Breeding Discus Part 6
Posted on
Previously we detailed Discus fry prior to them being free swimming. Now we will go over what to do once they become free swimming. At the next article, we will go over Discus fry after they become free swimming.
Now the most difficult part of Discus breeding starts. This is where the few individuals have gotten to this point successfully will usually fail. You now have to make a an important decision. Do you let the Discus raise their own fry naturally or do you take the Discus fry out and artificially raise them. There are advantages and disadvantages no matter which way you decide to go. We will briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both methods.
The biggest advantage to letting the Discus raise their own fry is that it is MUCH less work. Other than keeping the water ultra clean via water changes, as you will not be able to run any filters except a sponge filter, there is not much to be done differently to what you normally do in keeping the fish. There is another advantage to naturally raising the fry that most people tend to forget. Fry that feed off the natural slime of the parents Discus receive antibodies from their parents, thereby making them much more resistant to disease later in their life. On the other side, the large disadvantage is that the parents will eat the fry the vast majority of the time. They will do it very quickly in just a few minutes, you will not know they are eating them and there is really nothing you can do to prevent it.
Conversely, the advantages and disadvantages to artificially raising the Discus fry is just the opposite. There will be three weeks of caring for your fry every few hours, 24 hours a day. As most people cannot be available ever few hours, this option is really not a workable option. If there are 2 people taking care of the Discus fry, it becomes more doable. The positive side, your chances of getting the fry past this stage is greatly increased.
