What is the smallest discus to have spawned?

[madaboutfish]

Hi all,

I bought 2 fishes last month which looked like rose reds. Today they are about 2.5 and 4 inches respectively. Just noticed that they are no longer fighting each other and are now shivering and pecking on the heater. Their
colours have also darken. They look just like a breeding pair about to spawn but I reckon that they are too young to spawn. I am now curious to find out what is the smallest discus that other hobbyist have spawned? I certainly hope that I did not buy 2 stunted fishes. Looking at the size of the eye in relation to the body it only looks a little larger than I would expect. In the 5 weeks that I have got them, they have grown by about 20 - 30%. Therefore, they can't be severely stunted right? I've been keeping pigeon bloods for the last 2+ years but these 2 new fishes have been behaving totally different from them. Any information on this topic is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Nick

[Merrilyn]

Well it looks like you are about to find out Nick :wink:

They could be older than their size would indicate, then again, they may just continue to grow. It definately sounds like they are about to spawn.

The smallest female I have personally seen was a red turk owned by a friend and she was no more than 3 inches, maximum. She spawned twice with her normal sized mate, and all the fry grew into normal sized fish. :?

[madaboutfish]

Thank you Merrilyn once again for the information. You have certainly been a blessing to others on this forum with your vast knowledge on the hobby.

Nick

[Kaza]

On the weekend I moved some 2.5 inches discus in with some 4 inch, yesterday I noticed a little pidgeon shaking with one of the big male melons tonight she is laying eggs. So I guess I have the same problem as you, my concern is I think once they start mating they seem to stop growing.

[madaboutfish]

Hi Kaza,

I did have a pb which still grew despite frequently laying eggs every 4-5 days. IMO Unless its stunted, I reckon it will still grow but not to its full size. Out of curiosity, may i know approximately how many eggs were laid by that small pigeon and if possible how old was it? Thanks

Nick

[leanne31]

I have read somewhere that its not the laying that will stop the fish from growing its the raising of the fry I could be wrong though thats just what ive read.

Leanne

[Kaza]

She laid about 50 eggs and today is guarding them against discus almost three times her size. I brought her at christmas and she is stunted. I dont know how old she is she looked about 10 weeks old but you can never tell.The stunting is certainly not from lack of food or clean water. Its funny I brought maybe 20 new discus at christmas some have grown up to be stunning fish however this pb, two blue diamonds and two red melons have remained small.

[nicholas76]

kaza have you got a pic?

[leanne31]

No she doesnt have a camera I will get my but into gear and go round and take some pics for her in the next couple of days.

Leanne

[goldenpigeon]

you do that leanne ;) also i wanna c karens pic on the faces to names thread! or there will b throuble :twisted:

[leanne31]

I'll guarantee you that karen will not do that, she doesnt have photos taken but i might get some of her fish.

Leanne

[goldenpigeon]

c'mon leanne just be sneaky! like what ryan did to me to get my pic! ;)

[leanne31]

I'll try but shes liable to thump me and shes bigger than me so I may get hurt I do have one at my house which is her and all her kids but again i may get hurt.

Leanne

[Kaza]

Leanne remember who can supply you with FREE beautiful FREE discus. Any pictures and NO I repeat NO FREE discus. Junior good thing you are not in SA.

Leanne I will be at uni allday tomorrow but come round I take some pictures. The little PB mum looks so cute guarding the eggs. I am quite surprised that they havent eaten them yet, but I have put a divider in and am hoping that I can give the fry to another pair who have eggs. I think that her size should;nt effect the fry and they could still turn out to be nice discus. She was one I was planning on taking to the LFS. Also Leanne make sure you take some pictures of the two lots of fry.

[Kaza]

Hey Nick have your fish laid yet?

[leanne31]

Sorry Junior I have to keep my supplier happy and gees Karen that didnt take you long to get back to that post did it.
When you say take photo of both fry do you mean the two lots of gss that are in the same tank that wont spook them will it Id hate them to eat them and then when you get home I get the blame.But I suppose Ill just try and sneak up without them noticing.

[goldenpigeon]

awwww karen!!! c'mon!!!! and leanne dont wimp it!!!! hahahahaha kaza i wouldnt be worried about living in SA ;) leanne after u get these babies u want can you take a couple of snap shots? ;)

[leanne31]

How stupid do you think I am junior she has different pairs breeding all the time and fry coming out her but as if Im gonna sacrifice free fish at least wait antil I get my new 6 fter and have that full. :lol:

[Kaza]

Yea just sneak a couple of pictures, I dont think they will eat them however I have so many fry at the moment I am actually worried where I am going to put them. Aso take some of the fry next to my desk, they look really cute. Dont forget the very little PB and her rather large mate.

[leanne31]

Ok Ill go tomorrow after shopping.
Too many fry hey well I can fix that problem for you. :lol: maybe when they're a bit older though.

[goldenpigeon]

lol leanne u know u can only cram a couple of hundred discus into 1 tank! so once that is done u wont have room 4 more.... then take the pics :D

[madaboutfish]

As my 2 fishes were pecking on the hot end of the heater I was worried that they would get burnt and therefore switched the heater off and added another at the other end. Since then they stopped the shimmering and pecking but have retained they darkening. looks like I've got a pair of confused fishes. When to check the LFS today to have a look at the other fishes from the same batch. When I bought them a month ago my smaller discus was one of the smallest in the tank. Now it is about 20% bigger than the biggest in the tank so I don't think my pair is badly stunted if at all.

Nick