Some beginner questions first time breeding

[NiekFermont]

Hello! my name is Niek , im from the Netherlands.

Last week 2 of my adult discus suddenly laid eggs (which other ones did before , but always got eaten before they hatched)
This time was different and the eggs actually hatched. In panic i bought a small extra tank and moved the fry there (before they got eaten) Ive read about the egg yolk and tryd to artifficially grow them. Which obviously failed...
Now I do got my extra tank i want to give it another shot. So I need to know what would be wise.

I always read move the parents to the breeding tank when they start to pick a place to lay eggs.
1 thing i cannot find is the breeding tank, do i need to cycle it for +/- 4 weeks before moving the adults in ? And how long can i keep them in this ''small'' breeding tank. If they do not start the process of breeding. This cant be more then a few months i suppose ?

Do i need to move the parents there before they start to show new signs of egg laying ? Or move them there as soon as possible ?
Im afraid when they start to clean their laying place (in the big tank) and i move them, they will stop the process because of the catching ''stress''
Also i got 1 plant in the breeding tank and a sponge filter. Is this ok ?

Thanks in advance for any help i can get here!

[jwcarlson]

I can't help with everything, as I never bred discus. But you can "instantly" cycle a tank by moving media from the original tank over into the new tank. It's one of the reasons I always ran at least one sponge filter in all of my tanks. Whenever I set up another one I'd just move the sponge filter over into the new one and as long as you don't do anything crazy like stock it with 100 goldfish... you've got all the bacterial life you need to get the tank cycled quite quickly or, many times, instantly.

[CliffsDiscus]

Too much information on artificially raise Discus but not many pictures.

I usually move the parents only when I know that they are a confirm pair, otherwise they may be two females.

You can run a extra sponge filter in the large tank and move it to the breeding tank. Also you an take a few hand full of gravel and place it in a nylon stocking and place it in the breeding tank.

[NiekFermont]

Ty!! Ive moved the couple and 1 day later they already laid eggs! Fingers crossed

[danotaylor]

Cool. Did you watch the spawn? Who laid the eggs? Did the other discus make passes over the eggs as well? Did you happen to notice a difference in the vent shapes? The cobalt vent looks to be male but the angle is not the greatest to know for sure...

[Brianmcq]

You can move them any time, if they are a mated pair the will spawn again when it suites them.
Moving them to another tank is not a problem, cycled media sure is a good, but with breeding pairs doing large daily water changes is beneficial also. Water Must be aged, conditioned and at the correct temperature.

As for raising them artificially requires a lot of time, if you don't have the time its a waste of time.
The egg yoke in it self is not the problem, the water has to be pristine and if you don't have time to change the water very often its game over.

No plants in breeding tanks, sponge filter yes which is turned way down when there is a sign the are going to spawn. you want very little water movement so the eggs get better fertilization by male, which gives a better hatch rate.

Watching a pair of discus raise there own young is some thing you will never get tiered of.

Good luck

[NiekFermont]

You can move them any time, if they are a mated pair the will spawn again when it suites them.
Moving them to another tank is not a problem, cycled media sure is a good, but with breeding pairs doing large daily water changes is beneficial also. Water Must be aged, conditioned and at the correct temperature.

As for raising them artificially requires a lot of time, if you don't have the time its a waste of time.
The egg yoke in it self is not the problem, the water has to be pristine and if you don't have time to change the water very often its game over.

No plants in breeding tanks, sponge filter yes which is turned way down when there is a sign the are going to spawn. you want very little water movement so the eggs get better fertilization by male, which gives a better hatch rate.

Watching a pair of discus raise there own young is some thing you will never get tiered of.

Good luck

TY ! after 3 failed attempts the parents now got 5 day old free swimmers (attached to their sides) just 10 made it but the parents seem to learn more every time they lay.
The cobalt is the male. Im trying to feed them BBS now.

1 more question. The sponge filter seems to be to much current. Can i turn it off for a few days ? (with more water changes) ?

[Brianmcq]

Congrats you have a confirmed pair, now the fun starts enjoy.
When the fry become free swimmers.
lower the water level just above the parents, this makes it easier for the fry to find the parents and attach.
Remove the filter for a few days or cover it with white cloth so the fry don't go to the filter thinking its the adults.
Filter removed or not daily water changes are a must, syphoning the bottom of the tank ,with out sucking up any fry.
If you are worried abut the turbulence of the sponge filter you can tun the air down a bit so there is less flow.
Good luck enjoy.
Brian Mcq

[wuvarien]

That's awesome Niek! Please keep us updated with pictures