Pompadour fish, or Heckel's discus fish (Symphysodon discus), are quite difficult to keep and breed, and you may not be able to achieve a high survival rate of fry on the first try. A characteristic of these fish, not very common in most aquarium-bred species, is the instinct of the fry to feed from the skin of their parents, which makes it easier to care for them if you decide to keep the two generations in the same aquarium. In any case, if you want to raise the fry in a controlled environment avoiding the risks of cannibalism and disease, possible when adult specimens are present, you will need to feed them with a specific substitute for the nutrients provided by the parents. Both methods start with creating an environment that encourages reproduction, and are then described separately.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Encouraging Pompadour Fish to Reproduce
Step 1. Catch lots of fish to increase your chances of having both males and females
There are no reliable methods of identifying the sex of Pompadour fish by eye, and this is particularly difficult before the specimens are fully grown. Adult males usually have thicker lips and can behave more aggressively. In any case, if you have a large enough aquarium, the best method is to keep at least 4 specimens, to increase the chances of having fish of both sexes.
- Some species of Pompadour fish tend to show different colorations between males and females, but this is not always the case.
- Usually the females mate at around 9 months of age, while the males around 13 months.
Step 2. Keep Pompadour fish in a spacious aquarium:
they are very unlikely to reproduce if they live in a small tank. Tanks suitable for Pompadour fish must be at least 38 cm deep. You can keep a pair in a 200 liter aquarium. If you want to keep 4-6 specimens, use an aquarium of at least 250 liters.
Step 3. Measure and regulate nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels
Aquarium accessories stores usually sell water quality testing kits, containing the tools you need to measure the level of these substances in your aquarium water. If the nitrite level (with the the) or ammonia is greater than 0 ppm, or if the nitrate level (with the to) is greater than 20 ppm, the water may be toxic to fish. Run an aquarium cycle if the tank is still uninhabited; consult an aquarium expert if not.
Look for an aquarium kit that has all the tools you need for the previous steps
Step 4. Thoroughly test other water parameters in your aquarium, and carefully adjust them
The aquarium temperature must be 27.5 ° C or higher to create conditions suitable for breeding. The water pH test results should be stable at around 6.5 - never rising to 7.0 or more. Purchase an electrical conductivity tester to assess the mineral content, which must vary between 100 and 200 microsiemens. If any of these parameters need to be adjusted, do it with small adjustments to avoid damaging the fish, and follow these tips:
- Adding substances to raise or lower the pH will also vary the conductivity. Keep testing all parameters every day as you make adjustments.
- Adding reverse osmosis water is not recommended, unless you need to lower the conductivity below 200 microsiemens. In other situations, tap water will be fine.
Step 5. Change a part of the water often
Change 10% of the water every day, or 20-30% twice a week, to keep the tank as clean as possible while you are encouraging Pompadour fish to reproduce. Collect dirt from the bottom of the aquarium with the vacuum cleaner when necessary. If the sides of the aquarium need to be cleaned, do so before changing the water to avoid soiling the new water.
Step 6. Feed the fish with animal proteins
A variety of live foods, such as mosquito larvae, adult brine shrimp or Enchytraeus buchholzi (white worms), are the best choice for providing Pompadour fish with the nutrition they need for breeding. If live food is not available, give them beef hearts or, as a last resort, flake food rich in animal protein. You can also give them tropical fish vitamin supplements, freeze-dried spinach, spirulina, or high-quality flake food from time to time to provide extra nutrients.
By harvesting live food from external water sources yourself, you increase the risk of transmitting disease to your fish. Many aquarium enthusiasts purchase live food from reliable and healthy sources and then rear them at home to decrease this risk
Step 7. Add suitable places to spawn in the aquarium
Placing surfaces on the bottom of the aquarium can encourage fish to spawn, and will make them easy to move if you plan on separating them from their parents. You can use tall, upside-down plant pots, or a PVC pipe. Keeping the aquarium in a quiet place can also increase the chances of reproduction.
Don't worry if the fish lay their eggs directly on the bottom, as the parents will defend them from other fish
Step 8. Look for pairs
If a pair starts swimming together in a corner, clearing an area to spawn, or behaving aggressively towards other fish, it is very likely that it is male and female who are about to spawn. If the pair becomes overly aggressive, you may need to separate them from other aquarium inhabitants.
Step 9. Add methylene blue to the aquarium
A few drops of blue methylene in the water help protect the eggs from bacteria and fungi. Look for this substance in aquarium accessories stores or online, and add it with a dropper.
Step 10. Decide whether to raise the fry with the parents or separately
Hopefully, raising the fry with the parents can significantly increase the survival rate. However, parents can sometimes eat the eggs or fry themselves, or transmit disease to them. Parents raised by their parents may tend to be better parents themselves, which is useful if you plan on continuing to keep fish for multiple generations. Keep reading the section that concerns you after you have made up your mind.
If you or someone you know owns a pair of Pompadour fish that have already reproduced, you can use these as surrogate parents
Step 11. Replace stronger filters with sponge or airstone filters
Tanks where fry live should only use gentle filtering and oxygenation methods to prevent the fry from being sucked in or over-tired by direct current. Adjust the aquarium filters, if necessary, after deciding which tank you will grow the fry in.
Part 2 of 3: Raising the Fry with Parents
Step 1. Wait for the eggs to hatch
After 2-3 days, the eggs should hatch. However the minnows, or fry, typically stick to the eggs for some time. If you notice that the parents are eating the eggs before hatching, consider moving the parents to another tank and follow the instructions for raising the fry separately.
Step 2. Lower the water level before the fry detach from the eggs (optional)
Within days of hatching, the fry should break away from the eggs and move to their parents' hips, where they will feed from their skin. You can increase the chances of the fry locating the parents by temporarily reducing the water level to about 25 cm.
- Light-colored pompadour fish can be more difficult for fry to locate.
- Remove the surface to which the eggs are attached if the fry are still trying to feed on them.
Step 3. Feed the fry small brine shrimp 4-5 days after they start swimming
When the fry have been swimming freely for 4-5 days, start supplementing their diet with small amounts of live brine shrimp four times a day.
- Remove dead brine shrimp if not eaten within the day to keep the water clean.
- If you can't use live brine shrimp, frozen ones are fine. Use airstone to move frozen brine shrimp around the aquarium, otherwise the fry won't recognize them as food.
Step 4. Change their diet after 6 weeks
By the time they reach 6 weeks of age, the fry can eat a wide variety of foods. Try to feed them a wide range of animal proteins, and vitamin-rich vegetables. Many Pompadour fish farmers are happy to share their "discus burger" recipe, which contains all of these ingredients blended together, in an easy-to-eat texture for small fish.
You can now move the fry to a different tank than the parent's. This may be necessary in order not to make the aquarium overcrowded
Part 3 of 3: Raising the Fry Separately from the Parents
Step 1. Move the eggs to another tank
Make sure the water in the new tank has the properties described in the section “Encouraging Pompadour Fish to Reproduce”, but use a smaller aquarium to have a better chance of success. If the eggs have been laid at the bottom of the aquarium, rather than on a surface or tube, you will need to move the adult fish instead.
Keep changing the water frequently, as described in the section on mating
Step 2. Wait until the fry are swimming freely
After a couple of days the eggs will hatch, but it can take another couple of days for the fry to detach from the eggs and start swimming.
Step 3. Ideally, you should feed the fry rotifers from a safe source
Rotifers are microorganisms found in pools of water. However, naturally harvested rotifers can transmit disease. Rather, buy them at an aquarium accessories store.
Rotifers can reproduce, making precise food doses difficult. Ideally you should give the fry very small amounts (the size of a pencil tip) 10 or more times a day, or by following the fry feeding instructions on the rotifer packaging
Step 4. Otherwise, you can prepare a mixture of egg yolk and other ingredients
Many breeders smear egg yolk on the sides of the aquarium to give it to the fry. This can result in slower growth than rotifer-based feeding, but it can be cheaper and simpler. Mix other foods suitable for Pompadour fish, such as spirulina and small brine shrimp, with the egg to add nutrients. You will need to mix hard-boiled and raw egg yolk together to produce a gruel that sticks to the sides of the aquarium.
You can feed Pompadour fish normally after 6 weeks of age, although using the "discus burger" recipe is advisable during growth
Advice
- Fry with physical deformities are usually culled by breeders. At the very least, you should transfer them to another tank so they cannot transmit disease to other individuals or mate with them.
- If the adult birds start to struggle with each other, separate them with a net or move them to different tanks.
