Finally, success... now what?

[IrieDiscus]

After months of watching my pair spawn and then subsequently devour the eggs, I finally have about 30 free swimming baby discus. However the parents seem to be paying them no mind at the moment. The babies are just getting to the free swimming stage and a few of them are still hanging off the side of the pipe where the eggs were attached.

Sould I start peparing food for them at this point (like BBS) or just allow the parents to do their thing for the next few days? ::)

I'm very excited, but also afraid that now my pair have gotten it right so far, that I may mess up things. HELP !!

[Willie]

Congratulations on getting this far!

Depending on your strain, the babies may or may not readily attach to the parents. Strains derived from Pigeon Blood, including White Butterfly, Marlboro Red, Golden Sunrise, etc. may not have good attachment. Other strains, like Blue Diamonds, Red Turqs, Cobalts, Snakeskins, etc. have no problem with fry attachment.

If the fry are swimming around without attaching, then you'll need to lower the water and remove all dark objects from the tank. Reduce the filter flow or remove the filter all together. Leave the light on. It helps a lot to cover the bottom and sides of the tank with white paper.

You don't have to start feeding frys for another 14 days at least. Some of us force feed our frys starting four days free swimming, but they do perfectly fine feeding from the parents for a good two weeks.

Good luck, Willie

[IrieDiscus]

Thanks for the advice Willie.

Have removed all objects from tank and put white paper all around. Couple of followup questions:

1) Should I leave the light on 24hrs per day?

2) Just checked the water condition, pH is a bit low, about 6.1. GH = 161, KH =74. Should I try to slowly bring the pH up to about 6.5 and are those hardness levels suitable for the fry.

3) What are the recommended daily water changes for a 25 gallon tank with the parents and fry?

[IrieDiscus]

Picture of Mom and Dad.

[Carol_Roberts]

That's a cute picture of mom and dad - they look well suited to each other.

1) Should I leave the light on 24hrs per day? I leave a dim light on 24/7 - not tank light

2) Just checked the water condition, pH is a bit low, about 6.1. GH = 161, KH =74. Should I try to slowly bring the pH up to about 6.5 and are those hardness levels suitable for the fry. water changes should keep pH stable

3) What are the recommended daily water changes for a 25 gallon tank with the parents and fry? varies by age of fry. Feed parents very lightly and do about 10% daily until fry are a week or so old. increase amount until by 3 weeks free swimming you are changing 50% twice a day. Make sure new water is same temperature and pH (or slightly higher) as tank water. Gently add new water - fry are delicate
Carol :heart1:

[arpanlib]

hi,
congrats on the success this far.

the mom and dad look very good. nice pic.

arpanlib

[IrieDiscus]

Well, i'm down to about 10 frys now, not sure if the others have been eaten or what. Most of the surviving ones have been swimming up to the female and feeding, but a few are in the other corner of the tank by the only thing of color remaining in the tank - the heater. Should I remove the heater temporarily so the the fry try to find the parents, or just let them work it out.

I am in Jamaica, so water temperature shouldnt fall very quickly. 8)

[Carol_Roberts]

Remove the heater if you want to. With only 10 fry left the parents will probably eat or ignore them and spawn again soon :-\

Carol :heart1:

[IrieDiscus]

So far so good, the remaining fry are still there, and the parents are allowing them to swim up and feed. Everyone looks like a happy family for the moment, Fry has been free swimming for about 36hrs now.

We'll see what the status is in the morning, returing from the chair startegially placed in front of the tank to bed, before the wife has another fit! ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

Lol, I have a chair in front of my baby tank too.
Carol :heart1:

[trucdan]

Hi Willie,

I've been waiting about 6 months and finally got eggs hatched on Christmas Day. Got free swimwing a few days later and no attachment. I tried to lower the water just an inch above the bodies of the parrents but no attachment still. I wanted to remove the filter but the baby fish just stick themselves on the filter. All the free swimming gone after all.

When you remove the filter, do you add an air stone? How long you can remove the filter?

Thanks.

trucdan

[Carol_Roberts]

Do you have an airdriven sponge filter in the tank with a valve so you can reduce the flow of air? If not, get one. No hang on the back filter with little fry.

When they go free swimming you can leave the sponge filter off for several hours and then keep on it low for a while ... bubble ... bubble ... bubble until they are stronger.

Carol :heart1: