| You will find that many discus owners will come | | | | water needs to be very soft so the eggs can |
| to a stage were they decide its time to start | | | | develop properly. The quality of the water needs |
| breeding discus fish. Its not impossible however it | | | | to be excellent and have a temperature of about |
| can be hard work, but if done correctly can be | | | | 84-88F. Also a suitable tank size is 24x18x18. |
| rewarding. Like all cichlids, discus choose a | | | | Feeding and Conditioning: The parents will need a |
| spawning site then guard and rear the eggs and | | | | good and varied diet not just to condition them to |
| resulting fry. | | | | spawn, but to provide nutrition when they are |
| Here are some quick tips for you... | | | | feeding their fry. Large water changes, a |
| Pairing: Discus fish really don't take well to arrange | | | | temperature rise and heavy feeding is often a |
| marriages, the best way to get a pair to gather is | | | | good spawning trigger. |
| to buy a group of young unrelated fish of the | | | | Fry Rearing: It's a good idea to give the fry |
| same colour type and let them pair up | | | | additional feedings of small foods such as (BBS) |
| themselves. This might happen from when the | | | | baby brine shrimp whilst with parents. You will |
| fish are half grown, spawning usually occurs when | | | | notice after about 3-6 weeks the parents will be |
| there ¾ of their adult size. The fish will | | | | exhausted, also the fry will be growing fast it's a |
| usually remain a pair until the remainder of there | | | | good idea to remove them. This is where lots of |
| lives. | | | | tanks and water changes are needed to achieve |
| Spawning: Discus will choose a near vertical | | | | a decent growth rate. I used to grow circa. 40 |
| smooth site, which they clean and then the | | | | fry to just under 2" in a 55G tank, and this |
| female will lay any ware from 80-400 eggs and | | | | required heavy water changing. The discus |
| then the male fertilises them. It can take between | | | | market is saturated with fish, so it best to grow |
| 50-60 hours for the eggs to hatch and another | | | | 20-50 excellent fry than 80 runts. Growth is |
| 36-48 hours until their swimming freely. | | | | reasonable, but not spectacular. |
| Breeding Tank: Its best to keep the breeding | | | | So if you're thinking about breeding discus fish I |
| tanks simple and to have a simple air powered | | | | hope these quick tips have been of some use to |
| filtration, spawning sites (terracotta cones, broad | | | | you. |
| leafed plants or slate) and no substrate. The | | | | Remember it pays to do your research. |