Tips for pairing off discus

[wisefinger]

Hi, I have a Discus tank with at the moment 12 discus of almost 2 years of age. They are all in very good condition and have a healthy size. I raised them for more then 1 year and I was hoping to have at least one pair for breeding. I give them the best food, and I do 10% water change a day and 50% once a week. From what I read the best way is to let them pair off naturally, but there doesn't seem to be any romance in the air
Are there any tips to help this process, I mean should you put them in smaller numbers together, or in a smaller or larger tank? Any suggestions are welcome.
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Here are some pictures, always interested in hits about the gender

[Willie]

The one definite male I see in the picture is a Blue Diamond. A likely male I see is a Cobalt, therefore has Blue Diamond genetics. My experience with breeding BD's is that they take the longest to mature. Two years old or older is quite typical to breed this strain. In fact, my earliest successes were achieved by buying BD's that others have given up on and just waiting. Pigeon Blood strains, such as that orange one always out of the picture, would pair off earlier.

[CliffsDiscus]

Try splitting up the batch into 2 tanks of 6 each. They usually would pair up under a week for me. Also the water quality for the Blue Diamonds needs to be in a better quality then the others. The reminding Discus after pairing can be place in other tank for another pairing. Both males and females can be pair up with other males and female.
I had 5 Blue Diamonds and got 2 1\2 pairs out of 3 females and 2 males.

Cliff

[NewDiscusGuy]

I got a similar issue. I have a blue diamond and a red melon male that is trying to attract a pigeon blood but she's playing hard to get. Just swims past them but occasionally will get close and check them out. Should I remove one of the males so she has a easier time deciding?

[CliffsDiscus]

I got a similar issue. I have a blue diamond and a red melon male that is trying to attract a pigeon blood but she's playing hard to get. Just swims past them but occasionally will get close and check them out. Should I remove one of the males so she has a easier time deciding?

Try skipping a couple water changes then make a large water change this can sometimes trigger the female to start flirting with one of the males.

[NewDiscusGuy]

I’ll try that but the strangest thing just happened today. Right after feeding time a red melon laid eggs and a few seconds later a red panda came over and ate them. Not sure if the red panda is a male or female.