losing a lot of my babies

[tdr1919]

Hey gang, its getting serious now, three dead since yesterday.
they are over a month free swimming about a dime size. I thought maybe it was a case of the runts dieing earlier, I had one or two.
I stepped up my wc's to 30% 2x a day. my
water - 82 deg. 0 amon. 0 nitrite. had added "cure ick" a few days ago, did not have any affect. I felt I changed most of that out. Other posts earlier had mentioned maybe flukes so I did a Prazi pro treatment yesterday (20 gal tank, 1tsp) I feed the live BBS, 5 -6 x
plus particles of BH and ciclop eeze. I do a WC after the BH.
attached is a picture of a fry that looks like he's starting to go down.
http://www.tdsolutions.biz/images/sick_turq.jpg

[Tropical Haven]

You need to up your water changes a lot higher then what you are doing right now. You should be at 80% twice a day, that is why they are slowly dieing on you.

[AADiscus]

If you are feeding 5-6 x's a day you need to do large daily wc. Fry need lots of attention and throwing different medicines in the tank not knowing exactly what you are treating is not good either. Try upping your tank temp and also larger wc's per day and see if that helps. Make sure you are keeping the tank wiped and the filters clean!

[tdr1919]

hi Angela,
I have never been one to throw meds in the tank but I am getting frustrated with caring for these fry. 80 to 100% waterr changes 2x a day is pushing the envelope!
I will run the course with these babies, I might even put the 6 or 7 I have left into my 55 grow out with my 3" melons. I have 2 other pair laying right now, so I will have more babies to work with.
-TOM

[Tropical Haven]

80 to 100% waterr changes 2x a day is pushing the envelope!
-TOM

I hate to sound rude but this is the dedication that is required to successfully raise baby discus into adults, if your not willing to do what is necessary then maybe you should keep discus as ornamental fish instead of trying to raise them. Again not trying to be mean but it takes a lot of water changes and dedication to raise baby discus.

[oshp132]

How about an update on your fry situation...Are you still losing them?

MIKE

[tdr1919]

I hate to sound rude but this is the dedication that is required to successfully raise baby discus into adults, if your not willing to do what is necessary then maybe you should keep discus as ornamental fish instead of trying to raise them. Again not trying to be mean but it takes a lot of water changes and dedication to raise baby discus.

Hi Scott, I have been keeping discus for about 25 yrs, and have had great success. I might ask you, are you a breeder? how long have you been breeding/ keeping discus? There are many opinions on this board, and many ways to be successful. I do not have R/O water, I do not age my water, there may be many things that add up to my failure at keeping the babies alive. I work full time and have a hard time keeping up, You maybe right,I might be better off and just have them as pets. But - I find the interaction on the board alot of fun and I do enjoy having my fish breed, I will experiment and continue to try, heck 10 yrs ago I almost thought it was impossible to get them to lay eggs! trust me your point is well taken, as I have uped the changes to 50%, and I will see how this effects the fry.
- Tom
MIKE - 2 days and staus quo - no losses but I have only 7 left in the 20 gal, so the volume of water/fish is alot greater.
I have a BSS and a german RT, laying eggs, hopefully I will have another brood to experiment with.
- Thanks, Tom

[Tropical Haven]

Tom,
Not trying to be negative but usually when you start loosing discus around 1 month of age it usually stems from a water quality issue. I understand that you work full time as well as I do and I try to find any possible time to do my water changes and that is with 2 kids in sports right now which one of them that I coach so I know how limited time is. Just trying to help you out on your issue.

To answer your question I have been breeding discus since 1989 which if my math is correct I have been doing it for 18 years if this makes me qualified enough to give you suggestions.

[tdr1919]

Tom,
Not trying to be negative but usually when you start loosing discus around 1 month of age it usually stems from a water quality issue. I understand that you work full time as well as I do and I try to find any possible time to do my water changes and that is with 2 kids in sports right now which one of them that I coach so I know how limited time is. Just trying to help you out on your issue.

To answer your question I have been breeding discus since 1989 which if my math is correct I have been doing it for 28 years if this makes me qualified enough to give you suggestions.

Scott, OK, in my book that makes you qualified! (soccer, cheerleading & figure skating with my 2 kids) & a wife b**ching about me dragging buckets through the house.
DO think moving to an aquarium larger than 20 gals. would help?
Thanks,
Tom

[Tropical Haven]

Tom,
Moving them to a tank like a 30 gallon would be beneficial to you if you have little time to do water changes. A bigger tank would give you a little extra time to do water changes before the water quality starts going down. Hey I really do understand the lack of time to tend to the fish, it gets really tough to give proper care when you are hardly home. I find myself getting to my sons football games a little late because I have to squeeze some water changes in before I leave, boy does that get my wife mad. :argue:

I hope things work out for you on your babies and keep us informed on your progress. I am glad that I am finally qualified for something.:D

[oshp132]

Hey Tom, the wife complaining issue is hitting home right now! She done blowed up yesterday (For a lack of better terms)....Anyhoo, I am most likely shutting down my little fish room and selling off my pair and all fry....Then all the tanks. I am going to downsize to just my 135 gallon. I love it, and it is a great break from the job, but it just ain't worth listening to her mouth all day.
MIKE

[Tropical Haven]

Hey Mike you can get rid of her and keep the fish, at least they can't complain. :D:D:D

[tdr1919]

Mike,
Dont let her get to you! drop back ten and punt! dont make any harsh decisions about your passion, that's your fish I'm talking about.

-Tom

[renae]

Hi Tom,
Hows the fry doing..I've been following your threads with interest,I hope they are doing well and I wish you all the best with them.

Mike,
you must be having a hard day..give your wife a day or two and she'll settle down..I wish you all the best too.

[standoyo]

Hmmm, touchy situation but would the wife rather you hanging out at the pub/bar than home taking care of fishes? :grin: Hang in there Mike!

[Tropical Haven]

I went through that with my first wife and it isn't easy. So after I got rid of her I made it clear to my new wife that she better not complain about my fish and never have me make a choice between her or the fish because I told her that she would lose. I made sure she understood that before we got married because I wasn't going to deal with someone always getting on my back about my fish again. Maybe it's because I am getting older and I don't have the patients like I use to. :D

[tdr1919]

Renae, I am still losing fry, lost 2 over the last 3 days, I have 5 healthy fish left. I have been doing 2 50% changes a day. The fry have started to eat grown live brine shrimp. I hope I can keep the remaining fish alive. Right now my BSS & my German red are tending eggs, I hope I can get a handle on caring for the fry.
This reminds me of back in the mid 70's when I would lose full grown Discus one at a time, without a clue what was killing them.
Very sad.
-Tom

[renae]

Tom..I'm sorry to hear that but dont be discouraged,its all a learning experience and I'm sure it will work out for you.

[Kindredspirit]

Very sad.
-Tom

aww...I am sorry to hear this, Tom! I missed this thread ~ hang in there:)

[tdr1919]

Hi Marie - yeah, they're getting big and becoming part of the family, so it is very disheartening when on of them gets stressed out and starts succumbing and eventually ends up as a floater.

This morning in the discus show tank i had 2 of my German Reds breeding, these is the combination I have been hoping for, and they have a very big clutch. i will wait till these eggs are eaten and then I will move them into a breeding tank.

Tom

[tdr1919]

Got my fingers X'd - Rick over on DAAH had suggested that gill flukes could be causing the fish to die off. He suggested to med the tank with Formeldahyde, 1ml per 10 gals for 8 - 10 hrs then do a 50% water change. I medicated the day before yesterday and as of today a fish that was close to death is now eating and swimming with the others, I am not completely sure we are out of the woods yet but it looks promising!

Tom

[CliffsDiscus]

Tom,
On your next batch if you notice any of the frys start getting sick, hit it with for the Formalin
from the start otherwise they will start dieing a few everyday it there is almost nothing left.

Cliff

[tdr1919]

Tom,
On your next batch if you notice any of the frys start getting sick, hit it with for the Formalin
from the start otherwise they will start dieing a few everyday it there is almost nothing left.

Cliff

Thanks Cliff, how often would you medicate? like 2x a week?
Thanks,
Tom

[CliffsDiscus]

Tom,
I usually use acriflavine for hatching after that point there is no medication, just a lot
of waterchanges daily to keep the tanks as clean as possible.

Cliff

[Berdel]

Tom,
I usually use acriflavine for hatching after that point there is no medication, just a lot
of waterchanges daily to keep the tanks as clean as possible.

Cliff

Hi Cliff. I have some acriflavine myself but ive been abit scared to use it when hatching. Can you well me the dosage and how/when you do it?

/Søren

[CliffsDiscus]

Soren,
The brand of acriflavine is make by Kordon, and the amount would be till the tank is a light
green. I just add the acriflavine to this tank so you can see the color, its probably 1 drop
to every 2 gallon. The tank on the left has the acriflavine as compare to tanks without acriflavine are clear color.

Cliff

[tdr1919]

Cliff,
Nice little operation you got going there! I will look for the Acriflavin

I have a pair of red turqs getting ready to spawn,
http://www.tdsolutions.biz/images/redturqpair.jpg

[tdr1919]

Update: babies 2 month old -
http://www.tdsolutions.biz/images/2month_1.jpg


when they start looking stessed I treat them with formalin

http://www.tdsolutions.biz/images/2month_2.jpg

[Berdel]

How much formalin do you use per gallon? Ive got some with 30% formaldehyde.

Can you tell me how you do the treatment exactly? Dose, treatment time, wc ect?

Does it damage the biofilter?

The reason im asking is because ive had similar problems. I have about 25 fry left and they are 1.5 months old now. Many died the same way at 1 month but i treated with prazi but i still see some fry now and then which are scratching the sides at the bottom of the tank and some of them turn dark at times.

Thanks in advance

[tdr1919]

Berdel, It was suggested to use 37% Formalin, 1ml per 10 gals of water, and to do a w/c 30-50% after 8 hrs, or overnite. This can be done on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as the gill-fluke regenerate.
So, when I see them start to drop the fins and darken up, in goes another dose.
I do daily minimun 30% w/c

Be careful Formeldahyde is extremely toxic! do not breath the fumes
it does evaporate from the tank water.

This has worked for me so far, I have a new brood of fry in a 29 gal
still with the parents, if they start to die I will begin the treatment.
I am still learning, and still deep in the woods!

Tom