Tonight, we dine on caviar

[FrankFarrell]

Hi all - I'm new to the forum and fairly new to discus keeping.

I have seven discus in an SA display/community planted tank. They are all happy, well looked after, I do an 80 litre water change every day and keep the PH at 6.8. No RO as the water here is very soft.

Two of my blue snakeskins paired up recently and spent the last few days cleaning a spot in the tank. Tonight they spawned for the first time, well when I say spawned; eggs were laid and promptly eaten by the hungry male. I know this isn't unusual or uncommon, in fact I was surprised they tried to spawn in the big tank with all the other fish around. I couldn't believe my luck in that they decided to spawn while I was home from work (water change may have helped) and I could see their behaviour. It was part comedy part tragedy as the young fish didn't really seem to know what they were doing, and then the supposed father ate up all the eggs.

I have to say that Discus are definitely the most rewarding fish I have ever kept.

[BigDaddyAdo]

Maybe he ate them because of the other fish in the tank. Why not get them their own BB tank and see how it goes.


Ado

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Frank.

Discus can be frustrating, exciting, challenging and rewarding all at the same time :P

It's pretty normal for young fish to do exactly what yours have done. They seem to go through a learning process, and it may take them 6 or 10 or even 20 times before they get things right.

I always leave my young pairs in the community tank till they get their act together. By the time they've had a few spawns and tried to protect their eggs and babies from other hungry mouths, they've become quite good parents and once moved into the breeding tank, they tend to raise their fry without problems.

Congratulations on getting your fish to spawn. That means they like the conditions in your tank, so you must be doing lots of things right :P

[FrankFarrell]

Well this is pretty exciting. The discus pair are spawning again behind my back as I type. This time the male seems to be picking at a few eggs but is certainly not devouring them the way he did last time. I'm going to take Merrilyn's advice and leave them in the community tank for the time being, and let them learn and get used to what they are supposed to do. I don't have the money or space for another tank for the pair just yet, but hopefully in the next few months. It'll be interesting to see how they behave with the eggs over the next few days.

On the downside I managed to hurt one of my cories with the siphon yesterday. I only stepped out of the room for a minute to check on the water refill and when I came back I saw him trapped under the lip of the tube. Today he was very listless (and easy to catch, which is always a bad sign) and his dorsal fin was damaged. I have him in a small hospital tank and am keeping an eye on him. He should be back to normal soon, fingers crossed.

[FrankFarrell]

Oh.

The other's seemed to ignore them while they were spawning. Once the eggs were laid they rushed in and devoured them. Oh well, they might be a bit more protective next time. Poor things.