Discus Breeding

[Loony Fish]

Hi all,
i have 2 discus in a 50 gallon tank with some other fish. i think they might want to breed
Other Fish:
1 rainbow shark,
5 congo tetras,
2 black skirts (moving to my bigger school soon)
6 phantom tetras (possibly moving)
1 rapheal's cat (moving to bigger quarters)
1 upside down cat

What the discus are doing to make me think they want to breed:
Cleaning the glass and flat places,
eating TONS,
flaring their fins at each other,
and the shark is the only fish the let even remotely close to them.


THANKS!!!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

They might be wanting to breed. Eating lots isn't a sign of this, all healthy fish should eat lots.


Normally you want more then 2 Discus in a tank anyways, but if they become paired up, it's better to keep them by themselves. I suggest after the first batch of eggs, to get them their own 20-30 gallon tank, bare bottom and get a breeding cone for them to spawn on.

All those catfish aren't suitable tank mates for Discus anyways.

Make sure your tank has a high temperature also.

 

[Loony Fish]

ok,
they are each about 3-5 inches tall so could i pull off breading in the 20 i have laying around?
i'm working on all of the stuff you said about needing more than 2 and the catfish problem

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

ok,
they are each about 3-5 inches tall so could i pull off breading in the 20 i have laying around?
i'm working on all of the stuff you said about needing more than 2 and the catfish problem

I would probably only put them in if they start to breed. You should see breeding tubes (small white dot) on the underside of the fish. If they pair up they should be kept by themselves in the 20 gallon. Wouldn't recommend keeping any others in that 50 gallon after unless you want to get rid of those Catfish.

 

[Loony Fish]

yeah, the catfish are going soon.
i saw the tube once and thought they were worms.
if they continue, should i try to set up that 20?
it would be really cool to breed discus.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

yeah, the catfish are going soon.
i saw the tube once and thought they were worms.
if they continue, should i try to set up that 20?
it would be really cool to breed discus.

I would wait till they actually have their first batch in the 50 gallon, before moving them in. If you want to set it up now, then by all means do, chances are pretty high that they are going to breed. Just so you know that batch of eggs should probably be destroyed, it will most likely have a pretty low hatch rate and as a general rule most will get rid of the first batch.

I am telling you to keep them in their for now, because sometimes moving the fish to a new environment can stop them from breeding, this can even happen with paired fish when moved.

 

[Loony Fish]

i think i'll just set up the tank for whenever.

 

[shaz-killie]

yes is a sign of them wanting to breed however they do seem small to be at the size for breeding. mine decided to spawn again yesterday and as above I wouldn't move them till after there first spawn (they'll spawn every couple of weeks anyway) so you won't have to wait ages on the next batch. Also when you move them it will stress the fish so might put there cycle back a week