Discus breeding tips

Discus breeding is a real enjoyment and rewarding , i love that time when i watch my fish lay eggs and fan them , the real fun when you see the parents having the fry attached to there body a moment that let you forget the hard time you spent adjusting and serving your fish water and environment.

There are a lot of information out there talking about discus breeding but here i decide to share tips that i gained after a lot of trails with my fishes and after many times of success and failures. 

1. For pair forming get 6 fishes in at least 200 liter tank feed them well with beef heart mix , quality flakes and blood worms  2 to 3 times a day until they reach 10 to 12 months
2. Water quality is the key in discus care and breeding at least change 50% your tank water every next day , the more water change the best results you get (use aged water in the water change)
3. When pairs start to form by showing their fins to each other heads down tail up (bowing) the best and safest way to trigger breeding and spawning is to lower the temp  from 30 Celsius to 29-28 degrees
4. Never miss with the water PH unless you have a very alkaline water, my water is around 7.0 PH and my fish breed in it just fine. the real problem is the hardness of the water if your water is to hard then you will need RO unit to get soft water , when i use RO i mix 70% of RO water with 30% of tape water
5. Potassium permanganate shower is the best treatment for pairs before breeding as it clear parents from parasites and gill flukes which kill the fry at the early stage (care should be taken when using PP) i will write about PP in details later
6. Best breeding tank dimensions for me was 50 cm X 50 cm X 50 cm it gives parent just enough room and its not to big to let the fry lost away from their parents 

The list to be continued and more details to be added for each tip.

If you have tips from your own experience please share it with us.