My home bred male with fertility problems

[LizStreithorst]

I figured that he was shooting blanks because every time his lady laid he made his runs and the eggs fungused. This has been going on for months and is very depressing to watch. The pair guards their eggs ferociously until the eggs fungus and they are eaten. I did as Al suggested and pulled the cone after the pair had done their thing, dribbled meth blue over the eggs and put them in a 10 gallon with an air stone bubbling slowly next to them and the eggs still fungused. This male is sterile. There is no denying it.

Since the pair spawns regularly and do all the right things, I've decided to make use of them as best I can. I have a stupid pair of Half Black Angels that give me a huge spawn every time, then eat their eggs the very next day. I have this silly belief that if a pair is too stupid to raise their own kids their too stupid to keep. But I really want babies from this pair. The male is a super veil and the female is stripeless. My plan is to wait until the Discus pair and the stupid Angel pair spawn at the same time. I'll take the cone away from the Discus and replace it with the cone from the stupid Angelfish's tank.

[danotaylor]

An interesting trial for sure Liz. And worth the effort too as you have nothing to lose. Are the cones with each pair the same size/color?Watching with interest...

[LizStreithorst]

No the cones are different. But I have two that are exactly the same that I just chloroxed that I will replace them with. Thanks for pointing that out.

[danotaylor]

No worries Liz. I hope the experiment works and you get fry from your angel pair. Do anticipate the discus would raise them? Or is the plan to use them as surrogates to fan the eggs until they hatch and then remove the fry once they are free swimming?
All the best in your effort Liz

[LizStreithorst]

I Hope that the discus will raise them. Al did this experiment first and I was sure it wouldn't work but it did. He showed videos of the Angel fry eating from the Discus' sides. I was blown away. Years later I tried it myself for reasons I won't get in to and it worked for me as well. When it works it's very cool to watch.

[danotaylor]

That's awesome Liz. I have never bred angel's, but I'm pretty sure they don't feed off their parents...do they? How unusual that they would do so with discus parents. I guess that shows us that it is the discus parents who teach their fry that behavior/ feeding strategy...interesting.
This is very cool! Thanks for sharing

[LizStreithorst]

No they don't, Daniel. That's why it's so cool. Discus must produce fry food that is irresistible.

[danotaylor]

Amazing. I hope you can show us! Good luck mate

[LizStreithorst]

I just have to wait until they have eggs at the same time. I for sure will post pics.

[ggillies]

I LOVE this experiment!!!! Can't wait to see what happens.

[LizStreithorst]

We're all going to wait until both pairs spawn with in a day or two of each other. I don't think work if I just took and plunked the cone with the Angel eggs in their tank. I have to wait until the Discus are in the mood.

[brewmaster15]

Looking forward to it Liz!

For those interested, the experiment Liz mentioned is here..

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...thread-renamed

It was a smashing success! Discus raised the fry as if they were Discus fry and the angel fry even fed off the Foster Discus a bit.

al

[brewmaster15]

We're all going to wait until both pairs spawn with in a day or two of each other. I don't think work if I just took and plunked the cone with the Angel eggs in their tank. I have to wait until the Discus are in the mood.

Liz, when I did it , I just plunked the cone in and screened it.. The sight of the wigglers triggered the parent bonding to the fry. .

al

[LizStreithorst]

Good idea. I'd never thought of screening the eggs and just plunking them in. That is what I will do!

[LizStreithorst]

Amazing. The Angel pair spawned yesterday afternoon a couple of hours before WC. After WC I dribbled meth blue over the eggs, put a cage over the cone, and put it in the Discus pair's tank. Before lights out the Discus were looking at the eggs with interest. By bed time they were fanning them. This morning they are still fanning them. I knew this pair wanted babies in the worst way.