Discus breeding tube(s) visible

[zar]

Hi all,

i've been keeping discus for probably 6 months now, got into it accidentally, went to buy some plants and got some discus as well :), thats how it all started. I have to congratulate to the contributors to this forum, its a great source of info for ppl like me who are new to discus, well done guys.

Here's my question:

I bought 2 turqs abt. 5 months ago, they were abt.6cm each, now one of them is abt. 13cm and the other probably 14 or 15cm long(with fin).
They usually swim together in the tank, they also might be doing what others here describe as the "bow", they flicker their dorsal fins every now and then (i thought that was some parasite actually). Also i remember reading that during breeding time, the female shows only its back 3 stripes and the ones at the front are not visible. this is also happening.
yesterday, both had their tubes out, one of them was definitely a female, not sure what the other one had, the tube was a bit smaller but not sure if it was the "v" shape.
Now, is this common behaviour that their tubes are out or do they want to breed? Would these discus be too young or physically too small to want to breed? To me they still look small when i compare them with other discus in LFS so i really dont know whats happening...
Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Zar.

They may not breed just at the moment, but it's certainly a sign that they are reaching maturity.

You must be doing everything right to keep your fish happy :P

Just keep doing everything the same, and you will eventually be rewarded with a spawn.

It takes them a while to get the hang of things, and remember that females mature earlier than males, so I let them spawn at least three times in the community tank before I separate them off to a breeding tank of their own.

If you dont want to breed them, then do nothing and let nature take it's course. Eggs or fry will eventually be eaten by the other inhabitants in the tank.

Just be confident that your fish are happy with the conditions in their tank, which is always nice to know.

[zar]

Thanks Merrilyn

These two discus actually had discus plague and when i brought them in, they killed my 5 first discus i had...it definitely taught me about quarantine.
I live in brisbane, my tap water is 120ppm, in my tank it goes up to 140ppm, this is probably because of the rocks and gravel. when i use water softening resins i get it down to 100ppm. I don't have an R/O system or don't know anyone who was one. So lets assume i use a bare bottom breeding tank, and use the same resin, the softest i could get the water to this way is probably somewhere between 80 and 100 ppm. Is this still too hard for eggs to hatch? I read that 0-50ppm is whats needed.
zar

[Merrilyn]

I have several friends in Brisbane who manage to breed their discus with just plain tap water. Nothing added or taken away.

I would think that the gravel or rocks are adding to your reading, which isn't a real problem until you want to breed them.

Try a little experiment. Put some tap water straight into a bare tank with an airstone and some chlorine remover, and let it bubble away for 24 hours. After that, take some readings and see what you've got.

I don't like using water softening resins. Most of them do more harm than good. If your tap water is suitable, then just leave it at that. With water for discus, the simpler you keep things,the better.