"Feelin the Luv"

[RogueDiscus]

OK, sorry for the click-bait title
I just had a minor epiphany watching one of my pairs. I had just completed a water change on a tank with a pair that has been carrying fry for a couple weeks. For whatever reason, after the water change, the male decided he'd had enough of the fry and started attacking them. I watched for a while and confirmed this and eventually removed him. What I thought was interesting, however, was the female's behavior. She went to a top corner, and started pulsing her body, similar to the mating shimmy, about once per second for 6-8 times in a row. She did this repeatedly. The fry all swam toward her. Visually, the effect is understandable, but it occurred to me that she was also sending a pulse through the water that the fry followed. So that's the new thought, that they can actually communicate physically in the water.

[Second Hand Pat]

OK, sorry for the click-bait title
I just had a minor epiphany watching one of my pairs. I had just completed a water change on a tank with a pair that has been carrying fry for a couple weeks. For whatever reason, after the water change, the male decided he'd had enough of the fry and started attacking them. I watched for a while and confirmed this and eventually removed him. What I thought was interesting, however, was the female's behavior. She went to a top corner, and started pulsing her body, similar to the mating shimmy, about once per second for 6-8 times in a row. She did this repeatedly. The fry all swam toward her. Visually, the effect is understandable, but it occurred to me that she was also sending a pulse through the water that the fry followed. So that's the new thought, that they can actually communicate physically in the water.

I have observed this with wild discus Steve. It seems to be a clear call to the fry to go to the parent. It's quite cool I think.
Pat

[Altum Nut]

Thanks for sharing Steve and myself never experiencing first hand but must have been very interesting to watch.

...Ralph