Pair formed; Moved to new tank- What's next?

[sumer]

Hi all,

I have a batch of 15 wild discus that lived in a 210-gallon tank. I had acquired them in march 2022 from an importer.
Fast forward to March 2022 when I started seeing a few pairs form. One pair, in particular, was late to form but kept laying eggs almost every 6th day. One time I even think I saw a wiggler from that pair.

So, recently, I decided to pull that pair out to a different tank. I put them in a 40-breeder tank with a cone. Initially I put them in the same water as the tank but a few days later I started mixing some RO water in the tank. Now the tank’s parameters are as follows-
Temp- 80F | pH 6.7 | Kh 45 ppm | Gh 60 ppm

The tank is surrounded by three sides with brown/black paint or paper. I haven’t put any lights on it either. I have been giving them live blackworms and white worms since they came to this new 40B. And, they eat everything during the night.
However, they stay nose down for the rest of the day. The tank is bare bottom with a plywood as the base.
What would you all suggest I do to make them feel more comfortable and start spawning again in this new tank?
The new tank has a sponge filter running in there.

[dagray]

put some driftwood in the tank or something for them to hide behind. they are being shy due to a new environment.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Sumer, how long have they been nose down? Too me it sounds like they ate too much. Also did you keep the temp at 80 in the large tank?
Pat

[CliffsDiscus]

Since this pair spawn in the large tank you might want to duplicate the same water parameters. By the way are you feeding yogurt to the white worms?

Cliff

[sumer]

Hi Sumer, how long have they been nose down? Too me it sounds like they ate too much. Also did you keep the temp at 80 in the large tank?
Pat

They usually swim normal when I see them in the camera (I have a camera close to the tank) but go nose down when I am in the fishroom.
Yes, the temp was 80F in the main tank as well.
Meaning, the temp hasn't changed from the main tank to the breeding tank. Only the water has gone soft.

I have been reading through your thread and I learned one thing in the first 10 pages or so- do frequent water changes. So I did a water change last night and the female was staring at the cone after it.
I also added a driftwood to the tank and that seems to have helped a little!

[sumer]

Since this pair spawn in the large tank you might want to duplicate the same water parameters. By the way are you feeding yogurt to the white worms?

Cliff

I did keep the same parameters for about a week before starting to perform water changes with soft water.
Yes, I do feed them with yogurt and wheat bread. Why do you ask? Is that a cause for concern?

[CliffsDiscus]

In an overview when the Discus pair were spawning by moving the pair the spawning cycle was broken. Each pair is different as to when they will start their spawning cycle again, but since the female is interested in the cone its a good sign. As for the concern of using yogurt with the white worms it can add too much fat to the Discus which would make the fish sluggish, just use water on the bread.

Cliff

[sumer]

In an overview when the Discus pair were spawning by moving the pair the spawning cycle was broken. Each pair is different as to when they will start their spawning cycle again, but since the female is interested in the cone its a good sign. As for the concern of using yogurt with the white worms it can add too much fat to the Discus which would make the fish sluggish, just use water on the bread.

Cliff

Thanks for your suggestion. I usually add low fat yogurt but I will refrain from using yogurt now. Just water and bread.