How often are Discus able to spawn?

[RyanH]

I have a pair of Red Turqs that are spawning every 4 days or so right now. They will watch the eggs for a couple of days, most of the eggs will turn white and then they eat them. They are still young and the male may not be fertile yet but damn, EVERY FOUR DAYS!?

I haven't had a successful spawn out of them yet and I am pretty sure that they are male and female but after they spawned again last night I am beginning to wonder if I have been mistaken. I didn't realize that Discus were able to spawn that often. I have watched them I have only seen the one lay eggs her tube is much larger than the other one who I have assumed was male.

The last time they spawned was Friday night! Are they just spawning machines or could they be two females?

thanks!
-Ryan

[kevster]

I had 2 pairs constantly laying eggs. Every 5 or six days i had eggs for about 6 weeks. Finally I was around when they were spawning and it turned out I had 2 pairs of females. All 4 females were laying eggs at different times. I think itss alot more common then people realize as my angels have done that also. It would explain alot of the people that complain about the eggs turning white and not hatching.
The only way to know for sure is to see it happen
kevster

[Per]

Hi Ryan,

A female can lay eggs every four days, and you don't necessarily have two females. I have a discus myself that used to do so for a period, and I even posted some pictures:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=11;action=display;threadid=10465;s tart=0

Hopefully you will soon end up with fertilized eggs :thumbsup:

Per

[Nightowl]

In June I went to a breeder I know in search of a Wattley turq. male. In a 125 gal. tank he had about 12 young adult discus of 3 different types. There were 2 Wattley Turq. swimming side by side and toward the pvc tube, and 1 was definitely a female ...you could clearly see the ovipositor. So we agreed the other could be a male and I bought the fish and brought it home. 2 weeks later, it spawned w/ a Blue scorpion male... the fish I got was also a female. They fed the first spawn and haven't spawned since, but my point is its sometimes hard to tell male from female. If you find new batches of eggs in 2 or 3 days, then you might have 2 females. The male may need to be 12-15 months old before he can fertilize eggs; sometimes longer w/ certain types like Blue Diamonds.Anyway, good luck! Its hard to beat a pair of Red Turks.(Unless you have 4 of a kind)...... J.T

[troy]

My female discus spawns every 5 days for the past 2 years , some times if you stress her it may take 7-8 days to spawn. I watch the male and female spawning late in the eveing.

They are certainly breeding machines .

[harry]

hi ryan ,
ive a pair of blue diamonds 15months old and about six inch in size ,they spawn every 4days the eggs turn white after 2days on the 3rd day they eat them and start all over again this as gone on for about 2to 3 months now ,still no hatches ,i know there male and female as i watch the female lay eggs and male follows her and covers the eggs .male must still be imature,they she lays about 400+eggs and they fan and clean all the time .so im hoping the male will do his job in the near future.all my perams are ok .so just let nature take its course

[Alan]

They may be 2 females or the male is still not mature enough to mate. One thing I learned about discus is patience, ... grasshopper. ;D

[RyanH]

They have since slowed their pace a bit. The last spawn yielded a couple of wigglers so I know the male is starting to become fertile. I intend to give them as much time as they need. We'll get it right eventually. :)

[aqua]

Ryan,
Time and patience!I have the same problem like yours. Last sprawn has produced a few wrigglers and the pair has decided not to raise them. These poor wrigglers just became a quick snack for the parents. The number of wrigglers have increased......yeah! I have about 50 wrigglers that just attached to the pair yesterday.

[Mykiss]

How do you all get your fishes spawn so often? I have tried to keep very clean water, stead ph, temperature, soft water, and lots of food and I still can't seem to get them to spawn so often. Also, what kind of spawning substrate do you all use? Clay pot, cone, PVC tube? any suggesting to get my fish to spawn as often as yours? Anyone? thanks
pt

[RyanH]

I think that the frequency of spawning is largely due to genetics although frequent water changes with SLIGHTLY COOLER water and feeding live blackworms seems to work pretty well for me. For some reason, if I give my fish live blackworms it really seems to "get them in the mood". Its like lighting candles and playing some Marvin Gaye for people. They just can't seem to resist!

I use orange clay pots as a spawning substrate and they seem to work pretty well. I haven't tried pvc tubing before and I probably won't. It seems to me that when a male is releasing sperm, it will have a better change to fertilize the eggs if the substrate is at an angle that is not quite as steep. But that is just my personal opinion and I have no scientifice evidence to back it up.

hth!
-Ryan

[Mykiss]

Thanks Ryan for the helpful tips! I will try that next time with the cooler water, live foods and clay pots.
pt