Breeding Discus
When keeping any type of pet you always want to try your skills on almost everything. Whether it’s training your dog to perform at shows or breeding your tropical fish it all can be done, you just need the proper information and experience.
So why not try breeding your discus fish?
This isn’t impossible if you have a bit of patience as it is hard work. But like most things we put our minds to and don’t give up, it can be very very rewarding.
Before starting, you might think that you need to know the sex of your fish, right? There is no point in placing two males or two females in the same tank and waiting for them to make babies, is it? Unfortunately there aren’t any reliable methods to suggest if your fish is male or female. Though some do say that the males have longer fins and a wider forehead.
This is why, most people when starting to breed their discus fish they find it very hard to couple them. The best way known to couple discus is to go out and buy yourself a young group of unrelated fish, but make sure they are of similar colourings and patterns. By placing them in the same tank, they should couple up them selves correctly.
After you notice that some of your tropical fish have paired up, you should place them alone in a breeding tank. During mating, they become very territorial and aggressive, and by isolating them you will reduce the risk of injuries.
The tank does not need to have any special requirements, keep the tank nice and simple make sure you have air powered filtration keep the water very soft this helps the eggs develop properly. Display tanks are quite big which is great but they do not need to be this big to breed discus fish. A breeding tank of 24 x 18 x 18 inches is a suitable size.
Remember that regular water changes, a rise in temperature and a lot of feeding will all contribute greatly to good spawning. Discus choose a near vertical smooth spawning site which is then cleaned before the female lays between 80 – 400 eggs these eggs are then fertilised by the male discus.
It is best to remove the fry after 3 – 6 weeks as the parents will be exhausted you will need to change the tanks water and make sure the discus are eating well to help them grow at a good rate.
Click here to discover the secrets to breeding discus fish.