Are they pairing up?

[Nathan]

i recently got 2 discus an have found they hang out together ALL the time, they rub together (whenever they swim past eachother they rub) also have found they swim towards eachother put there heads together an swim to the bottom of the tank, kinda bowing sorta thing.

is there somethng wrong or are they pairing up?

[samir]

yes they have paired up, good luck with them, best to leave them alone and let them do their thing.

[Nathan]

will do, ill post some pics sometime later this week or next.

just curious if they are a pair, how long usually would it take before they start laying eggs?

[samir]

could be a few days, could be weeks, could be two females. If you do not disturb them, give them a secure enviroment and very clean water it should be sooner rather than later, when they start cleaning the cone like they wanna break it in half, thats when the're pretty close to spawning.

[Nathan]

so should i do daily w/c?

[RichVic]

Good luck Nathan!
They do sound like they're pairing up.
Mine got serious after a 50% waterchange with cold water - spawned as it heated back up - 3 days later I had first batch of eggs. I also had the miracle leaf teabag in there to get the Ph gently down to 6 ish (i7.2 from tap)
HTH

[Nathan]

so you just used cold water straight from the tap? i would have thought theyd go into thermal shock

[mcloughlin2]

so you just used cold water straight from the tap? i would have thought theyd go into thermal shock

No use water that is a few degrees cooler then your tank water.... :)

[RichVic]

Sorry to confuse, I age the water in a drum for a few days - so I always have some ready to go - not exactly sure how much the temp increases inside the drum (indoors) over that time - but my 380Lt / 30 deg tank drops to 26 after the change. I also queried this (temp drop) early on, but the previous owner of my pair used to do 50% cold water changes all the time. I also read somewhere else that in the amazon the temp drops quickly during a downpour especially after the sun goes down. They breed in the rainy season as I understand it? Anyway, I add the water gradually as I empty the tank over about an hour or so. The fish do not display any different behaviour during this time - they basically hang around the front thinking I'm there to feed them. No darkening up etc. At the end of the day, do what you feel is right for your fish - Certainly won't hurt to warm it up a bit, perhaps experiment by adding, say 10% cold and checking the temp, then another 10% and so on - The temp drop should 3-4 degrees to stimulate spawning - When I do 25% changes (cold) the temp drops by 2, but this has never triggered spawning for me.

Good luck

[Nathan]

ill do that, thanx for your help richvic really apretiate it!

and best of luck with your pair, hope to see some pics soon

[RichVic]

You're welcome
No good with all this technology - although I love the results!
I have some picks of my already on the breeding basics topic. Thread is
titled unexpected sighting of eggs in driftwood. Only had a small batch of 25 lost a few the first couple of weeks - only 15 left - now the size of 5c pieces and still with parents will move out this weekend if time permits.