Merrilyn
Mon Aug 16, 2004, 06:57 AM
Okay - I've bred discus for a number of years, so I thought I was pretty good when it came to picking the sex of fish - until today.
Needed a new Blue Diamond male and the lfs had a tank of 6 well grown nice round fish with really red eyes. Just what I wanted. A pair had taken over the corner of the tank and were busily cleaning the glass getting ready to spawn. Real nice fish,and already paired up - what more could you ask. So naturally they both came home with me and were installed in their own 200 lt breeding tank complete with sponge filter and cone. For the next hour the female cleaned the cone, all the time attended by her mate. She began laying nice rows of orange eggs, and, usual story, the male followed closely behind her eating ever one. Oh well. Checked the breeding tubes - yes definately one male and one female. Lets call them George and Mildred.
He was such a big masculine looking male, high pointed dorsal fin with 2 extensions, small v shape breeding tube, everything said "male". I decided to give them another try. Next week - same thing :roll: OK George, back into the big tank for a couple of months to grow and mature.
Now in the big tank George teamed up with a known Blue Diamond male - Fred. For days they swam together, eating together and after 2 weeks began true courting behaviour. Oh no - can't be - they're BOTH MALES!
Now I'm really confused. Could I have been mistaken? Breeding tubes down - yep - both males. Perhaps it's just a passing phase and they'll both grow out of it :?
Last night when I went to bed they were both busily cleaning the filter intake pipe - poor confused little souls. Checked breeding tubes again. No change. Then this morning - EGGS!!!!!! Boy, is my face red :oops:
So - the moral of the story - Just when you begin to think you've got these fish all figured out - you haven't. So Fred and Georgina ( who is now showing a female breeding tube) are happily tending their little batch of eggs, and I'm still looking for a male!
Cheers, Merrilyn.
Needed a new Blue Diamond male and the lfs had a tank of 6 well grown nice round fish with really red eyes. Just what I wanted. A pair had taken over the corner of the tank and were busily cleaning the glass getting ready to spawn. Real nice fish,and already paired up - what more could you ask. So naturally they both came home with me and were installed in their own 200 lt breeding tank complete with sponge filter and cone. For the next hour the female cleaned the cone, all the time attended by her mate. She began laying nice rows of orange eggs, and, usual story, the male followed closely behind her eating ever one. Oh well. Checked the breeding tubes - yes definately one male and one female. Lets call them George and Mildred.
He was such a big masculine looking male, high pointed dorsal fin with 2 extensions, small v shape breeding tube, everything said "male". I decided to give them another try. Next week - same thing :roll: OK George, back into the big tank for a couple of months to grow and mature.
Now in the big tank George teamed up with a known Blue Diamond male - Fred. For days they swam together, eating together and after 2 weeks began true courting behaviour. Oh no - can't be - they're BOTH MALES!
Now I'm really confused. Could I have been mistaken? Breeding tubes down - yep - both males. Perhaps it's just a passing phase and they'll both grow out of it :?
Last night when I went to bed they were both busily cleaning the filter intake pipe - poor confused little souls. Checked breeding tubes again. No change. Then this morning - EGGS!!!!!! Boy, is my face red :oops:
So - the moral of the story - Just when you begin to think you've got these fish all figured out - you haven't. So Fred and Georgina ( who is now showing a female breeding tube) are happily tending their little batch of eggs, and I'm still looking for a male!
Cheers, Merrilyn.