Breeding Discus Crash Course

[Jose_RS5]

Hello there!

I am "new" to this forum, although I have been on here thousands of times before to brush up and gain more knowledge about Discus. I wanted to start this thread to get some more info about breeding Discus. I have been doing research for months now and am finally more comfortable with taking the next step. Below I have a list of what tanks I was thinking of using:

(x6) 29 Gallon tank
(x1) 50 Gallon tank

All these tanks will be bare bottom and have a sponge filter. I plan on using the 50 gallon as a grow out tank for the juveniles I end up purchasing. The 29-gallon tanks will be used for the actual breeding pairs. I plan on getting my Discus from Jack Wattley Discus here in Florida. Below are some questions I have:

1.) How many fish should I get to get potential pairs?
2.) What size would you guys recommend? (I was thinking 2.5in or 3in.)
3.) What heaters do you guys recommend? (I know mid 80s is ideal for them)
4.) Deworming? What do you use? (Some people say to deworm every so often, some say once is enough)
5.) Best food to give them and how often do you recommend feeding? (I've heard 4 or 5x a day for younger fish and twice a day for adult)

Any other advice or tips/pointers are appreciated. If more info is needed from me, please let me know. Hope you guys are doing well!

[fljones3]

Did you look at the sticky posts? Grow-out challenge threads?
Many of your questions are answered there.

If you want pairs, and your main tank is 50g then you will want to purchase as large as possible discus. A 50g is a little small. 75g would be better. For 50g, I would go with 6 adults. Are you getting domestics from Gabe or the Wilds?

[Jose_RS5]

Hey there,
Thanks for the reply! I have read some of the sticky posts, but do not recall coming across a grow-out challenge thread. The Wilds are quite expensive, so I was leaning more towards the domestics especially since I would have to buy multiple. The domestics also came in different sizes, so I thought that was a plus.

[LizStreithorst]

Sounds like what you need is one proven pair. Hans has proven pairs. Or you can get a probable male and probable female from Kenny. He's good at knowing which is male and which is female. Put them in a 20 and wait for them to do their thing. That way you will have room to grow out all the babies you will get. You need to read around here more.

[jeep]

Here's the most recent grow out contest... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?406-Discus-Grow-Out-Challenger-Contest-2018

[peewee1]

Sounds like what you need is one proven pair. Hans has proven pairs. Or you can get a probable male and probable female from Kenny. He's good at knowing which is male and which is female. Put them in a 20 and wait for them to do their thing. That way you will have room to grow out all the babies you will get. You need to read around here more.

I am agreeing with Liz, I began a breeding program with wilds and 5 20 gallon tanks. You could put 8 in the 50gallon and wait until something happens. I can find a pair with 5 to 6 fish in a 30gallon so the 8 would work I am sure. Recently I had gotten 1 pair from 5 Kenny fish. But was left with 2 males and an unknown. I called Kenny and told him that I needed a beautiful lady for my boys. Along came a female. Kenny is a pretty good guesser, as am I. But don't expect him to guarantee it. I put the best guess female into the tank with my 2 boys and one unknown. About 8 days later the new lady fish had partnered with one of the two males and began to beat the living crap out of the other male. While at the same time leaving the unknown completely alone. So I move those two to a 20 gallon. So now I got 2 suspected pairs from 6 fish. My question is that you said that wild discus cost more money which means that they sell for more money. If you are going to grow and sell then why not get more money on the sale generated from the same amount of effort invested to get the sale product? In the long run the sale of the fry will offset the cost of the breeders. It's my opinion that for the color stand point along wild fish are not as attractive as the hybrids. But they are the genesis of the species. And since that was my genesis that is what I am striving for. Colorful and unique wild cross. I am fairly certain if you started with 12 3 inches that you would get some pairs. Build it from there. Just think about your next level generations and what you want them to be then select the basic breeders from there.

[Jose_RS5]

Thank you for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it! I see that many people love Kenny's Discus so I might have to check him out. So if I am following your suggestions, I should buy at least one proven pair and try my luck with a couple of younger fish and see. I actually love the look of the Wild Discus, I was just saying that Gabe's Wilds are adults so it might be tougher to pair them up. (Or is it? I just assumed) I am going to contact Kenny and see what he has.

[peewee1]

Thank you for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it! I see that many people love Kenny's Discus so I might have to check him out. So if I am following your suggestions, I should buy at least one proven pair and try my luck with a couple of younger fish and see. I actually love the look of the Wild Discus, I was just saying that Gabe's Wilds are adults so it might be tougher to pair them up. (Or is it? I just assumed) I am going to contact Kenny and see what he has.

Kenny is very honest so if you tell him of your plan he will give to you the best advice. I do know that he usually does not have proven pairs but he does watch his new fish and he has told me that sometimes he does observe fish that have shown interest in one another and will sell those to you at no marked up cost for the pair.
Explain your plan and he will set you up properly.

[Jose_RS5]

I just got off the phone with Kenny and let me say WOW! I may not know the guy, but our 30-minute conversation was all I needed to see that he is an awesome guy. I told him what my idea was and gave me some great additional advice as well as clarifying some questions I had. He even went as far as to warn me about the problems that come about from cross-breeding pigeon strains with non-pigeon strains. All in all, Kenny was amazing and super knowledgeable. Once my tanks are fully cycled, I will definitely be reaching out to Kenny to buy some Discus off of him.