Discus Are Breeding Themselves

[Zante]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIJ4sAMr8UE
 
I was worried about my two female discus, they were looking REALLY thin. I did a course of Kusuri de-wormer, and after it dissipated a couple of doses of primafix and melafix.

At the same time I've started target feeding them bloodworm.

I was telling today my friend at the LFS they were looking better and when I come back home... this!

WOOHOO!

The "woohoo" is not so much because of the possibility of discus fry, it is quite remote. It is just because they must really be better if they're feeling well enough to breed.

Mind you, it's the third time they spawn so I decided to start a journal. They are in a community tank, so I'm not trying to breed them, but it will be interesting to see how they fare. For the moment the male is defending the eggs quite ferociously.
 
I called this "Discus are breeding themselves" because usually one says "I'm breeding discus", but they are doing everything by themselves!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Congratulations!
I hope the eggs will survive to produce fry.
I look forward to updates.

 

[Zante]

As expected the eggs are gone. At least now I have where to log any other mating activities of my discus.

 

[Zante]

They have started twitching at each other, and they are tentatively pecking at leaves and at the glass. Maybe It's just me hoping, but I'm thinkig another spawn is on the way.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Hope so! Keep us updated.

 

[Zante]

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaez4AnGQvY
 
Caught in the act!

I have just added some sand so you'll probably see very little as there is a lot of crap in suspension, the water is clearing, but not clear yet.

Anyway, a week after the first spawning, they spawn again, so I must be doing something right!

Again I'm not expecting this lot to survive, but I am tempted to delay the setup of my soil tank and try and breed these two in "solitary confinement". That tank won't be available for a while yet (see the jaguar fry/juveniles series), so i have plenty of time to think about it.

Unfortunately the pair is very much disturbed by the two leopard snakeskins that have been fighting recently and have decided they MUST fight in that corner, despite the parents trying to chase them away.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You indicated 2 females in your opening post. Have you confirmed that they are both not depositing eggs? They will tend to spawn repeatedly once started. About every 2 weeks give or take. I agree with your idea for their own tank. I have been attacked by discus just for trying to remove infertile spawns they were still guarding. It wasn't fatal.
 
Oh yes- having had 1,000s of fry in my tanks over the years, I did not spawn anything. I just did nothing that prevented them from spawning when they were good and ready.

 

[Zante]

Yeah, the non-paired female is still quite thin and the bottom rung of the ladder (except for the small juvies), so it's easy to tell them apart.

 

[Zante]

Things have calmed down and they are taking turns in guarding the eggs, while the other swims off to forage.
In four spawnings it's the first time I see them do this, who knows, maybe I'll see wrigglers...

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Hope so! I'd love to see pics of discus fry.
Just curious, how much did the discus cost you each? I saw some small-medium sized ones at my LFS for $120 each, I was stunned at how expensive they were. You could make a lot of money breeding them

 

[Zante]

Eggs are still there andstill being guarded. I'm starting to be optimist, cautiosly, but optimist.
 
The eggs were abandoned at feeding time, but as soon as some food was gobbled they went back to guarding
 
 

Hope so! I'd love to see pics of discus fry.
Just curious, how much did the discus cost you each? I saw some small-medium sized ones at my LFS for $120 each, I was stunned at how expensive they were. You could make a lot of money breeding them

 
I paid £500 for two pairs of adults directly from Stendker. Unfortunately my filter collapsed with the added bioload and one of the males died. What makes me angry about this is that I was testing the water but the tests turned out to be fine, so I was scratching my head as to why the fish looked so sick. Turns out the tests were bogus and I had a nitrite spike. I binned the whole test kit and bought a whole new set of tests.
 
As for the making money... naah... they're not that expensive, unless you want something particular. Here in London there's Chen's discus (for example) that are highly reccommended and you can get juveniles for as low as £25 each. At a fish auction I bought two chequerboard pigeon juveniles for £20.
 
As I said I'm not trying to breed them, they are doing it themselves. I can't say that I won't be pleased with some store credit if they do go through with it though...

 

[Blondielovesfish]

500 pounds! That's impressive! Must of been so disappointing when that male died!
How healthy are those cheaper discus? I'd be a bit wary if I was you.

 

[Zante]

Yes, i was gutted. But I'd rather not think about it. In that incident I didn't lose only the male alenquer, i also lost two leopard snakesking that were between juvenile and adult at the time.
 
Chen's discus are highly regarded by everyone I have spoken to, and the two juvenile chequerboard pigeons I got them from a home breeder.
 
Discus are not as expensive as they used to be, unless you go for something particular.

 

[Zante]

Nope... all the eggs turned white after a day and a half, except maybe for a very few.
 
They are still guarding and fanning them, though.

 

[Electric Warrior]

My discus pair lay every week and I get wrigglers each time, but they don't last long because they are in a planted community. If you do want to keep the fry you will have to move the pair to their own bb tank really. I have even had some fry attach, but they get lost eventually. The problem is discus fry are attracted to dark things, so in a planted tank they will just hang next to anything rather than attach, and will just swim off and get eaten by the other fish. They will have to be brought up in a bb tank with the parents if you want them to survive because that's the only way that they will stay attached. I'm not bothered about breeding them so I just let nature run its course.