# FRYS from my true mating pair



## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

On the 25th day of free swimming, the frys are now on their own in a 10G grow out tank. The frys are getting fed with many different foods - beefheart mixture, bloodworms, powder, pellets crumbs, flakes. Daily W/C is done with aging water + prime + salt. Frys that have round bodies continue to grow, whereas frys with pointy bodies are slowly fading out. This batch started with 63 frys and 2 were gone since 3 days ago. My goal is to have 30% grow out to 2 to 3".

































































THANKS FOR VIEWING !!!!!!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Congratulations Peter! They look cute!


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

30th day of free swimming. The frys are now in the good hands of my trustful breeder friend in Richmond. Barry from "Cypho" saved all these frys from starving. The frys were too young to eat any of the foods I threw in. I had made a few mistakes thru the process :

1) I thought the frys were eating the powder,small loose worms, beeheart mixture I threw in the breeding tank when they were with the parents. I saw them nipping at the foods at the bottom but they didnt eat them. Their primary foods are still their parents' slimes.

2) When the father was shaking the frys off from his body, I pulled them out right away and set them up in a 10G, assuming they can survive without their parents' slime just eating powder/flakes/beefheart/small loose worms.

3)On the first day, they were still O.K. nipping at the foods but not actually eating them. Then the weaker ones started dying and I still coudnt figure the real reason as the frys were nipping at the food all the time.

4) Finally on the 3rd day, I called Barry for other things but the discussion of my frys came up. As a very reputable amateur breeder in Richmond for many years, Barry love the challenges of raising & saving frys. His fishroom is also organized & equipped with proper resources for breeding. Barry runs BBS ongoing for his frys so he offered to take my frys and tried them on BBS. Barry was totally right when he picked up my frys that he thought they looked skinny. They were STARVING !!!!!!

Well, after one day with Barry, my frys are alive & well !!!!!!

Enjoy the pictures & thanks for viewing !!!!!

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/private.php?do=showpm&pmid=123227


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You'll have to post the pics as we cannot see your PM. But it sounds great that the fry are now in good hands. I've been to Barry's and his fishroom is really well laid out.


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

I think it's fixed.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

THanks, Gary !!!

I have to go out so I'll fix the pictures later.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Zenin !!!!!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

They sure are chubby little buggers. That's from feeding bbs I assume. Great job.


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

hey Peter.....great to have so many babies.....are you feeding them with fresh brine shrimps or even Golden Pearls should do the trick?

Thanks for the updates


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> They sure are chubby little buggers. That's from feeding bbs I assume. Great job.


Thanks, Gary !!!!

Life BBS is the best for discus frys. Barry will let me know if they are ready to eat bloodworm/beefheart. Then I will take them back & continue to raise them. Praise the LORD !!!! I found a very good & trustful partner(Barry) in this exciting breeding project.



seanyuki said:


> hey Peter.....great to have so many babies.....are you feeding them with fresh brine shrimps or even Golden Pearls should do the trick?
> 
> The batch actually started with 63 frys and now it probably down to 20+. My next batch will definitely has a higher #, with Barry's solid breeding experience. My frys are all at Barry's place and Barry runs life BBS 24 hours per day.
> 
> Thanks for the updates


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Congrats Peter, and to Barry, they do look so very healthy. So it was having to feed them BBS interesting to know that.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> Congrats Peter, and to Barry, they do look so very healthy. So it was having to feed them BBS interesting to know that.


Thanks, Kim !!!!

Yes, BBS is a MUST. I know how to make them but I dont enjoy doing it. Barry has a verg good set up for making life BBS, and he enjoys growing the frys. A win-win situation.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

My sincere appreciation to Barry(Cypho) for taking care of my frys for the last 9 days, with life BBS. As the frys are ready to eat more solid high protein/calcium foods, I took them back last night. They were all in great shapes with about half bigger than the other half. I started feeding beefheart mixture & powder & some were eating already.

Will take some pictures today. Their sizes range from 0.75" to 1".


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

Finally took some pictures but not the best shots as they are still hiding under the sponge a lot. These little juvies are not easy to grow at all as normally fish in these sizes will eat anything but not these discus juvies. I have been trying beefheart mixture & homemade powder, and I saw some eating activities. I think they are still feeling a little insecured in their new environment. So far, I have lost 2.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

cute frys


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## athena (Apr 22, 2010)

How are they doing now? I hope they are eating better.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

athena said:


> How are they doing now? I hope they are eating better.


They are improving. The smaller/skinnier ones are phasing out one by one. I think I have about 8 to 10 nice strong ones. Presently I am doing 1/3 W/C twice, daily, in the morning & evening. Their parents just laid eggs again.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

looking good!


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## fishdragon (Nov 8, 2010)

Nice fry. Can I know what they parents looks like or they parents are what kinds ?

Eric.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

AWW said:


> looking good!


Thanks, Alex !!!!

A real learning process for me.



fishdragon said:


> Nice fry. Can I know what they parents looks like or they parents are what kinds ?
> 
> Eric.


Thanks, Eric !!!!

Just look into my previous discus breeding thread for pictures & details of my breeding pair.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

Pictures taken today. Only 10 left.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice pics and juvies Peter. Why do you think your loosing them so easily? Are they that picky when it comes to eating?


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> Nice pics and juvies Peter. Why do you think your loosing them so easily? Are they that picky when it comes to eating?


Thanks, Kim !!!! Very good question. My guesses are :

1) They are very picky eaters
2) They were moved a few times, from their parents to a 10G, from 10G to 
Barry's 5G, and from Barry's 5G back to my 10G. (get shocked very easy)
3) They should be fed with life BBS when they were with their parents in 
their third week of free swimming
4) Life BBS feeding should continue for many weeks with other foods 
(beefheart/flakes/powder) slowly introduced to them.

Presently, my 10 remaining frys look strong and fully converted to beefheart diet.


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## fishdragon (Nov 8, 2010)

Peterchow said:


> Thanks, Kim !!!! Very good question. My guesses are :
> 
> 1) They are very picky eaters
> 2) They were moved a few times, from their parents to a 10G, from 10G to
> ...


Seems the key skill is the stable environment and enough&continuous BBS feeding.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

Random pictures taken tonight. 9 frys left.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Sorry you lost another one Peter! Lets hope the rest do well. But I can see from what you are saying that stability is a key issue for them as well as the live BBS.


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## fxbillie (Dec 12, 2010)

Good looking frys. Sorry to hear another gone. Geez Peter, you already give them so much TLC, and still they go. Sigh. I am thinking going into raising baby discus sold from members or Craigslist. A while ago, a guy on Craigslist posted to sell a 10g tank with almost 100 discus babies for $100. I'm settling up my BBS hatchery and ordering BS eggs from ebay. I wonder what is the right size or age (by months) of baby or juvenile discus to buy before they are more stable to raise to adult. Don't know if you have the answer, Peter, but you seem to be the more experienced discus breeder to ask this silly by legitimate question from the stand point of buying juvenile discus. 

William


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

fxbillie said:


> Good looking frys. Sorry to hear another gone. Geez Peter, you already give them so much TLC, and still they go. Sigh. I am thinking going into raising baby discus sold from members or Craigslist. A while ago, a guy on Craigslist posted to sell a 10g tank with almost 100 discus babies for $100. I'm settling up my BBS hatchery and ordering BS eggs from ebay. I wonder what is the right size or age (by months) of baby or juvenile discus to buy before they are more stable to raise to adult. Don't know if you have the answer, Peter, but you seem to be the more experienced discus breeder to ask this silly by legitimate question from the stand point of buying juvenile discus.
> 
> William


Hi Bill,

Honestly I am the least experienced discus breeder in this forum. There are quite a few other members who know a lot about discus, however, experience of raising discus frys is not very common in this forum.

The breeder who was selling 100 frys in craigslist is also a member here. His name is Rick and he uses Canadian_aqua_farm as his forum name. Rick is a very humble discus breeder. You can check with him or April for more info regarding discus frys.

I only have 5 juvies left from my first batch and they look stable. Will take some pictures later.


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

You may only have five left, Peter, but think how strong they are to have survived to this point. It's not easy with discus and any success with growing them out is just that - success!!!

Shelley


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

-N/A- said:


> You may only have five left, Peter, but think how strong they are to have survived to this point. It's not easy with discus and any success with growing them out is just that - success!!!
> 
> Shelley


Thanks, Shelley !!!!

I have not given up yet. My mating pair is still spawning every 10 days but they kept eating their eggs eventhough they were fertilized. Their first successful batch was on their 6th times of eggs laying. Again, their next spawning will be coming up on the 6th time.

I'll say it again. My best enjoyment with discus breeding is watching the frys grow with the parents in the same tank during initial parenting.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

You may not be the best discus breeder on the forum - YET!!!! but you've done an excellent job so far Peter.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> You may not be the best discus breeder on the forum - YET!!!! but you've done an excellent job so far Peter.


Thanks again for your continuous encouragement, Kim !!!!!

April was 100% correct !!!!! Raising discus frys is extremely challenging !!!!!


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

Some random pictures taken tonite.


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## fxbillie (Dec 12, 2010)

*raising discus frys*

Thanks for the info on the craigslist lead. It is quite intimidating stats to see so many seemingly healthy frys just not making it even with the best of care. Now I know why discus is so pricy, lol. If I had purchased that tank & those frys from Rick onCraigslist, and without all that knowledge & set up you have Peter, I can't imagine being able to keep even one juvenile alive to grow into adult. Pehaps I will stick with German Blue Rams (heehee). Yes, there is not enough threads on raising discus frys on the forum to see how every one is doing to learn their insights. You have been most generous & gracious to share your experience with us. Thanks a lot.

William



Peterchow said:


> Hi Bill,
> 
> Honestly I am the least experienced discus breeder in this forum. There are quite a few other members who know a lot about discus, however, experience of raising discus frys is not very common in this forum.
> 
> ...


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Your Welcome. And they are coming along nicely!!!


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

Its all good Peter, dont fret it.

Raising the babies is a tough job. My very fish group of babies (for angelfish) ended up with only 7 fry surviving at the end. Two batches after, I was successful in raising 250+ fry. The key is learning from mistakes and I can see that you are already good at it.

For baby discus, you can feed BBS or you can also try microworms (worked very well for me with angelfish fry and much less hastle). 

3 key points for raising them in a healthy way:
1. live food upto 5 times (BBS or microworms etc)
2. Stable water temperature (ofcourse clean water)
3. Stable pH

If any of the 3 are missed (including keeping the water clean), then you can see them dieing off. The first 3 months are the most important.


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## fishdragon (Nov 8, 2010)

Smiladon said:


> Its all good Peter, dont fret it.
> 
> Raising the babies is a tough job. My very fish group of babies (for angelfish) ended up with only 7 fry surviving at the end. Two batches after, I was successful in raising 250+ fry. The key is learning from mistakes and I can see that you are already good at it.
> 
> ...


Hi Smiladon:

can you give some hints on how to get live microworms, are they available on LFS ?

Thanks.

Eric.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

Smiladon said:


> Its all good Peter, dont fret it.
> 
> Raising the babies is a tough job. My very fish group of babies (for angelfish) ended up with only 7 fry surviving at the end. Two batches after, I was successful in raising 250+ fry. The key is learning from mistakes and I can see that you are already good at it.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your sharing, Rakesh !!!!!

Raising angels frys & discus frys are two different skills eventhough there are some basic similarities. Discus parents raise their own frys for many weeks in the same tank before the frys are on their own.

There are a lot more other skills that I am still learning besides your above 3 basic points in order to raise a successful batch of discus frys.


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