Interesting Observations About Spawning Discus Fish
Discus
are quite interesting in many aspects, not the least of which are
their spawning instincts. Having seen “Finding Nemo”, you will
recognize that some of these behaviors were characterized in the
movie quite accurately. Now, I know that Nemo was a Clown Fish, and a
salt water fish as well, however, there are similarities none the
less.
First
and most interesting is the fact that parent discus care for their
young. When first hatched, the young fry are not able to eat anything
except a secretion from the parents. This secretion is on the body of
the adult discus, so the fry “attach” themselves to the adults
for their nourishment. This is the duty of both parents, and they
will share the feeding duties 50-50. Within about 5 days, the fry
will be able to dine on newly hatched brine shrimp, and at that point
they will eat both the parent secretion and the brine shrimp. Parents
continue to provide nourishment for up to two weeks after birth.
Also
interesting is that the adults will watch over the eggs until they
are hatched. Other adult discus enjoy a nice meal of eggs if they
have a chance to get to them, but the parents will ward off other
discus to protect their eggs. Pretty cool!
Discus Parents
In
a home tank, the optimal situation is that you raise a group of
discus and as the fish mature, they will form couples. These couples
will first practice their spawning behavior before actually
performing for real. Then the female will produce a small batch of
eggs, which the male will fertilize immediately. She will lay several
batches of eggs and the male does his thing, while all the time
either one or the other of the discus pair will be guarding the
brood. They switch off the guard post as their mate is doing their
part of the breeding process. Eggs hatch in 2 or 3 days.
Now,
as already mentioned above, parents continue to have an active part
in the care and development of the fry.
The Breeder’s Part
Even
though the discus parents take care of the “personal” parts of
the breeding process, the breeder can not be just a causal observer.
There are some things to do to ensure successful young discus in your
tank.
Sometimes
your aquarium will have discus that are more dominant than the
parental couple, and they may need some “help” fending off the
more aggressive adults. If this is the case, it is not a good idea to
remove the other discus to another tank. Instead, you should perhaps
place a plexiglass divider in the existing tank to keep your new
family safe. This is so that the new parents will still think they
are carrying out their parental protection duties. It’s a
psychological thing in development of fish families.
Make
sure you keep the tank clean. The new fry are avid eaters, and they
will need to be fed more often than the adults, 5 times a day will
work. This results in the necessity to change out the water much more
often. Consider a 50% water change daily so that the tank stays clean
and free of harmful bacteria.
Some
breeders move their young discus to a separate tank while they
develop. Two reasons – first, they can have a bare bottom
environment which is so much easier to “vacuum”, and second,
adult discus normally have parasites that do not bother the adults,
but they can be fatal to the fry, so a separate tank keeps the young
fish free from these harmful parasites.
As
you can see, breeding discus is not for the “faint of heart”.
Consider the commitment and energy necessary before you decide to
become a discus fish breeder. If you do take the step, however, you
will be rewarded with a very satisfying outcome as you see your new
little ones develop and flourish.
The Spawning Process
Below
is a video of discus spawning. You will notice that they lay their
eggs on a vertical surface. Most breeders provide objects similar to
the one in the video.
The
female takes a pass or two before beginning to lay the eggs. Once she
starts laying, the male will come right behind and deposit the sperm.
This
continues for several passes, and with each one, more eggs are
deposited and fertilized.