Breeding Discus Part 2
Posted on
The spawning process is the pinnacle of Discus keeping. This has always been my favorite part of Discus keeping and I still, 30 years after my first spawn, find it fascinating.
The first sign that your discus are getting ready to spawn will be their obsession with cleaning a rock, or filter tube or side of the aquarium. Once you see both of them doing this, spawning will usually follow within a day or two. You will also see them start doing the mating dance. They will swim towards each other at a slightly upward angle. Once they get next to each other, they will shimmer and then swim away from each other at a slightly lowered angle. The most spectacular aspect of the spawning will be the colors of your Discus. Whatever their color, it will become MUCH more intense and vibrant during spawning. This will be the prettiest you will ever see your Discus. They will also become aggressive toward other fish, including Discus, at this time. They will aggressively defend the breeding site from all intruders, including you.
At some point after your Discus start doing all of the above, they will actually lay the eggs. It will start with the female rubbing her belly, and her breeding tube, against the surface that they have cleaned. She will always lay in an upwards motion. The total length of the spawning run will be between ½ and three inches. She will lay between 1 and 12 eggs per spawning run. The male Discus will usually then follow directly behind her in the same basic motion spraying the eggs. You usually cannot see the actual cloud. The entire process can take between one and five hours.
This is when the fun is over and the frustration can start. The first two issues that you will be confronted with are eating of the eggs, especially by the male, and infertility.
