My mismatch pair (blue turq x rose red)

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  • Johanna
    Registered Member
    • Sep 2023
    • 275

    My mismatch pair (blue turq x rose red)

    Ok here goes my first attempt at breeding discus! I will follow them in this thread and link it to my journal.

    The pair are now finally getting ready to lay eggs in the separate breeding tank. Currently both cleaning the cone and doing their dance.

    Of course, they had to pick the worst timing - I will be away on a dogshow trip to Estonia and Latvia over the next weekend and the fish will be on their own from thursday evening to monday morning. If the spawn is successful they will have just started swimming freely when I have to leave.

    What should I do, just leave them be and let the parents do their job until I come back and hope they're still there? Should I leave the light on around the clock? no feeding at all while I'm gone? Is it too late to start the bbrine shrimp hachery after I come back?


  • LizStreithorst
    Moderator Team

    • Jan 2005
    • 13906
    • Moselle, MS

    #2
    They're not even big enough to eat BBS until they are almost 5 days old. Relax. They'll be fine. I'd put your lights on a timer and have it turn on and off at the times you generally turn the lights on and off when you're home.

    Good luck at the show. I'd love to see pics or a video of you in the ring showing one of your dogs.
    Mama Bear

    Comment

    • Johanna
      Registered Member
      • Sep 2023
      • 275

      #3
      Thanks, Liz! Do you count the 5 days from hatching or when they start to swim? I admit I haven't studied this topic enough yet, will have to do a bit of reading before I start the bbs hatchery.

      The light worries me because my fish always have a blue nightlight on in the main tank, it's never completely dark so they can see the fry at night. I do switch it on and off in the breeding tank but will they be able take care of them in total darkness.... years ago when I had angel fry the pair always ate them at night if the lights were off. That's why I thought it weird what you said earlier re. the albino fry doing better in the dark.

      (there are a few pics of my dogs at shows in the other pets thread)

      Comment

      • LizStreithorst
        Moderator Team

        • Jan 2005
        • 13906
        • Moselle, MS

        #4
        Total darkness works according to Cliff (my mentor). But I always keep a night light on just in case.
        Mama Bear

        Comment

        • LizStreithorst
          Moderator Team

          • Jan 2005
          • 13906
          • Moselle, MS

          #5
          I got thinking about dogs so much I almost forgot your question. 5 days post free swimming, even then they're not fast at thining of it as food. They're depending mostly on their parents slime coat.
          Mama Bear

          Comment

          • Johanna
            Registered Member
            • Sep 2023
            • 275

            #6
            Hmm... they didn't lay eggs yesterday afterall. Did I interrupt them with the daily wc? They didn't mind water changes in the main tank - often spawned just after. But I haven't seen any shakes after that and they stopped cleaning the cone. The female is still doing passes in front of the male with her fins spread and her breeding tube is out but the male is grumpy and chases her away. Well, nothing I can do but give them time I guess.

            Comment

            • LizStreithorst
              Moderator Team

              • Jan 2005
              • 13906
              • Moselle, MS

              #7
              Young males are often stupid.
              Mama Bear

              Comment

              • danotaylor
                Registered Member + MVP
                • May 2018
                • 3732
                • Aussie living in Cincy
                • Daniel

                #8
                Originally posted by LizStreithorst
                Young males are often stupid.
                true of many species

                Comment

                • Johanna
                  Registered Member
                  • Sep 2023
                  • 275

                  #9
                  Ok but seriously, HOW DUMB CAN THESE FISH BE?

                  I watched and waited the whole damn day today just to see them spawning. Eventually at 11PM they did. But.

                  It took them so long because at first they just coudn't agree on where to lay the eggs. They vigorously cleaned both the cone and the filter case all day. The female did most of the work, and eventually the male warmed up to it.

                  Then in the early evening the female started doing test runs on both the cone and the filter case. She started at the very bottom and tried to align herself so that she didn't have to go vertical. She'd touch her tube to the cone and just stop. Then she'd try on the bottom edge of the filter case. She slid along it sideways, clearly not liking the vertical surface (they usually laid on the crypt leaves in the main tank).

                  The male kept cleaning the cone and trying to convince her its the better spot. She didn't listen and after a long string of unsuccesful tries started to lay eggs impossibly low on the filter case. She was literally flat on her side on the bottom half the time. It was almost impossible for the bigger male to fertilize them but he did try, at first.

                  There was no room to move around each other so the fish bumped into the eggs and most of them fell off, and the male ate them. He noticed they were tasty and started eating also those still attached to the filter and everything the female laid. Soon the female too noticed that eggs were dropping onto the bottom and they just forgot about spawning and decided, **** it, snack time! One egg ended up under the filter and they spent the rest of the night trying to get it, breeding tubes still out and egg laying left unfinished.

                  They have spawned at least a dozen times successfully in the main tank so being inexperienced won't fly as an excuse

                  Can you tell I am VERY ANNOYED right now...!
                  Last edited by Johanna; 10-26-2024, 05:16 PM.

                  Comment

                  • anewbie
                    Registered Member
                    • Nov 2023
                    • 105

                    #10
                    While you are talking discus - i will say that it usually take my angels 3 to 10 tries to get it right. It took my m.e. (Mesonauta egregius -> great fishes) 5 tries to get it right and they were from the wilds of the amazon; i gotta assume the discus are going to fail the first few times.
                    -
                    The only fish that has gotten it right the first time (the only one i own) are the a. wolli and they won't stop. Every 3 or 4 weeks new frys.

                    Comment

                    • Johanna
                      Registered Member
                      • Sep 2023
                      • 275

                      #11
                      Maybe so... I would have thought they had enough experience to manage it in a different setting as well. That's why I chose that pair for my first try even though they are a mismatch colour wise. Just hoping that the male particularly forgets the eggs tasted so good. He never ate them before so he better not start now.

                      Comment

                      • LizStreithorst
                        Moderator Team

                        • Jan 2005
                        • 13906
                        • Moselle, MS

                        #12
                        There is nothing wrong with your pairing, color wise. It's a good pairing.

                        But like has been said, they're in a new environment. There are some pair that never get it right, but it rare. These two have done it right in the big tank. They'll figure out how to do it right in the breeding tank. You think that you have been patient with them, but Discus sometimes require an enormous amount of patience. Go so a nice brush out on your collies and get your mind off them for a while.
                        Mama Bear

                        Comment

                        • Johanna
                          Registered Member
                          • Sep 2023
                          • 275

                          #13
                          You are both right, of course. And it was a bit funny watching them being such losers Lets just hope they learned something from it and the next attempt will be soon.

                          Originally posted by LizStreithorst
                          There is nothing wrong with your pairing, color wise. It's a good pairing.
                          Really? What's the fry going to look like then? All I've ever heard is not to mix blue with red and pigeon with non-pigeon strains if you don't want ugly dirty-coloured fry. I'm using 'red cover' a bit loosely in this case, as I don't really know for sure except it looks like one, with a faint blue face/rim. I'm not so picky with colours, I have some peppered discus and I think they look cool in a way. But I don't think that red female is a pigeon type anyway.

                          Comment

                          • LizStreithorst
                            Moderator Team

                            • Jan 2005
                            • 13906
                            • Moselle, MS

                            #14
                            Post or link me to a pic of your Red Cover, please.
                            Mama Bear

                            Comment

                            • Johanna
                              Registered Member
                              • Sep 2023
                              • 275

                              #15
                              Click image for larger version

Name:	448563667_987054919577631_1973082608720177390_n.jpg
Views:	112
Size:	175.0 KB
ID:	2758785That's the best I could find, the blue isn't very visible in this pic. It's more noticeable these days and there's more contrast in the colours overall.

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