Female egg production...

[jeep]

I have a proven female that is a very good parent. The problem is that her egg production never has been great at about 75 eggs per spawn. Recently her egg production has dropped to around 10 eggs per spawn.

Water paramiters are good and appetite is good.

She's only about a year old. Could this be an environmental issue or just weak reproductive capabilities??? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks

Brian

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

How frequent is she spawning? If she is doing it in rapid succession, then the number of eggs laid will dwindle slowly. If she is only spawning every other week or so, then it sounds like a vitamin defficiency. Deworm her with some metro and go from there.

-Ryan

[jeep]

Thanks Ryan. She's spawning about every 4 - 5 days. She eats good and is not losing any weight, but I'll try pumping her up with a better variety of foods and a dose of metro :)

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Spawning every 4-5 days is way to frequent for a female. She should be spawning once a week max. If she keeps that pace up, she may stunt herself. I had a red turk female do exactly as yours is. She would spawn every 4-5 days and did this for several months straight. She ended up stunting herself and is only 4.5" long, but she is the best parent I have ever had. Try moving her to a different tank to disrupt her spawning cycle and see if that slows her down. If not, then you need to pair her up with a good male to start throwing tons of fry!

-Ryan

[jared]

At a year old, she is still very young for a breeder. Even though she may be proven, she may not be polished yet. I would also move her, but understand that this might be part of her figuring things out. Is she producing fry with a male? What kind of dynamic does the male exhibit with her. I had a pair of BD that went through a similar period. The male had grown a little more aggressive with her than he had been and was not allowing her to lay. Are these small spawns in tight/orderly formation or are they scattered. If they are scattered it may be male intervention.
Jared

[MrCBS]

Much of what I'm reading sounds very familiar. I had two differant pairs who produced a lot of eggs. (well, the females did) Laying eggs about every week or two. I had some problems with water conditions and all that laying stoped. I RO now and change water about 25% every day or two and add Discus Esential to get my PH to about 6.2 I also RO Right. But have not seen the laying start up again. They will clean the PVC then get disinterested. I feed Formula One and Jack Watty formula, Colar Bits, and Blood Worms. I do not know if I need to add any supliments.

[MrCBS]

Well, I looked a little closer at my chemicals when I got back to my Discus. And I decided to go through my routine to see if I am missing something.
I fill a utility sink with about 15-20 gallons of R/O water. I add Seachem Discus Buffer and adjust my PH to 6.0 or 6.1, I just the test tube method so I'm not exact. It could even go below 6.0. I then add Kent Liquid R/O right to the label requirments for Discus. I put that directly into my 20 gallon breeding tanks every other day at about 5 gallons for each tank. I do not mix with tap water. I add Stress Coat & Stress Zyme & Aquria-Sol after the water is in the tanks. Thats it except I keep my temps at 85-86 degrees and I have a form filter and a "Hang on the Tank" filter in each ??? When I first started I didn't R/O and my water was straight from the tap with PH at almost 7.4-7.8. My Discus layed a lot of eggs butt they would look leathery and wouldn't hatch. I had a hatching right after I started R/O'g butt the eggs look smaller than before and now no more layings. What Am I missing?