starting off

[newby]

if i was starting off keeping and breeding discus how do u select your discus to pair off what im asking is u obviously dont want to breed brothers with sisters so do i bounce around and buy single discus or buy a proven breeding pair i hjave done some research and i see that it is not a good idea to buy a breeding pair simply because they are either tired or there is something wrong with them otherwise why would they be selling them

[John_Nicholson]

You do realize that the vast majority of discus produced currently are brother/sister, father/daughter, mother/son. It is called line breeding and it is used to develop and set strains. It is a scientific proven method to set genetics and has been used in the production of nearly every breed of animal on the planet. Personally I try to not take anything out further than F4 or F5 before an outcross but many take it much further than that.

-john

[newby]

thanks for the reply john so what im understanding is u can take a brother and sister from the same brood and pair them meaning if i buy say seven discus and say they were from the same brood and they paired that is ok?

[newby]

forgive me for maybe sounding stupid i just want to start by doing it right and i do need some scientific education lol

[John_Nicholson]

Yes that will be fine in the vast majority of cases.

-john

[Lighthouse7]

Its great to have a discus guru like John and all the others on SimplyDiscus - Lighthouse

[DISCUS STU]

Don't worry about the in breeding at at your stage of the game. Just get a bunch of adults, buy them or raise them, and let them pair off. Some combinations may be less aesthetically desirable in regard to what may be produced but it's still good practice.

My situation is similar to your's as I'm not a "big" breeder but enjoy it and work toward it. My current breeding pair are both Red Turquoise types that paired off in a community tank and were moved to my breeding tank where they then proceeded to do very little. After swapping out various other partners, also with no luck, I brought back the original female and have a very nice little group going with both parents working together perfectly, basically text book.

The male took 7-8 tries to get it right as he was going through motions but nothing was getting fertilized. Eventually with practice, patience (mine), and a little more maturity they got it right. This is their first brood.

Here they are from yesterday. It's difficult but you can see the fry feeding from the father. He's the one that's usually darker and they seem to prefer feeding from him more than the mother. 9545795458