Snakeskin and Leopard Pair

[Gregkarr09]

Hey Everyone, So looks like these two decided to pair, they are displaying serious breeding behavior. I think I read somewhere these two could make some nice fry. Is that the case? Anyone know?
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[jmf3460]

Yes they would make a good pair, but at your very early stage of discus keeping, I would advise you to discourage any breeding at this point. Breeding and raising fry is a really dedicated and time consuming task if it is to be done correctly. I wouldn't want you to get burned out on discus this close to the beginning of your experience with them. You might want to let nature take its course in the main tank or pull the eggs if you ever get any. At least for a couple years until you've really got a better grasp on discus keeping. And please know OP I say this with all do respect, by no means am I belittling your fish keeping husbandry or knowledge, I'm just giving a word of wisdom.
Keeping discus and breeding discus are two very different things.

[Gregkarr09]

Yes they would make a good pair, but at your very early stage of discus keeping, I would advise you to discourage any breeding at this point. Breeding and raising fry is a really dedicated and time consuming task if it is to be done correctly. I wouldn't want you to get burned out on discus this close to the beginning of your experience with them. You might want to let nature take its course in the main tank or pull the eggs if you ever get any. At least for a couple years until you've really got a better grasp on discus keeping. And please know OP I say this with all do respect, by no means am I belittling your fish keeping husbandry or knowledge, I'm just giving a word of wisdom.
Keeping discus and breeding discus are two very different things.

Totally respect where you're coming from! I've bred many Angelfish in the past but have read that Discus are a completely different ball game. What can I do to calm down the aggressive behavior they are showing to the pigeon blood. I think your absolutely right about holding off on breeding. Your saying I should pull the eggs every time? What else can I do to stop the breeding? I know for angels if I lowered the water temp they would stop, but I'm not going below 82 for these guys.

[jmf3460]

lowering the temp can help discourage breeding, as can doing cold water changes. Try to do water changes with water that is the same temperature as your main tank. other than that you can simply put a cone in there, and then pull it if they lay on it, dispose of the eggs and put it back, or you can let the other fish eat the eggs, that's harsh to say but its nature

[Ryan925]

Totally respect where you're coming from! I've bred many Angelfish in the past but have read that Discus are a completely different ball game. What can I do to calm down the aggressive behavior they are showing to the pigeon blood. I think your absolutely right about holding off on breeding. Your saying I should pull the eggs every time? What else can I do to stop the breeding? I know for angels if I lowered the water temp they would stop, but I'm not going below 82 for these guys.

When my first "pair" started this behavior they were very aggressive at first. Eventually it subsided

Also you currently have a trio correct? With that one being the odd man out it's probably worse than if you had a larger group

[Gregkarr09]

When my first "pair" started this behavior they were very aggressive at first. Eventually it subsided

Also you currently have a trio correct? With that one being the odd man out it's probably worse than if you had a larger group

yes I do have a trio, I'm planning to get 3 more but at the end of the month and then I'll have to Quarantine them for at least a month. So hopefully they will be alright till then. They laid eggs on the driftwood A LOT of eggs!!!!! They seem to keep busy with the eggs and the aggression has subsided a bit.

[Gregkarr09]

Well it happened! So Tempting to put up a divider and watch them bring up the fry. I have 3 different grow out tank ready to go lol. How much harder can it be than angelfish? I have a few brine shrimp hatcheries, and I can make my own beefheart mix, and water change water change water change.... lol I don't know
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[Larry Bugg]

I would go for it. Sounds like you have some cichlid breeding experience. A divider will only work if the fry can't swim through it. You are still a long way off from that though. First they have to be fertile and hatch and then they have to attach to the parents. This quite often takes multiple spawns. I started with discus with the intent of breeding. I did have quite a bit of experience breeding many different kinds of cichlids before undertaking it. I joined my local aquarium club in 2008 and everything I have kept since then has been with the intent of breeding. Most of the time breeding once and then moving on to a different cichlid to breed. I would discourage someone new to the aquatic hobby.

[White Worm]

I've bred 100's of angels here lately and that is a piece of cake compared to discus. Discus are a different world and can be frustrating and then growing them....If you want to breed them, move the pair to their own 29g tank with just a cone and sponge filter. Once the fry are old enough to move, get them into the larger tank. Get rid of third wheel in the meanwhile because you will have more discus than you know what to do with.

[Gregkarr09]

I would go for it. Sounds like you have some cichlid breeding experience. A divider will only work if the fry can't swim through it. You are still a long way off from that though. First they have to be fertile and hatch and then they have to attach to the parents. This quite often takes multiple spawns. I started with discus with the intent of breeding. I did have quite a bit of experience breeding many different kinds of cichlids before undertaking it. I joined my local aquarium club in 2008 and everything I have kept since then has been with the intent of breeding. Most of the time breeding once and then moving on to a different cichlid to breed. I would discourage someone new to the aquatic hobby.

Thanks Larry, I might give it a go in their own 29 gallon, as for this batch I'm just going to see if they are even fertilized. Thanks for the vote of confidence! How was your experience raising the fry? Did you get some stunners?

[Gregkarr09]

I've bred 100's of angels here lately and that is a piece of cake compared to discus. Discus are a different world and can be frustrating and then growing them....If you want to breed them, move the pair to their own 29g tank with just a cone and sponge filter. Once the fry are old enough to move, get them into the larger tank. Get rid of third wheel in the meanwhile because you will have more discus than you know what to do with.

Thanks Mike, Yeah I'm not going to even try and put up a divider the two HOB filters would cause too much water movement for the fry to even find their parents. I might give a go in their own 29 gallon. As for now I'll just see how well the male fertilized the eggs.

[Larry Bugg]

Thanks Larry, I might give it a go in their own 29 gallon, as for this batch I'm just going to see if they are even fertilized. Thanks for the vote of confidence! How was your experience raising the fry? Did you get some stunners?

Read all you can about breeding discus here. As others have already pointed out, discus are different. The biggest difference being the amount of clean water needed to grow them out. I do daily 90% changes on my grow out tanks. Juvie discus can't handle even a small amount of bad bacteria and filters won't do the job. The only way is to change the water. No stunners..........I have always sold them off and never grown out any of my own fry. One of my goals in my new fish house is to put less emphasis on selling and start growing some of the out myself.

[Gregkarr09]

Read all you can about breeding discus here. As others have already pointed out, discus are different. The biggest difference being the amount of clean water needed to grow them out. I do daily 90% changes on my grow out tanks. Juvie discus can't handle even a small amount of bad bacteria and filters won't do the job. The only way is to change the water. No stunners..........I have always sold them off and never grown out any of my own fry. One of my goals in my new fish house is to put less emphasis on selling and start growing some of the out myself.

Right On, I'll read up. Thanks for the heads up and advice! Good Luck on growing out some big ones!