Hi

I was wondering how many of you turn off the air or filter when your discus is laying eggs?

I seem to have a problem with either low hacth rate or not hacthing. when i don't turn off the air when the discus are laying eggs. It seems to be quite hard to know when to turn off the air before they start laying. I have tried reducing the air for the sponge filter but the water start to smell a little bit....

water is ro mix and prefilter water. total hardness is around 100ppm

thanks

Hi chinaman,
I do not turn off the air completely, just reduce the air flow down a bit and the general harness doesn't tell much, what is the conductivity or total dissolved solids reading. The colorimeter test via colour change is for reference only and the total hardness doesn't say much, it is not accurate and for breeding purpose you need the total mineral in the water. Is the male fish fertile or the eggs fungus quickly after fertilization.
turkis

:) :) :) :)

turkis,

the conductivity is about 150us. yes the male is fertile, i had wrigglers from them before. but the hatch rate is low, marjority of the eggs start to turn white after 24 hours but there are no fungus on them.

thanks

I had same problem till i kept increasing the hardness of the water till i got it right my fish are breding in 200/220 ppm this ithink equates to about 370 Us.
1 german deg hardness=33microsiemns=17 ppm total desolved solids.
or correct me if im wrong.
my water was just too soft.

Hi Chinaman,
The conductivity is too high for a better hatch rate, try and lower the conductivity between 50 to 80 uS/cm (microSiemens).
Care should be taken regarding the water pH drop.
Good luck.
turkis

:) :) :) :)