Breeding Discus Part 1
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What you need to understand is that you are not in total control. If Discus do not want to pair off, they are not going to pair off and there is nothing you can do about it. What you can do is provide the right conditions so that it is more likely that they will pair off.
If you have a sexed pair of Discus in a tank by themselves, there is an approximately 70% chance that they will eventually pair off if left together for a long period of time.
To encourage the potential young lover Discus along, provide conditions that are conducive for fishy love. We put seven mature Discus in a 125-gallon tank and let them acclimate to it for two weeks. We then start doing sudden changes in the tank conditions to encourage courtship. Some of the changes we make are
- Change the water temperature to 76 degrees for a few days and then bring it up to 88 degrees over about 12 hours and then leave it at 88 degrees for a week.
- Let the tank get somewhat dirty by not doing the daily water changes for a week and then doing an 80% water change.
- Feed your potential breeder Discus heavily for three days and then stop feeding them for two days, followed by feeding them live food for three days.
- Do two 60% water changes six hours apart where the Ph goes from 6.4 to 7.0 at the first change and then from 7.0 to 7.6 at the second change.
- Leave the tank totally dark for two days and then turn the lights on for two days.
If you have tried all of the above and after two months your Discus still have not paired off, we switch out three of those Discus and start the process over again with four new Discus along with the four remaining.
