Discus Lover Post your Discus pics!!!!

[Ocean]

I have a pair of blood pigeon discus for show kindly come back here to see the wonder piece i have.Will update if time permit!!!

[Simon]

for mine, vivist my personal webby, URL found in my signature

[Ocean]

Blue Snakeskin

[Ocean]

Snakeskin

[vinz]

Ocean,

I edited your post to group all the pics into two posts, instead of your orignal 1 picture, 1 post.

Next time, please do the same. Thanks.

[Ocean]

Opps so sorri i didnt know it not allow here.Will group them together the next time i post. Hope you have fun looking at those picture. I guess they look great with those beautiful dress on them right.

[Ocean]

Check this out this is the Grand champion award recently held in Germany









Check it out these whole lot new species and their brilliant colours.Enjoy!!

[vinz]

Ocean, no, not that it's not allowed. Neater thats all. Thanks for contrinuting.

[Ocean]

Today i have a pair of blood red pigeon discus that is laying eggs. The behaviour of them is very facinateting.The male and female guard the egg for intruder and keep fanning the eggs. Day 1.Hope that the egg will hatch wait for my good news everyone.Hope to hear more particpation in these topic.Thank!
This is one picture of my pair discus.

[lorba]

Ocean, very nice pictures. Are you a breeder?

between, check your pm.

[kunner]

Haha I have the same question as Lobra, are you into Discus business? Your fish are very nice.

[Ocean]

Hello guys and gerls .Ocean here i am not in discus business but i do have quite a number of nice discus with me. Some can cost as much as a few hundred to thousand dollars.I am very please that you all guys drop in and contributes do participate more often as i will send more picture on the forum.Look out for more highlight!!!Have a nice day

[Ocean]

1. Behavior related to mating

The exaggerated bow inherent in mating is a well-known behavior of the turquoise discus. During mating season, when two of these come face to face, they start a diagonal climb toward each other, turning their course downward just before meeting, crossing each other in an exaggerated bow. This behavior occurs only during mating season.

The sight when two of them are brought together after a brief separation is a fascinating one indeed. The bow becomes even more exaggerated as they repeat it over and over again, seemingly overjoyed at being with each other once again.

(The purpose of this repetitive behavior, however, does not necessarily mean that the two are in good relations with one other as much as it reaffirms for them that they are mates, that they recognize each other.)

[Ocean]

2. Spawning - Providing the right environment

In the mating period, if a long ceramic tower-like figure is put into the fish-tank, the turquoise discuses start pecking away at the tower, looking for right place to lay eggs. Upon satisfying themselves with the site, spawning rehearsals start. This resemble the human operation technically called "dry-run" for putting the computer-program to the test just before really working NC-machine, and they seem to be bringing their bodies to the optimal place and position for laying eggs.
The actual laying of the eggs takes even as they are going through this dry-run. Clinging to the tower, the female climbs up its length, leaving behind a line of orange eggs on its surface, usually in concentrations that are not necessarily in a square shape. The male copies the female's movements except that it sprays sperm on the eggs. Both mates repeat this ritual a number of times.

Laying high concentrations of eggs is the better way to spawn. Fertilization rates are higher if the male immediately follows or better yet clings to her as she lays the eggs and he sprays them with sperm.

A tower shaped figure is not the only thing that can be provided to the turquoise discus for spawning. Vinyl tubes have been used by some people for this purpose. What is important is that they have a smooth surface. Ready females spawn on the surface of heater covers, silicon sealers, sponge filters or even the tank floor. If the eggs are scattered widely on the tank floor, the probability of failure becomes higher. However, whatever form they are laid in, if their distribution is concentrated (making it easier for the mail to spray them with sperm), then there should be no cause for tension to the novice keeper as to whether they will hatch or not.
The number of eggs laid in each spawn depends on the physical condition of the mates and other environmental factors but normally range from 150-200.

[Ocean]

3. Guarding and fanning the eggs

Following the spawning, the mates take turns to guard the eggs and send fresh water continuously by fanning. In cases where spawning is repeatedly a failure, the breast fins of the parent discus are almost fragmented.

The parents in this period are irritable and it is best not to stimulate them. It should be kept in mind that the parents choose the spawning area in the limited physical conditions of the aquarium after considering a number of environmental conditions such as the flow of the water and lightning conditions.

If the keeper turns the tower in the aquarium to observe the eggs and or in any other way irritates the discuses, they retaliate by not waiting for the eggs to hatch and instead wind up eating them.

In the guarding period, the parents turn the surface of their skin dark to prepare for the child rearing process. The degree of this darkening of the skin is a barometer of a discus's experience with child rearing and the degree of focus that it is attaching to child rearing. At our place, we keep one fluorescent tube light on even at night for about 10 days after the spawn to facilitate the parents' watch over their eggs and young ones.
In cases, where the relations between the mates are good but the eggs do not hatch, the cause lies more in the physical condition of the male than in environmental circumstances like water quality or water temperature. (In extreme cases, it is not uncommon to find homosexual tendencies in the discus.) It is therefore important to replace the male as well as manipulate other environmental variables if the eggs do not hatch.

[Ocean]

4. Relations between mates

When the water temperature is about 30C, the eggs generally hatch within 2 days. As the time for hatching approaches, the tensions between the mates heighten. If at this point, they fight over the eggs, there is a possibility that child rearing after hatching will not go well.
If the parents have had previous experience of hatching and there is still fighting over the eggs, it is advisable to take one of parents out of the aquarium. Of course, child rearing becomes a bigger burden on the remaining parent. However, this can't be helped if one wants the eggs to hatch. The keeper may try displacing the male and the female in turns and find out which one does the job of child rearing better.

The sight of 100 tiny fish transferring from the body of a bigger fish to another big fish is one big spectacle. This of course, is possible only if the relations between the parents are good and one does not have to be transferred to another pool. Having a single parent is not much of a big problem for the offspring though, because even a single parent turquoise discus can adequately raise the offspring.

Also, it is not a given that the parent with the greater force to monopolize the spawn is more of an expert at child rearing or more enthusiastic about it. It is better to choose the parent with the darker skin than the one trying to monopolize with sheer force.

[Ocean]

5. Hatching


For the discus keeper, there is no tenser period than the one that follows 4 or 5 days after hatching. One day after the spawning, the infertile eggs become white. If the eggs are transparent, they will hatch. The fertile eggs become black, and 2 full days later, one can detect some movement in these black eggs. In the case of the discus, hatching does not imply that offspring will hatch out breaking open the eggshell.

In their case, the egg itself acquires a tail, the sides of the head become black, the tail starts to move and we feel that the egg has hatched. However, this in itself cannot be called a fish yet.

6. Growth

It takes the baby discus 3 days from hatching to become able to swim to its parents. In other words, for 3 days the offspring stays in the same place where it was hatched.
The nuzzling movement of the little black eggs with tiny tails against the white ones may seem like nothing more than a nuzzling movement but the baby discuses are sopping nutrition from the infertile eggs to gain the energy to swim. (The top of the head is stuck to the eggs, preventing them from leaving the safety of the egg nest.)

The infertile eggs amidst the growing baby discuses, on the other hand, start to decay. Cotton-like white mold envelops them. However, this is no cause for alarm since no undue damage results from this. If there is any danger of harm, the parents pull the babies from the area. On the contrary, for the keeper it is advisable not to meddle in this since that could result in unnecessary stimulation to the parent discuses. (As can be seen in the picture on the previous page) the bellies of the offspring have become flat and they look almost fully developed.

If proper environment conditions such as water quality are hard to maintain, the offspring become powerless and fall dead to the floor of the tank. There are some baby discuses that start to swim prematurely as early as the 2nd day after hatching. This is also a sign of maladjustment since not being able to swim to their parents, they eventually float up to the surface of the water and die of starvation.

For the development of the baby discus until they start to swim on its own, a total of 3 days are required. The parents constantly watch over their offspring during this time. If some of them start to swim prematurely on the 2nd day, the parents carry them back to the egg nest in their mouths. (The open-shut mumbling movement of the mouth looks as if they are preaching to the delinquents to keep to their place).

3 days after hatching, if the number of offspring coming to the parents is not high enough, the parents just give up on child rearing. It seems as if they spontaneously decide that this is a lost cause and the next time would be different. Consequently, they wind up eating the baby discuses. (The number of offspring that seems to be adequate to them is unclear, but 10 seems to be a reasonable number).
In our case, an accident hurled all but 8 offspring into the water stream. The parents, however, raised the remaining 8 without any problems.

During this stage, there are also times when the parents transfer the whole of the egg-nest from one place to another, one-by-one taking the tiny baby discuses in their mouths. There are some that say that such transference of the nest is established discus behavior but I have not seen this happen often enough to validate it here.
3 days after hatching, if the number of offspring coming to the parents is not high enough, the parents just give up on child rearing. It seems as if they spontaneously decide that this is a lost cause and the next time would be different. Consequently, they wind up eating the baby discuses. (The number of offspring that seems to be adequate to them is unclear, but 10 seems to be a reasonable number).
In our case, an accident hurled all but 8

[Ocean]

7. "Attachment"



The process of the offspring leaving the nest and swimming toward the parents is one of the most important markers in determining whether the offspring will grow up normally or not.
3 days after hatching, the offspring start to swim one by one. The parents hold them by the mouth and take them back to the nest. Such premature swimming by the babies points out that the "attachment" phase is fast approaching.
Soon enough the offspring will not listen to the parents at all and more and more frequently leave the nest, swimming toward the parents and clinging to the area around dorsal fins on their parents. However, not all the baby discuses that start to swim on their own are able to achieve this and some are caught in the water flow of the fish tank, to die in no time.

The parents, on the other hand, have to cooperate and be careful not to scatter the offspring with any abrupt movement of the body. Water flow naturally increases the burden on the parents to gather the offspring and carefully make them cling to their bodies. Needless to say, it should be halted during this period.
(At the time the offspring cling to the dorsal fin, the parents sometimes try to shake off the offspring from their bodies but this seems to be an effort to train the young ones to cling even harder).
I may add here that the keeper who is experiencing breeding for the first time should not miss this dramatic moment of "attachment".

If the offspring, who have started to swim, are able to cling to their parents, we can say that the environment for breeding was the right one. After "attachment" the water pump can be safely switched on.

8. Growing up


From the extremely darkened surface of the parents' skin come out small nutritious clots of 'discus milk'. These come out from all over the body. Biting these clots off, the baby discuses start to grow at a very rapid pace.
(Both the male and the female discus emit these 'discus milk' clots. Incidentally, the picture shows a male minding the offspring.)

From 5 days to 1 week after the "attachment" takes place, the baby discuses become ready to eat brine shrimp. Until then, discus milk is their sole source of nutrition.

In the total course of discus breeding, the feasting of the babies on the parents' discus milk is a unique period as well as amazing phenomenon. Many an individual keeps the discus for the opportunity to enjoy watching this very occasion. And because of this, there rarely is a person who breeds discuses without a parent discus being present in the same tank.

In the child-rearing process, there is one interesting behavior called the "transference of the offspring".

With both parents in the same fish-tank, some offspring "attach" to the mother and some to the father. Needless to say, the parent with a higher emission of discus milk is more popular with the offspring. To lighten the higher portion of burden borne by the more popular parent, the parents share in the clinging of the offspring. How deftly they do this is indeed fascinating and is what is called the "transference of the offspring". When one parent wants to have its meal for example, it gives its body a quick sudden wriggle and just as the startled offspring scatter away, it quickly slips away to be replaced by the other parent.
Almost comically, the poor little babies (probably not even aware that parental substitution has taken place), hurriedly cling to the new parent.

When the baby discuses are still very small, the parents conceal them between their two bodies to prevent others from having a look at them. Only after the offspring become accustomed to eating the brine shrimp (and thus are relieved of their sole dependence on discus milk), do they detach themselves from the parents. At this point, th

[Ocean]

Please refer to picture pair Siam Blue Green

The Result :
Oops the egg was eaten by the pairs. I guess i need to try harder next time.
On recorded this pair has lay 4 cosecutive times.However 4 times never make it either they eaten the eggs or the egg turn white.Will update you all guys about this pair.

[Ocean]

A potential method for sexing discus





Sexing discus has always been problematic at best. The method described uses "geometry" to determine sex ... Picture a discus facing to your left ... you would be looking at it's side. Find the Dorsal (Top) and Anal (bottom) fins and look where the fins slope down toward the Caudal (tail) fin ... make sure you're looking at the fins after they have curved back toward the tail. The Dorsal and Anal Fins become (almost) straight after the fins curve down (or up) toward the Caudal Fin ... extend an imaginary line along this straight section of the 2 fins back toward the tail which just touches the Dorsal & Anal Fins past the Caudal Fin. These two imaginary lines should intersect behind the fish. The key to sexing the fish is where the lines cross the Caudal fin. If they pass through the Caudal Fin, the fish is most likely a FEMALE. If they miss or just touch the Caudal Fin, then most likely it is a MALE.

I have tried this on 12 pairs of Discus that I am breeding ... in ALL cases this proved to be true! I have since used this method to "create" 3 breeding pairs, plus provide a male for a female who lost her mate (the new couple are successfully breeding). Logically, this makes sense, since the Male fish tend to have higher bodies than the females (causing the lines to miss the tail).

I'd love to hear back from others who can test this out with their pairs