How strange is this

[Palue]

As you know I have a single cobalt blue discus in my tank for the past 2 years. One massive fish in size it is and very happy and healthy too.

Last month I took a male guppy and female from a friend whom did not want them. I thought well if they have fry that will be taken care of by the discus.

Well to my amazement the female has dropped about 15 fry in the tank. The only plants I have is anubias and driftwood with a bare bottom tank.

So with that said this discus is looking after the fry, has not eaten one of them, they swim with the discus beside, infront of the discus. This is so weird as these guys are small.

When i feed frozen foods in the holder they are all right there eating or trying to eat with the discus.

Hard to get a pic as the guppies are all over the place and not all are around the discus at the same time.

Is this just weird or what??

:angel:

[Eddie]

Thats pretty cool, guess he doesn't have any aggressors and isn't the aggressee in any case. He was raised to be a well mannered gentlemen or young lady anyway. You got any pics?

Eddie


As you know I have a single cobalt blue discus in my tank for the past 2 years. One massive fish in size it is and very happy and healthy too.

Last month I took a male guppy and female from a friend whom did not want them. I thought well if they have fry that will be taken care of by the discus.

Well to my amazement the female has dropped about 15 fry in the tank. The only plants I have is anubias and driftwood with a bare bottom tank.

So with that said this discus is looking after the fry, has not eaten one of them, they swim with the discus beside, infront of the discus. This is so weird as these guys are small.

When i feed frozen foods in the holder they are all right there eating or trying to eat with the discus.

Hard to get a pic as the guppies are all over the place and not all are around the discus at the same time.

Is this just weird or what??

:angel:

[Palue]

I don't have any pics, not easy to get as they are so small. He/she was aggressive, had to get rid of the other discus i had with it as i think they were both the same sex, now he (as I call him) is much happier. I just find it so weird though as he has never had a mate and to be a cichlid at that is just strange.

As i sit here and type this the guppies area all around him. I have noticed though they sometimes pick at the discus body but the fish is not bothered by this. Do they have a slime on their body all the time or only when they have young they are rearing??

[Eddie]

I don't have any pics, not easy to get as they are so small. He/she was aggressive, had to get rid of the other discus i had with it as i think they were both the same sex, now he (as I call him) is much happier. I just find it so weird though as he has never had a mate and to be a cichlid at that is just strange.

As i sit here and type this the guppies area all around him. I have noticed though they sometimes pick at the discus body but the fish is not bothered by this. Do they have a slime on their body all the time or only when they have young they are rearing??

They have slime all the time.....man, I'm a poet didn't even know it. ;)

Eddie

[William Palumbo]

That would be cool to see!...Bet him/her would make an excellent parent...Bill

[Palue]

Well he can practice his parenting skills with the guppies, guess i will have lots of babies as they breed like rabbits but i can take extras to our pet store anytime.

If I can get a good pic tomorrow when the lights are on I will post it.

[poconogal]

Its not as strange as you think... sometime ago a thread was posted on SD about Discus caring for Angelfish fry too (for some reason I think it may have been Al). Their instinct is to raise the fry, so I guess some are such good parent material that it doesn't matter whose fry, LOL!!!

I'd love to see pics, hope you can get them posted.

[Ed13]

Its not as strange as you think... sometime ago a thread was posted on SD about Discus caring for Angelfish fry too (for some reason I think it may have been Al). Their instinct is to raise the fry, so I guess some are such good parent material that it doesn't matter whose fry, LOL!!!

I'd love to see pics, hope you can get them posted.
Def Al, he was experimenting with fry from angels being raised by a pair of discus.

[poconogal]

Ed, that was some thread wasn't it? Incredible to see Discus rearing fry from other types of fish.

[Hattawi]

Can you please post some pictures for us?

[Peachtree Discus]

interesting. i wonder if this would be a good way to get the discus to actually start breeding themselves? let them raise the guppy fry for a while - then take them way.

[Autumn Wind]

Parenting school :noway:

[Don Trinko]

I had a similar situation. I had a lot of guppy's so I put my 1st discus in a tank with a bunch of guppy's thinking that they would have live food. They never bothered the babby guppy's in fact I ended up netting out all the guppy's. As far as I know none were ever eaten. Do Not try this with Angel fish. They will eat babys and adults! Don T.

[Palue]

I have tried a few pics but the babies are all over the place in the tank. Unlike baby discus that stay with their parents these guys are every where. I do not plan on breeding as this is my one and only discus, tried to give him a friend but it did not work so he has been quite happy by himself the past 2 years. Now these babies keep him company. I really did not want all these guppies but the local pet store will be glad to have them when they are bigger. I took the male and female guppy from a friend keeping in mind that all babies would be eaten, well guess not. But he is very happy with them all.

When i get a good pic i will post it for sure.

:angel: