White Butterflies are laying eggs at nine months old???

[Rudustin]

I am happy to announce that two White Butterflies that I got from Miranda at Chicago Discus have decided to lay eggs and they are only about nine months old. Is this normal?? When exactly is the age that Discus usually pair and breed? These particular fish grew at an amazing rate and went from juvenile to sub adult to adult in size in about two and half months. I've never seen fish grow so fast. They are beautiful and have been exhibiting breeding behavior for about a month and a half which would have made them about seven months then. The male is eating the eggs as quickly as the female is laying them but that isn't such a issue for me since I'm happy to have grown out a pair on my own. I guess I need another twenty gallon tank for breeding!

[timmy82]

How big are they now ? The males don't normally mature till after 12 months I belive. They will still be growing until around 18 months old so I wouldn't let them raise any till their growth slows and they a bit older and more chance of the male being fertile by then too.

[rdiscus]

9 month old from the egg or from the day you got them?

[John_Nicholson]

Yes it is normal. Domestic discus will start to breed between 9 and 18 months of age. Without meaning too breeders have been selecting the fish that grow the fastest and mature the youngest for years. Think back to the 60's and 70's. If somoene was able to get thier wilds to spawn they would keep lots of the F1's to work with. Lets say you have 25 fish. As they grow they ones that grow the mature the earliest start to spawn so you pull that pair. You do that for a couple of more pairs and then you sell the rest. You no longer need them. So you have now chosen the ones that matured the quickest. Now this pattern has been repeated over and over though the years and is why you see some domestics spawn at such a young age. Also don't get to excited they may be well over a year of age before they get it right. Males often mature slower so the boy mught be shooting blanks for a while. Also it might be 2 females. Time will tell.

-john

[Madaboutdiscus]

Thats very interesting. I love learning new stuff lol. What age do they start to pair up?

-Victoria

[Rudustin]

Hi, thanks for all the info. Yes, the male was showing his junk and it was pointed and the female kept laying and he kept eating the eggs. Not even trying to cover them although he was trebling and showing all the signs of breeding behavior. The breeder and I think they may be a bit older but not much. I know that males mature later than females. It was kind of a shock but I have since moved them out of a grow out tank because they were creating havoc with five Silver Pigeons that didn't develop as quickly. The Silver Pigeons are now coming out of hiding since these two White Butterflies were bullying them very badly and keeping them from eating. The WB's are in a show tank of sub adults who are all about their size. Rufus