Breeding High-Body Blue Turq Pair!

[Josho923]

Hi guys, I have a display tank with two high-body blue turqs that have paired off and laid eggs on a piece of driftwood! However, the tank is full of discus and other community fish. They are tending to the eggs, fanning them, and protecting them, etc. Assuming that they hatch and become free-swimming fry (which I am sure won't last long in the DT), I could try to move the parents (or the eggs?) to an empty tank and try to breed, but I was wondering: this was an unexpected pairing, and the parents are siblings. Having a very strong background in medicine and biology, etc., I have an enormous appreciation for the deleterious effects of "inbreeding" and resultant recessive disease/genetic defects, etc. Is the fact that they are sibs a deathblow or can you breed siblings with decent success? Both of these fish are gorgeous, so if they could produce viable offspring, I think it would be very worthwhile!

[John_Nicholson]

It is normally fine. It does depend on just how inbred they are. Most strains are produced with inbreeding so unless they are beyond F5 I would not worry about it.

-john

[Josho923]

Great, thanks John! I'm thinking about giving it a shot, but have no open tanks right now! In another tank I am already breeding electric blue rams and the other already has a bunch of Stendker tefes I'm growing out... maybe I'll be selling the tefes, ha

[Josho923]

The tank they could go in would be a 29 gallon planted tank. Has a waterfall filter currently, was thinking of adding a foam filter, so if/when they breed, I'd shut off the power filter and leave on the foam, which should be safe for the fry (using this technique for the electric blue rams). Any overall advice on artificially raising the fry vs. allowing the parents to do the job?

[zachrabbit15]

Watch turning the filter off and letting it set. It will go stagnant quickly. I would use this as a good opportunity to take it off and give it a thorough cleaning!!

[Josho923]

Thanks Zach, I couldn't agree more. I definitely make sure to clean them out and prevent stagnant water from returning to the tank, etc. when I restart filters after breeding. I've got it down to a nice little science that makes for fairly little work and a large range of different filtering options/water flow rates, and so forth.

I'm a very experienced aquarium-keeper, but have no experience with specifically breeding discus, so any advice is appreciated!

[Josho923]

Questions:

- Is there any utility to moving the discus parents and the eggs on the driftwood to an empty, already-cycled tank? I know most eggs do not transport well, dying when exposed to air for a even a few seconds. I also know that the parents usually eat the eggs if moved to a new tank after they've spawned.

- Is a planted 29-gallon tank an adequate size for a pair to mate in? I understand the concept of barebottom tanks for easier maintenance, etc., but am able to keep the NH3/nitrites/nitrates zeroed in a planted tank and would prefer to keep them in this with the system I use, which works very well.

- With other species like angelfish, etc., the total viable offspring yielded is usually much higher if you remove the parents from the eggs just before they hatch/become free-swimming (parents often "over-parent" and inadvertantly kill fry, also eat fry as they get a little bigger for evolutionary adaptation to available resources - supply/demand, etc.). Is this similar with discus? I have always assumed that it is not, and that the best success occurs with a dedicated tank where you leave the parents in with the free-swimming fry for their early life so they can be cared for and so they can feed on the hypertrophied slime coat early in life. If this is the case, at what age would you remove the parents?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[OC Discus]

The 29 with a sponge filter is perfect for discus breeding tank. Your best results will likely come from rehoming the plants and other fish, remove the substrate, add a cup of bleach to the tank and let it circulate through the filter you plan to remove over night. This will sterilize the tank and filter to prevent cross contamination of disease carried by the non discus.

After 8 hours drain the tank and refill with dechlorinated water. Let that run another 8 hours and drain again. Now your tank and filter are sterilized. Refill with warm dechlorinated water. The suction cups on the heater/thermometer can be damaged by 8 hour in bleach- better to do them in a bucket for a couple of hours and rinse well.

Now you are beginning with a new sterilized tank and hopefully a new sponge filter or one soaked in bleach, rinsed and dried. Your tank will be free from disease and parasites, but will not have beneficial bacteria. You will need to do at least 50% water change daily and dose with prime while the beneficial bacteria colonize the sponge. Also check ammonia daily to prevent harm to the fish. You could add beneficial bacteria in the form of tetra safe start to jump start the filter.

Also consider ro or buffer to adjust ph in the breeding tank. Others can say more about that.

Good luck.


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