Straited PB's finally laid eggs

[PJP]

I bought a breeding pair of pigeon bloods at sls about a month ago and the female got a bit sick after the move
after 2 weeks of metro she finally started eating well again
then when I got home wednesday arvo I walked in to a surprise of them fanning some eggs
here are some pics

[Mattzilla]

nice pictures...

great looking discus..how big are they?

[DR.V]

great shots.... thanks for sharing with us

[PJP]

they are about 4.5-5" from nose to beginning of the tail
and thanks for the compliments

they were guarding the wrigglers quite well but now they've become free
swimming they don't seem to recognise the parents and all of them are
getting lost
maybe I didn't do a good enough job of covering the dark sponge filters
(I'm gunna try again and completely cover them)
and I've also taken out the driftwood plant too so maybe next time
they'll find their parents

[mcloughlin2]

Do u hav a stronge sponge that blows big bubbles coz I was reading a article about discus in a magazine an it was about breeding them and the guy who was writing it said he had a pair of discus that would lay eggs quite often but every time they were free swimming they would get lost an would die of starvastion. So he tried everything he could to get them to go to there parents until he got so desperete he shut off the air to the sponge filter an the fry went straight over to there parents.
Dont know if it will help u as i hav not tried it as i havent got my discus yet but just thought i would let u no..

[fishinggame]

PJB
I have straiteds breeding as well when the fry become free swimming it is best to remove your sponge filter and replace with an airstone covered in filter wool, drain water in tank till the adult discus are just submerged and get everything else dark out of the tank even the dark cover on the top of your heater, the fry will attach this way and you can start to replenish the water after a couple of days do not feed during this time as it will build nitrites up in your tank, see photos in my gallery
Tony

[Merrilyn]

It can take a couple of days for the fry to recognise the parents as the source of food. They are programmed to be attracted to anything dark, so try to make the parents the darkest objects in the tank.

Dropping the water level, and dimming the lights will also help.

[PJP]

thanks for the help everyone
They just laid more eggs a day ago so I'll try a few of these suggestions

[Merrilyn]

How are the wrigglers doing PJP.

[PJP]

I have tried a few of the suggestions
I have removed both breeding cones (most wriggler were free swimming and I shook the rest off)
I covered the spoges fully with filter wool
I've moved the heater and drained the water so only the element is submerged (don't want to blo the heater)
and I turned the airflow right down to just a small trickle of bubbles

so far about 20-30 of the wrigglers have found their father bust the rest aren't taking the hint as well

[fishinggame]

try removing the sponge filter all together and just run an airstone covered with filter wool drain the water till the parents can just swim upright you may have to lay your heater at an angle some of the fry will attach first and the rest should follow suit over a couple of day period
hope this helps
Tony

[PJP]

I have had a bit of success with lowering the water level and taking everything dark out and I covered the end near my dark bookshelf with white paper and 95% of the fry are staying with the parents

and thanks to everyone that helped me to get the fry to attach otherwise it would have taken a lot longer than 2 batches to get them to find the parents

[Merrilyn]

Great news PJP.

Now comes the fun part :thumb

[fishinggame]

Congratulations now just watch your nitrites in your tank hold off on the feed for a few day and gradually build the water level up over the next week or so , be sure the ph and temp on the new water are as close as possible to what is in the tank and you should be fine add the foam filter still covered in white after 3-4 days
Cheers
Tony

[DR.V]

Hi all , I also got the same problem here. Im going to try the following.

1 . How long should I lower the water level ? I should lower the water level to the height of parents body right ?
2 . Wrap my black sponge filter with white filter wool. Will rubber band be safe to use here ?
3 . Adjust the heater so that the top black thing is not in the water.

Anything else ??

Many thanks in advance

[Merrilyn]

Hi Dr.V. The idea of lowering the water level is just to assist the fry to find the parents, without being distracted by other things in the tank. Once the fry have attached to the parents, you can gradually add water back into the tank again, several times a day, until the water level is at the correct height, then start doing normal water changes.

Rubber bands are safe to use to hold the filter wool in place. I keep mine covered till the fry are well attached, sometimes a week or more.

Anything dark in the tank will distract the fry, so the least number of distractions you have there, the better. It's best if there is nothing in the tank, apart from the cone and the essential filtering equipment.

Good luck.

[DR.V]

Thanks for the info ladyred. One more thing, the back of the tank and the 2 sides are painted blue. Is it essential for me to cover the front as well with white paper ?

Thanks again

[DR.V]

Hi guys just wanna inform you that my white butterfly has laid second batch of eggs. And I did all the tricks and guess what ?? About 70% of the fry attach to the mother now and the rest is still sticking with the cone.

I dont know what no fry stick with the male. I guess mother instinct LOL.

But for everyone that have the same problem ( fry does not attach to parents ) I suggest you try every single suggestion in this thread.

Thanks ^^.

[DR.V]

Here's the results