Spwaning in a 70 gallon Tank

[Pimji]

This question has probably been asked a few time over however.

I have 70 gallon tank that houses 6 discus and a 8 angels.
I've discovered wigglers on a pvc pipe and the parents guarding fanning the mass. The I'd reckon the wigglers look about ready to detach from their mucus membrane in a day or two.
First thing I did was remove all the tank mates and turn off the power head driven filter. I'm now using strictly the air driven sponge filter.

The question is: Is the tank to large to feed and raise the fry assuming they get to the free swimming stage?

Would I be wise to move the parents and eggs to a smaller bare bottom tank or would this be to disruptive to the process?

72650
This is an older photo of the tank. I've included it to give an idea of what the tank consists of.

Very enjoyable hobby.

[nc0gnet0]

When the fry go free swimming there is a 99.5% chance they will become fish food for the other tank members. Your best bet is to left nature take its course, and when the wigglers are gone, remove the pair to thier own 29-30 gallon breeding tank.

Rick

[laborelch]

I would move parents and eggs/wrigglers to a smaller bare bottom tank. Much easier to feed and keep clean (looks like you have gravel in your 70g). Good luck!

[John_Nicholson]

LOL....How big do you think the Amazon is? If you are serious about breeding them going forward I would move them after they either raise of eat these fry. I have raised fry in tanks up to 120 gallons without issue. Moving them now would probably just get them eaten.

-john

[Pimji]

Thank you all for the information as I needed to confirm what I might already have known. Sometimes the best option
is to do relatively little. At this point in time at least. I hesitated acquiring Discus a year ago as I wasn't sure I could raise the fish.
It turns out that I can although even after a year I'm still at the experimental stage. Granted with a spawning pair I may have reached a new level.

At this point I'm going to let the parents and fry run their course after reading the good advice from people far more experienced than I.

When the wigglers are gone, either eaten or grown, the parents will be moved to their own tank. I had debated moving the parents and wigglers
but decided to move all the other tank mates instead to a 125 gallon as I don't want to stress the out.

Yes there is a thin layer gravel in the tank. I use a a ten gallon drilled tank overhead as a bio filter and do 50% water change once/week and make my own beef heart food.
It's worked so far so I'll continue down that path. I'll do some more research regarding substrate or no substrate. For now the wigglers are active.
They've moved down the PVC pipe and the male, I believe, is looking darker in colour.

I laughed when I thought about the contrast of the Amazon as compared to an aquarium. Natural selection is one thing and the reason I posted
is that captive breeding usually requires a set of protocols. I've done some research however there is no substitute for first hand experience.

[Pimji]

Update:

The accidental project appears to working out. Fry are swimming and grazing from the darkened male.Thanks for the replies. I did leave the female with the male and fry. I figured she would need the practice. I followed the guidelines on hatching brine shrimp from this forum along with ordering Grade-A brine shrimp eggs from brineshrimpdirect.com direct in Utah. I did a 50% water change and light feeding of the adults.
So far so good.

[Jeapa]

That is great that the fry have attached to the male. Are they also feeding off the female? Post a video or some photos when you can.

Good luck

[Pimji]

I will post some photos and video. I'd love to. I'll have to post a few more time to be able to add video and photos.
And yes, the fry are feeding from the female for as long as she tolerates them. She shakes them off after a few minutes. She is feeding on Tetra colour bits and I'm reasonably sure the fry are feeding on pellets that have been pulverized with a small mortar and pestle. I've added the naupli brine shrimp as well. They are kind of hard to see in the dark spots. It's been 13 days since the wriggler eggs hatched.
This site has been a great source of information.

[John_Nicholson]

Congrats.

-john

[luongthai]

Hello, I have been reading the thread. I also run into similar situation before and I separated them from the community by a sponge divider. This time they do well, the eggs are fertilized and turned wiggles. My fries started freely swim yesterday but they DO NOT attach to there parents (the parents are virgin red-female and mercury-male). I initially though maybe the fries are albinos. Do you know anything about this? Should I remove the parent or parents. It seems the fry population decreases since yesterday. Thanks all.

[Pimji]

Here is an update.

So far so good. There are 18 "mini discus" just shy of dime size. It's been exactly 30 days since I had discovered wiggling eggs on the 3/4 PVC out flow siphon tube. I'll post more so I can show photos. I set up a permanent siphon tube with a valve to facilitate water changes. I use a resevoir and sump pump to return treated (Prime)replacement tap water.

Okay. I'd like to raise the brine shrimp to the adult stage however I'm still looking for the formula and experimenting. Hatching them is not difficult. Growing them out is a different kettle of fish.

Now. The dame has become aggressive towards the sire. She has always been the dominant fish in the hierarchy. I need to make a decision. As stated above I had taken all 10 angels and the remaining discus and added them to a 125 gallon tank. Two weeks later a pair of discus formed and laid eggs. Twice. Someone ate them. I moved the pair to a bare 20 gallon tall 6 days ago however they are stressed and I'm also not comfortable with this arrangement. Whether they lay eggs or not isn't a primary concern. The welfare of the adults is. So out they go, but to where?

I'm deciding if I should take all the adults at this point and put them into the 125 gallon and raise the fry in their original 70 gal. I believe this is where I'm heading.

Loungthai:
I'm no expert. Put the fish in the largest tank you can find and let them do their thing. Provide hiding spaces with drift wood. I also have a thin layer of gravel. If I've ever run into trouble it's by doing to much and fiddling around once events take place. From what I have read the parents will learn to pick up the fry and try to reattach them to the egg laying site. It take practice. I may stand corrected.