Raising Discus Fry

Discus pairs are attentive parents and will guard and care for the eggs together. They will fan fresh water over the eggs to ensure high levels of oxygen and they will also remove any unfertilized eggs to prevent bacteria growth and mould.

Discus eggs will hatch within 48 - 72 hours if the water temperature is right.

The fry will stay at the spawning site with the parents for an additional 12 hours. After that, the fry will be moved around the aquarium by their parents, and the parents will use different places to hide the fry in. If you keep up the water temperature your will have free swimming fry in the aquarium after approximately one week. Free swimming fry will need no extra food, because they will eat from the scales of their parents. The adult Discus will secrete baby-food from between their scales. This food will provide the fry with everything they need for about one week. After that, they will be large enough to eat more normal food and you can start feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp. Powdered flake food is another option. Just like their parents, Discus fry will appreciate some beef heart, but since the fry are so small you will need to liquidise the beef heart for them. Do not separate the fry from the parents until you know for sure that they are no longer feeding from the scales. If you provide your Discus fry with ideal conditions and suitable food, they will grow very rapidly and be around 2 inches in diameter at an age of 12 weeks. When they have reached this size, they are large enough to be sold to pet shops or other aquarists.

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