Florida Spawn Help

[Sandz]

Hi ya'll. I am an aspiring discus breeder in Jacksonville Florida where we have liquid rock for water. I have been breeding discus for 4 years but that was in Portland, Or where the water quality was much better on a TDS and Hardness count. I had 5k gallons of tanks and bred everything from F1 appistogramma to our beloved Discus. I am wondering if there is anyone relatively local out there that can aid me as I set up my breeding tanks. I have 20, 20 gallon tanks that will house matching pairs as I grow my set up back. Additionally I have 5 5gal fry tanksand a few 29s-75gal tanks with the big "pairing" tank being 180 gallon. All will be bare bottom for sterilization.

Here is my approach to this project:
I am going to be buying approx 20 discus of 5 different strains in hopes of getting a pair of each strain. If anyone can find or help me out to get that feat accomplished please PM me. These will be spread amungst the large tanks I have listed above. After pairing, each will be in their own 20gallon perminant home. Filtration will be a central 55gal sump/refugium with heavy nitrate eating plants under 10k bulbs with a 10x/hr flow. Daily water changes are the plan for these tanks. Each will be heated individually and obviously the load will increase as more pairs form.

Any comments or input on this plan thus far?

[Discus Origins]

Hi there and welcome to the forum fellow Floridian :) I'm in Ocala not too far from you, you have a great breeder and moderator in Larry 'jaykne' who is in the Jax area.

I like the plans of your set up, I believe he breeds domestics in tap water with no problems. Depending on your budget instead of buying 20 juvies I think you can get a head start by buying pairing adults. Hans has excellent Stendker strains that he sells possible pairs with high accuracy, Kenny has great quality Asian strains that he can guess pretty accurately the sex of young adults for you. There are other quality sponsors on this forum that you can't go wrong buying fish from so good luck in your search :)

[mmorris]

If you put 20 discus of five different varieties in the 180 gallon tank, you will likely get mostly mixed pairings. You might buy young pairs or you might buy small groups of six or so of each variety and then keep them separate from the other varieties while they pair off. What are your plans for the 5 gallon tanks? I usually move three-week old fry from their parents into 29 gallon tanks, then into 55 gallon ones.

[Sandz]

Thanks for the reply's y'all! Budget for getting started is semi-tight. I have been working on a few deals in the 250-300 area for all 20 young discus rather than 1 breeding pair. Most breeding pairs range in the 200s from what I have seen. I have the time to develop the 1.5-2.5in fish as I am a hobbyist along with the breeding endeavors. I would love to talk to our locals and see their set ups so I will definitely reach out to them. I am also making my way down in July to the fish expo in the summer to see the different fish for sale and at auction.

I am not planning on all the fish going in the 180, though that will most likely eventually hold one of each strain I get as a show tank. I have the ability to run 4+ tanks of 55gal and up. For example, if I bought 4 crystal yellows at 2in I would put them in their own 55 or 75gallon tank.

I would love to hear RO isn't going to be necessary but we can address that what time comes.

[mmorris]

I doubt four two-inch discus in a 55 is going to work well. You need groups of at least six, and at two inches, I would put six (or more) in a 20 gallon for a couple months. The space in the 55 will very likely keep them frightened.

[Sandz]

In your opinion, would reducing those to 20's or 29's help? I can up the schools to 5-6 I believe without issue.

[mmorris]

In your opinion, would reducing those to 20's or 29's help? .

Sorry, I don't know what you mean.

[Sandz]

Im sorry, my brain doesnt communicate to my fingers well sometimes. A bit more in depth: In my prev opperation I did what I described earlier with success, 4 fish in a 55gal and getting 1 pair each time, raising the others and selling to make the money back for that pair then repeat. You stated that with a 55gal or larger that the fish would become frightened and that is the last thing I would want when growing out these wonderful fish. My question came with a brain fart. You stated putting them in a 20 would be best. I then asked would a 20 or 29gal tank be better than a 55 being ignorant to the previous statement you made. My appologies.

Anyway, idea works in my favor. I will decrease the strains to 4 and 6 fish per strain to adhere to your advice. Each can go in their own 20gal without issue. That makes life much easier for me when doing water changes. I can also do that on a single tank as I have several 20's available that wont be part of my central filtration system.