Is this too young to be trying to breed?

[Heckel&jyde]

I have been raising 10 juvies, from very young, about 1". Breeder told me they were 4wks old (but does that sound right for 1" fry?? I wonder if they are older at 1"). Anyway, they are doing great, with most of them between 3-4" now (except 1 clear runt that gets picked on). I've had them 4.5mths, so that makes them about 5.5mth old.

Last week I added a new purchase (after quarantine). Red Rafflesia? The seller said she is 2yo and has laid eggs so definitely female. Since I added her to the tank, one of the larger juvies has been getting friskie and starting to clean the filter intake pipe. He (?) follows her everywhere and does the little wiggle dance. She seems to humour the young juvie but doesn't really do any dancing or breeding behaviour herself.

So 3 questions I guess.
1. is a 1" fry about 4wks old or are my fish older than I thought?'

2. how young can discus start breeding?

3. is this more likely to be another female given the enthusiasm it exhibits (I've read females mature earlier).

Thanks for any help. I'm new to discus and threw myself in the deep end with raising fry. I didn't expect them all to survive but they're mostly thriving thanks to all the info on this forum. (the growout challenge thread was so informative for me and I've tried to follow their protocols as best I can)

discus.jpg

[RogueDiscus]

Hi HJ,
1. 1" at 4 weeks is about right. Good job getting them to this point from that size.

2. I think most folks would say about 1 year, but some possibly a bit sooner, and adolescents will definitely start showing some behavior, although often nothing comes of it. As you noted, males are usually considered to take longer to mature, or to really do their thing when the time comes.

3. I'd say this is a possibility, which puts you in that typical spot where you won't know until they spawn and fry actually hatch.

I'd also add, that as a likely pigeon blood based red, the fry from a cross with your others is likely to be peppered and not real attractive. It can still be fun to go through the experience, but if they were successful, you might end up with fry you don't know what to do with.

Your fish do look good, though!

Steve

[jeep]

I've had females spawn as young as 6-7 months. Males will take an interest, but most won't become fertile until about a year+

I agree with Steve... This mix would not be a good match!

[Heckel&jyde]

Thanks for the responses
I'm not sure what strain the juvies are. Breeder sold them as F1 alenquer. Definitely not PB though. So if a turq type 9bar pairs up with a PB type, this should be discouraged?
I don't have any immediate plans to breed but it would be fun to experience it once....

[jeep]

Thanks for the responses
So if a turq type 9bar pairs up with a PB type, this should be discouraged?
I don't have any immediate plans to breed but it would be fun to experience it once....

Correct! You don't want to cross a PB to a non-PB. PB genes are dominant and will almost always throw heavily peppered fry even though the parent is clean. It could be fun, but in the end you may end up with 100 discus on your hands that no one wants, lol...

Your juvies look like they have some Turq in them, but may be too early to be sure. I would wait until they mature and see if any pair off. Or, take a shot at picking up a solid PB male and see if it will pair up with the PB you have...

Here is an example of what you can expect (borrowed from the net)...

Brian

pepper.jpg

[Heckel&jyde]

Thanks I won't set up the honeymoon suite then

Just for interest sake. Where do blue diamonds sit with the genes. Can they breed with PB or Turqs?

[RogueDiscus]

Blue Diamonds are kind of a different non-striped strain. They should do OK with turks, creating I think what's called Blue Scorpion (see Kenny's sponsor list). And some folks have gotten some interesting crosses with PB, too.