Discus laid eggs!!!

[Tanja]

Okay, long story short, all of my discus were in a quarantine tank for about a month and I moved two of them home into a 90 gallon tank 4 days ago and now I have eggs!! Has anybody kept a breeding pair in the same tank with other discus before? Will there be too much aggression now if I re-unite them? I don't want to make the others homeless... so what should I do? Any ideas or stories to share, anyone?

[DiscusDish]

So cool! Is this their first time? What strains are they? Maybe sometime you could breed them for fry?

If you don’t want aggression, remove, scrape off the eggs. The parents will eat them and once you add the other discus back they won’t have anything to protect/be aggressive about. This has worked for me when my pairs get really aggressive. I had a pair that was so fearless they would lay eggs in a community tank and guard the eggs like there is no tomorrow. :)

[Tanja]

So cool! Is this their first time? What strains are they? Maybe sometime you could breed them for fry?

If you don’t want aggression, remove, scrape off the eggs. The parents will eat them and once you add the other discus back they won’t have anything to protect/be aggressive about. This has worked for me when my pairs get really aggressive. I had a pair that was so fearless they would lay eggs in a community tank and guard the eggs like there is no tomorrow. :)

That sounds like a good idea. They're brilliant turquoise from Discus Hans! I got them directly from his store in Maryland. I actually thought about keeping only this pair and giving away the other 4. But I don't want to take them to a fish store to die. I didn't even know I had a pair while they were in quarantine LoL!

[cooper666]

Consider if you really want to be a discus breeder. Its quite a commitment, if you want to make good fish.

My fish have just started spawning in my tank and they're not especially aggressive at all. I've got 2 females that spawn with the same male? (sex not definite). There are 12 discus in my tanks. The first three batches of eggs got eaten after 24 hours, the latest are approaching 48 hrs and are still being cared for. Really I'm not that excited, if I ever see wrigglers from a nice pair I might consider setting up a breeding tank, just to try and make myself some trophy fish (if i can) but it would be lots of work.

Good work anyways, chances are they'll keep at it laying again and again.

[danotaylor]

It really depends on the pair Tanya. I had a pair in a 125g with 6 other adult discus that were very intolerant of the other fish coming near them when spawning. The first time they had wigglers they actually killed a 6" red panda in 3 hours while I was out. I divided the tank and hated how it looked so I tried reintroducing them to the group after 3 months. It didn't work out and I had to sell them. I had another pair form and spawn regularly in the same group and happily coexisted with the others. You'll just have to give it a go and see what happens to know with your particular pair/group. You can buy fancy clear acrylic dividers that are more aesthetically pleasing than the ugly egg crate I used. Lol :D

[DiscusDish]

Good luck. ;)

[Mando]

Congrats, Tanja! how's deadilus doing?

[Tanja]

Congrats, Tanja! how's deadilus doing?

Thank you, Mando! He's colored back up fully this week. He's the male in my breeding pair, can you believe it! :)

[Mando]

Thank you, Mando! He's colored back up fully this week. He's the male in my breeding pair, can you believe it! :)

awesome! that's good to hear. You should have wigglers by tomorrow. How are the eggs doing?

[jeep]

Is that the jumper?

[Mando]

Is that the jumper?

Yep! Incredible, isn’t it?

[Tanja]

Is that the jumper?

LoL yes he is Brian! I cured him with 3x daily water changes and fritz guard. No salt since they had been through so much of it already. :)


You should have wigglers by tomorrow. How are the eggs doing?

They were eaten by the next morning unfortunately. They laid again and today they were gone again LoL!

[LizStreithorst]

To me the eggs in the photo look white already. Could be that your water is too hard for them to hatch.

[Tanja]

To me the eggs in the photo look white already. Could be that your water is too hard for them to hatch.

That is a possibility. My GH out of the tap is 5 and KH is 1-2.

[LizStreithorst]

That should be OK. Do you know your TDS?

[Tanja]

That should be OK. Do you know your TDS?

It's 138 out of the tap. In the tank it's 240 due to evaporation and seachem prime, I think.

[LizStreithorst]

That's a little high. Normally the TDS should be below 90 for eggs to hatch. But every water is somewhat different there are no hard and fast rules. They'll lay again in a week or so. Let us know how the eggs look after 3 days.

I always assume that people want to raise fry. If that's what you want to do, you may need to mix RO or rain water with your tap. If not your water is just fine.

[Tanja]

That's a little high. Normally the TDS should be below 90 for eggs to hatch. But every water is somewhat different there are no hard and fast rules. They'll lay again in a week or so. Let us know how the eggs look after 3 days.

I always assume that people want to raise fry. If that's what you want to do, you may need to mix RO or rain water with your tap. If not your water is just fine.

That's what I thought. I don't know why the TDS is so much higher in the tank than it is off the tap, the general hardness and carbonate hardness are the same in both. Perhaps more water changes?

I may wish to raise them at some point in the future so I'm definitely happy for all the advice you gave me. Thank you so much! :)

[LizStreithorst]

How often do you change water and how much at a time. TDS is total dissolved solids. Detritus of any kind in the water is a dissolved solid. Is your pH lower in your tank than your new water change water?

[Tanja]

How often do you change water and how much at a time. TDS is total dissolved solids. Detritus of any kind in the water is a dissolved solid. Is your pH lower in your tank than your new water change water?

Well I had to put crushed coral into my filter because the pH was dropping from 7.6 to 6 in a day. My carbonate hardness was so low. Now it never drops below 7 even if I go a week without water changes. I've been changing 30% a week as was recommended by my breeder. I'm guessing that's not sufficient?

[danotaylor]

How many fish are in the tank mate? I had 7 adult discus alone in a 125g and changed 66% every 4 days with heated aged water. The day after each wc 1 of the 2 pairs spawned.
Once the one pair was proven (wigglers) then they would spawn the wc after they ate their babies...

[Tanja]

How many fish are in the tank mate? I had 7 adult discus alone in a 125g and changed 66% every 4 days with heated aged water. The day after each wc 1 of the 2 pairs spawned.
Once the one pair was proven (wigglers) then they would spawn the wc after they ate their babies...

LoL I had it happen too. Ate their eggs both times they spawned. I have 6 in a 90 gallon but I'm having to get rid of at least one male. Too much aggression since have 2 females and 4 males.

I stopped aging water since my ph remains constant either way. Are there other reasons for aging water?

[danotaylor]

That is very fortunate. Do you get microbubbles on the glass when you fill straight from your tap? That would be another reason to age water.
I have a >0.4 pH swing and microbubbles when I fill direct from the tap which makes it necessary for me to age my water.