A story of patience, perseverance and prayer

Well, it's been a while since I last posted - so, time for an update.

It's been 9 months since the 1st viable spawn survived to free swimmers and boy what a wild ride it's been since then. Now I reminded that breeding discus takes time, commitment and more patience than you can possibly imagine.

I had 48 fry that survived through too separation from the parents and after a few weeks and a small cull, I was down to 24. Just as I relaxed, thinking the hard part was over, I started losing 1 or 2 every day for no apparent reason.. over the next few months I lost half. I had 6 "good" fish, with good fin structure, and 6 "mohawks" with deformed dorsal fins.

I took a massive risk, coz I had nothing else to lose, I moved the best 6 down into my main tank with my other discuss and their parents.

The "mohawks" one by one, gave up the ghost, of the ones in the main tank, I lost 3.. I thought I was destined to lose them all, but no. 9 months on and they're doing good and are growing on well. Phew.

Do I consider it a success... yes, this isn't an easy hobby for those of use who can't commit 24/7 to breeding.

Pictures below of the parents and they're kids - interesting that they all have taken most of their colouration from their mum rather than their dad.

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True, raising Discus can me trying and stressful even if you can dedicate a lot of time. Being patient and learning from mistakes is the only way to make it through. Learning from others helps too, but there can be so much conflicting information out there. Actually experiencing it is the only way to know what works for your situation. I glad to hear you have had at least a modicum of success. Hopefully next time around things will go better.

Robert