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LemonDiscus: 20 Gallon Discus Breeder

Discussion in 'Freshwater Aquariums & Fish Photos' started by LemonDiscus, Sep 16, 2009.

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  1. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Here is my 20 Gallon tank with the Marlboro Red pair.

    They had wigglers today and ate them. I got a Tera Cotta pot for this tank too instead of the road cone I had in it before... it looks better and more natural. :)

    Also here is a pic from today of the pair. Hopefully they will learn not to eat the babies sooner than later.. :confused:

    Excuse the mess... I these tanks are in a corner in my bedroom so they are not show quality at all... :) They do their jobs though....
    20-1-fish.jpg 20-1.jpg
     
    LemonDiscus, Sep 16, 2009
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  2. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    umm..do you think the terra cotta planter is large enough? Lol!
    Gorgeous fishys as usual.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Sep 16, 2009
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  3. stevenrox

    stevenrox New Member

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    how big is the pair because if you want big show quality pairs.....well breeding at a young age stunts their growth =[
     
    stevenrox, Sep 16, 2009
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  4. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    They are older... over 2 years old
     
    LemonDiscus, Sep 16, 2009
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  5. stevenrox

    stevenrox New Member

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    whoa dam are they a stunted real bad?
     
    stevenrox, Sep 16, 2009
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  6. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Not REALLY bad but yes, I got these 2 here from another guy as "rescue" fish as he was moving. They were free. Yes he stunted these here. They are not THAT small though.... They are 5.5" I have 1 left that is only 3.5" that came from the same guy :confused: Im sure if you notice they eyes they are a bit bigger than they should be compared to the body size. Dead giveaway that they are stunted.

    They still breed though :)
     
    LemonDiscus, Sep 17, 2009
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  7. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    STUPID FISH!!!
    Thats all I have to say about this!?!?!?

    I unplugged the heater and put in a new one... I also shut down the filter as its right next to the heater they spawned on... hopefully the heater has not cut on in a while... :confused:
    20-2.jpg
     
    LemonDiscus, Sep 20, 2009
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  8. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Eggs were most likely not fertile and or damaged. This morning 3/4 were white and I got home from work and the site was cleaned off... so... I guess they were bad?

    There is always another try. Hopefully they will pick the pot to spawn on like they were supposed to in the first place....

    These 2 are at least trying over and over... the other pair gave up I think :confused:

    And I have read that it can take SEVERAL tries to get parenting right. For those of you that dont realize why these fish are so expensive, its breeding them... they have to clear ALL these milestones to get fry:

    Pair - This is a job in itself getting them to do this
    Spawn - Believe it or not it takes the males SEVERAL tries to fertilize most of the eggs and the female needs to cluster them together or the male will NEVER fertilize any
    Wigglers - They have to NOT EAT them at this stage
    Free Swimmers - Again they have to NOT EAT them and here there is room for the husband to mess up as waterchanges are essential AND could be the demise of the fish
    Feeding Free Swimmers - IF they/I manage to get them to this stage the PARENTS MUST darken their color so the babies can feed off of their slime coat. This step I have YET to make it to... the babies may not find the parents, the parents may not want the babies bothering them AND I need to start shortly after getting them to eat BBS.... This is one of the tricky stages
    Growing Juvies - This is all on my part with feedings and water changes... This is the MOST important part in the development of the fish and IF I make ANY mistakes it could/would result in stunted fish!

    So as you see these fish are quite difficult to breed... thats why they are $60 in the store and Angels are only $8 (prices based on average 5-6 month old babies (about 3")
     
    LemonDiscus, Sep 21, 2009
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  9. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    They got back into it... I have another spawn in this tank!

    We will see what happens....
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 3, 2009
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  10. cooltow1

    cooltow1 Member

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    Hope they didn't spawn on the heater this time

    rick
     
    cooltow1, Oct 3, 2009
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  11. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Lol, no. 1 reason to get an inline heater (i have one handy I couldn't use if your interested). :(
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 3, 2009
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  12. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    No they didnt... I took that stuff I made a divider out of last time used for arts and crafts (like a yarn mesh) and tied it into a tube around the filter intake and the heater... It took a few weeks for them to get used to that change but I think it worked...

    I put that road cone back in and that is where this spawn is. I will take a photo to show what I mean about the mesh in a bit...

    And Dawn... an inline heater only works with an external filter... I have a tiny HOB filter on this tank.... A canister will move TOO much water for a breeder tank... Plus I only have 1 canister and its on my 125...
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 4, 2009
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  13. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Here is what I mean with that mesh:

    I put the Road Cone back in because they did not want to spawn on the Tera Cotta Pot... They did spawn on this cone before so back it went.

    Also excuse the brown algae spot... I dont bother cleaning algae off of the glass on these tanks much as its only my wife and I that see them...
    20Gallon.jpg
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 4, 2009
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  14. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    slacker! Lol..just messing with ya.
    It's probably better for the discus..kinda like a window shade to make them feel like they have privacy. Lol!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 4, 2009
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  15. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    I kind of see it that way too! lmao :)
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 4, 2009
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  16. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    lol. the newest rave...diatom shades (currently only coming in natural brown). haha!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 4, 2009
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  17. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    :)
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 4, 2009
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  18. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Most eggs this morning are white... I think I need to move the cone even farther from the filter... I think the water movement is making it harder for the male to fertilize... I dont expect them to keep this spawn either, I bet it will be gone when I get back from work....
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 5, 2009
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  19. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Thread Starter Active Member

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    Go figure... spawn site is clean... they ate them... I moved the cone a bit further away from the filter so hopefully they will get a larger spawn next time that is fertile... we will soon see I hope..
     
    LemonDiscus, Oct 5, 2009
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  20. stevenrox

    stevenrox New Member

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    ahhh thats a FAIL pair xD i hope it goes better for you
     
    stevenrox, Oct 5, 2009
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