How to cage the eggs

[Jeroen]

Hello everyone:

I am curious, if you would need (or maybe did allready a few times) to cage the eggs:

What material would you use
How would you apply the cage
How big would it be
When do you take the cage away ?
Is there anything else you need to do when you cage the eggs ?

Maybe you have some pics of your eggs protected by a cage

Looking forwards to many replies ;-)

Jeroen

[kalebjarrod]

gutter guard and a few cable ties :wink:

(as you skip down the road to your local bunnings store :wink: )


How would you apply the cage

over the laying cone, after the male has fertilized the eggs


When do you take the cage away ?


when there are wrigglers, bit of trial and error with this one


Is there anything else you need to do when you cage the eggs ?

sit and watch the eggs 24/7, although thats a given with discus isnt it!

[Ben]

Hi Jeroen,

i have taken some pics of the cages i use.
the were made and fit perfectly over terracotta pots i was using but i have since replaced them with terracotta spawning frames i made.

I have yet to make up some eggs guards for these new spawning frames but it will give you an idea.

I used gutter guard to make them, but there is a problem in that they float! hence the big rock weighing it down! :roll: :oops:

As soon as i get time i will make some up that fit on the frames. :D

I might try and make some out of (aquarium and fish safe) wire.

The pictures i took just now of a pair of ocean green discus, they spawned 2 days ago, the same time as a young pair of blue diamonds. :wink:

The OG eggs went ALL fungus and were infertile but there are a few fertile blue diamond eggs so i exchanged eggs.

The male was attacking the glass as i took these pics. :shock:

Ben

[goldfish]

why do we cage the eggs?

[jim from sydney]

why do we cage the eggs?

i guess that sometimes we need to dis-courage the parents from eating the eggs.........it helps sometimes, not always...i have tried....Jim

[Ben]

pics of my "cage"

It is simply gutter wire that was bent into shape to fit my spawning frames.

I srubbed the wire with vinager before using them.

Ben

[jim from sydney]

Ben


nice work Pal...

[DR.V]

I also use gutter to cover the eggs just like Ben's.

[lesxda]

HI guys

I have had 4 spawns eaten
last spawn I took female out
and male took to eatting the eggs.

so now I am going to cage the eggs as you have suggested.

so I will applied the gutter guard a 24 hours after they lay the eggs and leave the gutter guard there untill they hatch and are free swimming and attch to the parents

Good luck to all as we need aussie breed dicus that are use to our water and conditions and not clean.

les :D

[Phlipper]

Ok, silly question time, if the parents are prone to eating their eggs, then dont they usually eat the wrigglers once hatched as well ???

[Merrilyn]

Something about those little wrigglers on the cone seems to trigger the parenting instinct in discus pairs.

Parents that continually eat their eggs, rarely eat the wrigglers once hatched. Some still do, but the majority will allow their wrigglers to attach.

[Phlipper]

That's interesting Merrilyn, this I never realised.......I find my Angels are not too fussy when and how they eat their eggs..........stationary or on the run is tasty either way it seems.................hmmmmmm, better start breeding Discus I thinks :idea: :P

[Merrilyn]

I think the breeding instincts have long ago been bred out of angels Phil. The eggs can be hatched and the fry raised away from angel parents.

Discus fry need parental care to survive the first two weeks of life because they feed on the slime coating produced by the parents. They have been artificially raised but it is a long and tedious task. Much easier to leave them with the parents, but that in itself comes with it's own set of difficulties.

Who said this fish breeding was going to be easy LOL but then again Phil, what would we do with all our spare time and spare cash :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[sammigold]

Any ideas on artificially raising... if I am prepared to take on this long task....
What are the procedures.... I would love to know as am dealing with this problem at moment...

[sammigold]

Can one parent raise the fry... ie.Mum....by themself or do they need dad as well.....

[Phlipper]

Ummmm, I'm certainly no authority on the do's and dont's of Discus rearing, but I have seen the fry being raised by one parent when one of the parents is too aggresive. I dont think it's really possble to raise the fry without one parent at least, but I'm no expert :oops: 8-)

[Cliffeh]

I've seen methods to raise from eggs anbd I think LadyRed has posted one here somewhere... not sure I would be brave enough to try it though!

[k9outfit]

Just a thought....

If Discus may develope the tendency of eating the eggs, wouldn't it be a thought to cage the first few batches before they start feasting on them, as soon as they finish spawning? If they cannot eat the 1st batch or two, wouldn't they be less inclined to try later, rather than developing the habit of eating them first, then trying to break the habit by caging the eggs once they like them over-easy?

[Phlipper]

Maybe ????..anythings possible, but dont count on it, my experience with various fish indicates there is never a sure thing 8-)