Breeding My Discus

[DevotedToDiscus]

Well here I am again. The pair that spawned the other evening decided to have scrambled eggs for breakfast and had munched them all when I woke up! So I did a quick water change, moved the pair back to the main tank and replaced them with the Blues. I have been very meticulous with water conditioning, but did not have time to sort it straight away, so the Blues were in what was basically tap water. I would adjust it over the next 24 hours and get the TDS reading to around 80ppm. Trouble was my fish did not have the patience to wait for me and got jiggy with it straight away!

So yesterday I had what I suspected would be a couple of hundred infertile eggs. I checked the water and IMO it was way to hard(170ppm), but for some reason the eggs all look really good and fertile. They are now about 6-10 hours away from hatching, so I could have a good batch of wrigglers tonight. Fingers, toes, legs, arms and eyes are all firmly crossed

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

 

[Questions?]

yay! looking good

are they are they wrigglers?

 

[Robbo89]

Hey, just wondering, I'm looking to set up a discus tank in a few weeks time, probably gonna be an 8x2x2, and my plan is to buy them as juveniles and hopefully end up with a pair which I can breed in my 100L tank. My question is, I've heard that people don't like the cross breeding of colour variations (eg pigeon blood x cobalt blue) so would I have to get all one colour of discus in this display tank? Or could I get half and half, hoping that the pair are both from one strain...
 
Thanks, Robbo

 

[Zante]

Personally I like discus to be all of the same strain. I'm not saying you should get them all of one strain, I'm just saying that In my tank I have them all of one strain because I like it that way.
 
in an 8' tank you can easily house 20 discus (plus tankmates) and you'd get at least four or five pair, not only one.

 

[Robbo89]

With that in mind, what do you recommend I do? Assuming I am successful in breeding them, they will have to be pure strains or they won't be able to be sold. So if the pairs need to be pure, would you recommend I get say 4 cobalts 4 pigeon bloods 4 snakeskins 4 red melons? That way any pairs that are not pure will not be intentionally bred, but any pure pairs will be moved and bred.

I don't mind them all being one strain, but I just think that it really looks spectacular in a display tank with lots of different colours.

 

[Zante]

<shrug> opinions... I think they look spectacular all being the same strain.
 
Having 4 per strain you are still at risk of not having even one "pure strain" pair. Consider that unless you buy all adults (expensive!) you won't know if they're male or female, and you might end up with (using your example)
 
- cobalts 2m 2f
- pigeon bloods 1m 3f
- snakeskins 4m
- red melons 3m 1f
 
the chances of a pure strain pair are quite low here. NOTE: I'm not saying this will happen, but this is not even an extreme case such as having 2 males and 14 females, what I presented is a very possible spread.
 
Even with an unlikely even spread of 2m 2f per strain, each male will have a choice of 8 females, only 2 of which will be their own strain. They will have to contend for them with 7 other males, and the females of the "right" strain might not like them.
 
I don't want to bias your decision, just give you points to think about.

 

[Robbo89]

No no I definitely have no reservations or anything about your opinion either man! And upon further consideration, I am leaning towards your advice further and further. You're right, they do look really really good in a display tank of one strain, and I guess what it comes down to is one of the other you know breed (one strain) display (different). However, could you chuck up a photo of your main discus tank? Or is there one up here already somewhere? Just to get an idea of what one tank of identical strains would look like Cheers.

 

[Zante]

You will see a glimpse of it in one of my videos (check my signature) about my reef tank. There is a brief shot of it when I'm considering lighting and saying how happy I am with the Radion fixtures I have.

I am planning to do a video about it in particular, and about what I feed them, but I need to find the time, I am very busy in this period.

I will warn you, despite what I said, I have a mixture of strains: three alenquer, two leopard snakeskin and two tiny chequerboard pigeon (long story). But I do have one pair and it is two alenquers (again long story) and I might decide to breed them at some point in the future, but for the moment I have no interest in breeding them.

 

[meandmykribs]

Oh my goodness I just spent literally all day reading this thread and I'm dying to know......did you get wrigglers, what happened next, where have you gone??
 
So sorry to read of your loss Phil hope you are all doing better now
 
Karen.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I have been a bit busy with work, but back here now. Also have this worked out.......I think! Give me a moment while I compose everything. Got some new stuff. Moved house....moved my fish....set-up some new tanks(even one with some salt in it!!! 

) and just having a very big tank made for a dream Discus tank! Sorry I have been away. 
 
Moved all my fish and did a part time set-up, waiting for the new tank. Also put a couple of breeding tanks up while I sort things out, and have some results(to follow!).
 
https/www.dropbox.com/sc/4qmec23dbwc3g2o/qwl3E2WVm7

 

[annasmommy13]

I read all 43 pages and wow! Love the fish! I was so interested and to see you've come back is great so I can continue to read on your awesome fish!!

 

[meandmykribs]

Oh my goodness they look fantastic are you sharing what size your new mega tank is or is it a secret?
 
I loved this thread I am thinking of breeding Discus my self in the future and if this thread has taught me anything its to pick yourself up and start again you have been an inspiration to me Phil thank you for sharing

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Oh my goodness they look fantastic are you sharing what size your new mega tank is or is it a secret?
 
I loved this thread I am thinking of breeding Discus my self in the future and if this thread has taught me anything its to pick yourself up and start again you have been an inspiration to me Phil thank you for sharing

2,000 litres with a 300 litre sump/refugium. I hope it will be delivered in fairly soon. I promise to show you the whole build process. Thanks for the kind comments.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Say what!? I am so excited to see this! Nice to see you posting again DTD, you were missed!