Average discus life expectancy and duration of breeding viability

[pastry]

Always is with me. I can cut the head off a live mullet when fishing but used to turn peace and love'ish with subpar discus... After 20 years and a wife only allowing 1 tank, not anymore

[RogueDiscus]

I was just wondering what the average lifespan you guys have had with your fish and at what age do breeding pairs usually stop producing viable fry? It seems like certain classic strains like San Merahs for example are fairly hard to come by these days. That got me thinking that keeping a breeding pair of my favorite strain and cycling them out with the following generation every few years would ensure the preservation of the strain. It seems like the only true San Merah's I see nowadays are the Golden based ones and I don't know if they just took a red cover and bred golden into it to make it appear like a true San Merah or if it started with a true one and then they bred golden into the line. Thanks for any input. I know that breeding long term is a massive undertaking but I feel that only keeping and focusing on breeding one strain should dramatically reduce the tanks and equipment required.

I've got a male I've had since 2009 that's still spawning when conditions are right. He's got a younger partner. The San Merah question caught my eye. I've got a San Merah (female?) that I got from Kenny in 2009 that just spawned with a Rose Red I got from him a year or so ago. I'm looking forward to seeing what I get from them. Pics of both groups are in my homestead (Steve's Discus Den).

[ssevasta]

I've got a male I've had since 2009 that's still spawning when conditions are right. He's got a younger partner. The San Merah question caught my eye. I've got a San Merah (female?) that I got from Kenny in 2009 that just spawned with a Rose Red I got from him a year or so ago. I'm looking forward to seeing what I get from them. Pics of both groups are in my homestead (Steve's Discus Den).

Wow Steve that's awesome. I'm gonna check that out right now lol.

[ssevasta]

Good point. There always seems to be something when you are not paying attention. Bad water change, bad equipment, move across the country, illness, unexplained, etc. I've kept some for years but most have died from other than old age. Sucks.... I do find myself looking back at posts from years ago wondering what happened to some people. I even took a few years off but found myself wandering back. Trying to talk the wife into a new batch of discus is difficult. Luckily, I have a fish room now but it is dedicated to her angelfish hobby at the moment.

Yeah Mike I also took a break for a few years after hurricane Sandy wiped me out and it was hard to financially justify the startup costs but I'm so happy that I did. I wish more people that take a break or leave the forum for one reason or another would leave a post saying goodbye or explaining why they're leaving but that's extremely rare unfortunately. It seems like most of the time they just post more infrequently and then one day just stop posting altogether. Another thing I've noticed is that some of them will stop posting but still log onto the forum and I guess either read or send pm's with their close friends. Sometimes when I'm reading an old thread and I see that a particular person was banned I'll look up their last few posts to try to see if I can figure out why they got the axe lol. It can be an interesting way to pass the time 😎

[White Worm]

I've got everything I need but the ($ discus $) and time....Just not feasible right now. When I do, I'm not interested in growing a small batch. Gonna start with 4-5" so I don't have to wait a year to breed them again.