Discus in love

[Alaskaknucklehead]

Lets talk about what happens when Discus pair off in a tank. Besides breeding what else do your fish do? It is one of the neatest things I have ever seen, just when I thought my discus couldnt be any cooler, they pull this off! I would like to share and hear from others about the interaction's between a mating pair of discus.

What kind of funny things do your fish do for love?

Last week I watched my 2 largest Discuss pair off. WOW! What a site! Last thurs. they made thier 1st nest, in the corner of their 55 grow out tank. Gave the family quite a show. My male seemed happy to be free when it was all over too.
Now I knew they would probley give it another try but I about flipped out when they started laying eggs 1:30pm yesterday!!! Less than 1 week! This time it looks like they got about all of them fertilized too.

Here's the best part;

The male is my almost two year old BT, when I ordered the rest from Al at RMD, my wife's only request was one of his RSGSS. Al knew it and hooked her up too, the 2" juvi I was expecting for her was a 4+ incher. Whats the odds our 2 fish would be a couple?!?!

My fish and my spouse's hooked up, and its the most amazing thing Ive seen in my tanks. The way they interact with each other, AWESOME!! The way they take turns tending the nest while the other eats or just patrols like a security gaurd, soooo cooooool! The interaction between them is amazing the way they even quarrel over who should be tending the eggs, only to make-up minutes later :D .
Seems to be alot less agression twards the other discus this time too. More of a "herding" style chase off, than nipping. I think the other 4 seem to be giving them more space this time, their learning too. :)

Discus truely are "The Kings of the Aquarium".

[brewmaster15]

Congrats! :) :) :)

Wait until the Fry are Free swimming. A really amazing thing to watch is when They switch feeding jobs.. One minute one adult will be loaded with fry and the other has very few or none... Then That one darts in and shimmies while the previous feeding parent darts away.. The fry then attach to the new dinner plate.. The coordination between a pair of good parents is an awesome thing to watch! :D

-al

[Chrisb]

Congratulations :thumbsup:
Just got some Discus for Al at Rocky Mountain, they are to young to pair off, but they are very nice fish :)

chris :wave:

[177ichael]

I've had my pair in a 20g breeder for about a week now and I thought they were not happy at all as the male seemed to constantly keep the female in the top corner. However, yesterday I noticed that things had seemed to change between the two. There seems to be more of a calm in the tank and I'm noticing fluttering of the fins from both male and female. I'm also seeing some shivering from the female. The male no longer chases the female either. What pisses me off is that the timing couldn't be worse as my water holding tub sprung a leak and I'm waiting for a new container to arrive next week... This means I'll have to do partial water changes straight from the tap...

I'm also in the process of putting foam underneath all the tanks and applying Reflectix to all tanks. I may wait a few days to do this and see what happens with my pair.

[Cosmo]

Congrats Alaska :)

It is an amazing spectacle to watch Discus in love isn't it :)

Jim

[Alaskaknucklehead]

Thanks all.

Here is a shot of the new couple ;)

My female was cruisin around today forraging for leftovers, see's the male and rockets down to him, fins maxed out, dips under him and drags her dorsel fin across his belly. He spins down, and around, gently nudging her side with his nose she follows suite and they do a little spinning dance. :angel:

[KD]

Hey Alaska,
That must be so exciting- Congratulations!
I don't think I'll be able to sleep if mine were to lay eggs.

Karen

[Alaskaknucklehead]

I did fall asleep- on the couch right in front of their tank. =)

[ed8t]

Congratulations - that's a neat story

[Alaskaknucklehead]

Well yesterday they made attempt #3. Boy are these two determined, not even 5 days have past since the last try...