The first thing you need to understand is that you are not in total control. If Discus do not want to pair off, there is nothing you can do about it. The only thing 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 and they are the only discus in the tank, it is likely, about a 70% chance, that they will eventually pair off if left together for a long period of time.
To hurry our potential young lovers along, we 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 some sudden changes in the tank conditions to stimulate courtship. Some of the changes we make are
Change the water temperature to 78 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 the remainder of a week. Let the tank get somewhat dirty, not doing the daily water changes for a few days and then doing a 80% water change. Feed them heavily for a few days and then stop feeding them for two days, followed by feeding them live food for three days. Do two 60% water changes four hours apart where the Ph goes from 6.5 to 7.0 at the first change and then from 7.0 to 7.5 at the second change. Leave the tank dark for two full days and then turn the lights on for two full days.
If we have tried all of the above and after two months they still have not paired off, we switch out four of […]
Your new fish should be kept in a separate, isolation tank for at least 2 weeks.
If you do not have a separate isolation tank, any other large container that is free of chemicals may be used. Make sure that you put a heater and aeration in the temporary tank. Remember, this is only temporary. The temporary isolation tank should be a bare bottom tank with nothing in it other than the aeration and a heater (no plants, snails, fake plants, gravel, driftwood, decorations or other fish). After two weeks, When the fish are showing no signs of stress or disease, they can be moved to their permanent aquarium.
CHANGE 40% OF THE WATER DAILY FOR THE FIRSTWEEK AND THEN EVERY OTHER DAY FOR THE SECOND WEEK.
It is urgent that you unpack your fish as soon as possible. Float the bag in the isolation aquarium where they are going to stay. DO NOT open the bag at this time! You may find that you need to remove some of the aquarium water to prevent it from overflowing when the bags are placed in the aquarium. If necessary, remove some aquarium water into a clean plastic bucket or other food safe receptacle. Be sure the container for excess water does not have any reside from household cleaners or other potentially toxic chemicals, as you will use this water to refill the aquarium later.
Allow the bags to float for at least 45 minutes to allow temperatures to slowly equalize (longer if necessary). Open the fish bags only when you are ready to immediately put them into your aquarium. DO NOT put any water from your aquariums into the bags or vice-versa! Avoid netting as much as possible. Gently pour off most of the water […]
Introduction: Columnaris (Flexibacter columnare) is a very common type of bacterial infection in Discus. It responds somewhat differently than other Bacterial Infections and is not limited to the skin, but affects the gills and sometimes it also infects the internal organs causing liver failure and sepsis. It is always associated with fish that are stressed. The most common causes of stress are shipping, overcrowding, low oxygen, handling injuries, poor water conditions (improper Ph, Hard Water and water that is to cold). Almost all fish have the disease in a dormant state. It will occur in fish that have their immune system weakened due to stress or that are exposed to high levels of the bacteria from other infected fish. As it is dormant and can become inflamed when stressed, it is EXTREMELY important to quarantine newly shipped fish in a sterile tank after the stress of shipping. If a healthy, but newly stressed fish from shipping is exposed to other fish in an established tank that does not have pristine water conditions, the whole tank can quickly become infected. Likewise, a healthy fish that it is exposed to an infected tank, even if it is largely dormant in some of the other fish, will quickly become infected.
Pathology: Columnaris usually starts as a bacterial infection of the skin. Within 12 hours, it will often move to infect the gills and within 24-48 hours it can infect the inner organs. Columnaris can become lethal as quickly as 18 hours and untreated it will be lethal in 50-90 percent of the fish within a week. The most common cause of death is infection of the gills, making it impossible for the infected fish to diffuse enough oxygen through the gill membranes. It is somewhat like the fish getting Pneumonia and suffocating. These […]
The Flowerhorn cichlid is a result of hybrid between different South American cichlids. The Flowerhorn was developed in Malaysia during the second half of the 1990s, and exactly which South American cichlids that was used and in which combinations is still a secret. This secrecy has of caused a lot of speculation and a number of more or less reasonable theories have been put forth. One of the more far-fetched theories suggests that the Flowerhorn cichlid was artificially created in a Malaysian genetics laboratory by combining genes from a Goldfish with genes from the Trimac cichlid (Amhilophous Trimaculatus). A more reasonable suggestion is that the Flowerhorn cichlid is the result of crossing many different types of South American cichlids with each other, and that different forms of Flowerhorn cichlids can steam from different South American cichlids. The most plausible ancestry is crossings between the Trimac cichlid and other South American cichlids such as Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellum), Red Devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatum) and Redheaded cichlid (Vieja synspila).
The look of the Flowerhorn cichlids available in fish stores today is however not just the result of selective breeding. You can affect the appearance of a Flowerhorn cichlid by adjusting environmental factors such as the water chemistry in the aquarium. The food you feed your Flowerhorn cichlid can also change its look. The single most important factor behind the look of the fish is however the genetic makeup formed by selective breeding.
The Flowerhorn has been criticized as an unnatural and dangerous hybrid, produced by money-hungry breeders just to make money. Others have been impressed by the hard work that is evidently behind the creation of the Flowerhorn Cichlid. A lot of the South American cichlids mentioned above will occasionally interbreed in the wild […]
There are two keys to raising the fry artificially: Cleanliness is one, changing the water with WATER THAT IS THE SAME TEMP is the other.
Step 1: Give the parents a 1.5-2″ PVC pipe 14-16″ long to let them spawn on. pH must be below 7 and water used throughout this process must be soft (around 100 ppm and uS around 120-180). This helps the eggs in sticking.
Step 2: Make sure that the males is fertilizing the eggs, otherwise any attempt is futile.
Step 3: Wait two hours after spawning is finished.
Step 4: Using a 1 gallon glass jar, fill it with the tank water the parents (& eggs) are in. Put the PVC in the jar (quickly and calmly).
Step 5: Place the jar in a small 5 gallon tank filled with water at 84f (50w heater is required). Also put a hydrospnge (by far my personal choice in sponge filters). in the tank and turn it on. This will keep the jar warm and allow the tank to cycle. I always have filters in my 5 gals so they are cycled.
Step 6: Add an airstone to the jar. Turn it on medium so that there is a good current in the jar (don’t blast the eggs though).
Step 7: Add three drops of methyl blue. Other people may recommend more, but I believe that it may cause fry loss. Three drops works well and allows you to observe the eggs.
Step 8: Wait. They will begin hatching (if they are fertile and the correct water parameters/hardness/uS are present) in two days (about).
Step 9: Wait. They will start free swimming in two-three days (mostly three). They will be clogged in a bunch on the bottom of the tub during this period and will untangle when […]
