Discus Breeding Newbie

[Raphael.dalmeida]

Hi all!

Today during my water change I had the surprise to see that one of my discus lay eggs on the filter intake of the filter.

Im not sure which one is the female or male and if they are fertilized or not and if they are good eggs. Looking for some advice here.

I have attached photos (sorry for the quality as my phone camera is not really good and there's a bit of algae in the glass).


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It seems like the turquoise is constantly fanning the eggs and doesn't allow the other discuses close to the eggs besides the one seen in the photo. In total there are 6 discus in the tank which is 60 gallon. These two discus are the alpha and betta of the group.

Im wondering whether the eggs are good and how to tell male from female apart.

Thanks!

[slicksta]

Congrats

If they are fertile they should turn darker in about a day.
Then you'll see them start to vibrate 2 days after that.
Don't be alarmed if they are suddenly gone... The parents often move them to a less visible area

If this is their first batch they'll more than likely eat them at some point... But at least you'll know you have a fertile pair.
Then you can do a lot of reading and set up a breeding tank

[Dee1958]

I also say congrats and I am not a discus breeder by any means, yet but I would go with what slicksta said as far as them being fertile, if there not fertile they will turn white and don't get rid of that algae if the fry do hatch they will eat that. Dee

[Dee1958]

How are those eggs doing

[Raphael.dalmeida]

Thanks for the help guys, I might try to setup something for them to breed as slicksta suggested, now that I know that they are paired.

Well, about the eggs, I got back from work today and the eggs were gone. I'd say they ate them, these cheeky fellas.

Although they seem happy today so I'd say they will breed again eventually.

Not sure if this is what triggered them to breed but ive been feeding them northfin gold as a staple diet and I decided to give them some thawed brine shrimp this week.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, hope they get back at it soon haha 😊

[LizStreithorst]

They may have eaten them because they knew that they weren't fertile. They can tell before we can. The main reason for eggs that don't hatch is water that is too hard. My eggs won't hatch in aged tap. They need me to adjust the water parameters before the eggs will turn into wigglers. Good luck.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Raphael, if you are serious about these two I would suggest leaving them in the current tank until they actually have wigglers which would confirm them as a pair. Since you have a PB and a non-PB pairing I would suggest you research this pair combination to see if you want to raise the fry should there be any. A PB/non-PB pairing tends to result in heavily peppered fry.
Pat

[slicksta]

I second, second hand Pat.
I wouldn't do anything until you get to the wiggler stage. You can have 2 females, an infertile pair or your water parameters are off as Liz pointed out.
Add to that... the first few batches they are learning and it's not worth the effort this early on.

[Lewjo11]

Confirming the pair is important. It's near impossible to confirm unless you see them in action. What I thought was a Male ended up being a female. I only found this out cause I saw her laying the eggs! Good luck to you. I would suggest to watch them carefully when they are laying the eggs! Also its possible they maybe be 2 female. Once your sure try to move them to another tank. I use a 29G. Tanks are cheap on Offerup app.

[slicksta]

Lewjo... It's great to catch them in the act as it's fascinating to witness, especially the first time. But it's not a necessity... Really all you need to see is that the eggs become fertilized which you know when they become wigglers.