What to do when the babies grow up and get frisky?

[Paul Sabucchi]

Hi, Happy New Year to all. As somebody on a local forum was asking what to do as his 9 month old discus have started to pair up already, mine being 7 months old and coming along nicely (I have a baker's dozen in 100 gal BB) had me starting to wonder. Is it true that when they start breeding growth slows/stops? If there is some truth is there anything that can be done to discourage it for as long as possible (probably not a lot as the drive to breed is one of the strongest in nature). I am not interested in breeding but as my tapwater is quite soft (KH 3) there is a fair chance I could get wrigglers so if any pair up should I syphon the eggs out asap?

[Altum Nut]

Happy New Years Paulo...really hard to discourage a guy and gal to get in simple terms. If they are within a community tank chances of fry survival is limited. It is possible that females that spawn at a young age may stunt or slow down further growth but it may vary with genetics.
The positive side is someone can sell off a confirmed pair if no interest in breeding to fund getting more Discus or other species compatible with Discus.
Even if one would think to clear out any tank furniture thinking it will discourage spawning...they will just lay on a heater, tank glass or filter tube.

...Ralph

[100fuegos]

In my own experience ...

* Had females started laying egss as young as seven months old.
* Males had no interest in breeding till a much mature age, something like 14 - 18 months old.
* Those females slowed down in growth compared to others females of the same batch but they eventually catched up. They were the ugly duckling though, kind of football shape, not keepers for sure.
* In my case was one fish laying eggs and all the rest fighting to have a tasty snack,so the eggs never ever lasted more than a couple seconds in the glass.

If it is not your case I would definitely wipe them down as soon as you see them. Some people say that laying eggs does not slow or stunt a fish per se, rearing the fry on the other hand does. It makes some sense but the energy invested in the development of the eggs could very well be used to grow a fish bigger.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

[Paul Sabucchi]

Thanks to all for the info