How do I STOP them spawning?

[bossanova]

Not to humble brag but some of my fish are continually spawning in my showtank… and claiming territory pushing the ones who didn’t pair up to the corner.

I’m not at all trying to breed them, but I do want them to finish growing to their fullest. A couple of them seem to be having a hard time getting enough food and get a little stressed. It’s not anything major yet but I’d love to nip this in the bud before it becomes a real problem. I don’t have anywhere else to put them, nor can I really change the scape so that’s not a possibility unfortunately..

11 sun-adults (10 months old or so) in a 5x2x2 150. 3 pairs claiming 2/3 of the tank… help! All I can think of so far is lowering the temp (went down to 84 from 86) and dropping some food over in the corner

[Hicgup]

Sell a pair or two to me
Unfortunately lowering the temp even to 82 or 80 is not going to shut a pair down for long.
One solution amongst keepers of African Cichlids is to stock only males in a show tank.
So long term for your single show tank keeping only a female tank or a male tank is one of the few surefire ways to prohibit breeding. Having said that I have two female turquoise in a tank that lay every week or two. Need to get one or both of them a boyfriend. To grow them up to biggest size you should separate the sexes.

[bossanova]

Seems harsh, but what if I scrape the eggs off with a brush (don’t kill me I haven’t done it yet)

[bossanova]

Sell a pair or two to me
Unfortunately lowering the temp even to 82 or 80 is not going to shut a pair down for long.
To grow them up to biggest size you should separate the sexes.

Oh nowwwwww you tell me, lol. Pick up in DC!

[brewmaster15]

Sell a pair or two to me
Unfortunately lowering the temp even to 82 or 80 is not going to shut a pair down for long.
One solution amongst keepers of African Cichlids is to stock only males in a show tank.
So long term for your single show tank keeping only a female tank or a male tank is one of the few surefire ways to prohibit breeding. Having said that I have two female turquoise in a tank that lay every week or two. Need to get one or both of them a boyfriend. To grow them up to biggest size you should separate the sexes.

Yep I agree with Steve..splitting the tank to one gender is the only surefire way.

As a side note, careful on lowering the temp..its a standard practice with discus breeding to trigger spawning by going from warmer temps to the low 80s. Going lower than 80 increases the chance your fish will not only stop breeding but may be more susceptible to disease .. not really a strategy I would recommend!

I might recommend if you want to throw a wrench in breeding and not split the genders.. add more discus.. many more. They may still spawn here and there but you wont have territory issues. Just maintain tank water quality.

Hth,
Al

[Hicgup]

Agreed, as I said lowing temp is not a solution. But adding enough “dither” fish in terms of more discus may help. As long as you have both sexes under good conditions they are going to do as nature intends and try to procreate. No real harm in removing, scraping the eggs, but again not a good long term strategy as in the wild when a pair loses a nest to predation they can fairly quickly lay again as they have not invested as much in terms of raising/feeding young.

[bossanova]

As a side note, careful on lowering the temp..it’s a standard practice with discus breeding to trigger spawning by going from warmer temps to the low 80s

Hth,
Al

Oh nowwwwww you tell me… lol.

“Honey I need an additional 125 gallon tank to keep my fish from fighting, mkay..?” Here I go wish me luck

[brewmaster15]

Probably safer to Start a go Fund me page.

"I really need another fish tank because the guys over at Simply said I do to save my fish from fighting and so they can grow properly. I am starting this GoFund Me so that I can humanely raise my Discus Fish and save my relationship with my Honey. Please help me now or I might need to Start a Go Fund me for a new Doghouse if I charge another big tank..I thank you and my Discus thank you!"

[Hicgup]

A couple of 29’s will suffice for moving a couple of breeding pairs to keep your fish from fighting, but you can use multiple 125’s for grow out, as certainly nobody wants you to dispose of all those babies. “Fish Math”* works just the same for discus, as it does for clownfish, as it does for guppies.

[Hicgup]

Go fund me, I like it. A marine breeder in Hawaii raised Ten Thousand $ to find her deep water Angel a mate so she could become the first to breed the species in captivity, so why not for discus!
Btw, I am not sure if the display tank in question has been posted on this forum (hard for me to keep some things straight-apologies), but I have seen a video on a different forum and it is QUITE NICE!

[bossanova]

Btw, I am not sure if the display tank in question has been posted on this forum (hard for me to keep some things straight-apologies), but I have seen a video on a different forum and it is QUITE NICE!

Gee thanks. This was a few days after I got them, before they turned my tank into a den of debauchery and “violence” lol. I kid, I kid. As someone who kept Mbuna for years, it’s cute that we even call this “aggression”…
https://youtu.be/hWu6F67HOa4

[Cosgrovb]

Most show tanks will stock only males. For most strains they are the bigger of the two sexes. Females in a few strains have better coloration, usually the red fish (Red Cover, Rose Red etc). But the boys won’t fight each other too much. Boys and girls are destined for chaos. Go figure.

[CliffsDiscus]

Once the females start spawning their growth is mostly complete, they might grow a little thicker.

[bossanova]

Most show tanks will stock only males. For most strains they are the bigger of the two sexes. Females in a few strains have better coloration, usually the red fish (Red Cover, Rose Red etc). But the boys won’t fight each other too much. Boys and girls are destined for chaos. Go figure.

This is super helpful, thank you. I’ve been keeping Discus for years and had no idea. I’ve always felt single strain tanks looked better and fish behaved more naturally in them, but didn’t know people sorted by sex for display.

Issue here is that selling or trading pairs won’t get me any closer to all M or all F display… I assume I have 6m 5f currently. I’m certain it’s at least 4m 4f because I’ve seen them spawn. I suppose this is why people pay so much more for confirmed pairs.

[bossanova]

I wrapped a bunch of Java moss and hygro around their favorite spots of driftwood. Feel terrible but hopefully that’ll reduce the territoriality some.

The way this thread is going I fully expect someone to chime in with “java moss is a known discus aphrodisiac” but it’s worth a try