General Breeding Questions

[jdellman]

I am about to set up a breeding tank, and a couple questions came to mind:

If Discus are happiest in groups of at least six, what about the breeding pair, since there is obviously only two?

How long can/do a pair spawn? Is there a limited time period before they reach "fish menopause"? :)

How long do you keep the pair isolated in the breeding tank? Until they stop breeding? Generally, how long is that, a year, more?

Finally, it seems the recommended set up is a 29 gallon or so. Why don't people use a 55 with a screen in the middle or divided somehow, as it seems there may be benefits to that type of set up, such as having built-in foster parents, two sets of parents for raising fry, and if there is such a thing as "fish hormones," maybe one pair spawning will spur on the other pair.

Or do I just have too much time on my hands to worry about these things? :)

Thanks for your input,

Jim

[Carol_Roberts]

An adult breeding pair is happiest by themselves.

Females egg production reduces over time - males last longer.

You can keep them in their own breeding tank for as long as you want. IF they start fighting or lose condition from too many spawns you can seperate them or put them back in a community tank.

You can try a divided 55. Some discus do not like haveing another pair so close. The other pair may eat the fry.

[hexed]

Jim,
I took a 50 gallon tank and divided it in half by sealing a piece of glass in the center. Now I have two 25 gallon tanks in one. I have a pair in each side. One pair is proven and the other is not. The pair that's not are young still, the female laid eggs three times but the male hasn't gone over them yet. They both fanned the eggs even though they wouldn't hatch :(.
It's just giving them the time to learn. I was going to do the same for one of my 55 gallons but I think it is too tall. My 50 gallon is much shorter in height but is deeper, it's 18 inches deep compared to 12 inches on the 55 gallon. My young pair of blue ghosts do not spawn because the other pair is doing it. The water needs to be almost perfect in each tank or they will not lay. I removed the peat I had in a bubble filter in each side and my blue ghosts completely stopped laying for me so I will be putting the bubble filter and peat back into the tank.

Just using as divider in a 55 gallon doesn't mean that the fry will not be fish food to the other discus. A divider has holes in it and the fry can swim through. The discus on the other sides of the divider don't look at them as "foster kids" they look at them as food.
When trying to use foster parents you need to have fry about the same age. If they are not good parents, they too can eat the fry as well. Young fry grow better when there are about 5 plus together. Once they pair and lay eggs, it's better for them to be alone. It's not so much worrying about those things as it is to have the patience for the discus to get it right. It can take up to and even more than 20 trys before they get it right.

[jdellman]

I'm surprised more people don't try the divided tank with a hard divider, as it seems like it would be double the pairs without doubling the tanks.

Thanks for the replies.