On the fence..... which side should I lean........

[jff_just4fun]

Hello Everyone,

In my tank I have three confirmed females, two of which lay eggs regularly .....every week. There is another young discus, which I hope is a male. :) Now, what I am debating is whether to buy a male or not??? If so what kind of discus will make a good pair with this one....


Here are the pics of the one of large discus with eggs...

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus029-copy.jpg

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus042-copy.jpg


These are the eggs, (481 - I actually counted them ... :)

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus025-copy.jpg

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus017-copy.jpg

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus015-copy.jpg



Here is the young female....

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus035-copy.jpg

The unknown young guy/girl:

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/jff_just4fun/2012-Discus036-copy.jpg

What do you all think....................

[nc0gnet0]

I think you need to replace your heater before it fails, they have been recalled.

[strawberryblonde]

Pretty fish! =)

The last two are too young to be able to sex them. I say wait a few more months before you decide whether or not to purchase a male. One or both of those two may surprise you and turn out to be a male.

Actually, I just took a second look at the first discus, little miss egg layer, and even she is a bit young to be pairing off from the looks of her. If she's like my discus, she's just a randy teenager who is "practicing" at being an adult. LOL

In the meantime, everyone in the tank gets a caviar snack every few days.

[Harry Marsh]

Also, do not let them lay on the heater, could damage the female

Location?

I would like to see a big piwowarski male red turquoise with the first

Nice looking assortment of fish

But, agreed
Still too young, but for maybe the first

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
It would help if you knew the genetics (genotype) of the females, but if you don't you can try to go by the phenotype(physical traits,looks etc.) to pick a possible mate...In this case, I would try Red Turquoise or a wild blue...Either may give you some very interesting fry...Just be sure to keep notes as to what you do....and if possible keep track of what the cross throws as fry. When you breed fish like this with unknown genetics, the f1 offspring can run the range of being just about anything. Should you sell these offspring, you should be careful to represent them as a domestic cross. Alternatively, Don't breed them, just enjoy them ...and save the breeding for fish with known genetics.

Hth,
al

[jff_just4fun]

Thanks for the replies....

nc0gnet0 : Thanks for the note. I bought a back-up heater today for my other tank. Now, I might need one more. :)

pontiac_baron : I placed a light colored PVC tube in the tank, but looks like the discus are used to this heater now. I am thinking of placing the heater horizontally. That should discourage them from laying eggs on heater. Thanks for the suggestion on the piwow red. If you were asking about my location - I am from Boston. :)

Hi Toni, Thanks! Yes, the last two are a little young. But, the one I mentioned as the young female (pic -6) is infact a confirmed female. She layed eggs once, to be promptly eaten by the bigger one in first pic :mad:. The first discus is about two and half years old and at a decent size of ~6.5inch. The last one in the pics is the only one of unknown sex.

Hi Al: Thanks for your comments. I got the two bigger females from a Simply member when they were about the size of a quarter. Their father is an Alenquer and the mother is a golden blue leopard. These two females guard their eggs like crazy and they don't eat eggs until they fall of after two or three days. I thought may be these two will make good healthy fry if they had a male in the tank. That way I will enjoy watching the transformation of eggs to beautiful fish. And ofcourse, local simply members will get most of the fry, if and when that happens.:)

Cheers,

Prabhu