Some Basic Information on Discus Breeding.

[missmonday]

Thanks Sam for the guide. I think I got 1 pair of discus right now

[Three little fish]

Thanks Sam, that is good info particularly for beginners such as myself.

I have what I hope is a male and female doing exactly what you have described as I write. The female is obvious, she has a large breeding tube, has been changing colour all day and is generally more vivid in colour than usual. At times the black stripe going down through her eye has been extremely pronounced. She is doing most of the cleaning (in this case on a leaf) and the dummy runs as you say. Could she be depositing some slime (for want of a better word) during these dummy runs?
The other fish I am hopeing is a male. I say hope because I have heard that sometimes two females will pair and even spawn. He? has more or less been in charge of security, chasing my other two fish to the other end of the tank, but has also shown interest in the leaf.
Right now the female appears to be laying eggs, sliding up the leaf and the male? is following her up. I have not seen his tube and am to scared to get a close look in case I spook them. Do a pair of females behave like this?
It is 1015pm and I have the tank lights off. I can just see them from a distance by the light in the room. It is very difficult to write because I am wanting to watch. The male is worrying me because he doesn't seem as accurate with his sliding up the leaf as the female. The other two fish have just come out of hiding and both of spawners flew out of their corner and attacked them.Ihave a 6ft tank and the other two wouldn't have come within 4ft of them before being banished back to their corner. He is getting much better with his fertiliser runs much more accurate and frequent now.
Wish I could get a closer look. I have to go to work at 5 am and will be away for 36hrs. I will die of curiosity and it may be all over by the time I get home.

[Three little fish]

The first attempt seems to have been in vain. The either ate the eggs straight away or didn't actually lay at all, i'm not sure which.

At 8.30 this evening however they have actually sucessfully deposited a batch of eggs which both fish are guarding closely. I intend to leave them to their own devices and wait to see what becomes of them.

Can anybody advise me of the normal incubation time?