How do baby discus grow in the wild?

[discus2501]

Hello everyone, we all find out eventually that frequent water changes, high protein diet and stable water parameters are essential to growing discus and it requires a lot of work and effort.

However, I have wondered how does discus grow in the wild? All the videos and photos I have seen on the internet are large discus being caught. Then where are all the small discus and how quickly do they grow? What do they eat and how many times do they eat that makes them so big plus how is the water so clean?

I know there are many knowledgeable members in this forum so I'm asking the question here.

[bluelagoon]

They usually harvest discus during our winter months; when the water is lower. By this time most of the discus have grow to young adults and of course they are older ones caught too. They are seasonal if that makes since.

[Second Hand Pat]

YouTube video of wild discus spawning and raising fry...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xzT2_PEHvM&t=19s

[brewmaster15]

As to what they eat in the wild and how many times.. young fry are continuously grazing on their parents initially and then they start foraging away from their parents eating pretty much anything they can catch ..they munch on tiny invertebrates and "periphyton (https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/periphyton#:~:text=Periphyton%20community%20compri ses%20bacteria%2C%20fungi,for%20herbivorous%20and% 20omnivorous%20fishes.)" Even adult Discus graze on these complex periphyton communities. Though not strictly "periphyton " discus also have submerged vegetation during the high water season which will support all kinds of food items.

In captivity discus feed off all the water levels and spend a good deal of time feeding off the bottom of the tank.. in the wild this is also true. Unlike in captivity though feeding is spread out through the day as it is with most wild fish.

Hth,
Al

[brewmaster15]

how is the water so clean?. Discus come from the Amazon River system.. the mightiest river in the world. Theres a tremendous turn over of water in this river and its tributaries(actually where discus are found) fueled by the rainy season. Additionally the water where discus come from is acidic...which can suppress some organisms like bacterias and fungi

[discus2501]

Very Interesting!

[bluelagoon]

Also, in the wild most of the spawning occurs in the dry season/summer in the southern hemisphere. Unlike our domestic fish.