Discus Breeding

[Zac]

I’m looking to attempt to breed some discus. The only thing I’ve ever bred before was shrimp haha. And you may ask…why breed one of the more challenging fish for a first? Well, I’m mainly looking to keep them and set up breeding conditions and if they breed then great! I’m probably going to keep around 10 in a 75 gallon with maybe a Pleco just for some cleanup duty. So anyways, I have a few questions:

-Where should I buy my discus?

-How many males per female? I was thinking 2 males and 8 females.

-Do I need to introduce them all at the same time? Will it overload a cycled tank if I do?

-Do discus need plants or flat surfaces for eggs? (I think it’s flat surfaces)

-Do I need to remove the fish or eggs once they are laid?

-Can I raise the fry in the same tank? Will I need to move them into a different tank before I offload them to a store?

-What are some recommended fry foods other than live baby brine?

-What size should I grow them to before I give them or sell them to a pet store?

Those are all the questions I could think of. If anyone else has other important info let me know!

[StevesFishTanks]

I think you will end up having to remove the pair or pairs if/when they form. They need their own bare bottom blued or whited out 20 tall or 29 gallon tanks. They can lay on flat slate or discus specific breeding cones.

 

[anewbie]

Discus form pairs; no value in 8 to 2 ratio. Frys should be left with parents and it can take several breeding to get it right. The larger they are the more they sell for - just check the difference in price between 3 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch discus - as to when you sell them that is up to you. You can use breeding cones or similar; bare bottom tanks are recommended for ease of cleaning. I think you should read an article on breeding discus as a lot of your questions are pretty basics and while answers can be provided a complete article will fill in gaps that you are missing. 

Also water purity is critical not only for frys but adults. While the adults can recover from a bit of impurity such is deadly for frys; this means you must keep the tank spotless removing uneaten food and doing frequently water changes.

[Andy's Fish Den]

On 11/3/2021 at 9:51 PM, Zac said:

I’m looking to attempt to breed some discus. The only thing I’ve ever bred before was shrimp haha. And you may ask…why breed one of the more challenging fish for a first? Well, I’m mainly looking to keep them and set up breeding conditions and if they breed then great! I’m probably going to keep around 10 in a 75 gallon with maybe a Pleco just for some cleanup duty. So anyways, I have a few questions:

-Where should I buy my discus? Find a reputable seller, there are several in the US, do some research on the old interwebs and you can find out who the reputable places are. Not able to give names due to forum rules.

-How many males per female? I was thinking 2 males and 8 females. If buying juveniles to raise, buy at least six. They form pairs so only really need one male and one female if you find and buy adults

-Do I need to introduce them all at the same time? Will it overload a cycled tank if I do? Alot of factors come into play here, how many, size of them?

-Do discus need plants or flat surfaces for eggs? (I think it’s flat surfaces) They lay on flat vertical surfaces, most breeders use piece of slate leaned against side of tank or a breeding cone.

-Do I need to remove the fish or eggs once they are laid? TTry to let parents raise them, its hard and a challenge to raise artificially

-Can I raise the fry in the same tank? Will I need to move them into a different tank before I offload them to a store? Again, parent raise, then once get to certain point, move fry to separate grow out tank 

-What are some recommended fry foods other than live baby brine? Baby brine is best once they start taking foods other than the slime off parents body. then you can get them onto crushed dry foods and chopped up frozen foods. 

-What size should I grow them to before I give them or sell them to a pet store? I would not until close to size of a quarter. I've seen them smaller in stores but I wouldn't sell smaller than quarter.

Those are all the questions I could think of. If anyone else has other important info let me know!

 

[StevesFishTanks]