Frank's F1 Growouts from Wild Parents - A Pleasant Surprise!

[fljones3]

Thanks Cliff. I am thankful for their growth.

Awesome, all look uniform in size and shape.

Cliff

[fljones3]

A compliment from Cliff is like winning a prize. One day I hope to get one myself.

[fljones3]

Thanks Daniel.

You've done a magnificent job Frank. Very well done sir!

[fljones3]

Thanks for the high compliment Joe.

I think you should be very proud on how they're turning out Frank. I would love any of these guys in my tank to raise as beautiful adults. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience with us on here.
Enjoy the spoils of your labor.

[fljones3]

Thanks Pat. I will be looking for the blue. There are hints of color in most of the discus.

Growing fast Frank and boy they look good. I think I am seeing a hint of color in some eyes. You may see some blue start to show up in the fins near the tail.
Pat

[fljones3]

Someone asked me about my feeding regiment so I thought there might be some profit to post on this thread (I edited my comments to their question). There are various approaches to feeding fry and young discus. When I first got back into discus I struggled on the amount to feed. It's not perfect but it might be a good starting point for others.

For the fry, I was 100% BBS from the beginning. It was not until after 3-4 weeks I began the D-50 Plus baby pellets. Sometime around 4 weeks, I started FDBS fines after soaking. What is below is my present regiment at 10 weeks of age.

I really like the Tropical line of foods for discus. I use with the fry -- Tropical D-50 Plus baby (they beginning to transition away from baby to regular pellet size), D-50 Plus pellets, ProDefense S, and Al's FDBW with spinach. I never could get them to eat a veggie flake or pellet so they get their greens with the FDBW. I purchase Tropical from here, https://kensfish.com/collections/tropical-fish-food. They are hard to find in the States and frequently run out of stock.

My present feeding regiment is approximately every 2 hours for 6x, starting at 7am. I have been doing 6 feedings from the beginning. Presently, I portion out 2, 1/8 tsp of pellets (or a total of 1/4 tsp) each feeding. That's for 20 fry. I was more strict when they were smaller but now, if I am away from the house they may miss a feeding. As you can see, the D-50 Plus has been the stable ever since weaning off BBS. They aggressively eat the pellets within 15-20 minutes.

7a - ProDefense S
9a - D-50 Plus
11a - 1 cube FDBW
1p - D-50 Plus
3p - 1 cube FDBW
5p - D-50 Plus

I use the same regiment of foods with my adults but only 2-3x a day with different amounts.

[fljones3]

A few close ups. Looks like I will be down to 8 soon.

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[danotaylor]

Very nice Frank...especially love how the shape is developing in the fish in the last pic...has a strong chin, has nice red tones emerging in base of the dorsal & anal fins, and is rounding out beautifully...definitely a keeper there

[fljones3]

Thanks Daniel.
I think the last two pics are the same fish. Might be mistaken, they move around and I lose their location.

Very nice Frank...especially love how the shape is developing in the fish in the last pic...has a strong chin, has nice red tones emerging in base of the dorsal & anal fins, and is rounding out beautifully...definitely a keeper there

[fljones3]

12 of the fry left for good homes this past week. Tank is looking a little "lean."
A quick picture of the remaining 8. Kept various sizes. I hope to grow them out and get a at least 1 pair like their parents.

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[peewee1]

What process did you use to chose the elite eight? And how did you sell the dirty dozen? What was the fate of one with the bad gill?

[fljones3]

Hi Norm. The short-gill is still living and cared for.

I sold them to buyers who traveled in to pick them up. How did I pick the 8? I could say that it was the ones I could catch. lol! These babies are fast! In seriousness, I chose a variety in sizing as I mentioned. Shape and straight bars came into the selection too. They were all nice fry. I would have been pleased with any of them.

Frank

What process did you use to chose the elite eight? And how did you sell the dirty dozen? What was the fate of one with the bad gill?

[peewee1]

Hi Norm. The short-gill is still living and cared for.

I sold them to buyers who traveled in to pick them up. How did I pick the 8? I could say that it was the ones I could catch. lol! These babies are fast! In seriousness, I chose a variety in sizing as I mentioned. Shape and straight bars came into the selection too. They were all nice fry. I would have been pleased with any of them.

Frank

Frank, did you use Aquabid to find the buyers?

[fljones3]

No, they were sold to members of this forum.

Frank, did you use Aquabid to find the buyers?

[danotaylor]

Nice one Frank! Looking forward to continuing to track the progress of the ones you kept. What are you feeding these days?