Courting Behavior?

[pantherlax]

Just noticed this going on after feeding this afternoon, possibly pairing up? (sorry for the glare)

As you can see they've pushed everyone else into the corners.

Really hoping so, since I'm working from home and have ample time to change water and potentially take care of fry


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvqYHJxK8A8

[Second Hand Pat]

Definitely pair bonding Pat. Note the slight body shaking of left most fish. You should have eggs soon :D
Pat

[pantherlax]

Definitely pair bonding Pat. Note the slight body shaking of left most fish. You should have eggs soon :D
Pat


Thanks for the thoughts Pat, this would be great timing! Although I don't expect anything to actually come of it as far as hatching while they are still in the main tank. If I spot them laying I'm hoping I can grab a tank from a big box and get them set up by themselves. Luckily I have a sponge in the sump for this sort of thing and always have a few heaters and air pumps lying around

Still not sure which is male and which is female (assuming they're not both female)

[coralbandit]

I agree looks like pairing .
I would guess the male is closest in the beginning and doing the shimmy till the end when they switch places.
Nice looking fish there ..Good luck !

[pantherlax]

I agree looks like pairing .
I would guess the male is closest in the beginning and doing the shimmy till the end when they switch places.
Nice looking fish there ..Good luck !

Thanks Tom! I had the sexing the other way around as my guess, but I suppose you never really know until you see who is doing the laying. Here are a few previous still shots of each (unfortunately I don't have any great shots of the vent):

Female?
127687

127688

127692

Male?
127689

127690

127691

[two utes]

It sure is. Good luck with the next stage Pat.

[pantherlax]

It sure is. Good luck with the next stage Pat.

Thanks Joe, I'll need it :D

Should it work out, I think you will actually deserve some of the credit! After reading your thread it made me think about upping my feeding regime with them, so I've been really getting after it with Al's FDBW in particular and a couple days later here we are

[two utes]

Thanks Joe, I'll need it :D

Should it work out, I think you will actually deserve some of the credit! After reading your thread it made me think about upping my feeding regime with them, so I've been really getting after it with Al's FDBW in particular and a couple days later here we are

Thank you Pat. You cant go wrong with Australian grown Freeze Dried Black Worms ;)

[peewee1]

Very nice still photos.

[pantherlax]

Very nice still photos.

Thanks peewee! The potential female is very cooperative for photos whereas the male is not. Gonna try and get some better pics of him at some point

[coralbandit]

What strain are they ?
They look like Hans German wonders to me ?

[pantherlax]

What strain are they ?
They look like Hans German wonders to me ?

These are actually Tiger turquoise from Kenny / Forrest, I got them back in the September order. I missed out (too slow) on some Eruptions I was looking at and Kenny recommended these and I couldn't be happier with them

[coralbandit]

They are very good looking fish !

[peewee1]

These are actually Tiger turquoise from Kenny / Forrest, I got them back in the September order. I missed out (too slow) on some Eruptions I was looking at and Kenny recommended these and I couldn't be happier with them

Kenny is good in that way. I ordered some thing. He called and said that if I would not mind he wanted to substitute with something that I might like better. I agreed. I then asked he ever got wild Discus. He said he had the crosses. He had an Alenquer cross that I would like. He sent his recommendations and sure enough, like you, they were excellent fish.

[pantherlax]

They are very good looking fish !

Thanks!!


Kenny is good in that way. I ordered some thing. He called and said that if I would not mind he wanted to substitute with something that I might like better. I agreed. I then asked he ever got wild Discus. He said he had the crosses. He had an Alenquer cross that I would like. He sent his recommendations and sure enough, like you, they were excellent fish.

I've bought most of my fish over the years online and Kenny has the BEST customer service I've come across

[pantherlax]

They're laying!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbFY31V4BL8

127710

I give them a 0.0% chance of hatching, what with everyone else interrupting & getting in there way, not to mention the sterbais in the tank will probably have a midnight snack of eggs. But it's still nice to see :D

[coralbandit]

Great video .
I'll bet the eggs are still there tomorrow..
They still have a low chance but I actually upped my sterbai numbers to get the parents more attentive ! If there is any food on bottom r they are well fed the cories have no care for the eggs IME .
They stand no chance if the pair guards.. It's the other discus that will be the deciding factor IMO .

[pantherlax]

Great video .
I'll bet the eggs are still there tomorrow..
They still have a low chance but I actually upped my sterbai numbers to get the parents more attentive ! If there is any food on bottom r they are well fed the cories have no care for the eggs IME .
They stand no chance if the pair guards.. It's the other discus that will be the deciding factor IMO .

Interesting thoughts! Fingers crossed then.

Tank is in total chaos at the moment, pecking order and territories have been completely disrupted by this. Fascinating to watch and since I'm home all the time I get to see it all play out as I work right next to the tank

[two utes]

Congratulations Pat. How exciting. Hope you get to determine if they are a pair that you can work with....Might be a good idea to think about setting up another tank ;)...That's how it always starts

[pantherlax]

Congratulations Pat. How exciting. Hope you get to determine if they are a pair that you can work with....Might be a good idea to think about setting up another tank ;)...That's how it always starts

Thanks Joe! I think you're right. Not too long ago there was a post from Al about DON'T GET RID OF OLD TANKS. Boy am I feeling that right now as I had an empty 55 that would be really useful at the moment

[pantherlax]

Well, the eggs haven't been eaten as of yet (hat tip to Tom) Looks like they progressively are going white though, which is okay. I'm almost a little relieved as I'm so ill prepared at the moment. At this point I don't expect them to hatch.

Day 2:
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Day 3 (this morning):
127728

Bonus shot of this one, who won't get out of my way so I can take a shot of the eggs :grin:
127729

[two utes]

Glad they were not eaten...At this point it would be great to just have one hatch so that you can confirm you have a proven pair.

[pantherlax]

Round 2 tonight, looks like a bigger batch of eggs vs. the first time around


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAQ3L0gwdx8

[two utes]

Looks good....Fingers crossed!

[coralbandit]

They like that wood !
They will get it right eventually ..
Enjoy watching the progression .

[pantherlax]

Looks good....Fingers crossed!

If not, we try again!


They like that wood !
They will get it right eventually ..
Enjoy watching the progression .

They really do like that wood, specifically that spot on the wood. Thought they might pick a different location, but right back to the exact same spot when it went down

[pantherlax]

Sad news to report, unfortunately. After laying 6-7 times since my last post (none fertilized) I heard a large thump and splash late last night all the way upstairs from my tank. Went down and turned on the room light looked all around the tank and nothing. Didn't spot anything in the tank out of the ordinary w/o the tank light on. Woke up this morning to the female of the pair dead in the tank. I'm assuming she got spooked and hit the euro-bracing on my acrylic tank. Huge setback, but will regroup and see if a new pair forms at some point.