How many can a female have?

[lesxda]

I was told that you should rest your breeding females as they only have so many eggs and not to waste a spawn.

do I need to worry

Les

[Merrilyn]

If you were looking at commercial production, then it might be a problem, but I am assuming you are just a hobby breeder like the rest of us.

Peak production time is between the ages of around 18 months and four years, although they can spawn after that time, the interval between spawns becomes longer, and the number of eggs drops.

[lesxda]

thanks for your quick inforative reply Merrilyn.

as last night after only having about 5 free swimming babies we had another spawn of about 200 eggs. Hope dad got it write this time.

they are still having the babies on there back now the second day of free swimming and tending to the eggs as well

Hope it not just a protien snack

les

[DiscusMan]

Les,

Mate the information i gave you is correct as told to me by the president of the Malaysian Discus Club.

I would like to ask anyone out there how they tell there fish that they are only being kept by a hobbyist and not in a commercial breeding enviroment. Would be interested in hearing this myself.

For all those who care.

What has been said to me is that if you have a breeding female and she is allowed to spawn continously for a certain number of spawns non stop in a row then after a certain number of spawns, Say 20 then the number of eggs she can produce is drastically reduced.

For all those hobbyist at home. Ok so your pair spawns and the male eats the eggs. Two days later the female lays again. This process continues and you do nothing then you are in fact making your fish act like a commerically bred fish are you not. Commercially the fish might spawn, the eggs then being removed to surrogate parents, then the pair is set to spawn again. Is this not the same scenario just with different results.

Oh well if you dont mind your batches of babies being reduced then dont look after your breeding fish well. Dont feed them well between and during spawns and never give them a rest.

Wayne

[Merrilyn]

HI Wayne, interesting point. Thanks for sharing that information from the Malaysian Discus Club.

I have to say, it's not a problem I have encountered before. I don't leave my pairs in the breeding tank continuously, preferring to give them a break in the community tank. I have yet to have a pair spawn 20 times in a row without raising the fry. Once my pairs have raised fry they are given a break, kept in the best conditions, and fed the best foods.

I think we should all care about our discus enough to do that for them. :P

[marg]

Merrilyn how do you stop them eating their eggs? That's all that mine seem to do - spawn, fan and care for the eggs for 24 hours, then eat them!!! .

They are in a 3 foot tank at the moment - they used be in a 4 foot Community tank where they had spawned and let them get to wriggler stage then lost them (due to size of tank I think, as I watched them catching them and they moved them into the corner and were looking after them, then next thing zilch), so thinking I was doing the right thing I put them into the 3 foot tank with a sponge filter and a box filter as well - since they have been in the 3 foot tank they have spawned about ten times and every time they eat the eggs.

What can I do - any suggestions?

[Merrilyn]

Margot, a cage over the eggs will prevent the parents from eating the eggs. By the time the eggs have hatched and the wrigglers become free swimming, hopefully the parents will have gone past the eating stage, and their parenting instincts will take over.

A cage over the eggs can be as simple as some plastic wire or gutter guard bent into a circle and placed over the cone. The parents can still fan and see their eggs, but can't get to them to eat them.

HTH>

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Merrilyn,

I hope you are well.

Spawning and spelling pairs is something I've been thinking about lately, the juve's we imported from Roy Khoo are now pairing off, how time flies!

I haven't reached any conclusions whatsoever and would appreciate your opinion (and anyone else's) on the amount of spawns and length of spell you feel is optimal.

Cheers
MAC