Broody behaviour? New to this!

[Mr Wild]

I have 6 discus and 2 appear to have paired of - by that I mean they are together everywhere. Now they seem to be rubbing each other a little nipping but not aggressive, a little chasing, again not aggressive. They also appear to be vibrating (for want of a better word) their anal fins which I have noticed as new behaviour. They are about 14cm in size. Am I witnessing broody / breeding courtship?

[kpotter2]

Wait for the head bobing. They will head toward each other and bow to each other. No joke. Watch for this and the twitching and stuff. It is great.


Night

Kyle

[Mr Wild]

well I have my answer after doing the water change today and cleaning down the sides of the tank I have so far 23 tiny eggs attached to the front wall. We will see what happens it is their first spawn and they are in a community tank so we will just see what happens.

[Eddie]

Any way you can get a photo of the pair? That would be great!

Eddie

[Mr Wild]

Here is one taken when the "mood" set in. The male is the darker of the 2.

[Eddie]

Nice, it's the picture from your avatar. What strains are the 2? The female looks a PB but what about the male?


Eddie

[Mr Wild]

I was told he was a wild hence my name on here - Mr Wild. Here is a better pic what do you think?

[Eddie]

Yeah, he does look like a wild, not sure which type though. Or maybe a blue turq. Thanks for the picture.

Eddie

[Mr Wild]

All the white eggs have been eaten only the 18 clear eggs remain is this a good thing or a bad thing? We are on Day 2.

[Peachtree Discus]

the white eggs are no good, so no problem that they ate them. IMO they show signs of good parenting. one note - the number of eggs is getting around a "not worth the effort" amount. still, practice run is good for them...and you. ;)

[Mr Wild]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Yes I was thinking it was a very small clutch but hey we will see what happens, they might be losing a bit of interest, the dad still hangs around them but mum is off around half the tank then swims back again but he seems more interested than her. Is that normal?

[cschwaderer]

I've had pairs where the male was more diligent with the eggs and other where the female was the primary parent. Sounds about normal.

One other item of note with "clear" eggs. Clear eggs may not be fertile. I'm not sure if you can tell fertile eggs when they first lay (I swear they look a darker gold color when they first lay and fertilize, but I might be imagining things), but within 24 hours they should start to get dark spots in the middle - that's the fry forming. If they don't its possible the eggs aren't fertile.

[Mr Wild]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - it makes much more sense now. They have eaten the last of the eggs, I could never see any change in them so I thought something was not right.

I will have to wait for another spawning now, it was their first so they might need more practice!