jdhuyvetter
10-20-2016, 04:26 PM
Like the title says, I'm curious to know if anyone here has or is artificially raising discus fry. And why? Any tricks or lessons learned?
I used to long ago when I got started in discus. I had a 135 plant tank and just did not want to pull a pair out of the tank. I used the Wattley method for the food mix. I did not do the bowls with the food and lots of water changes. I set a breeding trap up on the side of the tank and put the food on the side of the trap. I darkened one end of the trap and smeared the food there. I would add food in the morning before work, clean it up and add fresh food after work and then do a final cleaning at lights out. Once I found a brand of Vietnamese brine shrimp eggs that hatched so small that the fry would take the BBS on the first day. Was able to raise a few batches without having to make the egg yolk mix.
Currently I have a 300 gallon plant tank that has 3 proven pairs. However, no success yet in raising fry up big enough to not be tetra or apistogramma food. So I pulled one batch this week and trying my old method again. Free swimming today.
Out of 21 fish, my two favorites paired off. That is the batch I am attempting to raise now. I would love to get one batch from each pair and then "cherry pick" a couple of the best fish from each batch.
The pairs are:
Rio Purus Royal Blue (blue with a red base) x Alenquer Red - current spawn
Rio Purus Royal Blue x Royal Blue (blue with a brown base)
Alenquer Red x RSG (sold to me as and F2, but looks more like a standard leopard)
I used to long ago when I got started in discus. I had a 135 plant tank and just did not want to pull a pair out of the tank. I used the Wattley method for the food mix. I did not do the bowls with the food and lots of water changes. I set a breeding trap up on the side of the tank and put the food on the side of the trap. I darkened one end of the trap and smeared the food there. I would add food in the morning before work, clean it up and add fresh food after work and then do a final cleaning at lights out. Once I found a brand of Vietnamese brine shrimp eggs that hatched so small that the fry would take the BBS on the first day. Was able to raise a few batches without having to make the egg yolk mix.
Currently I have a 300 gallon plant tank that has 3 proven pairs. However, no success yet in raising fry up big enough to not be tetra or apistogramma food. So I pulled one batch this week and trying my old method again. Free swimming today.
Out of 21 fish, my two favorites paired off. That is the batch I am attempting to raise now. I would love to get one batch from each pair and then "cherry pick" a couple of the best fish from each batch.
The pairs are:
Rio Purus Royal Blue (blue with a red base) x Alenquer Red - current spawn
Rio Purus Royal Blue x Royal Blue (blue with a brown base)
Alenquer Red x RSG (sold to me as and F2, but looks more like a standard leopard)