spawning trio??

[Angelman]

I had a question about a trio of fish spawning together. I have raised 7 Discus from the size of a dime. These are now just over 1 year old. A few days ago I noticed 3 of these fish moved away from the others (opposite side of the tank where I feed). Today they were doing the cleaning thing and sure enough there are now eggs on the leave. But all three of the fish are fanning and caring for the eggs. Keeping other fish away and all the normal things I see in my angelfish. I have never had a spawn of discus. Is this normal behaver for discus fish to have 3 fish together? I have little hope for them making it as there are several L183 catfish with them in the tank and they love to eat the eggs of my angel's. Guess I will have to watch closer next time to find the true "pair" or can I put all three in a breeding tank?
Thx for any help

[Angelman]

well they seemed to have resolved this trio thing with an epic battle royal. I assume it was the two males fighting. This lasted for well over 2 hours with constant lip locking and the sort. They fought so hard over and around the eggs the other (i assume female) started eating them. Finally the larger of the two fighting forced the other away from them. These two have been swaying at each other they rest of the night. still staying near where they eggs were laid. The only time the big male leaves her side is when the one he fought with gets to close to them... He is very aggressive toward the other fish. I'll keep a close eye on them and see how things turn out..I would like to see them lay eggs a few times before I attempt to move them into a breeding set up.
I'm thinking of using a 65g tank for there breeding tank when there ready. My biggest concern is My water conditions..I have a TDS of nearly 200 in my main tank with a PH of 7.2. I do have a new RO unit I have been using for my L46 zebra pleco's tanks to keep them at a TDS of 70 and PH at 6.5. If I use this same set up for the discus breeding tank would it be ok for them as I don't think the babies can survive with that high a TDS count? Or should I just go for consistency and not worry about the high TDS count? a

[ILLUSN]

trios do happen, Samir had a breeding Quad, 1 albino female and 3 male heckels from memory.

[Nev]

I'd go for water quality the same as the community tank initially and see how they like that. If they don't spawn or you have a poor hatch rate then alter the water conditions.

7.2 down to 6.5 isn't a huge change so you can do it fairly quickly without upsetting them. Water changes often help get them to spawn. Softer more acidic water would work a treat.

Failing that a nice wine, mood lighting and some good music works well for me.

[Angelman]

thx for the advice... They have laid eggs again only lasted a few hours before they ate them..couple more try's and i'll move them