Please define a Couple or Pair of discus.

[PamC]

Hello another question prior to buying discus.

As I read there is much stated about minimums of discus for a tank. The least minimum would be a pair or couple discus together. I understand discus are difficult to sex, so this lead me to a simple question.

Does the sex of a pair or couple discus matter?
Say two males being kept together?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry I need to add, if it matters, the discus would be about 4-5 inches nose to tail in size. so not the really small juvi sizes.

[deepflyball]

No the sex does not mater. Still its alot harder to grow out or keep discus without at lest 6. They are a schooling fish Jerry

[deepflyball]

Oh and also welcome to simply discus and good luck to you. Jerry

[rickztahone]

i think it does matter, especially if you are putting them into their own breeding tank thinking they are M/F

[Northwoods Discus]

By "pair" I think we imply 2 breeding discus. They have paired off while in a larger group to spawn. This would be one male and one female. I do not think 2 males or heaven forbid 2 females in a small breeding tank would get along.
I have not heard the term "couple" used in the breeding discussions. To me a couple would be 2.
Once 2 discus pair up they can be moved to a breeding tank if you wish to raise fry.
Welcome to the discus world. I have been keeping discus only 2 years. I have gone from 2 planted tanks a 100 and a 150 to 10 tanks and a small fishroom. You will get hooked. Have fun and enjoy.
Bill

[PamC]

LOL Rick thanks for the laugh and the reminder I forgot my disclaimer,
"I am not looking to breed discus at this time, as I do understand having one of each sex is important to successfully breed discus."

Thanks Jerry for the welcome. I appreciate your comments. I take it a person starts out with 6 discus and waits for a pair to develop then remove the others. So the sex of the two would matter, which is impossible to determine at the 4"-5".

Sorry Bill did not see your post, thanks for clarifying terms for me. My tank is not as large as yours however it is a 75 gallon and I had hoped I might be able to keep a "couple" of discus, not a school. I had found a lovely a 4-5 inch discus, however I can not sex it or expect another online source to be able to sex their like discus to get a "pair', thus I was hoping to just to find another like discus to house in the same tank. I am seeing that is not possible.

[waters10]

You should keep only 2 discus if you're planning to breed. When they are juvies, sex doesn't matter much, cause they will fight even if they are male and female.

When they are adults, if you have 2 of the same sex, they will continue to fight a lot, with one of them dominating the other. If you have more, it's easier, cause aggression is more distributed.

You have a big enough tank, to hold 6-8 discus easily. With at least 6, they will be happier and the result of that, you'll be happier! And next thing you know, you're getting a bigger tank for more discus! :D

[kaceyo]

The best situation would be two discus that have "paired" with each other. That means that they have chosen each other, gone through the "mating ritual" of nodding and bowing to each other etc. There is a bond between them.
You can try a "forced" pairing, usually done for breeding purposes, by putting a known female and a known male into a tank together. This will work most of the time but not always.
BTW, a mated pair can be two females or two males also. For reasons of their own...ehhemmm....they sometimes do same sex pairing. Since you don't care if they breed or not, it would be "don't ask, don't tell" n that situation.
You will likely pay more for a bonded pair.