Force Pairing - How? Expert Strategy/Thoughts

[RobC]

Been trying to breed my discus, but haven't seen any breeding behaviors in any of my discus.

How is force pairing done?

How long do we put a "possible" pair together? a week before swapping?

Any strategy?

[Kyla]

im no expert, but my guys showed more breeding behaviour when i added cones to the tank. like they got all excited about vertical surfaces and interested in laying eggs on them. do u have cones in the tank?

[RobC]

im no expert, but my guys showed more breeding behaviour when i added cones to the tank. like they got all excited about vertical surfaces and interested in laying eggs on them. do u have cones in the tank?

I do have a cone and some smooth vertical drift wood. I get nothing. I probably have the worst luck ever and have a group of discus (9) that are of one sex.

[Kyla]

lol that would indeed be bad luck!! but it may just be that they arent old enough yet? how old do u think they are?

[RobC]

lol that would indeed be bad luck!! but it may just be that they arent old enough yet? how old do u think they are?

Not sure how old, but they are around 4.5 to 5.5 inches each

[Willie]

Forced pairing is when you break up pairs and put a more desirable combination together. So you may pick a proven male and put him together with a better female. It doesn't work if the fish have not spawned. Forced pairing works most of the time, IME.

In your case, just start to move fish around to form new pairings. If they don't spawn in 2 - 3 weeks, try a different combination.

Willie

[RobC]

Forced pairing is when you break up pairs and put a more desirable combination together. So you may pick a proven male and put him together with a better female. It doesn't work if the fish have not spawned. Forced pairing works most of the time, IME.

In your case, just start to move fish around to form new pairings. If they don't spawn in 2 - 3 weeks, try a different combination.

Willie

Great Info Willie, when forcing two pairs together (if truly M/F) how long do you usually see breeding activities occur?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Rob, in your case it may be best to allow your discus to naturally pair off before anything else. I suspect your fish are not old enough yet.
Pat

[RobC]

Hi Rob, in your case it may be best to allow your discus to naturally pair off before anything else. I suspect your fish are not old enough yet.
Pat

When the time does come when they naturally pair off, showing signs of pairing, when do you move them out of the community tank? and if when moved, will that interrupt there breeding ritual?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Rob, we generally recommend not moving the pair until they have wigglers. Moving a pair can disrupt some pairs. You just have to try it and see what happens.
Pat

[Kyla]

the one time i tried to force a pair together they did lay eggs but the male was super aggressive towards the female and i ended up splitting them due to fear he would overly stress her. i didnt really want to raise their babies, just wanted to see if they would actually breed, and they did! but by then, both male and female had laid eggs and brought them to the wriggler stage in the main tank with other mates.

[RobC]

the one time i tried to force a pair together they did lay eggs but the male was super aggressive towards the female and i ended up splitting them due to fear he would overly stress her. i didnt really want to raise their babies, just wanted to see if they would actually breed, and they did! but by then, both male and female had laid eggs and brought them to the wriggler stage in the main tank with other mates.

Did the other tanks mates eat the wigglers? thats what I'm afraid of.

[Kyla]

the wrigglers never lasted long in the community tank, but it wasnt a concern when they were eaten (either by their parents or the others) because it was more important for the pair to get comfortable having wrigglers and get some practice parenting.

eg when one pair started laying eggs they would eat them by the next day. as they continued trying their hand at parenting the eggs lasted longer and longer in subsequent layings. each time they laid, they became better at caring for the eggs.

when i finally saw them with their first wrigglers zinging off the cone they seemed to be distressed about what to do and they would eat all the wrigglers. i let them do that a couple times. then i covered the wrigglers with a cage and finally saw some attach. afterwards they could bring the fry to attachment every time.

no fry lasted longer than a few days after attachment in the main tank. i think a lot of it had to do with mom and dad dashing aross the tank to fight with the other discus... fry went flying off their flanks in every direction as they lip locked the other discus. at that point i could have moved the parents to their own tank and let them raise the fry but they were not a good pair genetically (pb and non pb) so i didnt bother.

it was after this point that i pulled a male and female and tried to force pair them... they were both actively breeding in the main tank and had raised fry to wriggler stage with other discus.

what im trying to say, is dont rush it. let them do their thing, and practice with eggs and fry and learn the ropes. it took many layings and eating of the eggs/fry before my discus were ready to raise fry.

it was very rewarding to watch them learn how to parent. it may be a while before u even see breeding in ur tank, and then a while after that before they figure out what to do with the eggs etc

[RobC]

Thanks Kyla, good stuff!!

[CliffsDiscus]

I agree with Willie and Pat. Forcing pairs usually result
in less to have parental skill. Mated pairs have a
much better connection, unless the breeder pulls
out the spawn and raise the fry, then it's the breeder's
skill.

Cliff