HELP.....Discus just laid eggs on Driftwood

[MTW63]

We are newbies to the discus world, we just set up a tank last year with several discus, a couple of plecos and a couple of SAE, we added several discus from Kenny's and now we have a pair that just laid eggs on the driftwood, there seems to be some fighting going on between a couple of the discus, what do we do now ? let nature take its course ?

[matt2426]

if your not planning on breeding them, the next time you do a water change just kill them suck them up with your syhpion hose if you use that for water changes or scrap them off the drift wood and the discus will eat them hope this helps

[Keith Perkins]

I see this thread is about 4 days old now, and it's too bad more people didn't help you out. :( What's the status of what's going on now? Odds are extremely high that nature will take it's course in a community tank. I'd be interested to know if you know relatively sure which fish are the parents and if the eggs made it to wriggler stage. What has happened since your original post and what your future desires are really determines what you should do next. If you want to provide a little more information maybe you can get some good answers back.

[MTW63]

Well, about 48 hours into it someone ate the eggs, we decided to get a seperate tank for them and let them try it again but before we could they are at it again,but this time a lot more eggs, so time will tell, hopefully we have wigglers tomorrow, if not we will get them in their new tank and put a screen over the eggs and see what happens.

[Jennie]

If they're in the community tank and they make it to wigglers then they too will be eaten. might as well go get that tank.

[Keith Perkins]

Just want you to be aware people have been fooled before and had two females pair up. Did it appear to you that the eggs were viable before they were eaten? Some portion, hopefully a small minority of them, should have turned a paper white indicating they were not viable. The others should have appeared somewhat translucent, and would have varied a bit in color depending on the strain of the parents. If it is a true pair and you want to try to raise fry a separate 29 gallon tank or something would definitely be in order.

[MTW63]

Well it sounds like we are lucky, the second bunch of them appears to be exactly as you described, they are a translucent/amber look to them with about 5 or 6 that are bright white, we did get a 29 gallon tank that we will set up so if it doesn't work out this time we will put them in there. we certainly didn't expect all of this when we decided to get an aquarium, but have enjoyed every minute of it

[mmorris]

Sounds like fun! If you get a batch of fry, where are you going to grow them out after they are a few weeks old? :)

[MTW63]

good question, I guess if I get them I can try and grow them out in the 29 until we pick up something different, you are absolutely right, this has been a lot of fun, this was our first tank so we are surprised at all of the things we are experiencing. right now we have a 115 gallon built in the wall, if this works out we will buy another and build it into the other wall (quickly), our family room had a wall with the laundry room on the other-side so we moved the laundry which makes a GREAT place for equipment

[Keith Perkins]

In an undivided community tank the odds of it working out are about slim to none, and slim just left town. :D It's likely to seem like just about everyone in the tank suddenly develops a taste for sushi. When free swimmers start wandering about the tank they usually disappear pretty quickly. It sounds like your serious about giving raising discus fry a try, so I'd be working out the details of how you were going to set up that 29.

When Martha asked you where you were going to grow them out once they were a few weeks old, it's because that's the point most breeders separate fry from the parents. So at that point you either need a third tank or you'll need to put the parents back in the community tank. Once they are separated from the fry, normally they would spawn again pretty quick, so you might be right back to where you started. 55 gallon tanks are commonly used for juvenile grow out tanks, some times divided first so they aren't overwhelmed by the sudden huge increase in tank size. Craigslist here you come. Good luck.

[MTW63]

Well after I noticed that mom had about 1/2 the eggs for breakfast I covered the rest with a net, this morning we got some wigglers (pretty cool), we decided to have another tank made which will be about 90 gallon and use it for growing out and use the 29 we got to breed them. thank god for credit cards:D

[kyubi]

i have some room if u need .. lol..:) good luck raising em, now u gona need to hatch ur own brine shrimp... good luck..and congrat

[Willie]

Well after I noticed that mom had about 1/2 the eggs for breakfast I covered the rest with a net, this morning we got some wigglers (pretty cool), we decided to have another tank made which will be about 90 gallon and use it for growing out and use the 29 we got to breed them. thank god for credit cards:D

You probably want something smaller, like a 55, for a grow out. Even then, you'll need to divide the 55 until they get big enough. Discus fry, even juveniles, do much better when they're crowded.

Willie