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  1. #1
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    239

    Feeding Green Water to discus fry in the early stages?

    Hi gang,

    recently I learnt about feeding "Green Water" or phytoplankton when raising some Royal Whiptail Catfish in their very early stages. I have some free swimming discus fry as of today that will hopefully attach to the first time parents soon. I'm sitting here watching them flit all around a 200lt tank and just thought if anyone feeds the green algae water to discus fry in the early stages to help them along?

    Cheers

  2. #2
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    224
    Let us know if you try it and it works

  3. #3
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    239
    Hi,

    I set up a green water drip today. Its a litre container over the tank with a simple airline as a hose and a cheap plastic airline tap to regulate the drip feed. Its set at a drip about every 10 seconds. I have a fountain outside that I pump my water-change water into. Have some lilies in it and a couple of resident frogs. The water is your classic green tinged water.
    Green water can be made by soaking lettuce leaves in a bucket of aged tank water, left in the sun till the phytoplankton (microscopic plants) forms over a few days.
    I figure it couldn't hurt as small fry have been started on this for ever and our discus love algae wafers.
    After the water dripped into the tank I did notice some of the tiny fry darting around the area. But as the fry were all over the place its hard to say if they were feeding on it for sure.
    Perhaps a suitable zooplankton (microscopic invertebrate animals) variety would help to kick off our fry?
    I also thought that some people remove their fry for various reasons from the parents and are fed egg based foods that foul the water quickly. Possibly a phyto or zooplankton, being alive, could get them through the early stages without the water fouling before being fed a microworm etc? Food for thought, pardon the pun.
    I've got the brine shrimp eggs ready to hatch out soon, some micro worm cultures, grindal worm cultures and am in search of white worm also. Would be interesting to learn of any conclusive evidence/benefit of feeding the very early discus fry on the plankton. I'd be keen to hear if anyone finds anything out,

    Cheers

  4. #4
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    239
    Hi,

    I looked into Daphnia also for when feeding from quarter inch to three inch discus young. Found this very informative article from Gwynbrook Farm Discus Hatchery.

    http://www.discushatchery.com/raisingdaphnia.html

    Cheers

  5. #5
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    224
    You may find they will take frozen daphnia anyway. Live food is hard work!

  6. #6
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    239
    Hi,

    Yeah, I imagine the live daphnia or similar would be labour intensive.

    The fry only lasted the week as didn't transfer to the first time parents. They have been previously laying constantly in a nearby display so hopefully should lay again soon. Practice makes perfect as they say. Possibly putting a food source such as one of the planktons in when first free swimming isn't such a good idea as possibly may reduce the urge to feed from the parents slime coat?

    Cheers

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