Discus Egg Troubles

J

Jonesy

Members
Hello everyone, I'm a new member and I am having trouble with a pair of tangerine discus that I have had for a little over 2 years. I got them when they were 2 inches long. They are a proven pair because last year they spawned every few weeks for about 6 months and produced live fry; however, my female would eat the fry soon after they became free swimming. They were in a 75 gallon planted community aquarium.

This is my problem. I moved them to a separate bare bottom 20 gal tall with their favorite spawning sites (a piece of African root driftwood, and two large rocks). But now everytime they spawn the eggs become fungle and not one of them hatches.

I never did anything special to my 75 gal when they were in it and they bred like champs, but now in the newer tank all the eggs perish. It seems as if they are not being fertilized.

What am I doing wrong? I've done all kinds of things but nothing seems to work for me. I've tried adjusting the PH, water temp, softening the water. The PH is currently 6.8, temp 82 degrees F, water changes 1-2 times week, softener pillow used to soften water. Their diet consists of a variety of flake foods and frozen beef heart plus mixture from San Francisco Bay Brand.

What can I do to correct this, and ensure that the eggs get fertilized?
Thanks in advance for your response and advice.
 
YSS

YSS

Members
May be the male is not interested anymore. I've had this happen in my tank as well and I didn't even change anything. Also, for your reference, if you haven't already, check out simplydiscus.com for your discus related questions. Good luck!
 
B

Billy Rocket

Members
Same thing happened to me. I added 2 teaspoons of Acriflavine to 20 gallons of water. No more hatching problems. You can also use Methylene Blue.
 
J

Jonesy

Members
Thank you for your reply! I am so grateful for any suggestions. I will check this site out. Thanks again.
 
J

Jonesy

Members
Thank you Billy! After quickly looking up Acriflavine and finding out what it is used for, I am excited to try it. It never occured to me that bacteria could be the problem. My discus are at it again today cleaning thier spawning sites so I don't have any time to waist. I will let you know how things turn out.

Thank you again. I'm so happy to recieve some guidance!
 
J

Jonesy

Members
Discus egg troubles - Update

Hi, It's been a little while since I last posted, but just wanted to update...

I tried several things but have not had success yet. But I am very hopeful now. I have learned a few things.

These are some things I tried: Anti-bacterial treatments.
Anti-Fungal treatments. But the eggs perished each time.

Then I noticed that there were thousands of tiny worms on the aquarium glass. I determined that these must be coming from the frozen beef-heart mixture that I was feeding. I was a little concerned that they may have internal parasites, so I began a parasite treatment, and sterilized the aquarium. I have stopped the beef-heart for now. I don't know if it was just planaria but I didn't want to take a chance.

The discus are doing fine. I have been very careful with each treatment and have kept a close eye on them.

I was concerned and beginning to think that my male had become infertile somehow. But what has me very hopeful is discovering that my water chemistry was changing. I have been testing my water several times a day for a few weeks now and have learned that the tap water must be harder than usual and is very well buffered. Because within 48 hours of using pH-down to adjust the pH it would return to it's previous value as if I'd done nothing to it! This was frustrating at first because I thought that my pH was right and the pH-down and softner pillow I was using were effective. But they were not. The effects were only temporary.

So I found another product, Discus Buffer. This seems to be working well now and maintaining a stable pH and seems to be effectively softening the water. So now I am waiting for the next Low pressure weather system to pop-up so that I can try it again.

I am hopeful that my male is still fertile but just unsuccessful because the water was too hard and caused the eggs to remain unfertilized.

I will let you know what happens the next time they spawn.
 
George

George

CCA Charter Member and person in charge of the we
Maybe you noted it earlier but how do you know your water is soft? How soft or can you measure it. Ph is of little consequence. Changing the ph is not going to affect hardness. Try a cheap R/O unit. Hardness may affect ph but not the other way around. Too many people get hung up on ph but it is relatively unimportant in itself. It is merely an indicater of other conditions in your aquarium.

George
 
YSS

YSS

Members
It's not necessary to use buffer to raise and breed discus. If you haven't been to simplydiscus, I strongly recomend you to do so.
 
J

Jonesy

Members
I have some great news to report. Today I have free swimming discus babies! Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and support. I had pretty much given up hope for this pair. I tried everything I could think of. Let me tell you what I did last which I believe finally worked.

In frustration with the water from the tap, I decided I'd try something I read somewhere. I can't remember where I saw it though. I read that distilled water is considered "hungry water" because it is stripped of everything and pretty much on the far acid end of the pH scale and the softest water possible. So I figured if I mix it with the tap water that I would come up with water that was acceptable if I mixed the right amounts together. So I bought about 6gals of distilled to put in my 20gal when I did the last water change. I removed my discus, did a complete water change with 6gal distilled to 14gal tap water. The first batch of eggs after the change perished. So I figured it was a lost cause. Then about a week later they spawned again, but this time I must confess I lost interest because I assumed they too would die. But to my surprise, my wife walked by the tank and said "Babe, you know they have babies in there right?"

I had to jump up and check, and she was right! What a wonderful surprise. I'll be mixing their water with distilled from now on until I can afford a RO filter. Thanks again for all your advise.
 
YSS

YSS

Members
I buy DI water for my SW tank from Wholefoods for 39 cents per gallon. They also have RO water as well for the same price.
 
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