Domestic Violence??

[Trademark]

Hi all,
Ive been having some issues with my breeding discus.
Has anyone ever heard of aggression between breeding discus?
First a bit of background......Ive had this pair for a few months now. It took a while for them to become comfortable enough with their new environment to start spawning again. (They have bred successfully in the past).
The first 3 attempts, the eggs all became infertile and were therefore promptly eaten. Im currently attempting to soften the water by filtering it through peat moss, as I think this may be the problem.
Anyway, after the last unsuccessful attempt, one started getting very aggressive toward the other, to the point of causing minor but visible damage. He/she (still havent figured out which is which) wouldnt let the other near the spawning site and or near the frozen discus dinner I feed to them. Having said that, both seem to have been a little off their food since the failure. (Nearly a week ago now). My only solution so far is to keep them in the dark as much as possible to subdue them. Should I separate them, or would this affect their bond?
Please please please help..............

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Best thing you can do is separate them after the male has fertalized normally they shouldn't be aggressive towards each other but if they are you may have to separate them before you lose a parent that or buy a divider keep the mom with the fry as discus feed there young threw secretions from the skin

 

[Karay]

I don't have too much to say about their behaviour but in regards to the infertile eggs. What type of filter makes a difference. Discus spawn the same way angel do and I wasn't getting fertile eggs either. I found out that powered filters (hob canister etc) can create too much current to allow the males fertilization to be effective. Something about what he releases is swept way to fast instead of fertilizing the eggs. I switched to a sponge filter and success. As I said though I don't know the tank set up

 

[Trademark]

Thanks for all your advice.
They seem to have settled their differences now. It lasted a few days but all good now. Interesting what you say about current. The filter is an 'aquatopia internal filter 400' suitable for a tank up to a max of 105 us gallons. (Pic included). That's 400 litres here in Australia. My tank is about 120 litres. A bit overkill I know. I've directed the flow away from their favorite spawning spot and turned the flow strength to low. I'll also make sure the KH and GH are correct, then hopefully the next time will be successful. I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks again all.

 

[Andy Sager]

Adding to Karay's comment, infertile eggs are not uncommon for the first few spawns however, to my knowledge, soft water is almost a must for proper fertilizion to occur. Even with sponge filters, if the water is not right, you will most likely not have success.
There is yet another factor with Discus you need to be aware of: With all the new color forms and types, a Discus breeder friend of mine, currently breeding 20 pairs of fish, has found breeding similar color morphs were not producing viable eggs. Through a process of elimination, we narrowed the problem to genetics. He replaced 1/4 of his males with wild stock and the first subsequent spawns produced viable eggs while the remaining pairs were still throwing "duds"

In your case, I would not jump to this conclusion but you should keep this in mind if the change in water chemistry and filtering types still yields poor results.

Hope this helps

 

[Karay]

And Andy was the one who told me about the filter in the first place.

 

[Trademark]

Thanks Andy.
Unfortunately (or fortunately; I'm not sure which), this pair aren't new to breeding. They've been successful in the past. The one big difference being, they're now in a different tank. In the shop where they last bred, they shared a tank with a black ghost knife, which I understand need very soft water.
Here's hoping the peat moss helps.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks Andy.
Unfortunately (or fortunately; I'm not sure which), this pair aren't new to breeding. They've been successful in the past. The one big difference being, they're now in a different tank. In the shop where they last bred, they shared a tank with a black ghost knife, which I understand need very soft water.
Here's hoping the peat moss helps.

That's the big thing about buying proven breeders, if you want them to continue breeding, you must duplicate what they were breeding in. Check with the store for PH, Temp, Hardness, feeding, light schedule, etc. All these factors come into play when breeding fish successfully.

Good luck and keep us posted