Discus red map pairing/spawning?

[Jason.M]

When I got home from work last night I noticed my 2 red maps hanging out by a piece of driftwood and their tails were quite dark. By the time I got back down to do their water change I watched them cleaning the driftwood, shimmying, tail slapping, nipping and the one with the broken pattern doing dry runs.
The water change did not disrupt them at all and they did this the entire time during and continued after the water change and we're still at it this morning.
So my questions are:
From the vid I took, is this pairing/spawning behaviour? From my experience with other species, and research on discus I assume it is but my experience with discus is only 4 months or so.
And secondly are they too small yet to start spawning, and should I let them grow some more before I allow them to continue? Again from my experience the female uses a lot of energy to spawn and will slow her growth down.
Some background on the fish: I recieved these discus from Rick at Canadian Aqua Farms in late November at the 3-3.5 inch size and they are now 5 inches or so.
Thanks in advance for checking it out.

https://youtu.be/rwa7vyUDkN0

[Kyla]

they do sure look interested in laying. can u see their breeding tubes?

have heard it is the actual raising of the fry that takes effort and nesting is not going to affect growth of the discus. not sure if this is true, maybe some experts can chime in.

this discus pair below lays eggs regularly in my main tank, but they are soon eaten.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/kylasfish/Mobile%20Uploads/2EB9523C-BB70-4FA7-A203-3542E01FB635_zps0798llnq.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/kylasfish/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2EB9523C-BB70-4FA7-A203-3542E01FB635_zps0798llnq.jpg.html)

i dont think it is so much the size of the discus but the age that determines whether they are sexually mature.

the red melon female in my pic is my smallest discus that lays. she surprised me when she bred very shortly after she finished quarantine so i assume she is older than she looks and is prob stunted. happy little thing tho :)

[Jason.M]

I did see the tubes starting to protrude, but not enough to determine sexes before I had to go to bed. (Early work this am).
As for age, I've had them roughly 4.5 months, so I'm not sure of the exact age of them, but I'm guessing they should be getting close to breeding age. Which is why I was wondering if I should discourage their breeding. I would like to have large discus and they seem to be growing well and didn't want breeding to slow their growth, if it in fact will.
I'm interested to see if they are still going through the motions when I get home tonight. The one with the broken pattern had no interest in eating this morning either. Just kept coming from the driftwood to where the other one was eating, and then quickly rushing back behind the driftwood as if to say "come back over here."
Thanks for the reply.

[Akili]

Leave the alone and Let them do their thing.Lookout for tubes next time they spawn.Observe the spawn thereafter for wrigglers

[Jason.M]

Thanks for the advice Akili. I will leave them alone.
I did come home from dinner with my wife tonight to find a bunch of eggs on the backside of the driftwood and them making runs. I wasn't able to see if anymore eggs were being laid while they were doing it, but I was able to get a good look at their bits. The full pattern one has a much smaller tube that doesn't stick out very far. The broken pattern one has a larger tube that sticks out quite far, so I think they might be male and female. Have to watch the eggs and see what happens.
Here's a vid I took tonight of them in action.
https://youtu.be/TLomOhFa9_0

[Akili]

You will notice that all the eggs are going to turn white,That airstone you have is causing too much turbulence.No fertilizing will occur when water moves that fast.For Sucessful fertilization of eggs water has to be very calm

[Jason.M]

That's something I was actually concerned about along with my TDS being around 150. While the airstone is actually a lot further away then it appears in the vids, it is still only 12 inches or so away. I'm going to move the airstones further away and move they driftwood closer to the end of the tank to try and create a calmer area for next time. Hopefully I get a wiggler or 2 just so I know what I have. Thanks again for the advice.

[Akili]

Many times the eggs will hatch at TDS 150. TDS 80 or below works for me See what happens next time and work from that point.

[Jason.M]

Came home tonight to find the eggs gone. Better luck next time. The pair is still guarding the spot and acting like they want to spawn more with a bit of fighting as well. I'll get the tank setup a bit better for them for next time.

[Akili]

Came home tonight to find the eggs gone. Better luck next time. The pair is still guarding the spot and acting like they want to spawn more with a bit of fighting as well. I'll get the tank setup a bit better for them for next time.Chances of getting a successful spawn in a community tank are very,very low.Best bet is to get the pair a tank of their own.

[Jason.M]

They are spawning again tonight and I'm pretty sure it's 2 females. I saw eggs coming from the one I thought was a male and the tube much longer and larger tonight. I haven't seen eggs coming from the other one yet. They have almost identical tubes tonight though.

[Akili]

Well at least you which one is the female.The male's tube is slightly pointed

[Akili]

Look at the breeding tubes. The female breeding tube tends to be larger and blunt at the tip, while the males are smaller and comes to a point. Usually they can be seen when Discus begin to clean the area.

[Jason.M]

So they have laid eggs 3 times in the last week and half. The last batch was on Friday. I'm pretty sure it's 2 females but I haven't had enough time to watch when they get busy to see what's what. The first batch they ate and they were gone in the morning, the second and third batch they guarded, cleaned and removed them as they turned white until they were all gone.
They are red maps and I'm hoping the blue diamond and ring leopard will get in the mood soon. They are showing some interest in each other and hanging together. The BD is too young but will be of age in a about a month. Then I can start narrowing down sexes.
Even if the non pigeons spawn with the pigeons, at least I can see what sexes I have, they can get some practice and I can try my hand at keeping some fry alive. Of course I would eventually cull the fry of non pigeon, pigeon crosses.
Bigger dilemma of it all is now trying to chose which strain I want to go with and getting more of them so I end up fry I can keep if they do spawn. I think if I had the time back I would have gotten all one strain. I'm not liking the mixed tank look as much as single strain. I think I need a tank for every strain since I'm now hooked on discus lol.

[Kyla]

So they have laid eggs 3 times in the last week and half. The last batch was on Friday. I'm pretty sure it's 2 females but I haven't had enough time to watch when they get busy to see what's what. The first batch they ate and they were gone in the morning, the second and third batch they guarded, cleaned and removed them as they turned white until they were all gone.
They are red maps and I'm hoping the blue diamond and ring leopard will get in the mood soon. They are showing some interest in each other and hanging together. The BD is too young but will be of age in a about a month. Then I can start narrowing down sexes.
Even if the non pigeons spawn with the pigeons, at least I can see what sexes I have, they can get some practice and I can try my hand at keeping some fry alive. Of course I would eventually cull the fry of non pigeon, pigeon crosses.
Bigger dilemma of it all is now trying to chose which strain I want to go with and getting more of them so I end up fry I can keep if they do spawn. I think if I had the time back I would have gotten all one strain. I'm not liking the mixed tank look as much as single strain. I think I need a tank for every strain since I'm now hooked on discus lol.

no harm in letting them practice (unless the aggression crossed a line and others in the tank r stressed). u sound like me... if i could do it again i'd gave gotten a single strain too :) oh well, next time lol

[Jason.M]

Well they're on the fifth batch of eggs in the last few weeks. They won't stop laying with each other.

[Akili]

Well they're on the fifth batch of eggs in the last few weeks. They won't stop laying with each other.Are they now in a tank of their own now?

[Jason.M]

They are in a 125 with 2 other discus and that's it. They lay and then over the next few days as they slowly turn white they remove the white ones until all the eggs are gone. Takes about 3 days. Then they lay again.