AquaticSuppliers.com     Golden State Discus

Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Advice on "weaning" and meds

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    34

    Question Advice on "weaning" and meds

    I have a batch of about 50 fry that are feeding well on the parents slime coats and are also taking BBS. They've been free swimming for 7-8 days now.

    I've started adding "First Bites" to their diet - sparingly.

    When should I start transitioning to other foods?

    Also, I read about 30 day syndrome - is this a thing to pre-dose for or wait and only dose if there's a problem?

    Thanks in advance...

  2. #2
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Moselle, MS
    Posts
    13,060

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    What you should do to prevent it in the fry is treat the parents before they spawn.
    Mama Bear

  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    34

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    How is "it" contracted in the 1st place?

    Do you just assume that your fish have "it" and pre-emptively treat?

    Too late to do that now anyway, but thanks for the advice.
    Last edited by Just Bob; 09-08-2021 at 08:30 PM.

  4. #4
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Moselle, MS
    Posts
    13,060

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    All Discus carry at least a few parasites. The main suspects are cappilaria, hex and gill flukes. Depending on the condition the fish are kept in the parasites can reproduce to the point that the fish get sick. If babies are born with these parasites they will start getting sick and dying at 3 to 4 weeks
    Mama Bear

  5. #5
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    4,135
    Real Name
    Willie

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    There are several intertwined questions here, so my answer is also intertwined.

    The 30-day disease is usually gill flukes that transfer from the parents to the fry. Gill flukes live, as the name implies, on the gill and block oxygen uptake. In adult discus, the flukes are small relative to the size of the gills and are easily tolerated. When gills are tiny, the fry have to struggle for air. They breath more rapidly than adults, need to eat constantly to grow and eventually die from exhaustion. Prior to that, they'll struggle near the surface of the water due to slightly higher oxygen saturation. In my experience, the mortality rate from gill flukes is very high - often 100%.

    The best approach is to treat parents, particularly older pairs, to reduce the population of gill flukes. (Young pairs tend not to accumulate gill flukes.) I've tried various approaches, but never have had great success doing this. When the fry exhibit this behavior, I have been somewhat successful with a formalin dip. You have to watch the fry carefully and move them out of formalin as they start to roll over. This kind of harsh treatment is unlikely to be beneficial for development, so it's never something I'd do prophylactically. Nevertheless, I can usually save most of the fry with this approach.

    BBS is readily consumed by fry and the orange-ish belly can be very gratifying. However, fry will hardly grow beyond 3/8" on BBS. I wean my spawns onto minced beefheart between 11 - 14 days free swimming. Growth on beefheart is staggering compared to a BBS diet.

    The two approaches combined is my preferred approach to the 30-day disease. Wean your fry as soon as you can and cram them full of beefheart as often as you can. Fry will eat every hour or so, although I typically feed 5 - 6 times a day. Of course, you absolutely have to make huge water changes to prevent fouling - which you should do anyway to promote growth. The faster the fry grow, the better they will be able to handle gill fluke pressure.

    Hope that's clear, Willie
    At my age, everything is irritating.

  6. #6
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    34

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    @Willie, thank you for taking the time to reply and provide such detailed advice!!!

    This is a new pair, that I raised from 1.5". I guess they're now 18 months old and this is the first "litter" that they've got to free swimming after maybe 7-8 initial attempts.

    I've never had gill flukes on any of my fish in any of my aquarium (maybe I'm just lucky or have never seen them).

    I keep the breeding tank as clean as possible - 10-20% water changes every other day, wipe down, stress coat.

    The litter have been on the parents 8 days now, sounds like a few more days before I can start moving them to more "solid" food. Is the frozen beef heart any good or is it still too "chunky"?

    I feed my adults a huge variety of food, both frozen and dry and was planning on taking the same approach - variety. The BBS and Hikari First Bites are being taken well. But don't want to go too big too soon and cause problems.

    Again, thanks for the advice!


  7. #7
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    4,135
    Real Name
    Willie

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    They're clearly a young pair and you shouldn't expect to get the 30-day disease. Nevertheless, you should start shaving some beefheart to put in the tank around 12 days free swimming.

    You'll need to start with very fine shavings and it'll take them 1 - 2 feedings (less than a day) to learn to attack it. They'll continue to feed from the parents, but will look for food every time you approach the tank. You should also increase the amount of W/C to 50% daily.

    I usually separate the spawn from the parents after they consistently eat beefheart. At that point, you should be looking at 90% water changes.
    At my age, everything is irritating.

  8. #8
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    34

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    I guess I'll need to retire to look after them properly! :O

  9. #9
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    34

    Default Re: Advice on "weaning" and meds

    BTW, are the water changes a function of the saturation feeding of fry? I've never understood why it is we break the golden rule and overfeed like crazy so that fry will grow "at light speed". That makes no sense to me.

    I'm feeding BBS once per day and First Bites twice - at neither feeding am I going bonkers. The fry are growing nicely and as I add more "robust" foods to their diet I can't see me breaking the mantra of "feed little and often" rather than pollute the system.

    I dunno - having bred a lot of different things - cichlids and rams included - discus are certainly a challenge, but why break the golden rules?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress