Surface for discus to lay on

[Michelle.g]

I'm just setting up a tank for trying to breed my discus, what should I put into my discus breeding tank for my discus to lay on? Does anyone know where I can get one of those discus breeding cones? Or is it possible to use an upside down terracotta pot?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[diver21]

the pot should be fine, some other people also use tiles siliconed together to make a triangle.

the breeding cones should be at your LPS or theres onlinestores/trademe

[car67]

I have a tank full of baby discus at the moment and they were layed on an inverted flower pot but don't forget to plug the hole in the bottom.

[Flosty]

If they are ready they will lay anywhere that suits them, mine just lay on the tank sides

[Michelle.g]

Thanks for the replies.

My discus are still laying about once every two weeks on the filter in my community tank.

I found a pet shop that sells the breeding cones but I might try terracotta pots instead. Any ideas on the best way to plug the hole in the bottom of the pot?

Also, what is the best way to check if my pair is a male and female? I have watched the female lay several times now but I can't be sure the other is a male. Is there some way I can check if the eggs are fertile?

[Flosty]

Yeah its a bit of a nuisance when they lay on the filter

The breading cones look nice but they are not absolutely necessary

Try the terracotta pots, I use to find I had to stack about 2 or 3 on top of each other to get the height I needed

Very hard to distinguish male from female,females will pair with females

The female lays and watch the male to see if he follows after her to do his thing

If the eggs are infertile they will go white within a day, if they are fertile they should start darkening up on the second day

50 - 60 hours to hatch depending on temp

My females that have paired with each other generally lay within a couple of days of each other

I find that the female who is not laying gobbles up the eggs fairly quickly as they are being layed

although I do have a pair of females who lay and then guard the eggs for 2 or so days until they have all fungused over

The only sure way to know is if you get wrigglers

[Michelle.g]

The pair usually guard the eggs for one or two days before they disappear. During this time most of the eggs go a dark orange-ish colour and only a few turn white so hopefully they are fertile.

Stacking the terracotta pots is a great idea. I hadn't managed to find a terracotta pot tall enough and I was wondering what to do. Do I need to scrub and/or soak the pots before I use them?