feeding parents question

[evil_elmo]

Hi

i've got couple of quick questions about breeding discus...

once the parents have layed the eggs do you still feed the parents? or do i wait until the frys start eating off the parent then feed the parents?

also my problem at the moment is my pair laid the eggs and fanned them for a day but then slowly ate all the eggs...i am thinking it's because i disturbed them too much as i have other tanks in the same room and i am in there 3-4 times a day feeding the other tanks...should i cover the tank for 3 days until the eggs hatch?

Thanks
Phil

[diamond_discus]

I am not an expert but here's what happened to my young pair :

First time they lay eggs in a community tank. After they lay eggs, I removed all other fishes and left them alone .. but yet, they still ate all the eggs.

Then I placed them alone in a 40 gallons tank. One week later, they lay eggs again. This time, they didn't eat the eggs. Both parents were guarding and caring the eggs. I continue to feed them frozen bloom worms twice a day. I have heavy traffic around the tank, as all my family members are all excited and interested to monitor the hatch process. I also do a daily water change (just enough to remove the bottom debris). I didn't cover the tank.

One note : you must add methelene blue to prevent fungus. This works for the first 4 days. But on the 5th days, I start having fungus on the white (dead eggs). I expected the parents to remove those but they didn't. Now my wrigglers are hanging on top of those fungus ..

[AADiscus]

You can continue to feed the parents like normal. Just nothing that is going to fowl up the tank like BH. Continue with daily wc's and add meth blue like diamond suggested if you want. If your pair is used to all the traffic in the room then it shouldn't really matter when they have eggs. They will act more aggressive towards you or anyone who puts there nose to the tank. You could try limiting the traffic around the tank until the eggs hatch and see if that helps. Sometimes it takes a new young pair a little while to figure the whole breeding thing out.

[diamond_discus]

My pair are used to heavy traffic. It's just that every time I came close to the tank and try to use my magnify glass to view the eggs and wrigglers, one of the parents will always try to block my view ... It's so funny and yet I am amaze how these fishes are trying to protect their eggs. This pair are used to me coming to the tank to feed them. Without the eggs, they always come to wait for my feeding. Just a note to share with you all.

[evil_elmo]

thats great info thank you all for sharing

i will feed bloodworms to them like normal and hope next time they wont eat the eggs