Need Help Please!

[bs6749]

Okay, so I've been reading a lot lately about all of these lucky people who have discus breeding left and right for them and I became jealous. I've never had a pair form for me let alone spawn and the pair that I DID buy was short lived as the male died within a week. So that pretty much sums up my breeding experience with discus. Now for the part where I need help!

I guess my discus took my jealousy to heart because I'm completely certain that my suspected female Alenquer and what I always thought was a male Carnation Snakeskin have formed a pair! To add to that, I'm 90% certain that they will spawn within a day by the rate they are both cleaning the filter intake tube of one of the Whisper 60 HOB filters in my 100g tank. Now, I have many "problems" that I need figured out and I need help and advice. First off, will this pair produce decent looking offspring (if fertile) and is it worth my time to try to separate them? Secondly, right now they are in a 100g tank with about 10 other discus of varying sizes, 12 ABN plecos of varying sizes (8 an inch long), and 40+ neon tetras. I have a 29g tank that I could move the pair to but right now it is housing my 15 angels that I'm trying to sell quickly. I planned to move them over to my 100g (10 of them) because I have 8 GBR's coming to me tomorrow and I was going to put them in the 29g when they first arrived. Now, I don't know what to do! If I know for certain that the discus will produce ugly offspring I'd most likely keep them in the 100g but it's so tempting to put them in the 29g just for the experience of raising fry. Do any of you think I could possibly put all 15 angels (dollar size+) in the 100g tank with the 10 discus if I remove the pair? I could put the GBR's in my other 29g with my Endlers for the time being. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Just for kicks, I'm going to attach some pics of the "pair".

Okay, so files are too large, please go here>>>> http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/bs6749/Discus%20Pair/ . I promise, it's worth the work to click on the link!

[discus-mike]

Hey my friend just go on craigslist.org and log in what city you leave in and go on WANTED and type what you need,,I did and now i have 3x55 gallon ,,, 2x29 gallon ,,1x20 tanks with some stand and accessories,,,you can probably go here simplydiscus, but if they dont leave in your town your out of luck but who knows ,,because they will not ship to you to much money ship to you ,i hope that will help,Thanks mike:angel:

p.s yes please removed your pair to a 29 gallon so they can breed with no interruptions but yours,
all you need is a light, bio-sponge, and a filter, and water change,,, sponsor w/ more experience will tell you different just take there advice ,i just started 7 months ago ,but i was successful with only 10 frys feeding on there own, hopefully on there next batch it will be more

[bs6749]

Mike, I wish it was as simple as that but it's not an option as I don't have the room for another tank. I maxed out right now with a 100g, a 55g, two 29's, and four 10's. My only real option is to combine tankmates until I sell them off. Thanks for your input.

P.S. How do you think I got 8 tanks in the first place? LOL

[discus-mike]

what is a GBR'S,THANKS,MIKE:angel:

[bs6749]

GBR is a German Blue Ram or Microgeophagus ramirezi.

[John_Nicholson]

First you have some decisions to make.

1. If you are already out of tank space then don't bother with the breeding. The number one biggest problem with raising discus is where to put all of these new fry.

2. Not the cross that I would have chosen, but raising a spawn or two from them ain't going to kill anyone. Just make sure you tell any buyers what they are really getting and don't make up some BS name that some good for them.

3. Jack Wattley once told me something like this "You either watch TV or raise discus" If you are going to be a discus breeder you will probably need to sale the rest of your fish. You already know you are low on space so you just can't afford have that many "useless" fish around.

4. If you still want to do this just take a deep breath and relax. These fish should spawn every 7 to 10 days until they are successful. So you got lots of chance to get it right. The biggest mistake most people make it getting in a hurry.

5. If you are going forward the pair will need a tank at least 20 gallons ( I much prefer a 29 ). It needs a cycled sponge filter and a heater. Thanks it. Don't have it down on the floor. Pairs like to be in the air. I would probably paint the bottom and 3 of the 4 sides. Of course paint the outside and not the inside.

6. Get setup where you can change at least 50% of the water a day. And I don't mean in the 29, I mean in the 55 and the 100 which you are going to have to convert to growout tanks for the fry.

7. Make sure you know how to hatch out BBS.

8. And once you have fry attached ask some more questions and we will go to the next step....LOL.

Good Luck

-john

[bs6749]

Thanks John. I really wasn't thinking that the pair would produce nice offspring though the fish by themselves are gorgeous (in my opinion). It wasn't my choice since they decided themselves to be a pair. I understand what you are saying about them spawning every 7-10 days so I may decide to move some angels over to my 100g so I can put my GBR's in the 29g with the remaining angels. Then I'll work on selling the angels off along with 2 pairs of GBR's as initially planned. I can move the pair to the 29g once the angels and rams are gone. When it's time I can move the parents out of the 29g so I have a batch of fry to work with (hopefully). The fry would be good in the 29g for 4-6 weeks wouldn't they?

As far as painting the tank, I think it'll be just fine as it is since the tank is located in my dedicated "fish room" with 7 of my tanks. I'm the only one that goes in there and I am usually in there for 20-30 minutes per day and I keep the doors closed. There shouldn't be much to disturb them.

[brewmaster15]

I think John Pretty much summed it up... But I think you might get some interesting if unconventional Fry..... If you get them the quarter size...lets talk...I may be interested LOL.:)

Keep in mind that it really does take a lot of tank space to raise out a group of fry.....The 29 gal won't last too long for any spawn with size.


At this point I would do nothing... Let them spawn...let them bond and guard the eggs...make sure you have a confirmed pair and a fertile male.. going thru the motions and not coming thru for you is how Discus pay us back for captivity..:):):) you may have alot of time to decide here!

hth,
al

[bs6749]

Al, thanks for the advice. How long should it take for the fry to get to 2.5-3"? Is it 3 months or so in your experience? I can always move some critters around to make room for babies, it's mainly the experience I'm looking to get here so when I eventually get pairs that produce nice offspring I won't make as many mistakes. How many and what size aquariums do you use for your fry and how large of a spawn are we talking here? I'm thinking 75 fry would be "average" and I may be able to get away with raising all of them to 2.5-3" in a 55g and two 29's.

As far as what to expect for fry coloration...I have absolutely on clue. I have a really nice proven leopard female that I would rather the Carnation SS paired with as they both have high fins. I think they'd produce much better looking babies. Hopefully I will get some fry though from the current pair as they are still guarding the intake tube of the filter.