Need some help: Very confused... :?

[mcloughlin2]

Hi everyone....

I was wondering if someone can tell me exactly wat discus will do wen they have paired.....i have 6 discus now...and my three large ones i bought at SLS (they are about 5'' i guess including the tail) are shaking their whole bodies like african cichlids do but not as fast more of a slower shake LOL...

I was told that one of them was a male malboro red and george picked me out another male and a female red turquoise...he said that there was a 80% chance he was right....the male malboro red often shakes near the female red turq but sometimes it looks like he is shaking to the male red turqoise....and they pick each other sides sometimes...

Can anyone help me im soooooooooooooo confused :? ...

Thanks in advance,

Sam

[DR.V]

Are they in a community tank ? If they do , when they start to pair up , they will always stay together day and night. Especially after light out they will stay together really close in one spot ( ie : corner of the tank )

HTH

[mcloughlin2]

Yeah there is 6 discus in a 4 foot tank....the malboro red and the female red turqouise generally stay together but dont really defend a corner of the tank.... :D ...im just trying to find out how to be 100% sure that they have paired and if they are showing signs of spawning....

-Sam

[DR.V]

From my experience, after i do water change , the temp will drop down by 2-3C. This will help trigger spawning.

Then the pair started to shake their fins ( top and bottom ) but more like shievering.

After a few minutes they will clean the breeding cone and ... you can see they're laying eggs !!!

Hehe sounds easy ... but not easy to get a pair.

Good luck

[oscar]

mcloughlin2,

I could be way off here, as i've not yet bred discus myself, but have bred plenty of African Cichlids and this is my two bobs worth.

Two of the posts have identified what i think is they key. The movement is going to be a rapid movement like shivering. The slower wave like motion of the whole body i think is a 'get out of the way' or 'move over' gesture.

Reason i say this is that i have observed this in my discus tanks under two different circumstances. One is at feeding time when they are fighting for access to the blocks. The other is when i intriduce new discus to a tank that already had discus and therefore a pecking order.

Anyone elses thoughts?

[mcloughlin2]

I think that u are right.....my malboro red male and red turq female do more of a fast shake near each other....wen i think about it and towards the other discus they do more of a push...

God i never would have thought of that thanks!! :D

My main cocern now is just keeping them alive as they have come down with something... :(

Check my post in the emrgency room and see if u noe wat it might be....

Sam,.....