I hatch rams ...

[LizStreithorst]

It ain't so.

[coralbandit]

It ain't so.

It made no sense to me ! Thank you ..In a world of insanity and ' fishy rumors/myths ' I hadn't even heard that one .. I am a pretty good person to outright decide whether I believe something or not but thought you guys knew for sure ..

So here are the 2 sets of discus I am raising .The oldest [1/1/20] and the newest [2/1/20] who are still with mum and pop !

[LizStreithorst]

They're doing fine. I did notice mama getting angry at one of her kids and taking a bite at it. It's time to give that pair their own home.

If you're just wanting to breed them to sell them and do it again, expect the best ones to be purchased first from local folks. If you're planning on making a project of this you will want to keep the largest and roundest as well as the same number of smaller but still round. Then let them grow, give them a hard look in a month and select again. Remember, it takes around a year for a discus to raise sexual maturity. Discus breeding is a very long term project.

[coralbandit]

I saw her take food right from a fries mouth when I watched the video . You know as soon as I separate them they will breed again don't you ? I mean I think I am willing to see them all not happy with each other before I separate !
The outright chasing towards the bottom of the tank is the parents after the cories !
The male suddenly decides they are the devil or something and chases them away like it matters !
I have left the divider up in the tank this whole time incase I have to move the fry so I could separate the pair but that really breaks my heart ?
That and the 7 week old fry will hav to go to the 65g so the younger fry can have the 29 ..I see a cycle thing here ..
I do not want to grow out discus just to sell in any way shape or form ! I have always wanted fry ASAP in my hands and tried to keep the fish I sell as long as possible as I feel I will grow them better ?
If others can't grow my discus at the size I sell them so be it . I am not looking to be a discus breeder of that scale ..Too many of them already ?
Me and rams , we got a thing going on .

[danotaylor]

They look great Tom! You're doing an awesome job raising them. They're nice and plump but not fat, they should reach there shape and size potential as you continue as you are! Good job mate!

[coralbandit]

So I think I have some decent and different results with the pitch black rams from the last breeding's.
These breedings bring me closer to lock in the black .Here is what is different though .
The first batch 12/29/19 I lost most of but ended up with maybe 40 gold and black .I artificially hatched these guys since they were my newest pair .I did not know then who these guys were...
On 1/13/20 the same parents spawned again and as the fry grew I quickly realized a drastic change from before ! I got like 25% gold instead of 50/50 . When I realized that I separated the golds from the 40 I had in a dip and pour and gave each the black and gold their own tank . These two fish are growing at the same rate basically even though separated .
I am now however noticing with the younger group who is still with their gold siblings [only 25% of the herd] that the golds are larger .In compare to other fry the 1/13 blacks are on pace so the golds are just growing faster I guess ? They will be separated when they get moved I guess now ?
Painful as they are here are some pics of the 12/29/19 pitch blacks showing a real serious color coming on

[danotaylor]

Great job Tom. Those guys are REALLY black! By "locking in" do you mean creating a genetic line that produces 100% pure black fry? Is it the crossing back process that achieves that? So cool what you're sharing mate. Thank you!!

[LizStreithorst]

I'm not Tom, but that's what he does. He makes a strain more to his taste by selecting what he wants and breeding them together. It's way easier with rams than Discus because the kids reach sexual maturity so much sooner than Discus. It makes it easier to follow his progress. I love seeing what he does. He has an excellent eye.

[coralbandit]

So it has been forever since I posted on this thread ..
Rams are great and my Santarems are growing like discus should ..
I wanted to go to DiscusMadness today and actually had this trip planned for over a month .
I was only waiting to meet up with some buddies but you all should know why this did not happen today .
DM was open but you could not go in .They are either shipping or you can pick up at the door .
I don't mind getting fish through the mail for auctions and such bt when it comes to rams ,discus and some fish I need to see them to buy them .Not a picture but the fish I am going to choose .
So with all of NY going into shut down mode and only essential people even being able to go to work after tomorrow I still really wanted some discus .
Luckily my LFS just got a shipment of 20 @3 inches from Hans so I headed down there this am to see what they had .
Came home with 2 Diamond Blues that had some nice color , 2 German Wonders and I think 2 what they call Brilliant . I was thinking they were Leopards but not so sure now .
My LFS had all 20 in the same tank and I had to ID them off his purchase order and Hans site ! My LFS always just gets 2 of each so I took both and will hope for the best .I got 2 pair last time I got from him so ...
As of Friday I am 'essential' so will still be working [pretty safe up on a roof] but in case I get stuck home I can hang with my new guys .

^I think German Wonder ^

^ Bad shot of the Blue Diamond^

^ what I thought was Leopard but now leaning to Brilliant ?^
Not sure how these fish have hooked me ,maybe in my sleep but you got to be in it to win it and I play to win ..
None of them are perfect discus thanks to you guys and this site I saw some flaws right in the store like not a solid red ring around the eye of the Blue Diamond and such but they are good enough for my second go at growing out someone else discus .
Who doesn't love new fish ,especially when they all come from store credit ! I lefty with $24.74 on my gift card ..
I told them they need to order some rams !

[LizStreithorst]

You might be right, but I see the first and last being turks of different styles. The one in the first pics looks stressed. I like the blue diamond best of the bunch. But your pics are a little dark and I'm only seeing the fish from one angle.

Tom, you really need to go to a NADA. You will meet people who you think the same way you do about quality fish. Good luck with these. Be sure to QT well.

[coralbandit]

Thanks Liz . They are in their own 65g that I added a pair of rams to make them more comfy ..

[LizStreithorst]

Sounds good.

[coralbandit]

All my fish get their own tank ..Kind of a cheaters way to get more tanks and QT !
Hopefully I can a video of these guys tomorrow..Just throwing blood worms and FDBW at them as much as possible now .
I think they just arrived at LFS yesterday but I feel different about leaving fish in stores to see how healthy they are .
IMO they were there a day too long already ~!

[LizStreithorst]

I agree. Personally, I would buy from pics from a breeder or distributor before I would buy from my beloved LPS even though when I take them my reject Discus they care for them well. They say that I nitpick my fish about things that they would never have seen had I not pointed it out to them.

[danotaylor]

Nice one Tom, I'm sure you'll do great at raising them...the pair you raised are awesome!