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Breeding Discus |
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I have been keeping discus since September 2006. I bought 12 2.5 inch discus from a breeder in Edinburgh and I added them to my main tank which is approx 4ft x 1.5 ft x 2ft which holds about 70 gallons of water. I have two large water filters, an air curtain and a spray bar. My discus grew very fast and they quickly paired off. I got a pair of pigeon bloods, a pair of blue diamonds (which I later lost due to lack of knowledge) and a pair made up of a snakeskin and a pigeon blood. This article is about the latter pair. My pair have had spawned five time and the first three were unsuccessful; the first two the parents ate the eggs and the third the parents ate the fry. Why this happened I'm not sure, perhaps the parents were too young. Their fourth spawning however has been very successful I have around 70 young discus which are now separated from the parents in a tank of their own. The youngsters were taken away from the parents after just four days and the parents have spawned again as the picture on the right shows. The previous time they spawned on the sponge filter, but this time they have used the cone. The pair was observed taking it in turns, the female would go up and down the cone depositing her eggs, and then the male would follow behind her fertilising them. The whole process took about 1.5 hours. They now spend their day fanning their eggs taking away any spoiled by fungus. Eggs with fungus are white. After approximately 48 hours, little black tails can be seen and the parents start sucking out the fry from the eggs and putting them elsewhere on the cone. This process is repeated until all the eggs are empty. Any fry that fall from the cone are picked up by the parents and placed back with their brothers and sisters. In about 3-5 days the fry become free swimming and must be able to find the parents as the parents secrete a mucus which the fry feed from. The fry can be seen swimming from the cone to the sides of the parents, feeding for a while then swimming back to the cone. After 5 days you should be feeding the fry newly hatched brine shrimp which you pour over the fry as they feed from the parents side. It looks like the fry’s mouths are always open and the shrimp just drop in! As the fry get older they can stay with the parents for at around 3 weeks, the exact time is dictated by the parents. If the parents decide to spawn again then the fry should be removed as the may eat existing fry. Another reason for removing the fry would be if the parents are seen to be flicking the young away from them. This could be because the fry are damaging the scales of the parents as they feed; again the fry should be removed. I have found that the young discus can be fed a varied diet. I personally have been using Tetra Prima, blood worm, beef heart, Tetramin and Aquarian growth food since the fry were about 6 weeks old. I have also observed that the fry grow in spurts. I have fry that are really small and fry that are quite big all from the same spawning. I have found numerous websites which have been helpful in researching discus and I also should thank Bob Grainger who has had to put up with my phone calls with questions and has been very patient. In summary if you want to get a pair you should buy about 6 discus of your choice and observe them and wait for them to pair off naturally. You still won’t know if you have a pair until you have fry as it is not unusual for two females to pair off and lay eggs. Another bit of good advice I was given is that regular water changes are a must. I give my breeding tanks a 25% water change every two days. A good variety of food is also essential to keep your discus in tip top condition.
Susan Rennie
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