breeding discus

[springer]

I have 5 discus in a 50 gallon tank they are red melons. I truly believe they are 4 females and one male. One of the females has claimed one side of the tank and when the male comes close she starts to dance and peck at the cone it also looks like her egg tube has dropped the male pecks at the cone a couple times but then takes off and chases the other 3 around the tank on the opposite side eventually returning to the cone but takes off again. My question is should I remove the others or leave them in for a while.

[Yom]

I am sure you will get varied advice on this. "In my opinion" you have two options and either is correct. These are juvenile fish and it will most likely take them several tries before they successfully hatch fry. So with that said you can 1. leave them in with the others until they get things right and hatch wigglers, or 2. separate them and let them "practice" on their own. In the mean time do your research on the demands of raising fry once you get to that stage; meaning water changes and quality(more frequent) and feeding/foods. If you plan to do baby brine(BBS) then get your self set up to hatch BBS daily or every two days....2 liter bottles, air pump and air stone, siphon, strainer, salt for brine, etc (there are other ways of doing BBS). And lastly start thinking about being successful and needing yet a third tank once you can move the fry from the parents. Successfully hatching and raising fry is very rewarding but demands lots of attention and work. Good luck!

[Mando]

As Yom said, Research, research, and more research. The research you need to do has been ever made more simple! check out the growout challenge and you will see the Vehement approach you would need to raise a successful batch. It's no easy task, but it's an extremely rewarding one.

Also, from my experience, and like Yom said, new juvie parents tend to learn slowly. My pair were in their own 30 gallon breeder tank, and as quickly as they laid eggs, they would devour them. Keeping them with other discus, for the learning process, will build their defensive tactic (parenting instinct) to keep the predators away, thus, keeping the eggs/fry alive. My pair has laid eggs 6 times, and all 6 times they ate them. Only twice did they make it to wigglers and once to the free swimming stage.

I now have them in the main tank with the other discus, and they are starting to clean the cone. Let's pray; I'm testing to see how this works out.

[springer]

Thank you very much for the replies yes I have done a lot of research on raising fry. I currently raise angels and have a very good source of brine shrimp and extra tanks if necessary. I think I have all the basics covered just need some discus fry.

[LizStreithorst]

If you have large tanks for grow out. I'd put the pair in a 29 (a 30 is too long and not deep enough). I wish you the greatest luck. I would love to see pics of your pair.