free swimming fry problem

[kristofferlao]

whenever my discus lays eggs, i lower the water, they fan the eggs and when they hatch, they don't eat the babies, the problem comes when they become free swimming, the babies swim but dont stick to the parents, after a while, they get eaten by the parents, happened to 2 of my pairs already, what should i do?

[David Rose]

Decrease the free swimming area: bring the water level down as low as possible such as just above the dorsal fins. Also, you could add a divider such as poret foam to decrease the width of the tank. All this is just temporarily, hopefully, only a couple of hours. Once the fry have attached you can gradually bring the water level up over a few days then move the divider further apart finally removing it.

You don't need to lower your water level at all until day one of free swimming. Also, leave a light on 24/7.

[Eddie]

Also, just to add, you don't need to lower the level UNTIL the fry go free swimming and depending on the strain, you may not need to lower the level at all. ;)

Eddie