Discus Fish Breeding

The Discus has been referred to as "The King of the Aquarium", and though keeping and breeding them is certainly still a challenge for the inexperienced, the later can be very rewarding indeed. It is very common that after you have successfully raised Discus Fish for some time, that you would decide to extend your Discus care to breeding these beautiful fish.

So let's start with the tank:

The most important factor in discus breeding in the water quality, make sure it is soft, acidic and clean. It is recommended that you have a bare bottom tank as it is easier to clean. In the breeding tank itself, you may either have one or two potted plants or just leave them out. Remember that breeding Discus Fish should be kept at 88 degrees to aid the breeding process.

It is very important to change the water in your Discus Aquarium Fish tank on a regular basis. In a display tank, I recommend around once or twice a week, but for breeding tanks you should up that rate from twice a week to anything up to once a day for the best results when breeding Discus Fish. Some foods that are good for breeding Discus Fish are white worm, adult brine shrimp and chopped up crab sticks or prawns.

Now for the breeding:

Sexing Discus Fish can be difficult so start with a number of potential parents but bear in mind that Discus Fish tend to become a bit territorial when breeding, so it is best to breed a well-established pair, or keep a group of young Discus and allow them to pair themselves. The breeding pair will usually clean a vertical spawning site on which the eggs are then laid and fertilised.

A breeding pair will lay eggs as often as every week, as many as fifteen times and once the babies are born, breeders can observe one of the most unique traits of this fish: the young feed off the mucus produced on the scales of their parents in particular the secretions of the mother Discus Fish. Therefore it is critical not to separate the mother from her small fry.

Finally, through selective breeding a wide variety of body shapes, colors, and patterns can be produced and although Discus Fish may not interact with you like your four-legged friends, they can give you many hours of pleasure and entertainment.