I need discus advice

[rwbush55]

I have a 60 gallon high tank with a thriving group of 9 discus and some tetras (I know...not recommended to have that many..but the tank thrives with frequent water changes, etc) and just to belabor that point, I noticed they were for the most part hanging out in the center and left of the tank. Normally center right or anywhere I didn't put 2+2 together and this morning, the cobalt and one of the more traditional blue striped had spawned on the magnetic algae cleaner- which would be simple to remove, if that's even feasible.
The eggs got eaten by another discus member shortly after I saw the spawn so that took care of the situation quickly.
I will be moving the pair to their own tank asap, but would it have been possible to remove the pair and the eggs to a new tank and have the parents care for the babies (I know the babies need the parents' slime coats), or would that have just put an end to their parenting behavior and lost the babies anyway?
Thanks for your advice

 

[Andy Sager]

I have a 60 gallon high tank with a thriving group of 9 discus and some tetras (I know...not recommended to have that many..but the tank thrives with frequent water changes, etc) and just to belabor that point, I noticed they were for the most part hanging out in the center and left of the tank. Normally center right or anywhere I didn't put 2+2 together and this morning, the cobalt and one of the more traditional blue striped had spawned on the magnetic algae cleaner- which would be simple to remove, if that's even feasible.
The eggs got eaten by another discus member shortly after I saw the spawn so that took care of the situation quickly.
I will be moving the pair to their own tank asap, but would it have been possible to remove the pair and the eggs to a new tank and have the parents care for the babies (I know the babies need the parents' slime coats), or would that have just put an end to their parenting behavior and lost the babies anyway?
Thanks for your advice

That's goin g to be a "Maybe" answer I'm afraid. Moving fish and spawn doesn't always work, usually doesn't work but sometimes does work. It all depends on the parents. More often, the shock of being moved changes the parents out of breeding mode and into survival mode so they abandon the spawn. Good long time parents may be able to handle the change if the spawn is on something they routinely use and recognize. Case in point, a breeder friend of mine uses these breeder cones ( https://www.amazon.com › breeding-cone ) and then places a wire cage over them after the spawn so that the parents can see the eggs, fan the eggs but can not eat the eggs. New pairs get all offended by the intrusion and don't always go back to the spawn but the older pairs expect it and just go about their business. The new pairs get to adjust to the change before the eggs hatch and often, come around and take care of the fry since the parents are left in the tank with the caged eggs. At least the spawns survive from the ones that don't adjust and are just artificially raised.
So you see, there's no definite one answer.

I would suggest moving the pair before they spawn again to another tank using the water they are currently in then start a water change schedule for them to get used to. Place a spawning site in the tank and don't add things like algae scrubber magnets or other items that they can spawn on so that they use the dedicated spawning site. Moving the fish may get the fish off their spawning schedule but using the same water they are in usually helps reduce the adjustment time.

 

[Colin_T]

The following link has info on wild discus and might be of interest to you.
https://m.moam.info/the-discus-fish-symphysodon-scielo_59c411371723ddc7f4532afc.html