UNPLANNED EGGS! NEED HELP!

[wilsonlin45]

So I've never had any intention of breeding discus so I've never looked at anything about the topic but today 2 of them decided to spawn...
I dont even know who the parents are, Im assuming the one being chased away isnt?
I have a LOT of questions and would appreciate any help, thanks!

What should the egg color be?
What do I feed them when they hatch? I read BBS is good but what if I don't have that available?
Should I be concerned with other fish (tetras) eating the eggs or fry?
What size are the fry when they hatch?
Should I leave all the other tankmates in with them? Or should I take out the tankmates or takeout the babies and parents when they hatch?
Should I cover filters up or can they swim away from it fine?

Im sure I'll think of other questions but that's it for now. Any other input would be great! thanks!!

[Keith Perkins]

In a community tank odds are EXTREMELY high that if the eggs were fertilized and someone doesn't eat the eggs or the wrigglers they will eat the free swimmers. In best case scenarios two discus would be defending the eggs and it would be fairly easy to identify the parents. It's possible however a female just laid eggs and they weren't fertilized or you don't even have a male in the tank.

BBS is what most folks feed fry, here is a link to an easy hatching method that I basically use if you end up needing it now or in the future. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?73479-How-to-hatch-brineshrimp&p=566827&highlight=kitchen%20sink#post566827

Tetras will definitely eat discus fry, even tetras as small as neons and cardinals. I've watched it happen in one of my one tanks. Fry are maybe 3/16ths of an inch long on day 5 when they break free and go free swimming. You should be able to tell within 48 hours if the eggs were fertilized. Paper white colored at that point indicates they were not. Fry can easily be sucked into HOB filters etc., sponge pre-filters or something is necessary to prevent that. If you discover you have a true pair and want to attempt to raise fry you're probably better off forgetting about this batch of eggs and moving the pair to a 29 or something of their own where they'd have a better chance of succeeding.

Hope that's a start,
Keith

[wilsonlin45]

In a community tank odds are EXTREMELY high that if the eggs were fertilized and someone doesn't eat the eggs or the wrigglers they will eat the free swimmers. In best case scenarios two discus would be defending the eggs and it would be fairly easy to identify the parents. It's possible however a female just laid eggs and they weren't fertilized or you don't even have a male in the tank.

BBS is what most folks feed fry, here is a link to an easy hatching method that I basically use if you end up needing it now or in the future. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?73479-How-to-hatch-brineshrimp&p=566827&highlight=kitchen%20sink#post566827

Tetras will definitely eat discus fry, even tetras as small as neons and cardinals. I've watched it happen in one of my one tanks. Fry are maybe 3/16ths of an inch long on day 5 when they break free and go free swimming. You should be able to tell within 48 hours if the eggs were fertilized. Paper white colored at that point indicates they were not. Fry can easily be sucked into HOB filters etc., sponge pre-filters or something is necessary to prevent that. If you discover you have a true pair and want to attempt to raise fry you're probably better off forgetting about this batch of eggs and moving the pair to a 29 or something of their own where they'd have a better chance of succeeding.

Hope that's a start,
Keith


thanks for the help, well i guess first off I should find out if the eggs are even fertilized. They are yellowish and some are clear. Would that be fertilized?

[Keith Perkins]

You can't tell until somewhere between 24 and 48 hours. A few may be dead when laid to begin with that would turn white quickly, but otherwise it takes a little while. By 48 hours you will know for sure if something hasn't eaten them first. At this point I'd say wait and watch unless it's already been 48 hours. I assume they just laid today since you posted today.

[wilsonlin45]

Oh okay, they laid either last night or this morning
Im going to try to get the other fish out now

[Keith Perkins]

Oh, and I should have mentioned females will lay about once a week until they get it right or eventually go into a rest period that lasts about as long as their laying cycle does. So even if you lose this batch and you do have a true pair it won't be that long until they try again.

[wilsonlin45]

theres less than 10 eggs left today =[

[Keith Perkins]

I've got a bunch of questions for you out of curiosity. Did you end up taking all the other fish out of the tank? What size tank is it? How many discus do you have? And finally, do you know what kind of discus the two suspected parents are?

[wilsonlin45]

In the process ATM of clearing out my 125 to move everything else into. The discus are in a 72. I have 5 discus. Not entirely sure of the names but I believe they are altum floras.

[Keith Perkins]

Good they are all the same type, as far as possible future offspring goes. I successfully had and raised my first fry in a 72. Managed to divide it and had a pair in each end. It's no fun trying to divide a tank, especially a bow front. Good luck.

[wilsonlin45]

1 lonely egg left...
at least I got all the other fish out for the next spawn... which I guess will be next week?

[Keith Perkins]

Do you still have 1 egg this morning? If you do and it's not paper white at this point you likely do have a pair. If you look really really close you might see a tiny dark thread sized tail starting to form and move on the egg.

[wilsonlin45]

None left this morning... it was yellow last night tho..

[hedut]

that meaning those eggs not fertilize, usually happen with young pair