Question / s u have possibly been asked a million times

[madasa]

Afternoon all

Im sorry if any of these questions have been hugely repetitive ... I have researched a lot here and elsewhere but have come to the conclusion that it might be best just to ask. That okay?

Oh, and I am getting that discus book which Samir recommended which I ordered a week ago so it will be here soon i hope for further enlightenment.

Here goes

1. I have a proven breeding pair of marlboros (not bred with me) and recently added the male from a royal blue turk pair (she died). Since then have added another large female marlboro red in the hope that the turk and her might hit it off. All fish in tank are roughly the same size - the smallest would be the male red. Tank is 200litres, well filtered, bare but for 2 breeding cones.

Have i done something right or wrong - will breeding potential increase or decrease?

2. Were my blue turk and female MR hit it off any idea on the frys appearance? Should I even be attempting this?

3. Recently (with the female MR) i also obtained 2 F1 greens, 2 F1 checklerboards, a red and white, a snow leopard and an alenq intermediate (thank Michael - The German). The latter 3 are in a 140 litre and are all about 4 inches - red and white is male. The first four are in a 200l, same sizes as the other 3. Tanks are bare but for breeding cones with good filtration.

Any comments?

4. I have read that to induce spawning one should do 50% water changes daily (lowering temp by a couple of desrees) and the breeders actually do this twice a day. I do this every 3-4 days at present though remove uneaten food daily. I have read of people having spawnings in community tanks which, I would imagine, do not have large daily water changes.

What should I do and were I to do the large daily change ... how long would I do this for - until spawning occurred?

5. Is a cannister filter returning water gently better than an internal filter facing sideways than length ways so only one part of the tank has some turbulence?

6. Do people use geoliquid for discus and is it any good? Does it help promote spawning?

You're probably tired reading by now.

Thannks for any help.

Samir - if you have the time to answer could you go into some detail as I know you know heaps but reply with very few words and I really want to hear your opinion on the above.

Merrilyn - I know you wont be shy :)

Pete

[samir]

Oh, and I am getting that discus book which Samir recommended

:shock: :shock: :shock: do you mean the one Merrilyn recommended ?

[madasa]

Wasnt it you that put a link up for it?

And where's my answers??? LOL

[samir]

Samir - if you have the time to answer could you go into some detail as I know you know heaps but reply with very few words and I really want to hear your opinion on the above.


Golden rule of discus keeping is "You should listen to Merrilyn more and me less."

I'll try and answer your questions later. I have barely scratched the surface with breeding so dunno how much help I'll be. I'll have to make it up to you for that book, I made you order :shock: so when I have some nice fry I'll give you a buzz.

[ILLUSN]

Lots of questions, hope this helps a little.

1. 2 pairs ina 200l not ideal unless the tank is divided and the divider is opaque so the pairs cant see each other (perspex coverd in cream/beige shadecloth works well)

2.I think your fry would look 80% turk with pigion traits, (some peppering, black tails and fins etc) they'd still have the bars that you see in the turks.

3. not sure what your questionis about? are you worried about the stocking density or the possibility of breeding? i think the density is fine for both tanks.

4. to induce a spawn i do 10% water changes daily with water that is 2C cooler. then on an afternoon (usually sunday for conveniance) i'll do a 50% water change just as a southerly change hits. my fish spawn everytime, even in the comunity tank.

the water i use is as follows temp 28C, ph 5.5-5.0, kh 0 gh 6-8 water is aged for 24hrs min and filtered through zeolite and carbon once per 2 hours (eheim 2213 on a 450L tank)

5. I've used canister filters with the spraybar aimed at the back wall of the tank with sucess, make sure you put a white sponge guard around the intake so no fry can get sucked up. the only internal filter i've used is a sponge filter and that has also worked well.

6. I've never used geo liquid but i'm currently using Aussie Geo minerals and it doesn't seem to do any harm, to be honest it makes my water clearer and the fish seem happier.

[samir]

for the good pairs a standard 3 footer is the largest I've gone. For pairs that have a problem with fry attaching I use a 2 footer with water dropped down to the height of the fish.

imo you need to figure out why your fish died.Are the rest of your fish healthy. its important to condition fish before breeding.

if they are healthy/eating well, they will breed, whether you change water or not. You need to clean them out and fatten them up, otherwise you could end up with very small batches of fry which die off one by one.

no canisters in breeding tank, or thats where the fry will most likely end up. don't bother with additives. imo you should start with turks, blue diamonds or browns. they are much easier to breed. if you're marlboro pair is a painful one it will put you off breeding.

i think you will be much better off getting 6 discus at 8-10cm of an easy strain and then getting a pair out of them. that way the chances are you will get a good working pair that don't pick on each other.

[madasa]

Hey guys

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply in the detail which you did - Samir you must be exhausted!

My water is pristeen and around the PH 6.0 mark - I am absolutely anal about water quality. Interesting that Samir doesnt add an additive and I wonder if I am wasting money using it?

I have only the one proven breeding pair - the others have not other than the male blue turk before I got him. He and the spare female red are in with the pair but are not a pair themselves.

I am pretty sure it was an internal hexamita which did for the female blue turk with the minor autopsy I performed. The tank has been cleaned thoroughly.

MY plan is to leave as is at present and if nothing has happened in two months then move all into a 6ft, apart from the pair which would go into a 140 litre. If others pair up before then I will use a divider in a 200l as suggested - thankyou.

Ive bred absolutely heaps of africans and a lot of americans but now I intend to focus on my cuckoo cats, common BN, WC Zaire blue moba fronts and captive bred fronts plus the discus. Why? These are all fish which I like and are a challenge both keeping and breeding (except the BN of course) - they are easily offloaded and sought after when fry are present and the returns are better.

I get a kick out of breeding and then being able to pass on quality fry to others for a more affordable price gives me a feel good kick both for the people and my wallet.

I have a lot of schoold kids who come to me regularly and buy fish at quantities they couldnt normally afford and I see this as encouraging them. I also look after the school tank and help with classroom tanks when and if required.

Thanks again and sorry I droned on!

Pete