Discus Breeding By Aquagems

First off, I want to make it clear that I don't see myself as an expert at all. I'm just a regular person who's picked up a few things from making plenty of mistakes along the way. With that said, lets continue with this article.

Over the years, Aquagems has picked up some pretty cool breeding tricks from breeders all over the globe. It turns out, what works for one person in Malaysia might be totally different from what someone in Europe does. And if you start digging around online—like on Google or YouTube—you’ll see advice that’s all over the map.

So, here's a pro tip: soak up all the different tactics you come across, pick out what makes sense to you, and use that to do your own thing. Let me share what we've been up to at Aquagems. We mix treated tap water (no chlorine, please!) with RO water because our tap water is super heavy on metals, and we want to soften it up a bit. But honestly, we've had great success just using tap water too, so I really think the whole "you need RO water to breed" thing is a myth.

Our water’s pH sits around 7.5 and the hardness is about 350 microsiemens, which seems to work out fine. Turns out, the hardness isn’t as big of a deal as some might say. A lot of the time, the real issue is whether the male is ready to fertilize those eggs, if there’s something up with the water flow, or maybe the water parameters are not stable.

We keep all our breeding pairs in the same central system to keep the water conditions stable and clean—siphoning it out twice a day to keep it fresh.

About 40% of our spawns at Aquagems are successful, but even then, not all the eggs get fertilized. If that's happening to you too, don't sweat it. Patience is crucial here, and it takes time for your fish to get comfy with the conditions you're setting up.

When we spot little wrigglers (baby fish) hanging out on the spawning cone, we give them a couple of days until they're ready to swim on their own. Then we quickly remove the cone to stop them from sticking to it for too long. Normally, we keep the fry with their parents unless we absolutely have to separate them. I’ve tried going the artificial route with breeding, and sure, it works, but the fish just aren’t as robust or healthy as when they grow up with their mom and dad.

At about three weeks old, we treat the fry with Potassium Permanganate. The mix is 2 grams per half liter of RO water, and then we add 0.5 ml per liter of tank water. A 30-minute treatment is usually plenty. The little ones stay with their parents for about a month. When the parents start to get too aggressive, or the fry begin munching on beefheart mix by themselves, that’s our cue to remove the adults.

        

We’ve noticed that moving the fry around can really stress them out and mess with their immune system—sometimes even leading to losses if bacteria decide to take advantage. So, we keep them in the same system as their parents until they're about 1.5-2 inches long. 

After they outgrow that phase, they graduate to a bigger tank where we feed them four times a day with beefheart mix and live blackworms.

Hey, if you end up losing some of the fish or even a whole batch, don’t beat yourself up about it. As tough as it might sound, it’s okay to fail sometimes when you’re breeding discus. Honestly, messing up is part of how you learn and get better at this.

Just make sure to learn from whatever went wrong, so you don’t make the same mistakes twice. Keep your chin up, and keep at it!

Breeding discus might seem pretty straightforward, but trust me, these fish are something else. It's almost like they can tell when you're feeling desperate. The best advice I can give? Just chill and give them some time. They'll definitely pay you back for your patience.

All you really need to do is shower them with love. Keep their tanks clean, feed them well, and do your best to keep them happy. If you stick with that routine, before you know it, you'll have tons of little fishies zipping around your tank.

 

                 GOOD LUCK!!