DISCUS BREEDING BASICS - a beginners guide.
If you are aiming to breed these magnificent fish, then I would suggest you start off with 4 or 6 juveniles of the one colour, and allow them to pair naturally in the community tank.
I always allow my young pairs to lay eggs at least two or three times in the community tank, before I give them their own tank. I believe this makes for a stronger pair bond, and because they have had to defend their eggs or fry, they are not so prone to egg eating later.
My community and grow out tanks run at a pH of around 7.2 to 7.4, and I add shellgrit to the floor of the tank to buffer the pH and prevent crashes. If your water is very soft, like mine, this is the simplest way to provide stable water conditions. The increased calcium in the water is beneficial to the bones of young growing discus.
The breeding tank needs to be more acid than that, around 6.5 to 6.8. But try to achieve this by filtering through peat moss for the most natural conditions. More acid water will increase the slime production on the parents.
You will need a separate tank to place the breeding pair in. I like to use a 2 foot cube, but you could use a 2ft 6 inch standard tank, or even a three foot standard. Don't go any bigger than that. The fry need to be able to find their parents, and it's more difficult in a large tank. The breeding tank needs to be thoroughly cleaned and filled with newly aged water, the same pH as in the community tank. The only thing I have in the tank, is a breeding cone, sometimes two, and a sponge filter which I have had running in a mature tank for two weeks to build up a good colony of beneficial bacteria.
Nothing else, no gravel, and no plants. You can black out the sides and back and bottom of the tank to give the pair a feeling of privacy. That tends to help them feel more secure, and they seem to spawn sooner.
When everything is ready, gently catch the pair, and move them into the breeding tank which should still be the same pH as the community tank. Now you can begin to slowly drop the pH by adding peat filtered water at each daily water change. I like to change about 20% daily at this stage, with water that is slightly cooler than the surrounding water. A drop of around 2 degrees in the change water can sometimes trigger spawning.
The pair will begin inspecting the cone and start cleaning a suitable place to lay thier eggs. This is usually accompanied by much shivering and bowing on the part of the pairs, followed by vigorous cleaning. The breeding tubes will be evident at this time. The female has a round blunt tube, about the size of a match head, while the male has a smaller, more pointed "v" shape tube. Finally the female will begin to make test runs up the cone. She will make several runs, before actually laying any eggs.
The male should be standing guard at this time, and as soon as the first row of eggs has been laid, he should swim over the eggs and fertilise them. Sometimes the female will lay two rows of eggs before the male swims over them, but they are easily distracted at this stage, so try not to sit too close to the tank, and certainly don't allow any strangers near.
Once all the eggs have been laid, the pair will stand guard, fanning and mouthing them. This keeps them clean and prevents fungus. They usually share this task, but sometimes squabbles can break out, and in extreme cases, you may have to split the pair, and allow just one parent to raise the brood.
Eggs can be any colour, from yellow to dark orange. As the fry develop, the eggs turn darker. Infertile eggs will begin to turn white, and are usually picked off by the parents. Fertile eggs will begin to hatch after three days, and the fry will be free swimming in another two days. It is fairly normal for the parents to help the fry out of the eggs by mouthing them, and sometimes moving them to a different spot on the cone. Any fry that fall, will be quickly picked up by the parents, and spat back into the middle of the brood.
During this time, I still do normal waterchanges of around 10% daily, trying not to disturb the parents too much. Although I find the parents are not very interested in food at this time, I still offer beef heart mix or frozen bloodworms and sometimes granules. Feed very sparingly, so as not to foul the tank, and syhphon any leftovers.
Two days after hatching the fry will become free swimming. At first, the parents will catch them and try to spit them back into the brood again, but soon they will find their way to the sides of the parents and start eating. At this time, there should be nothing dark in the tank. If the filter sponge is dark, wrap it in white filter wool. We want the darkest thing in the tank to be the parents. Dimming the lights a little can help this process, but it can take a day or two for all the fry to find their way to the parents sides.
For the first two weeks, I like to leave a table lamp on next to the tank, day and night, so the fry don't become lost in the dark. It also encourages them to eat constantly, and I find better growth rate that way.
The parents should take turns in feeding the fry, and you will notice one parent signal to the other that it's time to take over feeding duties, then move alongside the other and give a quick shake. All the fry move from one parent to the other.
At around one week, you can begin introducing live baby brine shrimp to the fry. Using an eye dropper or turkey baster, gently allow the shrimp to roll down the sides of the parent. Soon the fry will begin to recognise the shrimp as food, and begin eating. Their transparent bellies turn orange as they gorge on the brine shrimp. You can feed them baby brine shrimp three or four times a day for maximum growth, and then at three weeks I begin feeding finely grated frozen beef heart, as well as the shrimp.
Remove them from the parents at about 5 or 6 weeks, or as soon as it is obvious that the parents have had enough, or are preparing to spawn again.
