Parents getting really aggressive

[beekart]

Hey everyone,

I've been keeping discus for many years, but for the first time I've separated 1 of my pairs into a breeding tank (120ltr cube) .

They have been practicing in the community tank for so long i figured I will give them a tank of their own so they can finally have a chance.

The minute they got into their own tank, they immediately started spawning, they took excellent care of the eggs, wigglers, and now they have about 150 fry circling around them.

The fry is growing insanely fast (much faster as some of the reports I see logged around these forums/internet) - why that is.. I dont know!
But something that has gotten me worried is that it seems to take a toll on the parents.

Especially the male discus has gotten really aggressive, he attacks food that is thrown into the aquarium instead of eating it, he just lunges at it and try to make himself look as big as possible.
He takes on about 80% of the fry all of the time and once in a while he just shoots off to try and lose them for a second, but then immediately returns back in the school of fry to get them to re-attach.

I know this is normal behavior - it just seems to have gotten way more violent as the fry get bigger.

I've turned off the tank light too, to try and calm him down.

perhaps i'm worried over nothing! - Like i said this is the first time im breeding discus in their own tank, so most of this is all new!
In the community tank they never got further than wigglers,, before Mr. Pleco came by for a midnight snack.

Thanks for you help!

I've documented their growth from day one, so i'll add a diary at some point, figured that might be fun to see

[danotaylor]

Congrats on the successful spawn firstly! What strain is the pair? You didn't mention how old the fry are. Sounds like the male's slime coat is getting depleted to the point where it hurts to have the fry grazing on him continually. Are you feeding the fry as yet? If so, with what & how often?
If his aggressive behaviour is purely parental instinct you may consider covering the back & sides of the tank to decrease stimulation from the outside world.
If you are concerned for the safety of your fry you might consider removing the male back to the tank he came from.

[beekart]

Congrats on the successful spawn firstly! What strain is the pair? You didn't mention how old the fry are. Sounds like the male's slime coat is getting depleted to the point where it hurts to have the fry grazing on him continually. Are you feeding the fry as yet? If so, with what & how often?
If his aggressive behaviour is purely parental instinct you may consider covering the back & sides of the tank to decrease stimulation from the outside world.
If you are concerned for the safety of your fry you might consider removing the male back to the tank he came from.

Thank you very much for your reply.
I tried replying earlier, but I think my msg got lost or something.. didn't appear underneath yours!

To answer your questions!

The strain is a Red turquoise (how i bought them) but I think it comes closer to a blue turquoise discus.
The fry are 12 days since free swimming - 17 days since eggs.

I am indeed feeding the fry - but i think I'm not having a lot of luck with it.
I tried feeding Hikari First Bites - but i think they don't eat it.
I tried setting up BBS - but the eggs i used were too old, so barely anything hatched. ** i bought new eggs and started a fresh batch so I should have some tomorrow morning*

I feed the parents my homemade - shrimp + tilapia mix, and i think they might pick some of that when its floating in tiny pieces.. i dont see them try and a take a lot of food (the fry)

What you are saying could very well be the case, the parent is just trying to find a break of all the little buggers snapping pieces of him. They still hug/eat him (dad) more than mom.. dad just tastes better i guess?

I turned down the lights and that does seem to help with him lunching himself into the glass and stuff.

[beekart]

Today I have btw lost 4 fairly big fry .. I think its the dad killed them but im not sure... (killing them by squeezing them against the bottom or somthing in a rush)

[beekart]

Had to scoop out 12 dead fry this morning during a waterchange..

They started dropping off like crazy all of a sudden,,, 'Dad' has calmed down a bit tho.
I can clean the tank without him going off like crazy.

[danotaylor]

Sorry to hear that Roger. As I have followed others hear who breed discus and raise fry, it seems your experience is not unusual. I hope someone with more knowledge/experience chimes in to give you some advice. It could be that they haven't taken to the food offerings, butbi read somewhere here that gill flukes from the parents can also cause fry to die off at a certain point. You could start a fresh thread to find answers and a treatment plan??

[beekart]

Sorry to hear that Roger. As I have followed others hear who breed discus and raise fry, it seems your experience is not unusual. I hope someone with more knowledge/experience chimes in to give you some advice. It could be that they haven't taken to the food offerings, butbi read somewhere here that gill flukes from the parents can also cause fry to die off at a certain point. You could start a fresh thread to find answers and a treatment plan??

Thank you for your reply!

I have lost 2 more today, 1 that i saw that got smashed into the window by the dad, and 1 that was probably a cul - as it was smaller than others, so perhaps weaker.

I now see the fry try and take some BBS and also some Hikari First Bites when i soak it in water and squirt it near them.

Hopefully it gives the parents a bit of a break

[beekart]

Update.. I removed dad from the tank.

I'm quite sure he was just fed up with 90% of the kids hugging him instead of mom
Now mom is alone with the fry and they are doing really well, the fry have started eating from the bottom as well today.

I scooped out 4 more dead ones this morning and I think tomorrow morning will be a same story. Though, I think these are fishies that wouldve otherwise perhaps be culled.
They seem to not be able to fill their bellies, smaller and thinner than the others.

I think I will remove mom from the tank in a day, when i see everyone started to eat from the bottom!

[beekart]

I'm waterchanging about 150/200% a day.