elninho
03-27-2011, 06:10 AM
Hi,
I know my subject sounds like I am wasted or something, but ...
I have noticed a large amounts of some plankton creatures in my discus tanks (but not as much as in the tank with hard water and Ancistruses). They seem to have two favorite locations in my tanks, in external filters and on the breeding cone, among the laid eggs.
After my hatching rate of one pair went from 20-30 fry to just a several during some 10 or more spawns, I started blaming the "bugs" for that. And I think I was right.
I pulled the eggs from my other pair 3-4h after spawn and after putting them in a 100% RO sterile bucket, I managed to get 80 free swimmers from total of 184 eggs which was great since that pair had some 10-15 wrigglers at max in last 3 spawn attempts, but they ended eating all of them 1-2h after hatching. The eggs were in 6-10h aged RO water with 50% daily WC of their 1 Gallon bucket.
I was about to try with artificial feeding method but 2 days after I pulled the eggs out, my second pair spawned, and they even managed not eat all the eggs on the end of 48h this time (last 4-5 times they did). 4 fry hatched and I added another 4 fry this morning from my sterile bucket. They are 24h from free swimming and the foster parents took them in the mouth 10seconds after I've put them in the tank, and on my surprise they haven't eat them but they spitted them on the cone along with their 4 babies.
Later that day, I added all 80 fry and 48h later everything looks just fine.
My main concern is still unsolved: can those plankton bugs decrease fertile eggs hatching rate and if so, how can I clean my tanks from them?
I have Copepods 5% and the 95% of all bugs are probably Ostracods (Podocopida).
I know my subject sounds like I am wasted or something, but ...
I have noticed a large amounts of some plankton creatures in my discus tanks (but not as much as in the tank with hard water and Ancistruses). They seem to have two favorite locations in my tanks, in external filters and on the breeding cone, among the laid eggs.
After my hatching rate of one pair went from 20-30 fry to just a several during some 10 or more spawns, I started blaming the "bugs" for that. And I think I was right.
I pulled the eggs from my other pair 3-4h after spawn and after putting them in a 100% RO sterile bucket, I managed to get 80 free swimmers from total of 184 eggs which was great since that pair had some 10-15 wrigglers at max in last 3 spawn attempts, but they ended eating all of them 1-2h after hatching. The eggs were in 6-10h aged RO water with 50% daily WC of their 1 Gallon bucket.
I was about to try with artificial feeding method but 2 days after I pulled the eggs out, my second pair spawned, and they even managed not eat all the eggs on the end of 48h this time (last 4-5 times they did). 4 fry hatched and I added another 4 fry this morning from my sterile bucket. They are 24h from free swimming and the foster parents took them in the mouth 10seconds after I've put them in the tank, and on my surprise they haven't eat them but they spitted them on the cone along with their 4 babies.
Later that day, I added all 80 fry and 48h later everything looks just fine.
My main concern is still unsolved: can those plankton bugs decrease fertile eggs hatching rate and if so, how can I clean my tanks from them?
I have Copepods 5% and the 95% of all bugs are probably Ostracods (Podocopida).