Discus-ion Misc Rambling, Feeding

[Fish Folk]

Yo! NERMs take note! My first ever Discus spawning…

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

So the 2 there are definitely the culprits? I mean parents. 

The Rams....which kind are those?

[Fish Folk]

Yes, that’s Discus spawn. They’re the only two in the 40 breeder. The Rams are normal GBRs I raised last summer. If you want to see how gorgeous they get, check this out.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Well congratulations on the spawn! I hope you get some success with it! 🥳

Ah yes, I'm sure I've asked you about your Rams before, they are, as are your other fish, beautiful. 😍

[Wrencher_Scott]

I keep mine with  2 GBRs a bristle nose and Kuhli's 

They are at 81 deg most of the time. I like them a little cooler because of plants and because bad bacteria loves heat.

I have always read keep at least six. I had 2 for a month then got 2 more and one of the older ones bullied the others. Even came home to a bit off part of the dorsal fin. 

I tried all the tricks, move plants, separation in a breeder net, more fish.... Finally traded that one in at the LFS.

Now after 5 days they all get along swimmingly.

I want one more....to make six. Still looking...Maybe a Snow white or replace the bully Golden Pigeon. 

p.s.

The guy with the bite on the fin recovered in about 5 days, it grew back fast. 

[Fish Folk]

@Wrencher_Scott those are looking good! Interesting note on heat and bacteria issues. My plants definitely are not fans of high heat.

For a million reasons, I have _zero_ hopes that any of these eggs will make it. And beyond that, _zero_ inclinations that fry could survive in this dirty tank.

What I've got is a confirmed pair of young Discus. This is really what makes my day. I'll work hard to treat them well, and hopefully over time, they'll spawn again under better circumstances.

It was a complete hot mess getting those EBAs caught and sold off to my LFS this eve...

Rams were moved out, and got all sorts of turned on in the community Discus tank...

I expect the Discus eggs to disappear within the next day. But we shall see!

 

[Torrey]

Have you ever noticed hormones from one spawn seem to trigger more spawns?

 

[Ken Burke]

On 5/14/2022 at 5:06 PM, Fish Folk said:

Yo! NERMs take note! My first ever Discus spawning…

 

OutSTANDING!  Congratulations.   That should be some good BAP points.

[Fish Folk]

On 5/15/2022 at 8:13 AM, Ken Burke said:

OutSTANDING!  Congratulations.   That should be some good BAP points.

I’m betting it will be a long wait til I can get a batch to survive… but at least i have a pair!

[Fish Folk]

On 5/15/2022 at 1:23 AM, Torrey said:

Have you ever noticed hormones from one spawn seem to trigger more spawns?

 

Yes! I sometimes pour water where one cichlid is spawning over into another cichlid tank to help trigger them. 

[Fish Folk]

Well… day after… remaining eggs all appear infertile. I’m curious what happened to the fertile eggs? The pair is still staying close to the site.

[Tihshho]

How new is this pair to spawning? Are there any pleco's in the tank? 

[Fish Folk]

On 5/15/2022 at 4:09 PM, Tihshho said:

How new is this pair to spawning? Are there any pleco's in the tank? 

Very new! First ever spawn as far as I know. And yes… 😬… there are BNPs

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 5/15/2022 at 4:32 PM, Fish Folk said:

Very new! First ever spawn as far as I know. And yes… 😬… there are BNPs

Plecos? oh no.....That scares me.  Do the pair seem to be very protective of the eggs?

I read the fertile ones are yellow/tan. Aren't some like that?

That is so cool either way. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Wrencher_Scott

[Andy's Fish Den]

I am not sure what your water chemistry is like where you live, but most likely if it is not soft or you're not using RO water in the tank, the eggs won't hatch. If the water has much hardness in it, the eggs will develop a shell coating and be unable to hatch out. When I raised discus in the past, I would get a group of them, grow them out in my tap water, and once they got to spawning age/ size slowly start introducing RO or rainwater when doing water changes. I would even have them sometimes spawn in the tap water, but would have to switch them to the RO to get the eggs to hatch. If you're lucky and have soft water out of the tap, like they do out in Seattle area, you won't have to worry, I believe Dean doesn't have to do anything special to his water to get his wild discus to spawn and hatch eggs. 

[Fish Folk]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:47 AM, Andy's Fish Den said:

I am not sure what your water chemistry is like where you live, but most likely if it is not soft or you're not using RO water in the tank, the eggs won't hatch. If the water has much hardness in it, the eggs will develop a shell coating and be unable to hatch out. When I raised discus in the past, I would get a group of them, grow them out in my tap water, and once they got to spawning age/ size slowly start introducing RO or rainwater when doing water changes. I would even have them sometimes spawn in the tap water, but would have to switch them to the RO to get the eggs to hatch. If you're lucky and have soft water out of the tap, like they do out in Seattle area, you won't have to worry, I believe Dean doesn't have to do anything special to his water to get his wild discus to spawn and hatch eggs. 

My water is soft, but probably not soft enough. I do have the “guts” for an R. O. System ready to roll. I just need a plumber to help. 

On 5/15/2022 at 10:55 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

Plecos? oh no.....That scares me.  Do the pair seem to be very protective of the eggs?

I read the fertile ones are yellow/tan. Aren't some like that?

That is so cool either way. 

Yeah… I’ll need to catch those rascals out 😂

[Tihshho]

So plecos with Discus are controvertial. I don't sit one way or another on them being aggressive or attacking the Discus, some people have seen plecos try to rasp on their flat sides, but it's usually a dice roll when it comes to keeping them with any egg layers as they can predate on eggs. What I'd recommend is to keep an eye on this pair. If they successfully lay again, but you run into the same problems, it might be worthwhile placing them in their own spawning tank, like a 20H, to control the environment a little more for them rather than fiddling with a tank that seems to have the majority of the fish happy.

As for your RO needing a plumber, where are you running into snags on setting it up? I've got an RO unit setup and might be able to help you out with what you need so you don't have to hire someone to come out. If you have a utility sink near, or a cold line feed you can tap (they make fittings that go between the faucet and the cold line so you don't have to use vampire connections) this is fairly easy to do.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Tihshho

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:30 AM, Tihshho said:

So plecos with Discus are controvertial. I don't sit one way or another on them being aggressive or attacking the Discus, some people have seen plecos try to rasp on their flat sides, but it's usually a dice roll when it comes to keeping them with any egg layers as they can predate on eggs. What I'd recommend is to keep an eye on this pair. If they successfully lay again, but you run into the same problems, it might be worthwhile placing them in their own spawning tank, like a 20H, to control the environment a little more for them rather than fiddling with a tank that seems to have the majority of the fish happy.

 

No, not that, the eggs is what I was worrying about. 

I've never seen a Pleco attack anything but algae over the years. lol 

[Fish Folk]

On 5/16/2022 at 9:30 AM, Tihshho said:

So plecos with Discus are controvertial. I don't sit one way or another on them being aggressive or attacking the Discus, some people have seen plecos try to rasp on their flat sides, but it's usually a dice roll when it comes to keeping them with any egg layers as they can predate on eggs. What I'd recommend is to keep an eye on this pair. If they successfully lay again, but you run into the same problems, it might be worthwhile placing them in their own spawning tank, like a 20H, to control the environment a little more for them rather than fiddling with a tank that seems to have the majority of the fish happy.

As for your RO needing a plumber, where are you running into snags on setting it up? I've got an RO unit setup and might be able to help you out with what you need so you don't have to hire someone to come out. If you have a utility sink near, or a cold line feed you can tap (they make fittings that go between the faucet and the cold line so you don't have to use vampire connections) this is fairly easy to do.

Thanks! I'll post my questions about R.O. set up here, and appreciate any help folks with experience can offer. I just hate making my floor wet 😂

On 5/16/2022 at 10:31 AM, Wrencher_Scott said:

No, not that, the eggs is what I was worrying about. 

I've never seen a Pleco attack anything but algae over the years. lol 

I think BNPs will predate on eggs laid on surfaces. Not sure if this is what happened or not, but because BNPs are so active at night, it might have been a "night craving."

Which I understand.

Totally.

[Torrey]

On 5/15/2022 at 5:32 PM, Fish Folk said:

And yes… 😬… there are BNPs

Fertile caviar is a high protein food that will trigger spawning in your BNP

[Fish Folk]

On 5/16/2022 at 2:04 PM, Torrey said:

Fertile caviar is a high protein food that will trigger spawning in your BNP

🤦‍♂️ oh no . . . T O O   M A N Y   P L E C O S ! 

(wait . . .  🤔 now I sense an aquarium-themed kid's cardboard book series coming on . . . )

[Fish Folk]

Just going to hang these up in here….

[Odd Duck]

You either have wigglers someplace or somebody had a nice snack.  Great that you have such a beautiful pair!

My gold nugget pleco loves snacking on cory eggs, fyi.

[Fish Folk]

Discus pair spawned again!

Not ready for this! Very pleased… but my expectations are low.

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

They are so pretty and attentive to their little eggs. They want babies soooo bad!