Morning Surprise!!!

[lemondiscus]

I have been wanting to figure out how to get a pair and for the past year have been COMPLETELY unsuccessful! I did 50% WC 1 time a week...

Due to the sick fish I have been doing 50% WC on my display tank DAILY!

After 3 days I have a "pair" cleaning driftwood and shaking JUST LIKE the videos spread along here... they are guarding the area VERY well (a piece of driftwood in the center of the tank)

Below are the male and female... I HAVE seen the Ovipositors out on both... The male is the red/yellow one (btw there is glare by the gills on this one from the glass of the tank) and the female is the Mayan Jade.... I would love to see the babies from these... they would be messed up looking... lol

2 questions
1 - How long do they clean before they actually spawn
2 - Anyone had a mix or has pictures of the offspring from a similar pair?

[Disgirl]

Congrats, but if they both have ovipositors out then they are both females! Just watch and see what happens. The male is "pointed" and the female is rounded or sort of "squared". Ovipositors are the female egg tube.:D
Barb

[lemondiscus]

My bad.... they are both different... the males is pointed and points back... the females is short thick and stumpy...

Whats the males part called then?

[Disgirl]

Oh good! I looked it up just now and Bernd Degan and Jack Wattley call it the copulatory organ or the fertilizing tube. Seems there should be a more scientific name doesn't it? Let us know what happens :D
Barb

[lemondiscus]

So what about the 2 questions I have?

Especially the how long will they clean usually before they spawn? Although it would be interesting to see what the offspring would look like too if anyone has pictures...

[Disgirl]

I think the site cleaning can go on for days. Sorry, I don't know what color the fry would be but I do know they would have peppering! Spawning usually takes about 1 hr. I have read. Good luck and glad to hear they are male and female :D.
Barb

[lemondiscus]

Ok, so these 2 were causing LARGE amounts of stress on my other discus in the tank. I removed the 2 and placed them in a 30 gallon tank to themselves.

They kind of cut out the cleaning but I did expect that. I know the male and he usually cannot tolerate just 1 other fish with him... they are getting along VERY well in the tank so I expect its just a matter of time before they go back to the "dance"

[Scribbles]

Congratulations! Keep us posted on their progress.

Chris

[DiscusKeeper403]

Good luck. Might take a little bit for them to get back into the swing of things in their new tank. Make sure it is cycled. I will guarantee you the babies will not look very good. As another member said, they will be highly peppered. You can always raise and give away a small batch just to see how they look, but I would probably just dispose of eggs after they lay them.

[lemondiscus]

Do you think it is possible if I removed the peppered male and placed a single Wild Heckel Male in place that I could get a pair that way too? The water changes I have been doing has kept all my males "ready to go" and they all have their breeding tubes out... even a few of the females have theirs out too so sexing right now is not very difficult.

Would this maybe be a better way to go as really I wanted the Mayan Jade and a Heckel to pair....

One of my male Heckels tried courting her a bit but the Marlboro Red was more excited trying to pair with a female Heckel (she showed some interest but not much) and the Mayan Jade... ultimately this was the pair..

What are some thoughts on doing this?

[Eddie]

If you are looking for a better mix, yes. The heckel and the turq will be much better than the turq and pigeon.


All the best,

Eddie

[lemondiscus]

If you are looking for a better mix, yes. The heckel and the turq will be much better than the turq and pigeon.


All the best,

Eddie
Eddie, is there any problems with a "forced pairing" considering these already started pairing. I tried this with Angels before unsuccessfully! I know that Angels and Discus are VERY similar in some respects.

I have 1 Male Heckel that has been trying to pair with another pigeon in my tank... She has been less than interested in him though..

What is my likelyhood of putting that one in with the Mayan Jade?

[Eddie]

Eddie, is there any problems with a "forced pairing" considering these already started pairing. I tried this with Angels before unsuccessfully! I know that Angels and Discus are VERY similar in some respects.

I have 1 Male Heckel that has been trying to pair with another pigeon in my tank... She has been less than interested in him though..

What is my likelyhood of putting that one in with the Mayan Jade?

Probably not going to happen. You can try it though, heckels are not as simple to breed as you assume. Even putting him with the pigeon, it probably won't happen. There is a first time for everything though, you never know. :o

Eddie

[lemondiscus]

Probably not going to happen. You can try it though, heckels are not as simple to breed as you assume. Even putting him with the pigeon, it probably won't happen. There is a first time for everything though, you never know. :o

Eddie
No the Mayan Jade is the Female (variation of a Red Turq) and the Heckel is a male..

The pigeon is in my 125 (not the one in the picture that is with the Mayan Jade now) display that the Male Heckel has been trying to pair with. (2 different "pairs" I am talking about)

I was talking taking the male heckel and adding it with the Red Turq

[Eddie]

No the Mayan Jade is the Female (variation of a Red Turq) and the Heckel is a male..

The pigeon is in my 125 (not the one in the picture that is with the Mayan Jade now) display that the Male Heckel has been trying to pair with. (2 different "pairs" I am talking about)

I was talking taking the male heckel and adding it with the Red Turq

These fish are from 2 separate tanks?

[lemondiscus]

I have 11 discus in my 125 (now 9) and they all were in the same tank until moving the "pair" from the display.

My stock in that tank is:
4 Wild Heckels
5 Marlboro Reds (variations on this large group)
1 Mayan Jade
1 Domestic Brown

So yes they were in the same tank. I had 3 "pairs" working on establishment but this was the only pair to really come together.

1 pair was these 2
another was 3 fish (2 males and 1 female) that had a female Marlboro and a male Marlboro... also the male Heckel was trying to get in on this pair
the last was this male heckel (same one from above) that was trying to pair with the Domestic Brown...

The last 2 pairs never happened. I know this male wants to spawn as he has tried with 2 females on the tank. The only reason he did not try the Turq was she established territory on the opposite end of the tank from where this males generally stays

[Eddie]

I have 11 discus in my 125 (now 9) and they all were in the same tank until moving the "pair" from the display.

My stock in that tank is:
4 Wild Heckels
5 Marlboro Reds (variations on this large group)
1 Mayan Jade
1 Domestic Brown

So yes they were in the same tank. I had 3 "pairs" working on establishment but this was the only pair to really come together.

1 pair was these 2
another was 3 fish (2 males and 1 female) that had a female Marlboro and a male Marlboro... also the male Heckel was trying to get in on this pair
the last was this male heckel (same one from above) that was trying to pair with the Domestic Brown...

The last 2 pairs never happened. I know this male wants to spawn as he has tried with 2 females on the tank. The only reason he did not try the Turq was she established territory on the opposite end of the tank from where this males generally stays

You gotta do what you want to do and see how it rolls.

Eddie

[lemondiscus]

You gotta do what you want to do and see how it rolls.

Eddie
So what would you do?

[Eddie]

So what would you do?

Personally, I would not move the heckel at all. Most heckels take quite a bit of time to be comfortable with their surroundings. Moving him for a thought that he could only MIGHT pair up with the turq is not a good decision IMO. So I would leave them the way they are.

Eddie

[lemondiscus]

Thank you for your thoughts... I have things to think about... Ugly fish (lol) or a gamble.....

[lemondiscus]

I think I am going to leave them like they are and just see what they make... if I dont like the young I will try the Heckel... At least then she will be laying eggs... and if discus are like Angels that is the first thing you have to do is get the female laying the eggs... Then getting them to stop is almost impossible