just saw the eggs today so I want as much help as possible, I will research all about how to breed them in these coming days.

Thanks for your help all

[Ryan925]

Hey All,

2 of my discus have just laid eggs on the inlet pipe.
The eggs are orange in colour and they seem to be defending them.
They are in a tank with 4 other discus.

I have several questions as this is the first time I have kept discus properly / had eggs.
1) They have laid eggs on the pipe which is near the top of the tank, how do I change 90% of the water if the eggs are near the top of the tank?
2) Is orange eggs a good thing?
3) When can I expect them to hatch? or when will I know they will not hatch / are unfertilised?
4) Should I move the 2 discus into a separate tank? (I don't have 1 right now, but I can purchase one)
5) Any other things I should be aware of?

Sorry I haven't done much research in breeding discus yet as I did not expect them to breed so early.
I just saw the eggs today so I want as much help as possible, I will research all about how to breed them in these coming days.

Thanks for your help all

First question is are you looking to breed and are you setup for it I have a female that lays eggs regularly. The male eats them but I am not looking to breed at the moment so I just let them be

[BGK2]

Hi Ryan,

Yes I want to try and hatch some eggs and raise them if I can.
I can set up another tank if I need just for the pair.

[Kyla]

ita a ton of work to raise discus and u will need more tanks for sure. u have lots of time to read up on raising discus, if they r a pair they wil lay again. if they r young and this is their first time laying they will prob need practice raising them, and they can practice lots in ur main tank while u make arrangements for a breeding set up, as its very unlikely the eggs/fry will last in a tank with other discus

[Ryan925]

ita a ton of work to raise discus and u will need more tanks for sure. u have lots of time to read up on raising discus, if they r a pair they wil lay again. if they r young and this is their first time laying they will prob need practice raising them, and they can practice lots in ur main tank while u make arrangements for a breeding set up, as its very unlikely the eggs/fry will last in a tank with other discus

+1. There is lots of good info here to read up on for breeding. You can take your time and educate yourself while getting what you need for breeding.

[Kyla]

you can move them with their eggs to another tank if u r very eager but sometimes the stress of the move causes them to eat the eggs (at least my guys did). i had a pair that laid really orange eggs, it was neat. all my other pairs laid lighter coloured eggs. orange is better than white but u gotta wait and watch for wrigglers to know if the fry are viable. i cant remember timelines but its easy to google the stages of development. my advice is to just let them do their thing and research for now, watch youtube vids etc.

[BGK2]

Hey thanks for the advice guys.
I'll keep doing my research, but for now can you tell me how I should do water changes? (as I have tried to find the answer here but I am unable to)
The only reason I want this answer now is I want to continue doing my water changes to keep the water clean.

The thing is that the eggs are near the top of the tank, so I can't really drain much water, otherwise the eggs will be out of the water.
Should I just drain some water, refill it, drain more water and refill it again?

Thanks guys. Still excited this has happened

[Kyla]

when my guys in the main tank lay eggs higher up i still wc as usual. it exposes the eggs. i do sometimes see the eggs hatch after this, maybe a lower hatch rate tho. this wouldnt be ideal if u were trying to raise the eggs, but dont worry cuz they will lay again. the parents usually just wait for the wc to finish and then go back to fanning the eggs. they could stress out and eat the eggs tho.

doing multiple wc sounds like a lot of work, esp since this is their first lay and u arent really set up at this point for raising discus. if u really want to keep the eggs can u disconnect the intake tube? if a portion of the intake remains u could cover it with a large porous sponge in the meantime so u can still run the filter.

[Second Hand Pat]

When I was trying to confirm a pair I would remove the eggs (on cone) to a small pitcher with clean water and do my water change. When I returned the cone to the same place after the water change the pair would return to fanning the eggs. I would suggest allowing the pair to confirm themselves (with wigglers) prior to separating them to a breeding tank. If the eggs turn white at about the 24 hour mark they are not fertile. The male could be too young (if it is a male). Were you able to see the breeding tubes?
Pat

[Kyla]

i am still excited every time my guys lay eggs. its so fun to watch their behaviour.

[Second Hand Pat]

i am still excited every time my guys lay eggs. its so fun to watch their behaviour.

I so agree with this Kyla. You always want the eggs to hatch.
Pat

[BGK2]

Well, the bad news is I came home today and the eggs are gone (eaten)
Didn't expect them to be successful the first time, but wanted to see if they actually hatched or not.
But even this morning the eggs were still orange. Does this mean they are fertilised? (I heard if they weren't fertilised, they go white within 24hrs)

Also, just want to confirm, eggs don't need to be constantly under water (e.g. I can continue to do large water changes even when the eggs are near the top of the tank)

Got time to do some studying until they breed again.
I am gonna buy a breeding cone and see if they will breed on that instead.

Thanks guys

[Kyla]

dont worry, u will see eggs again for sure. over time the discus get better at caring for them. wrigglers is ur guarantee the eggs are viable, i dont really know if u can assume that just because they were still orange. but orange is def a good sign!

sorry if i wasnt clear, i would not expose the eggs to air if u r planning to raise the babies. i have done this and have still gotten wrigglers but those were just eggs laid in my community tank which i knew were going to eventually be eaten anyway. once u have a cone u can easily move the eggs wherever u like. i picked up several really beautiful handmade cones from barb here on simply, and my discus laid on them constantly. they were like little works of art in my tank;

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...hlight=disgirl

[BGK2]

Thanks for the advice Kyla.
I'm pretty sure I've got another pair coming along. So I might even have 2 pairs out of my 6 discus.
Saw the new possible pair doing a dance, shimmering and cleaning a surface.

[Kyla]

love is in the air~