Week old fry and there feeding but i am loosing them.

[sponge2]

Can any one help. Have been breeding discus for some time and have not come across this before but with a kh 4.3, ppm 184. Running 50%ro and50% hma. Water at 30.6c and 25% changed daily.
The fry are appox half inch, have good bellys and feeding on brine shimp 4 times a day and parents. But about 3-4 frya day are rising to the surface and keeling over. Running sponge filters with extra air stone.

[Merrilyn]

This is the time that gill flukes will tak a toll on the young fry. You can try a gill fluke treatment, but it's pretty harsh on fry that size.

Before you breed the pair again, treat them for gill flukes and do a followup treatment one week later.

The fry are being infected by the parents, but the parents may not be showing any symptoms, being larger and stronger, but even a light infection will be enough to kill fry.

[sponge2]

Thank for the advice. I ll give it a go and let you know if it works......[/img]

[sponge2]

Got fry onto brine shimp and removed from parents. treated adults and the fry with a smaller dose. some of the fry seem to be reacting better than have been. keep trying......

[Merrilyn]

If you've got a UV system, now is the time to put it on the fry tank. It will kill all the free swimming parasites and bacteria and give your fry a better chance of survival.

God luck :P

[sponge2]

My pairing tanks are all on bubble filters, but i am currently making a new wall of tanks and may use an external of sump. I could defernatly put uv in then.
Can get one from work but never used one before do they make much of a differance. :? ........................

[Merrilyn]

Yeah they do make a big difference, but you need a cannister filter to drive most brands.

There are however, on the market, internal UV units with their own pump and don't need any outside connections other than electricity :P

[benjohnson]

I use an all in one internal filter with a built in UV. It doesnt replace your usual filtration, but it does a really good job of keeping your water crystal clear, and killing all the nasties in the water. I bought mine off ebay for £20 here in the UK , I guess you could get one for a similiar price over in Oz ! Definately worth while, and portable too in case you ever wanted to drop it in another tank rathter than un-plumbing your cannister filter ;-)