Male and Female Discus difference..

[cityguy]

How to differentiate between a male and female Discus ? :roll: Fishes are 4 and 5 inches..

[Merrilyn]

Hmmm good question.

Lots of people think they have a sure fire way of sexing discus, but I've yet to meet anyone who can get it right 100% of the time, and I've been around discus over 30 years.

Males tend to have a "stronger" head, females a more feminine looking head.

Males are supposed to have more pointed anal and dorsal fins while females have more rounded ones.

Males are supposed to have a shorter distance between the ventral fins and the vent, while females have a longer distance (supposedly to allow for the storage of eggs in the female).

On females the vent is supposed to be round, while in males it is slightly smaller and more oval.

At best, it's an educated guess.

The only sure way is to observe the fish when they are spawning ............ Females lay eggs!

[cityguy]

Thanks for the reply.. if I have a total of 5 x 5 inch Discus in a 65 gallon tank, how good are my chances to get a pair out of these.. would this pairing happen soon enough or are there specific times for discus to pair up ?

I also was interested to know, if I keep only 2 Discus in a tank, irrespective of them being male or female, would they fight if the two are male-male or female-female ?

[vyberman]

Place a mirror and a designer handbag up against the glass.
Females will go to the mirror for ten minutes, then covet the handbag.
Males will hang around the mirror, but only look when they think they aren't being watched.

Dont try and pair any females off with discus that stare at the mirror openly but ignore the handbag...they are gay.
Unless you have a cross dressing fish, in which case things get a touch confusing ;)

[Merrilyn]

Vyberman, that's hilarious, and will probably be just as accurate as anything else :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cityguy, you should get at least one pair out of 5 fish, and they will pair up when they're ready. There's no set breeding season for domestic fish. Good food and lots of clean warm water will help to convince them that your tank is a good place to raise a family.

Two fish in a tank is never a good idea, unless it's a confirmed breeding pair. Doesn't matter if it's two males or two females, or one of each, with just two fish, one will always try to dominate the other, and there will be constant fights till one wins out.

He will then proceed to make life miserable for the other fish.

Discus really need to be kept in a group unless you're putting together a breeding pair.

[cityguy]

Thanks Merrilyn, I will take note of your advice.. no thanks for your advice too vyberman.. i appreciate jokes, but not on a forum which is not meant for jokes..