Interesting spawning behavior

[tjvollmer]

Hi Folks,

I have a planted 135 gallon Discus community Tank.

A few days ago I noticed some spawning behavior from three of my Discus. One large male Ring Leopard and Two Pigeon( I believe females) I'm certain the one is a female as she has laid eggs before. She was trying to pair with the RL months ago and he seemed semi interested but did not fertilize the eggs.

We added 5 discus to our original 4 and the fighting began between the two PB's vying for the males attention. All seemed to mellow out and then a few days ago my new PB female started to court the male again. She was very aggressive in her behavior as he apparently was not giving her enough attention. I was getting a bit concerned as he was pretty beat up last night on his flanks.

The new female PB seemed to become more and more desperate and more and more aggressive and picked a spot to spawn. She kept herding the male into the corner and tried to keep him there by bullying him. Then the original PB became interested and inserted herself into the other females breeding area. The two females engaged in random picking and chasing but nothing serious.

Last night both females made spawning passes. The original PB laid eggs which my male immediately gobbled up and the new PB made passes but no eggs. Today the male has begun to fight back against the new PB trying to keep her from the breeding area but she is constantly trying to sneak in. The fighting is getting pretty intense. The male is still cleaning as if he is ready to spawn but it seems he missed his window of opportunity with original PB.

I wonder if he will spawn with the new PB despite all the beating she is giving him. These fish are constantly surprising me with their complex social behaviors. It's like a soap opera in there...Ha Ha

[vera]

the love triangle ! never gets old lol i would watch for aggression from both and male and a new PB , btw are u sure new PB is a female

[tjvollmer]

Okay..they have totally faked me out.

The RL is a female...surprise.

So we have two egg layers, the original PB and my RL.

As I said before, yesterday, new PB was making passes, no eggs. As RL was laying eggs both PB's gobbling up eggs behind her. No fertilizers. Still a lot of aggression from new PB to RL.

Now all bets are off, the new PB could be a male. The mystery deepens.

[tjvollmer]

So I have just discovered that I have three mature spawning females..but where are the males. They seem to be the only ones interested in this game..It seems unlikely I have no males out of 9? Has anyone else experienced several spawning females and no males interested. I thought they did not spawn without potential partners.

[Eddie]

So I have just discovered that I have three mature spawning females..but where are the males. They seem to be the only ones interested in this game..It seems unlikely I have no males out of 9? Has anyone else experienced several spawning females and no males interested. I thought they did not spawn without potential partners.


When females are ready, they are ready. They lay without a male at any time. Sometimes the males aren't mature enough LOL. Sounds like the story of life. ;)

[ChefChino]

Hi Folks,

I have a planted 135 gallon Discus community Tank.

A few days ago I noticed some spawning behavior from three of my Discus. One large male Ring Leopard and Two Pigeon( I believe females) I'm certain the one is a female as she has laid eggs before. She was trying to pair with the RL months ago and he seemed semi interested but did not fertilize the eggs.

We added 5 discus to our original 4 and the fighting began between the two PB's vying for the males attention. All seemed to mellow out and then a few days ago my new PB female started to court the male again. She was very aggressive in her behavior as he apparently was not giving her enough attention. I was getting a bit concerned as he was pretty beat up last night on his flanks.

The new female PB seemed to become more and more desperate and more and more aggressive and picked a spot to spawn. She kept herding the male into the corner and tried to keep him there by bullying him. Then the original PB became interested and inserted herself into the other females breeding area. The two females engaged in random picking and chasing but nothing serious.

Last night both females made spawning passes. The original PB laid eggs which my male immediately gobbled up and the new PB made passes but no eggs. Today the male has begun to fight back against the new PB trying to keep her from the breeding area but she is constantly trying to sneak in. The fighting is getting pretty intense. The male is still cleaning as if he is ready to spawn but it seems he missed his window of opportunity with original PB.

I wonder if he will spawn with the new PB despite all the beating she is giving him. These fish are constantly surprising me with their complex social behaviors. It's like a soap opera in there...Ha Ha

TJ I'm having the exact bizarre love triangle between mine. My only problem is that I'm still not setup to separate the current pair (2 of 3) to see if he will fertilize if not try the other girl out.