how to save discus babies from community tank?

[rytis]

my yellow/blue turq discus layd eggs this morning!!!
now they're taking turns guarding it, everything is good... i assume will hatch in 2 days, eggs look very healthy about 80 or so.... in the corner on a pipe (cant be removed)... its a 265g tank with 10 other big discuses/2 plecos/angel in there....

probably too hard to just catch other fish with all the stuff i got in the tank, is there a way to catch the babies in a week or so when they start swimming or will it not get to that point in community tank?

[Merrilyn]

As you've probably discovered by now Rytis, the angel or the plecos would have made short work of the eggs or fry.

I don't know of anyone who has successfully managed to raise a brood in a community tank. Much better to separate the pair off to their own tank, and allow them to spawn there. Feeding the fry in a community tank is almost impossible too. They need to be in a smaller tank, where food is easy to find.

Congratulations on the spawn though. It means your fish are very happy with all you have been doing :P

[Crocky]

Hi Rytis

I had the same thing happen the other day but the pair moved them onto a rock when the hatch.I wait ed till that night a pulled the rock and fish out and got 50 fry out of it.I left the lounge light at night while the had eggs so the pair could keep an eye on there spawn and chase the other fish away.

Brad

[rytis]

thx. they hatched 3 days ago, then they were gathering them with a mouth into a bunch for 2 more days, then they dissapeared...

anyway, i'm getting the tank ready for spawning.
QUESTION:
if i put a used filter into a 50galon along with bunch of potted plants (peat inside) and water from long cycled tank into this 50g spawning tank, HOW LONG SHOULD I WAIT to cycle before i put the pair in?

[Merrilyn]

Rytis, with your already cycled filter, and water from an existing tank, then you're right to go without waiting.

I wouldn't put the potted plants in there, just more distractions for the fry. I have nothing in my tanks other than a sponge filter, and a breeding cone, and heater. That's it.

Good luck. Sounds like you've got a good pair.

[rytis]

hmmmm well, my tap water is about 7.5ph what brings it down to 6.5 is a combination of two things: pressurized co2 i use for plants and peat... i mean its not a good idea to use just co2 i know that...

WHAT YOU THINK?

and yes the female now found an even nicer boyfriend (she has two or more, all males like her, its a yellow with white circled lines) cant wait to see what babies look like of this combination...

ANOTHER QUESTION
iam considering just letting them into fully planted 125g tank. you talk about distractions and fry losing parents and all,but what about in nature? plus there would be no predators

FILTER
(i have a sponge bio pond filter from home depot in my 125g which works awesome but if i was to set up 50g tank instead) would a power filter with asponge over intake be considered a sponge filter? i assume so?

[Merrilyn]

hmmmm well, my tap water is about 7.5ph what brings it down to 6.5 is a combination of two things: pressurized co2 i use for plants and peat... i mean its not a good idea to use just co2 i know that...

WHAT YOU THINK?

I'd just use the peat, it's a safe and gentle way to lower the pH.




ANOTHER QUESTION
iam considering just letting them into fully planted 125g tank. you talk about distractions and fry losing parents and all,but what about in nature? plus there would be no predators

Certainly you can give it a try, and see what happens. The tried and tested method is to remove the parents to a small breeding tank without distractions, but there's no reason why you can't try breeding them in the 125g planted tank. In the wild, discus parents lose huge numbers of fry, that's why they have so many in the first place. Out of 300 fry, they are lucky to raise 1 or 2 per batch. Even with those numbers, they are still successful parents if they manage to raise 2 or more fry to maturity. Nature is pretty tough on the young.


FILTER
(i have a sponge bio pond filter from home depot in my 125g which works awesome but if i was to set up 50g tank instead) would a power filter with asponge over intake be considered a sponge filter? i assume so?

Indeed it would. The aim is to prevent the fry being sucked up the filter intake. Putting a sponge over the intake pipe will prevent that and add a bit of extra bio filtration to the tank too. Try to slow the water flow down a bit. New fry don't do very well in a strong current. They swim themselves to death.