Breeding Discuss Fish Successfully

 

BREEDING DISCUSS FISH 

 The key to successfully breeding Discus lies in always providing them with supreme water conditions, keeping them in an aquarium that is large enough for them, giving them high quality food etcetera. Discus Fish is not a very easy fish to keep, and breeding them in aquariums is even harder. A well kept Discus pair will breed regularly in the aquarium, and there is really no special “fix” that will induce breeding in a couple that do not feel well. Most of the guidelines regarding Discus breeding will therefore be the same as for keeping Discus. Only those with previous experience from keeping easier species should try caring for Discus, since many Discuses have died in the hands of inexperienced aquarists. Discus fish are wonderful to keep – they are beautiful as well as charming – but they do require quite a lot of pampering. 

Discus Fish couple will not breed in an aquarium that is too small. A depth of at least 15 inches is required for these tall fishes. A 36 inches x 18 inches x 18 inches aquarium is therefore usually the smallest suitable standard aquarium for a pair. If you have a 48 inches x 18 inches x 18 inches aquarium you can even keep a group of 4-6 smaller Discus until they have formed their own pairs.
 

The best way to combat the nitrate is by performing frequent water changes. Changing 30-50 percent of the water each week is a good rule of thumb. The water temperature should be kept at 82 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and the water must be very soft. Keep the pH as close to 6.5 as possible. Keep the levels of soluble waste as low as possible and never allow the nitrate level to rise above 20 ppm. Since your Discus will require a diet rich in protein, they will consequently produce a lot of waste products that will push up the nitrate levels in the aquarium.  The soft water means that you will have to monitor the pH value vigilantly. Soft water is a very bad buffer and the pH value can therefore drop very quickly and your Discus will not do well in acidic water. 

As mentioned above, your Discus will require plenty of protein in their diet. Professional Discus breeders usually give their fish beef heart. The beef heart diet should ideally be supplemented with other food types, such as spinach and bloodworms. Some high quality flake food will provide your Discus with extra nutrients, and additional vitamins can also be a good idea.

During the initial stage of the breeding process your Discus couple will start to defend a small region of the aquarium. Both the male and the female Discus will become highly territorial and guard this region together. They will continue by picking a spawning site and carefully clean it. Some Discus pairs clean a number of sites before they finally decide to place the eggs on one of them. The female Discus will swim over the spawning site and deposit her eggs in rows, and they male will swim behind her and promptly fertilize them. I wish to once again stress the importance of keeping your Discus in soft water. Hard water will make the protecting membranes that surround the eggs so hard that it is impossible for the sperm to get through. Hard water can therefore cause the eggs to stay unfertilized and no fry will develop. Hard water can also make it impossible for a fry to hatch.

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Diet and Breeding of Parrot Fish

 DIET AND BREEDING

Diet of a Parrot Ciclids
Blood Parrots will eat a variety of foods including flake, live, frozen, and freeze dried foods. Sinking foods are easier for them to eat than floating foods. Most owners report bloodworms and live brine shrimp as a favorite treat. Foods high in b-carotene and canthaxanthin will help maintain their vibrant colors.

Breeding Parrot Ciclids
Although Parrots have been known to mate and even lay eggs, generally they are infertile. There have been sporatic cases of successful spawnings, generally when they have been crossed with a non-hybrid fish. Like other cichlids, Blood Parrots will tend the eggs and resulting fry fastidiously. As with any eggs, those that are infertile will turn white and rapidly fungus. The parents will eat infertile eggs to prevent them from spreading fungus to the fertile eggs. Once the eggs hatch, daily water changes of 25% are critical to ensure the health of the fry. Fresh baby brine shrimp are the optimum food during the first couple of weeks. Often pet shops will carry frozen baby brine shrimp, which can also be used. As they fry grow, they can be weaned to fine fry food.

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Care about Puffer Fish

Pufferfish are slow swimmers, but can quickly ingest huge amounts of water to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size and they are a live eater. The pufferfish is truly unique. Just by looking at a pufferfish, you can tell that it is no ordinary fish. Some have likened the puffer fish to underwater hamsters or even panda bears. Regardless of what you see when you look at pufferfish, you can't help but notice their expressive faces that sometimes even appear to be smiling. 

Aside from the pufferfish's unique looks, pufferfish have very interesting personalities. That's right, personalities. Pufferfish are said to be able to recognize their care givers. I have watched first hand as a puffer fish wiggled at the front of the tank begging for food, watching its owner carefully. Porcupine puffers are even said to spit water out of the top of the tank when they want food. I would not believe it if somebody told me, but I watched a puffer fish come out of its hiding spot when it heard its owner singing to it. It stayed at the front of the glass appearing to listen, and left to return to its nook only after its owner stopped singing. I don't know the explanation behind this, but it was incredible. It confirmed for me that the pufferfish is no ordinary fish! 

Of course we are all familiar with the puffer fish's unique ability to puff. Pufferfish puff up when they get scared. It is very interesting to watch but the behavior should never be encouraged because it puts a tremendous amount of stress on the fish's body... pufferfish can puff up to 2 or 3 times their normal size! Fish keepers who keep puffer fish are encouraged not to take them out of water when transferring them because puffing up with air instead of water can be especially dangerous for them.

If you notice your puffer fish behaving strangely, you may need to take action. We saw one of our puffer fish repeatedly throwing his body into the sand an ornaments inside the tank. It got to the point where he was doing it so hard and so often that he had gashes in his body from where the sand must have cut him. It wasn't long before we noticed some spots on the fins of our other fish and realized the tank had a parasite, Ich! Our pufferfish was trying to scratch himself! If you act fast enough, Ich can be treated with any one of a number of remedies available at your local fish store. The next time we see our puffer fish exhibiting this behavior, we will know what to do!

It seems the only thing our pufferfish enjoys more than lounging around the tank is eating! He is the first one to the food and there is seldom any left for any of the other fish unless he is distracted. We feed him silversides, krill, and prawn. It is fascinating to watch puffer fish eat. Most other fish seem to nibble on their food, but our puffer fish seems to swallow entire silversides in a single gulp! Sometimes he takes food straight from other fish's mouths, but fortunately none of the other occupants in the tank seem to have been hurt during such a heist.

One of the most frustrating things about saltwater pufferfish is that they usually cannot be kept with other puffer fish. Most fish stores will warn that two puffer fish may be extremely aggressive towards each. We made the mistake of putting a spiny burrfish into the tank and our stars and stripes puffer ended up taking a chunk out of the burrfish's face! We were very surprised to see this because our pufferfish had not bitten any of the other fish in the tank before. Needless to say, we plan to heed the fish stores' warning from now on.

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