Discus had babies

[dschnaq]

Hi all,

Im more of a lurker than a poster. Im just getting back into Discus after almost a Ten year hiatus. I have a pair of Discus in my 50 gallon that just recently had babies.

They have laid eggs a bunch of times in the past. This is only there second batch of eggs that have hatched. I could use some advice on how to care for the babies. Any advice is welcome.

Thanks.

[Cermet]

First, they must feed off the parents for a week or two and second, provide freshly hatched brine shrimp for them during the second week (feed the parents well with worms/pellets but not brine shrimp (the larger type, that is) since the last thing you want is for them to consider swiming items as food!)

I have yet to get to that stage so this is from other experts - check other sites, too. :11:

By the way, congrats on the babies (I hope I get that far!)

Also, by any chance, do you remember how long did it take for the eggs to hatch?

[dschnaq]

It seems like they hatched sometime beetween two and three days to hatch.

Good luck with your fish. Mine have allready eaten two batches of babies. I hear it can take a while for them to get it right.

[SpyderSpy6]

Are the hatchlings kept in a community tank, or have you already separated the parents and fry?

If the fry are latching to the parents, there is no need to feed the fry. They will feed off the parents and receive all the nutrients they need. What you do need to keep an eye on is how long you allow the fry to feed off the parents. Typically once you are able to distinguish the discus shape in the fry... you need to remove the parents and begin feeding baby brine or minced food forms.

The reason you need to remove them from the parents at that stage is that they will keep eating off the parent discus to the point that they will literally eat the parents to death.

If the fry and parents are not in an isolation tank they will eventually eat the fry just due to safety concerns by the parent discus'. This is not always a horrible thing. The more cycles the parents go through the better they are and also the better the hatch rate becomes. Once they get to the stage that your discus are at... you will see batches of eggs quit regularly. With that being said, if you do not have them in isolation at this stage I would let nature take its course and take your time setting up a proper 20 gallon breeder tank with an air filter and paint the sides and back white. This is the best contrasting background color because when the fry hatch, the parent discus will darken. This is so that the young fry are able to see the parent and thus latch to the parent properly. White background gives you the best contrast for this situation. Make sure the breeder tank is also at eye level or higher so that you do not spook the discus too.

Enjoy the process... it's a great experience for discus keepers!