Breeding Discus

[Dan]

I am new to this site and am looking for info on Discus. I have been into Discus for over 3 years now. I currently have 18. All are over a year old.

I had 9 in a 55 tank and the other in another 55 tank. To try to promote bonding I moved them around. So now there are 7 in one 55, 6 in the other 55, and the other 5 are in a 36 gallon bow front.

4 of my dicus are Pigeons. When I moved them from 1 55 to another they started peppering. Now it could be from stress but they don't act it. My PH is the same in both tanks. My lighting is a bit dimmer in the tank there in now.
There also seems to be a bit of bonding which might be a factor in the peppering...I'm not sure. The gravel color in the sub straight is not as dark as the tank they were in to. Filtration systems are the same.

Also does size matter when Discus are spawning? I mean what is the smallest Discus anyone has seen spawning and bearing fry? Or age, what is the youngest anyone knows of discus spawning??

Thanks,
Dan

[Abbeys_Mom]

I haven't kept discus before, but have always wanted too. I hope that they are getting ready to spawn and welcome to the forum :)

[Dan]

Thanks for the welcome

[boang3000]

welcome to AC! go to discus thread. they might help you there. :) someday i'll buy and own discus.

[Cermet]

Hi and welcome.

Your tanks are very small for those groups of discus - even if bare bottom. That said, if you are doing daily 100% water changes it'll work but they will not socialize very well due to the stress of being so close. To all rules exceptions but the odds are against you.

Six in a 75 or 4 in a 55 gal would be a good balance along with some wood, maybe some potted plants in the tanks - these conditions will go a long way to de-stress them and then, maybe they'll bond. Followed with daily 100% WC and some live food mix with frozen worms for a few days to a week or two will then prime the bonded pairs. Next, dropping temp from the normal 82 - 86F to 77 - 82F and hold for a day or so followed by allowing the temp to rise over a day or so has worked for many (and scientist) to force spawning (for bonded pairs.)

The bigger the female discus the larger the eggs but fish size is not critical for spawning but discus age is important (they must reach sexual maturity.)

Forgot to add - if you are not doing daily 100% WC then the odds of breeding these fish are close to zero.

I've only spawn a discus pair a few times and raise fry only once (but lost them in a tank mishap) so I can only pass along what experts say.:hmm3grin2orange:

[Spardas]

Although it's possible for discus to spawn in a tank with other fishes; the chances of any fry surviving is none.

Your best bet would be to find a best pair and set up a breeding tank for them. Clean the fishes out and then when they breed, there will be less of a chance of the fry getting infected with any disease. Also, water quality must be pristine or the babies will simply hatch and die off without even swimming.

Space wise, it does seem you are crowded. Pigeon blood lines will have peppering with gravel or any tank without light colored bottom/back/sides.

As far as size is concerned, it's best for the pair to be of similar size and even stunted discus can have normal offspring. However, the quality of the egg and milt from the father will not be as good and you won't be breeding champions.

In any case, I've personally had discus as young as 7 months spawning and they were about 5.5" inches. This would be very young and small couple for me as they were of the larger genetic type of discus. Albino would be okay with that size.

I'd advise you to head over to simplydiscus forum and do some heavy reading on breeding discus. It's easy to get them to spawn but to raise the young is another story. Right now, none of your setup will allow you to get pass the wriggler stage.