Eggs!! What next?

[Bill T.]

My two turq's have produced eggs.
Is it normal for them to "hassle" each other a bit whilst tending the eggs?
How can I tell if the eggs are fertile?

I think I have two females and one male. The two females (one turq, one pigeon) fight with each other, whilst the third (assume male) happily swims between them. Before this lot of eggs, he was not allowed near the pigeon female.

[chris]

Might Be two Males fighting for a mate :?:
Next time they spawn take note which one is laying :!:
In 3 days you will no if thay are fertile. In the mean time they might turn white, meaning not fertile, look for little black dots in the eggs.
HTH

[DR.V]

during this time you should watch them carefully

[Merrilyn]

Wow Bill :D exciting times ahead for you.

Congratulations.

Isn't it great to know you're doing every thing right, and your fishies actually approve :wave2

[Ben]

Well done Bill!
Keep an eye on the eggs, i find you can tell at the 40 hours stage if they are infertile/fertile and how many. The eggs will go dark in colour when fertile while infertile eggs will go white then go fungus.

Keep us posted!

Ben

[Bill T.]

Chris.
I've at least got two females out of three discus - thus can't have two males fighting over a mate.

Ben.
Some eggs have turned white, but by the next day these have gone - I assume the parents have disposed of them. It's day two - probably 30 hours. The remaining eggs do look a bit darker - lots of them!

So what happens next? Do the eggs start to wriggle or something? If they do hatch, what should I do - some special baby food or something?

Merrliyn:
You remeber these two discus have been through a hard time & were quite sick for a while - flukes, worms, possible Hex? Your help has been invaluable.

By the way, I noticed one (out of 13) of my cardinals looks unwell this morning - open mouth, breathing very fast. Just wonder if this is a sign. Should I net it & cull, which would be disruptive at this stage, or just wait?

The rest of the cardinals look fine. I've had them for about three months now & they have all been through the same treatment for flukes, worms & hex as the discus.

[Merrilyn]

That's looking promising Bill.

Here's something that should help you.

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3118

Any other questions, you know where I am :thumb

Re the cardinal, just leave it at this stage. Let's wait and see if we have wrigglers first.

[Bill T.]

Is it obligatory to move the fry to a separate tank or can i just leave them in the main tank until they get bigger & I find a suitable home for them?

As for the crook looking cardinal in the same tank - it died this morning.

[Merrilyn]

Billl, if you have wrigglers, you are going to have to remove the third discus, and anything else that is big enough to eat the fry (the cardinals will be fine).

Just keep us posted on how things are going :wink:

[Bill T.]

OIC!
Well, the only other fish in there right now are two bristle nose and two corydoras.
Looks like the third discus might be in for a stay in the platty tank.
No wrigglers yet, but most of the eggs still look O.K. - just a few white ones.

[Merrilyn]

:angel

Looking good :wink:

[Bill T.]

Now we have wrigglers galore.

Q: Do discus fish double date?
My third discus put down a load of eggs and was doing a great shimmy dance, but failed to attract the male who, although dropping in for brief visits, did not rise to the occassion.

Also, another tetra death. This time one of my two remaining glolights. These guys have survived a lot of bad stuff over the last year or so - now one of them lost balance, swimming upside down and gills & abdomen swollen (gills looked very dark). These are different symptoms to the cardinal that died a few days ago - looked like its jaw was locked open & rapid respiration.

Should I be worried?

[Merrilyn]

Wow Bill ...........wrigglers............w00t

Congratulations :blob

I think it's time to move that other lady discus to another tank. She will just try to take over the fry, and cause problems.

This is so great. I'm thrilled for you :wave2

[jim from sydney]

wooooh.......Bill....you have to buy more tanks soon, alternatively ship them to me in Epping...hah..hah...hah... :D :D :D Jim

[Ben]

Congrats Bill! this is great news!
now is the time to start thinking about some baby brineshrimp!
keep us posted mate!

again, well done!

Ben

[chris]

Wow what a story congratulations, got any pictures, it starts to get exciting now :!: :wink:

[Bill T.]

Well....didn't quite make it through the goal posts.

The wrigglers started to free swim, & then things went awry.

First: The eggs were in a bad spot. On the intake tube for my surface skimmer, which I disconnected, but I did notice the little ones swimming through the intake holes anyway (there were about 12 corpses in there).

Second: This was all happening right next to the intake tube for one of my e-heim canister filters. The parents were still fighting a bit (hate it when they do that) and would flick the young ones off .... right into the intake tube & they got sucked up!!!!

Third: I think one of the parents ate a few of the free swimmers by mistake. They were studiously catching them in their mouths & spitting them back into place, but if they had some in their mouth and fighting occurred at the same time, I think they swallowed by mistake ... how ugly!

I'm going to get a breeding cone & put it some distance from the intake. Also, maybe I can put a bit of foam around the intake? I've taken the surface skimmer off altogether for now.

Q: Will it work to have two pairs in the one tank? Currently I have two females and one male, which causes marital problems.

[jim from sydney]

Bill.......sorry about your loss.....the foam sounds a great idea should help a lot i think...placing the cones away from inlet tubes is also a item to think about....they should be spawning again shortly, keep your eyes open Pal....good luck...Jim

[Bill T.]

Not a bad first effort for a couple of young turq's, I thought.

I'm off to lfs for some foam & a breeding cone - it's gonna happen again, for sure.

Might also invest in a divider, so I can separate other fish for a few weeks. Perhaps then I could run two pairs in the same tank?

[Merrilyn]

Great that they did so well for a first time couple. Next time, they will get better at it, till they get it right.

Covering your filter intake with foam is the way to go, just remember to rinse it about once a week and it will be good.

Those dividers are a bit of nuisance to clean around, but in this case, it is definately worth while.

[Bill T.]

What's the best thing to use as a divider & where can I get one?

Also, I want to buy a breeding cone - tall & slender - not just a bunnings flower pot. Any ideas where I can get something like this in melbourne?