Parents keep spitting the fry back onto the wall!

[NexusIcon]

Hey guys

Been a while since I posted - for those that remember (the tank is now home to only the pair of Discus, and one sneaky baby plec that managed to hide so will move him soon - stays out of their way behind the sponge though!) ((this post (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?107588-Preowned-Discus-and-tank-troubles&p=1020836&highlight=#post1020836)))

So - now we are on the 4th lay

Lay 1 - laid on filter inlet - fungus over run, all eaten

Lay 2 - laid on glass wall - four hatched, but got overrun with fungus - parents fought like mad with eachother after laying for a few days

Lay 3 - laid on glass wall, 15 hatched, parents moved them onto the filter inlet and nibbled at the fungus - once free swimming parents didn't stop grabbing them and spitting them back onto the site. This continued until one morning only 3 were left belly sliding - can only guess they ate them (was around 20 plec babies + mum and dad plec) .

Lay 4 - laid on glass wall, 30 hatched, not moved, and now trying to free swim but again they keep grabbing and spitting! Still fungus but parents seem to be nibbling to keep it down.

Just wondering if this is normal for a young pair, and they'll just learn eventually to let the babies go? Is there anything I can do?

Will share some photos soon!
Cheers,
Ste

[dillpickle]

My pair does that too. For me they eventually give up unless the fry are very far away from them. I think you will have better success with a fungicide like methylene blue. It will result in a better hatch rate and with the greater amount of fry, they should be able to over power the parents and go free swimming.

[Larry Bugg]

This is normal behavior. In fact it is normal for a lot of cichilds. The parents are just being protective. They want them controlled and don't want them swimming out into danger. As Dylan said they will eventually give up on trying to keep them there and the fry will all go free swimming and hopefully attach.

[NexusIcon]

Phew! :] thanks guys. I was looking into MB but I read something about it causing some illnesses so that put me right off =/

[NexusIcon]

Also - might be worth asking here - they're in a trigon 190, so the water level is 60cm high, I've read that it's good to lower the water level but I have a problem -

my external filter wont work with the water level lower as it starts pulling in air. there is a smallish sponge filter would say it could serve ~75ltrs running on air that has been in there a couple of weeks to aid it - will that be enough while they're raising the fry so that I can run the external filter in another tank to keep it going in the meantime?

[troysdiiscus]

its good to lower the level when they become free swimmers, I take water level down to just above fin level, helps fry to attach easier, then gradually raise the level...

[Larry Bugg]

I wouldn't worry about dropping the water level. We usually only do this when a pair is having unusual difficulty getting the fry to attach. Not normally necessary.

[Larry Bugg]

well there is more than one way to skin a cat. I've had a pair or two that I had to drop the water level to help with attachment but with the majority of spawns it has not been necessary. The times I did have to drop the water was with very light colored discus that didn't darken when spawning.

[troysdiiscus]

:thumbsup: gotcha that makes sense.
well there is more than one way to skin a cat. I've had a pair or two that I had to drop the water level to help with attachment but with the majority of spawns it has not been necessary. The times I did have to drop the water was with very light colored discus that didn't darken when spawning.

[NexusIcon]

These do go darker but unfortunately the tank is blacked out on the back/sides/bottom all the piping is black too! Not sure if that'll just confuse them even more? I have a bare tank waiting to move them into but they spawned just before I got it so can't move them yet :P

[Keith Perkins]

All black won't help attachment that's for sure. MB can cause belly sliders if it's present in sufficient quantity at free swimming. If you treat the eggs shortly after they are laid and do normal large daily WCs it's safe by free swimming time. Not sure it will increase your hatch rate but it will minimize if not eliminate your fungus.

[NexusIcon]

Ah ok that makes sense cheers! Will look into trying that next time then I'm doing pretty large changes already :)

So would I be ok to lower the water level? Leaving me with one smallish sponge filter?

[Larry Bugg]

Yes

[NexusIcon]

Hey!
So now three days after free swimming they have 7 fry left that are growing quite well it seems :) The pair are more comfortable with us being near the tank now too and come up to the front to greet us again :) Not too happy with the camera though :D

Strange but I'm very proud of them :D To say that they were so ill when I got them and now have little babies and have all but recovered from the HITH :D
http://i40.tinypic.com/16a2moj.jpg

Will try to keep you all updated!
Cheers!

[Keith Perkins]

With only 7 fry there's a good chance they will spawn again and then see the 7 fry as a threat and take action to eliminate the threat. If you haven't already started feeding live bbs and want the best odds of these 7 making it I'd get going on that.

Good luck with them.

[NexusIcon]

Ok so we moved the discus into their new bare tank with clear walls, it all went perfect, they had 4 fry left and still have 4 now havn't rejected them at all.

Now they're laying again =/ and this time it's on the heater. I've unplugged it, wasn't on it seems, but now i dont have a heater for them! What should I do? Can I just remove the eggs or just leave them running? Theres a shop local here that closes at 8pm but i dont drive :( argh! lol

they still aint rejected the 4 fry, the dad even picked up one form the other side of the tank and took it and spat it back onto the new eggs lol quite adorable

offered them brine shrimp no interest yet but the guppy fry chomped their share! :D

[Keith Perkins]

I would wipe the eggs off the heater and plug it back in. Is your heater vertical or horizontal on the bottom of the tank? It should be the later.