Age

[Patrick84]

Hi, I am just curious...
At what size of discus usually they are ready for mate and egg? I meant in generally....
How do u know those 2 are pairs? They seems to me are enjoying swimming everywhere in my tank....
Do they have season to lay eggs? or just do it whenever they want? hehehehe thanks

[John_Nicholson]

They will start to spawn somewhere between 9 and 18 months. Based on your questions I suggest you spend sometime reading here in the breeding section. All of your questions are fiarly basic and have been answered many, many times.

Good luck.

-john

[MadMatt]

They will start to spawn somewhere between 9 and 18 months. Based on your questions I suggest you spend sometime reading here in the breeding section. All of your questions are fiarly basic and have been answered many, many times.

Good luck.

-john

John is correct, 9-18months. Typically the females mature a few months earlier then males.

[rickztahone]

John is correct, 9-18months. Typically the females mature a few months earlier then males.

With discus and the rest of the animal kingdom ;)

[MadMatt]

Hi, I am just curious...
At what size of discus usually they are ready for mate and egg? I meant in generally....
How do u know those 2 are pairs? They seems to me are enjoying swimming everywhere in my tank....
Do they have season to lay eggs? or just do it whenever they want? hehehehe thanks


*Discus spawn at the age of maturity not size, there are many factors that play into the growth of a discus, the short answer is around 1 year however John gave a very accurate description.

*When you have a "pair" the female will lay eggs and the male will be invited to fertilize (however there are is a lot more to it than that, there is post pecking, breeding area cleaning and also sponsoring body behavior, which on this forum there are a lot more experienced experts that have explained it in further detail), at that point he will fertilize the layer eggs, this happens as a back and forth "dance" between the two, as the female lays the male usually follows and fertilizes the eggs. (There are many great YouTube videos of a pair spawning).

*season for spawning; there isn't usually a season for spawning that I have heard of, although spawning is more likely (I have found) in the spring & in the fall, any time the barometric pressure drops, like when a storm front is coming in, this is when I found it is the easiest to get a pair to spawn, however large water changes, temperature changes sometimes encourages the discus to believe it's the rainy season in the Amazon thus they feel the need to spawn.

*in the culture of the discus there is no doubt a social order, they can make friends with each other, they can have different body movements to great each other ("friendship bows"), they can even have arguments with each other (sometimes lasts for mins, hrs, days etc.), they can even have groups of buddies like a click in high school, where some aren't excepted and others are. It is very common for two females to become buddies and have "a pair characteristics", however a pair can produce babies, two females obviously cannot. Even two female buddies will even lay eggs together and almost look like a female laying eggs and Male fertilizing, but if you look closely you can see both will have the female breeding tube where eggs are coming out of both.
So in short, just because they swim together doesn't mean they are a "pair", it just means you have more homework and studying to do on that particular 2 discuss if you wish to breed them.

On the form there is a great article about getting a pair to spawn, the only way to find out is do the steps to encourage a spawn and see if you get any developing eggs.

I'm by no means a pro breeder, I am still working on my breeding skills myself, however I have paired almost a dozen discus myself, some natural pairing, some I forced to pair, I've had a handful of fry from all my pairs and raised successfully to late juvenile discus which I still have now as I grow them out to maturity. Currently I am Working with five of my favorite pair and hopefully soon I will spawn another successful batch! :)

Best of luck!

Here is a huge wealth of information from guys like John that have many years of real discus breeding experience.

Enjoy friend!
:)

[MadMatt]

With discus and the rest of the animal kingdom ;)

This is true...lol!

[Patrick84]

WOW.... this is so informative.... Thanks everyone! Thanks SD.....
I am just at semi-beginner level.... My fish are around 4.5 inches big... I guess not so soon to lay eggs yet.... I am still reading post at discus for beginner and general discussion.....
Yes, much homework need to be done.... I love you all....