Another wigglers now what post

[GregMD]

Pretty new here (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...=1#post1371854).

Things have settled in my tank (I lost one fish that was very sick early on). Since then things have been stable, and the fish are growing.


So much to my surprise, about a month ago I found eggs on the rocks in the tank. They were all eaten a few days later. About two weeks after that they spawned again on a canister filter intake.

So I got the picture and separated them to a 29-gallon tank to spawn. They laid eggs within days again.

This time I have wigglers. I am trying to keep my expectations VERY low as I hadn't expected to ever breed discus, but I'm also excited to see what happens.

I have a few specific questions:

1. How often should I change water while they are wigglers before they are eating off the slime coat?
2. How often should I change the water after they attach and start eating?
3. Should I be feeding the parents normally during this whole process?
4. Anything else I should be thinking of?
5. Should I keep the temp anywhere in particular? It's 86 now.

My plan was to let them eat the slime coat for a few weeks, then get them on baby brine shrimp, fry food, etc.

Open to any and all feedback!

IMG_1721.jpgIMG_1721.jpg

[GregMD]

Separately can anyone tell me the trick to have pics portray in portrait? ^^^^^^

[GregMD]

Pretty new here (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...=1#post1371854).

Things have settled in my tank (I lost one fish that was very sick early on). Since then things have been stable, and the fish are growing.


So much to my surprise, about a month ago I found eggs on the rocks in the tank. They were all eaten a few days later. About two weeks after that they spawned again on a canister filter intake.

So I got the picture and separated them to a 29-gallon tank to spawn. They laid eggs within days again.

This time I have wigglers. I am trying to keep my expectations VERY low as I hadn't expected to ever breed discus, but I'm also excited to see what happens.

I have a few specific questions:

1. How often should I change water while they are wigglers before they are eating off the slime coat?
2. How often should I change the water after they attach and start eating?
3. Should I be feeding the parents normally during this whole process?
4. Anything else I should be thinking of?
5. Should I keep the temp anywhere in particular? It's 86 now.

My plan was to let them eat the slime coat for a few weeks, then get them on baby brine shrimp, fry food, etc.

Open to any and all feedback!

IMG_1721.jpgIMG_1721.jpg

One more question: Should I leave the lights on all night to help the wigglers find the parents once they are free swimming?

[brewmaster15]

Pretty new here (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...=1#post1371854).

Things have settled in my tank (I lost one fish that was very sick early on). Since then things have been stable, and the fish are growing.


So much to my surprise, about a month ago I found eggs on the rocks in the tank. They were all eaten a few days later. About two weeks after that they spawned again on a canister filter intake.

So I got the picture and separated them to a 29-gallon tank to spawn. They laid eggs within days again.

This time I have wigglers. I am trying to keep my expectations VERY low as I hadn't expected to ever breed discus, but I'm also excited to see what happens.

I have a few specific questions:

1. How often should I change water while they are wigglers before they are eating off the slime coat?
2. How often should I change the water after they attach and start eating?
3. Should I be feeding the parents normally during this whole process?
4. Anything else I should be thinking of?
5. Should I keep the temp anywhere in particular? It's 86 now.

My plan was to let them eat the slime coat for a few weeks, then get them on baby brine shrimp, fry food, etc.

Open to any and all feedback!

IMG_1721.jpgIMG_1721.jpg

Hey congrats! Thats a great experience you are starting Greg! You will find theres a bunch of different ways of doing this but heres mine.
1) I dont change the water while they are wigglers on the cone... I resume water changes as soon as they attach.
2) Once they attach I start with 30% wc per day.. more if large spawn... its important to use stable water .. for me I have to use aged water thats been aerated over night. I increase wc as fry grow ..Its not uncommon for 100% wc daily for a large spawn..
3) I feed the adults 1x a day when they are tending wigglers ..My goal is keep the water clean..Avoid messy foods if you can
4) when the fry go free swimming its sometimes helpful to drop the water levels to the just above the fish...its easier for the fry to attach... this is often really helpful with pigeons like. Yours.
5) 82-86 is fine.


I would start them on Bbs within a few days of them attaching. They will grow faster and be less likely to over eat on the parents.

Sometimes its also helpful to turn down the lights or partially block them.. bright lights can be an issue with attachment.

Good luck! I will be crossing my fingers for you!

Al

[brewmaster15]

One more question: Should I leave the lights on all night to help the wigglers find the parents once they are free swimming?

I do.

[GregMD]

So I now have lots of free swimmers. I have a seen a few hanging around one of the parents, many are swimming near the top of the water at the breeding cone, and others are just wandering around. I have lowered the water level to 50% (just a few inches above the filter output.

When should I take the breeding cone out?

Video: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d6p...LwAy8UIaf3c0GA

[brewmaster15]

You can take the cone out as soon as they all leave it.


What kind of filter are you using?

[LizStreithorst]

Congratulations to you. I was wrong about your water. Getting wiggler is a huge deal, even better when it from such a good looking pair!

[brewmaster15]

Greg, you can literally lower that water until the its just above the top of the pair... if you have a sponge filter it can be removed and stored for a day in zip lock bag left open. Leave the air bubbling.Doing these two steps will help the fry attach.. once attached you replace sponge and fill tank.

Do not feed pair at this point.. not until they are attached and feeding.

[GregMD]

Thanks Liz and Al.

Al I am using a box filter with seachem matrix and floss. https://www.jehmco.com/html/box_filters.html. I removed the uptube which reduces flow a bit and allowed me to lower the water level to about half of the tank. I would have stuck a sponge in there, but I didn't have a fine sponge handy that was cycled. I have some course sponges cycled but I was worried about the fry getting stuck in them.

Liz I think you were right about water (at least if you are talking about more frequently changing the water). I upped to every other day and have kept the nitrates below 10 and often around 5.

To be honest, I am very surprised about all of this. These fish have been in my home for 2 months, and I didn't expect them to be happy and breeding already.

I'm trying to keep my expectations low!

[GregMD]

Al, thanks, my message was sent before I saw yours. I'm removing and lowering now .

[GregMD]

So things keep progressing. I am SO expecting to fail because Dicsus shouldn't breed the first time on their own and be successful, right?

But they keep doing ok. I was actually away for 3 days this past weekend, so I added the filter back and filled up the tank with fresh water before leaving. I fully expected to return to no fry, but they were still there when I returned.

I changed the water on return yesterday and again this morning.

A couple of questions:
1. the dad seems to be eating sparsely, but the mom doesn't. Should I be concerned or do anything different?
2. The fry seem to wander all over the tank, and I get worried that they don't know where the parents are, but then when I change the water, they quickly find mom and attach. Is this normal?
3. I'm assuming I should try some first bites and baby brine shrimp tomorrow or Wednesday? That would be 5 or 6 days post free swimming.
4. Should I be doing any kind of preventative medicine, salt, etc.?

Thanks for all the help. Quick video update: https://share.icloud.com/photos/03b3...lJHcEuy9E-Q-Kg
Greg

[CliffsDiscus]

Breeding pairs sometimes would eat sparling, so feed what they can eat in a few minutes. It's normal for the fry to wander once they are not really depending on the parents. Fry can be fed 2 to 3 days after free swimming with BBS.
You might want to set up a grow out tank for the babies.
One last thing remove the babies if there any aggression between the pair.

[LizStreithorst]

Sometimes pairs are naturals from the get-go. You are lucky. Get your BBS going like Cliff said. Hoping for continued success.

[GregMD]

So at about 10 days post seeing wigglers we are still going strong. https://share.icloud.com/photos/05dM...XnFCxE8lSetkyA

I count about 20 fry. I am changing water 2x a day and started brine shrimp this week.