discus fry dying help

[markfresh]

i have a pair of discus that have layed 3 times, each time the fry get to the free swimming stage and the slowly die . the parents dont seem to eat them as i can see dead fry on the tank bottom. no more than 10 fry out of 60 - 80 try to cling to the parents but they dont stay long and die.once free swimming they hang around the top corners of the tank my ph is 6.5 and temp is 29-30 i change water every week at 25% i have them in a 2x18x18 tank with mature sponge filter and bare bottom can anyone suggest whats could be going wrong thanks ,mark ???

[fcdiscus]

You need to change alot more than that to raise fry. Try 25% daily, or more. Frank

[markfresh]

thanks frank so change 25% daily from the time the eggs are laid or when they are free swimming i have just moved house and dont have any water in my water change tub is it ok to use tap water and treat it like you do with a normal water change with tap water and add water conditioner or will the ammonia and nitrates peek to much before the conditioner kicks in sorry just starting out breeding have no probs with my show tank any help would be good thanks mark ???

[Carol_Roberts]

I agree with Frank on the water changes. The water conditioner is to treat chlorine/chloramine. Your filters handle the ammonia and water changes reduces the nitrAte.

Fry are very sensitive to water conditons. I would not try to use tap water unless the temp and pH are very close to your tank water.

[barron]

Hi

Get 2 5 gal. pails, heat water to tank temp, mix water in the pail til ph is stable, then pour 25% into the tank.

Do not add water from the tap into the tank, it will shock them.

Barron :)

[fcdiscus]

It is important the water is the same for the fry, as in tank. I would age it overnight, and do it that way, and if not possible do 3 or 4 10% changes at a time- as soon as the fish are on the cone. Increase to 50% daily when the babies are firmly attached to the parents. Frank

[Miles]

I agree with Frank and Carol. Change the water and lots of it. Set up a holding tank to store water and have it adjust so that you can siphon and replace water. You need to to be changing 80-100% daily as a min.

Good Luck & Enjoy
8)

[markfresh]

thanks everyone ihave a 3 foot tank that has nothing in it except heater and sponge filter can i use the water from that to put in my breeding tank and keep replenishing that until i buy a pail or some thing to put water in also do you change the water at 25% daily after the fry are free swimming or before

[Carol_Roberts]

The three foot tank will make an excellent water storage tank. I'd try 25% WC everyday so the parents are used to it. When the fry are first wigglers and free swimming I am more cautious and do two smaller 10 - 15% a day. After a few days I do 25% WC again - usually twice a day by two weeks - baby brine shrimp really foul the water.

[markfresh]

in regards to getting the fry to cling to parents i have read about lowering the water level and removing the breeding cone at the free swimming stage.
also is 10-14 days a good time to remove the fry

[NickK]

I also am experiencing the same situtation for the first time. How long should wigglers stick before going free-swimming? I have 100 red melon wigglers that are 'stuck' to my sponge filter. It looks like their heads are connected to the sponge - by an invisible force :) They try to swim away, but they are stuck. Is this normal? Should I just wait on them?

Thanks,
Nick

[shamsoo]

may be parrents moved them to sponge they will freeswim on 7th or 8th day, in my experience if sponge color is darker than parrents color fry will attach more on sponge JME