Discus have unexpectedly bred and I need some advice!

[dwiles]

Hi guys,

Just before Christmas I bought 6 juvenile discus at around 5-6cm long. They have been doing very well in my tank since... It is a 330 litre amazon style tank with community south american fish like cardinals, corys etc.

This evening after feeding them I have found two of them are caring for eggs they have laid on a leaf! I just want to know how this has happened and what I should do? They aren't even a year old or at all fully grown, these two are about 10cm long. I didn't think this would be possible? I don't expect their first batch of fry to live, but now they have done it once will they continue to in the future? I am very shocked and surprised, any advice or info would be much appreciated.

Params are
PH 7.7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15

Thanks

Dan

 

[dwiles]

Sorry I forgot to add - I have a spare tank setup next to this tank with nothing in it. Which I could hold off putting anything into if these continue to breed. At what age would you separate fry from parents?

 

[Demeter32]

You can use the empty tank to breed them in next time if you want, but you will have to move just the one bonded pair before they spawn again. The pair should spawn regularly, I'd say at least once a month from now on. Don't separate the fry from the parents until they are eating food you give them. Once they look old enough to eat prepared foods, I'd start with microworms or BBS. Make sure the fry are eating well before separating them.

Disclaimer: I've never had discus but I have read about them (they're so interesting) so I'm no expert. This is just what I would do on the fly. Might want to do some researching of your own though

 

[dwiles]

You can use the empty tank to breed them in next time if you want, but you will have to move just the one bonded pair before they spawn again. The pair should spawn regularly, I'd say at least once a month from now on. Don't separate the fry from the parents until they are eating food you give them. Once they look old enough to eat prepared foods, I'd start with microworms or BBS. Make sure the fry are eating well before separating them.

Disclaimer: I've never had discus but I have read about them (they're so interesting) so I'm no expert. This is just what I would do on the fly. Might want to do some researching of your own though

Thanks for the reply I'll see how I get on!

Dan