discus breeding?

[costatoolio]

Hey guys. anyone got any info / experience with breeding discus?
ie: Tank size
Care
etc

[joz]

Yep, what do you need to know?

[costatoolio]

Cool. got a bit of info since i posted this. was wondering joz is it preferred that the breeding pair be of the same strain or can different strains pair and produce fry

[joz]

Hi Costa,
well it depends on what result your trying to acheive?

Different colors will inter breed no probs,they are all the same species(yes there are others, but what you'll have is all the same).
All the colors available are basically the same species which have been selectively bred to enhance the color that was being sort after.

So our discus have no thought about color and will just go about the breeding process when the drive is there.

But most people will stick to matching colors to get the cleanest color result.
For instance Blue Diamonds crossed with Blue Diamonds will result in Blue Diamond young with no blemishes that will detract as a pure color.

I remember when Blue Diamonds hit the market they were about $2500 for a juvenile pair :eek:.It took balls to buy the latest color release back then..


When you start crossing different colors you will not know what the end color will be,they MAY? be quite pleasing color wise but more than likely you'll get something that looks like a mess of dirty colors.

Having said that I have a two totally different colors paired up in my community tank which bred and reared young there.I'll see what they llok like when they've grown up bit more.

But when I was breeding semi-commercially,I would put say 6-8 of one color in a tank and let them pair off naturally.
When a bond had formed I'd remove any excess fish to another tank to see if there were any more pairings.
I'd do that for each color that I wanted to breed.

[costatoolio]

Hey Joz. thanks heaps for taking the time to let me know. that great info for me. cheers
clint

[dean_alicia]

hey Joz,

do you get any problems with a parents eating the Fry at all?
do you breed your Discus in there own tank or in a community tank?
i look forward having a go breeding discus, they are a great looking fish.....

[joz]

hey Joz,

do you get any problems with a parents eating the Fry at all?
do you breed your Discus in there own tank or in a community tank?
i look forward having a go breeding discus, they are a great looking fish.....

Most of the problems you read about breeding discus are not the rule but things happen more often than you'd like.
Breeding is best done away from any intruders but I have broken that rule a few times now in a community tank.It's about 800litres+.

[dean_alicia]

hey joz i have a 120L tank i plan to use for my discus breeding tank. is this tank a ok size?
can you have a bristlenose in the tank with the breeding tank or is it better to have no other fish??
did you have gravel in your tank, the reason i ask i have seen a few breeding tanks with nothing but a upside down terracota plant pot..

[wombat1100]

hey Dean, any chance you could do a post on the process of what you are about to undertake?
I'm sure all the other members of the forum would like to know how you set up and your success etc of breeding discus

[joz]

hey joz i have a 120L tank i plan to use for my discus breeding tank. is this tank a ok size?
can you have a bristlenose in the tank with the breeding tank or is it better to have no other fish??
did you have gravel in your tank, the reason i ask i have seen a few breeding tanks with nothing but a upside down terracota plant pot..

120 litres will be fine but 150 would be better.
Best they are kept alone,because if things go wrong you'll be kicking yourself.

Best to keep the tank bare with only a breeding surface,then I'd siphon off any crap from the bottom dailey and top up the tank.
Sponge filters make good breeding filters aswell as ther are fry friendly.

I used to hang a bit of pvc pipe in the tankfrom the side for breeding,but they will lay eggs on the glass too so no probs really.

Temp is best at about 29-30 deg with little water turbulance.

[dean_alicia]

ok thanks for the info Joz, i have a spare fluval internal filter that i will use..

wombat1100 i will post once i place fish in there new home...
i have has a bit of a set back as i left one of the lids off my tank and the good damn cat got one of my discus...(just found it 10min ago) they had just gotten settled and really started to enjoy there community tank... not real happy at the moment...

[joz]

Oh shit!!



thats terrible

[dean_alicia]

it is terrible, im still upset i lot one of my first discus.... i will go and get one this weekend, i dont like seeing the tank with one lonely discus..

[joz]

They are best kept with company,alone they are miserable.

[joz]

Also with an internal cannister.
I wouldn't use one for breeding, they'll suck up all the fry.

I thought I'd mention it now before it gets too late..

Really sponge filters are the only way to go for beeding.