I am a newbie, Disapointment

[Kigo]

Hello,

I skimmed some messages and it looks like my problem may not be unique, which I think is a good thing.

First of all some history. I bought 15 discus one year ago putting them at about 1.5 years of age. They have grown up beautifully and I have been waiting for pairs to form so that I can move them to a breeding 50 gallon tank. I was starting to give up hope when today I noticed that two fish that have been kind of hanging around each other started pecking at the filter intake tube. I got very excited when I noticed one of the tubes was sticking out further than usual. I thought that I should sit and watch for awhile and to my amazement the one with the tube started running up the filter intake and deposited a long line of eggs. I excitedly watched as teh other fish was about to follow, but to my horror it just looked at each egg as it gobbled it up. THis continued run after run. All of the other fish are in close proximatey as the two continued.

What should I do? SHould I move the pair to there own tank assuming it is inexperience and too many spectators? Should I wait to see if they get the hang of it and make sure that the eggs get fertilized before moving the adults to ensure they truely are a pair? Should I remove the egg eater not caring whether or not it is a male or female and hope the egg layer finds another partner? Should I give up and start trying to breed guppies because I am out of my league?

Any comments and ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Robert

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Robert:
That is pretty common behavior for a first spawn. There are two schools of thought. One is to let them practice in the community tank in hopes they will learn to defend the eggs and form a strong bond. The other is to move them to their own tank and let them practice in peace. Do which ever feels right to you. In any event get another filter cycling in the community tank so it will be ready when they do make the move.

[Discusgeo]

Kigo I am not a newbie to Discus but it takes time for the new pairs to figure out what they are suppose to do. It can get very frustrating seeing you eggs or fry eaten. Take this as an example, I have a new pair of Snakesins that have been togethere for only a month or so. Their second time around I had wigglers and they went free swimming. Next day they were all gone. Another example but only with a pair of Golden Sunrise, the same thing happened 4 times but today the fry went free swimming and the parents are taking good care of them. They are now swimming on the sides of both the male and female. You just don't know when their parental instincts will kick in. The male of the Snakeskins has been doing the eating so next week I will use egg crate to keep him on the other half of the tank and see how the female responds to the fry. They do great until the fry start swimming. I am one of the people who will leave them togethere until they get it right. I don't have the time to artificaly raise them.