Cichlids to Discus

[TfnG]

Hello everyone, this is a great forum with lots of info!

I'm coming from the African Cichlid world. In my area there are so many keeping/breeding that its getting a bit stale. There are a few Africans that ill never get rid of but about 6 months ago I was looking for something new to try that is different to me. And I found discus.

A good LFS ordered me 6 discus from Segrest Farms. I have been keeping them in a 55g for a little over 2 months now and enjoy learning them. But the bug is biting and I'm getting rid of a few African tanks and wanting to expand a bit on the discus side:D

My 6 are 2 Marlboro, 2 blue Snakeskin, 2 red Pigeon. I think trying to breed would be a new/fun challenge. I guess I should get a few more of each and split them up into their own 55's ? Mine are 3"ish so I have time before they will ever pair off.

There is Rocky Mountain Discus about 2.5hr from me and i REALLY want to make it there sometime and see a breeder in person! I'll probably just end up wanting a few other types as well. Lol.

Anyone with input feel free to share.

[dadecountyalan]

Nice! Africans are awesome though. Especially demasonis. They are my favorite.

Why dont you just get a 75 and put all the discus in one tank?


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[zimmjeff]

Did you get the fish still in the bag from segrest or were they in their tanks. Jeff. Welcome to Simply.

[TfnG]

Never took them out of their bags @ the store. The store owner knew better.

Adding all the different types to 1 tank be the way to do it? Rather than putting each type in their own tanks? Wouldn't a for example Marlboro possibly pair with a pigeon? Or will they not do that?

If u mix Africans in the same tank u end up with a bunch of un wanted hybrids.

[dadecountyalan]

Well if you have aspirations of breeding thats a diff story. But if your looking for a community tank they do fine together. Everybody has there own taste. Some just have one strain in the tank


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[TfnG]

I think the breeding is something I definitely want to shoot for. Not that I want to be a breeder or anything...but it sounds challenging and they sell themselves if I ended up ever getting young going.

[OC Discus]

Two options are suggested for breeding. One is buy a group of young discus of the strain you want to breed and let a pair form. Growing out young discus is much more labor intensive than keeping other fish, like Africans- 4-6 feedings per day and daily water changes.

Another option is to buy a proven pair or 3-4 adults of the strain you want to breed and let a pair form. The adults are much less labor intensive and you can often see the fish before you buy them, ensuring you get the colors you want. Proven pairs are rather expensive. You could order 5 4" young adults, say from Kenny's December shipment, of the strain you want to breed. After a pair forms, sell the others, or move them to another display tank

I've also been thinking about breeding, but haven't taken the plunge. One thing to avoid is crossing pigeon and non-pigeon strains. The peppering on the offspring is very unattractive.

[strawberryblonde]

Wouldn't a for example Marlboro possibly pair with a pigeon? Or will they not do that?

If u mix Africans in the same tank u end up with a bunch of un wanted hybrids.

A Marlboro Red is a pigeon blood discus, so if it did pair with one of your other pigeon blood strains you'd still get nice looking fry. The one caveat in breeding discus is to not breed non-pigeon with pigeon. Beyond that, the sky is the limit. =)

Follow the advice given (to purchase small groups of one particular strain) if you want to breed only that strain. For instance, buy at least 4 more Marlboro's, QT properly, then add them to the tank. With 6 of them in the tank there's a good chance that you'll have some males and some females. Unless you're me. I tend to get only males. (Current tank is full of males!)

[TfnG]

Thanks for the info guys. That's some of the stuff I was looking to hear.

When u QT, do u med or feed anything special to clean their system out? Or just feed like normal and keep them in QT for several weeks and be sure nothing comes up?

[OC Discus]

You'll get mixed opinions about medicating. Medications can do more harm than good if they are not needed. If you have clean water and good food, in a cycled tank you should be in good shape. Frequent feeding, frequent water changes with stable temp and chemistry are key.

The quarantine procedure depends on what you plan to do next. If your goal is to obtain a pair, start with a tank that they can stay in until the pair (forms 55g). After the pair forms, you will want a 20-29g breeding tank for them. You could move them straight in when they start hatching out eggs. It is when you combine your new fish with your old ones you will need to add one of the old fish with the new ones for a few weeks to see if there are immunity issues. Most sd members would not recommend mixing discus with Africans or many other community fish.

Good luck.

[TfnG]

Ok sounds good. That's pretty much what I've been reading but nice to confirm it with some of u on here also.

Nice profile pics btw

[mattyb]

Discus are cichlids ain't they? Lol

[TfnG]

Good point. Lol. I left out the word African

[wild4discus]

You have juvies. You don't want to separate them at such a young age as they do much better in groups of at least 5-6. Also, even if you have 2 of a certain strain and are are lucky enough to have a male and female, doesn't mean they will pair up. Discus are choosy in selecting their mates. Agree with above posts regarding breeding.

[TfnG]

The only way I'd pull 2 out is if I picked up 4 more of their same type. Ill def stick to 6 per 55g while growing.

Here's a question. These are my 2 Marlboro's...or are they? They don't look the same. Maybe Marlboro aren't always identical?
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh239/T-fn-G/C6A9E3B9-84F4-463B-9094-9D7F8C81E789_zps5qivjvcn.png (http://s257.photobucket.com/user/T-fn-G/media/C6A9E3B9-84F4-463B-9094-9D7F8C81E789_zps5qivjvcn.png.html)

[OC Discus]

They are both pigeon blood. Some turn out more solid red than others. Usually the solid red ones are sold under another name, like ruby red or fire red. Even if you buy fire reds, some will look like Marlboros unless you request solid red.

[TfnG]

My as well post a pic of all of em

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh239/T-fn-G/1C7A8C48-AF50-4062-8ABB-125BAB06D20A_zps52rydhpq.jpg (http://s257.photobucket.com/user/T-fn-G/media/1C7A8C48-AF50-4062-8ABB-125BAB06D20A_zps52rydhpq.jpg.html)