First Time Parents - Secone time around white eggs

[SandyLynne]

I am so excited. :D

When I woke this morning I found eggs laid on the plants and glass.

This couple were acting strange last night so I did suspect a little romance but wow this is exciting. I know they eggs or fry will probably not survive as they are in a community tank but I certainly didn't think these 2 were in any relationship.

Any help in sexing them would be greatly appreciated. I am new to this and wouldn't have a clue. :oops:

[goldenpigeon]

hey there! congratulations! the blue looks to be the male :D

are you going to get them a breeding tank for their next spawn?

[SandyLynne]

Hi goldenpigeon

Thankyou for your reply. I have read so many articles in this forum and think I practically live here and want to thank everyone for their valuable input.

I have read many articles on sexing discus but still cannot work it out. As far as breeding Discus I think that is the ultimate of all Discus owners but never dreamt I would have the oppotunity. I would certainly love to get a breeding tank and have a go at it but am concerned at how time consuming it is. I have heard that some people give up their day job to raise fry, but is this really necessary.

Is breeding discus any more time consuming?

Will I have a life if I get into breeding? :lol:

I have attached a few more photos.
They were named Tom & Alice but I never new the sex of them. Then Tom developed a fat tummy so thought maybe he was a she? Tom is definately the dominant and gets Alice working.

I have 6 kids but feel like a clucky Mummy again. I feel silly but also excited. :roll:

[goldenpigeon]

from looking at those pictures the blue is definetly the male and orange is female.

they are very nice fat fish! should be very proud of yourself!

if you breed discus will you have a life? YES!

many people make it out to be some huge chore but if you organise yourself, set your tanks up properly and effectively and get your hands dirty with a bit of DIY you can breed these fantastic fish and still have plenty of time left over. and setting yourself up to breed them doesnt nescessarily cost that much either.

do you litterally have 6 kids (i mean humans lol)

cheers
David

[Zbiljc]

Yes, really nice fishes!!!!!

[SandyLynne]

(LOL) Yes I literally have 6 human kids ages 11-20 plus numerous other animals but I have a TV now :D

2 days later and unfortunately all of my eggs have now disappeared :cry:

[RichVic]

Hi Sandy and Congratulations for having great water param's - they Wouldn't bother breeding in dirty water! I've recently had a similar surprise and let them spawn three times in a community tank which they did at weekly intervals before taking them out of the community tank and putting them in a small tank (half filled with water from community tank and topped up with aged water ) with only a heater, sponge filter and breeding cone. They began cleaning the cone on day 3 and lay neew eggs that night. 2 days later the eggs hatched and the parents worked hard to keep them 'together' on the cone, then a couple of days later they were all on one the parent, & when a baby got adventurous, it was picked up by the parent and spat back into the
rest of the group. At this stage all I did was keep the water clean by siphoning the bottom for leftovers the parents didn't want and topping up with fresh water. The babies live off the parents slime coat so I didn't need to do thatmuch for them. The I started putting Baby Brine shrimp onto the parents back, near babies to get them used to the idea of eating it and not taxing the parents so much. The I got a auto -feeder and used the rocksalt crusher as a tool for breaking down the dry food into almost a powder which it dispensed 4 times a day for me (office hours) So I have been giving them a live BBS breakfast and the BBS live fopr a few hours
so they have something to chase during the morning - then after work its back to meat - Beafheart and more BBS. I leave the lights on till I go to bed so they get a feed at around 5.30pm and 8pm thesedays. I siphon around 9pm so they have a clean home over night.
I only had 25 eggs, but apparently, thats like a small trial thing they do and if they're happy with the outcome, they produce more eggs next time.
I lost a few in week one and two - and noticed that they had grey bodies
rather than the pink shiny ones - I think the slime coat feed results in grey bodies and when they go onto beefheart/shrimp they have pinker
colouring. Not sure why some didn't make this move? but the dead ones on the bottom of the tank were smaller and grey.??
Mine are not hurting the parents slime coat - I've always fed them really
regularly to prevent this and are still with the parents now. The biggest one is almost the size of a 5c piece, the bulk are half that and theres a few tiny ones hanging in there.
HTH
Vicki

[SandyLynne]

Hi Vicki

Thankyou so much for replying, I enjoyed reading through your experience which has made me feel a little more confident in breeding.

I also work fulltime and was concered with the regular feeding but after reading your reply I am very anxious for for a new batch of eggs. I will let them do this a couple more times, hoping that they will obviously, then move the parents to a breeding tank.

As for clean water in my tank well I am just a little obsesses with having a very clean tank. My kids think I am crazy with the amount of time I spend on water changes but I do not find it a chore. I am totally addicted.

I had a fish tank when I was a teenager for many years with only tropical fish but gave it away when I had children. Now that they are all a little older I have decided to get back into the hobby, which was Sept last year and decided to give Discus a go, the best decision I have ever made.

Again thank you for your comment, I am all excited and ready to go again, just need my discus to feel the same :lol:

[RichVic]

Yes, have a go! It's a lot of fun to watch the parents do their thing and then the babies are really, really cute. Ladyred has some fabulous advice in the breeding section, so do a couple of searches and check it out if you havent already. I got home late (3rd night after hatching) & the house was already dark at 5.30.When I switched on the light in the breeding tank room, I saw all tha babies all over the place - literally - They couldnt see the parents and the parents couldn't keep track of all of them in the dark - Immediately realised that the first time this happened in the community tank, these babies would have been gobbled up !! or starved to death because they couldn't latch onto the parents for a feed. I'd let the parents develop their protective instincts a bit while you go about getting a breeding tank up and running and "season" the sponge filter for a couple of weeks in the cycled tank if you can.
Good luck and keep us posted! I think the best threads are the ones that go on for a while and you can see the whole journey, rather than isolated questions, For us newbies anyway! I say Go for it!

[SandyLynne]

Here we go again, second time round. They are still in a community tank but this time many more eggs and a lot more protective. I am so excited, I never expected this to happen.

One more time then in to their own little love nest. :lol: :lol:

I am so totally addicted to discus. :P

[SandyLynne]

Within 36 hours all eggs had turned white :cry: :cry: