Breeding Advice Needed

[Blue Ram]

I have 6 adult discus in a 90 gal tank with tetras, cories, dwarf loaches, otos. Approximately 6 months ago, my red spotted green and carnation snakeskin (both purchased from April in Vancouver as juveniles) paired up. I witnessed them spawning several times and each time a larger male in the tank bullied them until the eggs were eaten.
I noticed this evening that there are many eggs in the top corner on the glass that the female is diligently guarding. They have been there since yesterday as she has not moved from this spot (I thought she was sick until I saw the eggs tonight).

I don't believe the eggs will hatch in this tank as the ph of the water is at least 7.6 and is straight tap water.

I'm considering moving the pair into a 20 gal and lowering the ph with ro water. My concerns are:
- will they remain a pair if they are moved
- can the fry be raised on anything other than live baby brine shrimp - can I use frozen BBS?
- if the eggs hatch in the 90 gal what happens to the wrigglers until they are free swimming? - do they settle on the bottom of the tank?

- I'm aware of the water change schedule that would have to be maintained for the fry but I'm worried about the frequency of feeding - 3 days a week they could be fed as many times as needed but 4 days a week (when I'm away at work) they would be fed once in the a.m. and twice in the p.m. - would this be enough?
Thanks in advance for your advice,
-

[John_Nicholson]

Discus do not really pair bond. I move and switch up my pairs all of the time.
I believe in fresh hatch BBS. They will eat other things but not at my house. BBS is easy, quick, and clean.
90 gal community tank? Fry are toast.
You only need to feed twice a day to be successful.

-john

[kaceyo]

I agree, live bbs is the way to go. It takes me less than 5 min to set up a batch for the next day and less than 5 again to prep them for feeding to the fry.
Also, a pH of 7.6 is fine for breeding. The only thing to concern yourself with about tap water is the hardness (GH or TDS etc). If the water is too hard the eggs may not hatch.

[Skip]

John.. are the fish attracted to others of the same color type only? or could you have a BlueD with a FireRed or BD/Spotted?

[John_Nicholson]

John.. are the fish attracted to others of the same color type only? or could you have a BlueD with a FireRed or BD/Spotted?

Now that is a interesting question. My initial response would be it does not matter, but what I have seen in real life is that there seems to be a correlation. More times then not they seem to pair with their own color strain if there is one available and it is healthy and ready to go.

-john

[Skip]

John.. i haven't had hardly any exposure to adults.. except for the couple of trips i made to Metroplex/Waco.. that was the first thing i noticed when i visited TCT.. that the discus that were same kind/color(ish) were kind of hanging around each other... i thought that was very interesting.. and i didn't know if that was common to anybody else.. my PB and BB stick with each other.. and it leaves my Red Turq all alone :( LOL

[kaceyo]

You'll see this behavior in juvies of different colors too. In large tanks with assorted strains, like colored fish tend to hang together. I believe it's due to their being more comfortable around the color they are used to seeing and were raised with.

[Blue Ram]

We seem to be getting off topic here from my original post!

[Skip]

We seem to be getting off topic here from my original post!

you rite.. john answered all your questions but one.. FROZEN bbs shirimp are not as nutritious as fresh.. so go with fresh..