Methylene Blue

[ktaliana]

Hi,

My discus pair started spawning eggs a few weeks ago and ate the eggs 3 times in a row before hatching. This was in the main tank, so I decided to set up a breeding tank with a sponge filter and a JBL Discus cone.

The pair spawned again in the new breeding tank yesterday, and as suggested by some articles I found on the net, added 8ml of meth blue to 90L of water in the breeding tank.

My question is, should I try and dilute the meth blue before the eggs start hatching or should I just leave it there assuming it will not harm the fry? If I am to dilute it, should I do it by means of water change or by adding carbon to my filtration?

Many thanks for your help.

[Hollowman]

MB is only used to stop your eggs from getting covered in fungus. With good water changes I have never had the need to use MB. It will also nuke any filter you have running, but it sounds like you do not have a mature one in your tank anyway, maybe I am wrong?
Many people just use MB as a short bath for the eggs, not always treating the whole tank.

hth
H

[ktaliana]

Yes the filter is a new sponge filter so not mature at all. I used water from my main tank to fill up the aquarium though.

[ktaliana]

Yes the filter is a new sponge filter so not mature at all. I used water from my main tank to fill up the aquarium though.

EDIT: SORRY ABOUT THE DOUBLE POST :(

[Hollowman]

Yes the filter is a new sponge filter so not mature at all. I used water from my main tank to fill up the aquarium though.

It makes no difference using old tank water. The water holds no real bacterial count that will colonise a sponge quickly. This being the case you need to be doing large daily water changes with aged prepared water. Your ammonia will rocket, nitrites will rocket and you will have sick/dead fish in no time.
Maybe get a mature sponge filter from your supplier if he has one spare. I always have spare mature sponges on hand if I need them. BUT....like I said, MB WILL nuke any filter, so be careful ok.

Get some liquid test kits, ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte, Ph. Test your water regularly so you know what is going on. Remember you are aiming at zero for ammonia and nitrite and about 15-20 nitrate once mature.

hth
H

[ktaliana]

Would you recommend doing massive water changes with aged water now that there are eggs (day 2)?

Would it help if I put some old filtering media from the main tank until my sponge matures?

Thanks for your help.

[Hollowman]

If you have eggs already, you could take out enough water so that the eggs are still just covered. You will just have to be aware that the water will foul very quickly with no filter. What you could do is take some filter media from a mature filter and use that somehow, depends what it is like, in what form. it would need to have some water flow through it to keep it active, like an airstone inside it, not sure what else to use at this point.

:?

[ktaliana]

I will try putting some ceramic media from my main tank into a low pressure small internal canister filter, that also has a small compartment for carbon media which should help to reduce MB quicker, I would think.

Many thanks for your help :)

[ktaliana]

I have installed the internal filter and left it on for a few hours but in the meantime the eggs started hatching. I then switched off the internal filter but left it installed next to the sponge filter to be in the flow kind of thing.

I'm on day 2 with the wrigglers and the parents are moving them round so fingers crossed! :)

[Hollowman]

Is the water still tinted with the MB? If so do a water change, VERY CAREFULLY, not uncovering the wrigglers. Make sure temperature is exactly the same though.
Tomorrow you should see the wrigglers start to detach and go scooting around the tank. You should at this point remove any dark objects in the tank, as the fry will be attracted to darker objects. Lower the water to just above the top of the tallest fish to give the fry a better chance to find their parents.
The internal filter will be a bit of non starter for me at this delicate stage as the fry would get sucked in and killed. I would cover the sponge filter with a white stocking and keep it running all the time.

How about some photos ?? I wanna see :D

[ktaliana]

Water is still tinted with MB. I shall remove the canister and just put the carbon filter case over the sponge filter maybe it helps. Will also lower the water level as suggested whilst doing the water change.

The discus have moved the wrigglers from the spawning site and moved them at the bottom of the tank next to the cone. Some of the wrigglers are scooting a bit already. Dad takes them back to the hatching site though :)

Will take some pics and post them as well ...

Oh and off to fetch the wife for some white stockings :)

[ktaliana]

A few pics ... sry about the quality, mobile camera and tinted water don't help.

[ktaliana]

They moved them again today, to a safer place I guess, against the backdrop :)

Not sure if anyone can help me, but I'm not too sure whether the MB will harm the fry if I don't manage to dilute before they get to free swimming stage. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[swampy1972]

I'm along way from being an expert, but I would assume that the MB would have killed them by now if was it was going to. I guess all you can do is start the water changes as asap as Hollowman suggested.
Thought?

[ktaliana]

I started water changes yesterday and all seems to be going well so far. The MB colour is fading away very slowly whilst fry is growing very quickly :)

Ammonia is at an acceptable level considering that I have a relatively high pH 7.8 and an almost brand new filter. I was wondering whether I should lower my pH but thought it would be safer to keep it stable and do regular water changes instead.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well in the next few weeks now. My next worry is brine shrimp but will post a new thread with my questions.

[Hollowman]

Looking good so far. Ammonia should always be zero, so keep it in check with bigger water changes, dont mess with the ph, stable is better as you said.
Good luck :)