How old are they?
So Over the past week I watched as two of my discus paired up. A few days ago they moved to a specific piece of wood and started to defend it from other discus. Looks of shivering. Tons of shivering and then, in fact right now as I type this...
I'm watching my female discus lay eggs and the male eating them immediately. To be fair, this is their first spawn but I'm elated and so very disappointed at the same time. Are there any steps I need to take or anything I could do to prevent this. THe two spawning are around 12-15 cm head to tail. Taller top to bottom...
Again I'm so happy that the discus are healthy and the conditions are right for them to spawn but I'm really deflated at the same time.
Any advice?
How old are they?
Hey @jeep
I got a group of 8 in June/July. Some were bought at 4-6cm and others were bought at 6-8 cm. I estimate the two that's spawning are 12cm. A max or 15 cm but I can't tell or measure them accurately as they don't keep still... And I didn't expect them to spawn despite them going through the motions.
12cm is about 4+" so unless they are stunted, my guess is they are a little young. Females can start laying eggs long before the male is mature enough. I'd wait until they are at least 1 year old and hope he doesn't make this a habbit...
Don't worry. Be happy! They're still young and stupid. Give them time.
Mama Bear
I don't know how to put pics on the site as everything I've tried gets rejected for being too large. If someone can show me the size I'll post a picture of the two. What I observed was that the female had her vent protruding a lot during spawning but the males vent, from what I could see, wasn't sticking out anywhere near as much. The male protected the spawn site aggressively but just ate the eggs while as they were being laid.
I got them from Stendker and the purchase sizes (4-6cm & 6-8cm) were in reality 5 & 7 cm at best but I'm not complaining. I absolutely adore these beasties but they were on the smaller size. So as for stunting when I'm able to get some pics on the site I'll let you guys take a look. I should mention that all of my discus have thick bodies and heads. I've always thought stunted discus remain thin as well as small.
My first foray into discus didn't end well. As we've probably seen often on this site getting them to spawning isn't a guarantee so in truth, I'm actually overwhelmed that this happened. I must be doing something right, at least I hope I am.
Merry Christmas to all.
You need 2mb or less
Jeanne
Ok so normally my discus are blemish free and my tank (due to buolding work) in a better aesthetic state. But due to building work and my 120G needing to be broken down and moved... And the unprecedented levels of aggression over the past week, raming up severly over the past 48 hours. My discs are showing signs of said aggression.
On the bright side, any marks or indentations on the slime coat usually clears within 24 hours.
Female on the left
Female again.
rsz_dsc02110.jpg
I'm sorry I couldn't get better pics of the male. It being Christmas day my wife got annoyed that I took the time to get these lol.
Also an idea of their thickness. Close up face Pic from about a month or so again but they have decent weight on them in my humble opinion.
DSC02068_19.jpg
Last edited by Rolla P; 12-25-2019 at 11:23 AM.
Anyone?
What are you feeding
Jeanne
Beefheart, Discus flake, and Australian FDBW.
Bumping this for educational purposes.
Any updates Rolla?
I also have a male that does this, but it doesn’t bother me atm because I have no intention of breeding, at this stage anyway.
Update
Tons of shivering. Their default mentality is to protect the area and clean their designated spawn site. The females genitalia is protruding but the male, although larger, seems confused. I'm not sure if there has been another spawn but given that he eats the eggs as they're laid I can't say there hasn't been.
I didn't plan to breed or even raise the babies but I know that discus spawning isn't guaranteed so I'm still excited for just having witnessed it. Given that my first foray into this species didn't go well I feel like I've done a far better job.
BTW I'm going back to a planted tank. A decision made easier as I've abandoned beef heart entirely.
I believe I'm on my second, quite possible third spawn and still getting the same result. Is there any technique I could try? I do have a spare 35G / 180L Or should I just leave them in the main tank to repeat the process until the male decides to fertilize?