Average discus life expectancy and duration of breeding viability

[ssevasta]

I was just wondering what the average lifespan you guys have had with your fish and at what age do breeding pairs usually stop producing viable fry? It seems like certain classic strains like San Merahs for example are fairly hard to come by these days. That got me thinking that keeping a breeding pair of my favorite strain and cycling them out with the following generation every few years would ensure the preservation of the strain. It seems like the only true San Merah's I see nowadays are the Golden based ones and I don't know if they just took a red cover and bred golden into it to make it appear like a true San Merah or if it started with a true one and then they bred golden into the line. Thanks for any input. I know that breeding long term is a massive undertaking but I feel that only keeping and focusing on breeding one strain should dramatically reduce the tanks and equipment required.

[Willie]

I've kept discus for up to 5 years, but females stop spawning by Year 4. I've had old males that have surprised me, but only rarely. Discus gets old just like everything else. They peak between year 2 - 3, but decline pretty fast. I've had show winners at age 2 that looked pretty crappy by year 4, e.g. humpy, wrinkled, greyish... I haven't spawned San Merahs, but they're basically pigeon bloods cleaned up after crossing to Alenquers, so I don't think they'd be any different.

Willie

[ssevasta]

I've kept discus for up to 5 years, but females stop spawning by Year 4. I've had old males that have surprised me, but only rarely. Discus gets old just like everything else. They peak between year 2 - 3, but decline pretty fast. I've had show winners at age 2 that looked pretty crappy by year 4, e.g. humpy, wrinkled, greyish... I haven't spawned San Merahs, but they're basically pigeon bloods cleaned up after crossing to Alenquers, so I don't think they'd be any different.

Willie

I always thought that the San Merah was a brown based red without any pigeon blood. Are you sure about that?

[Willie]

I stand corrected. Was thinking of another red fish!

Sorry, Willie

[Bizarro252]

I've kept discus for up to 5 years, but females stop spawning by Year 4. I've had old males that have surprised me, but only rarely. Discus gets old just like everything else. They peak between year 2 - 3, but decline pretty fast. I've had show winners at age 2 that looked pretty crappy by year 4, e.g. humpy, wrinkled, greyish... I haven't spawned San Merahs, but they're basically pigeon bloods cleaned up after crossing to Alenquers, so I don't think they'd be any different.

Willie

I read this about a week ago and it got me interested, I was, and am under the impression I should expect my guys to be with me for 10-15 years. Is that not normal? I was also looking for more info on them dulling out after a few years as that is sad... however ran across this thread browsing around, he says the parents in the first pic are about 5 years old and they look great! Whats the deal here?

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?126042-Blue-Snakeskin-Fry-Southern-Oregon-P-U-or-shipping-available

[ssevasta]

Well I think part of the problem for me in the past has been avoiding some sort of calamity or disaster for 15 years lol. I've gotten wiped out by hurricane sandy, discus plague, exploding heaters, etc etc. sadly I can't say I've had a discus die from old age and I don't think I'm in the minority in saying that. Another issue is that sometimes when you buy new fish they bring something in with them and well who wants to go 10-15 years without buying new fish. Even with the best quarantine procedures well stuff happens unfortunately. I think this is the saddest part of the hobby honestly. Most of the people who were frequent or daily posters on the forum in 09' seem to have eventually given up or moved on after getting wiped out or just tired. The people I miss reading posts from were Eddie, bobtools, chad Hughes, yss, David rose, mkd, John Nicholson, and many others that I can't think of at the moment. I hope they're all doing well.

[Bizarro252]

Huh, interesting, I guess I hadnt thought of the difficulty of avoiding issues for so long lol. I was more thrown by hearing that they grey, dull, and appearance goes down hill after 4-5 years, that is unfortanate if true, I have a breeding pair of angels and a tank full of Mbuna that are all mostly original at about 3.5 year old now - those angels still spawn once or twice a month!

[Willie]

Older discus definitely take on a dull cast. Even the eyes get a little greyer. I have had many older fish. They did well for me and I keep them in a large tank for sentimental reasons.

Appearance is always subjective, but come to the next NADA show and you'll see what discus can be at their prime.

Willie

[NEangler]

With discus that do die of old age, i wonder how the content of their diet influenced how many years they survived

[pastry]

"Average life expectancy and breeding?" - If you didn't cull the ugly, stunted one... Then that booger will be the first to spawn and live forever :eek:

[ssevasta]

"Average life expectancy and breeding?" - If you didn't cull the ugly, stunted one... Then that booger will be the first to spawn and live forever :eek:

This one cracked me up. It just goes to show you the influence that our selective pressure on which fish are allowed to breed can have on the domestics we have today. Compare the tolerance to a wide variety of water conditions or patterns in domestics compared to wilds.

[Bizarro252]

Older discus definitely take on a dull cast. Even the eyes get a little greyer. I have had many older fish. They did well for me and I keep them in a large tank for sentimental reasons.

Appearance is always subjective, but come to the next NADA show and you'll see what discus can be at their prime.

Willie

Jenene is trying to talk me into it... :P

[CliffsDiscus]

I had a spawn from a pair of US bred Eruption 10 years old, very rare seen
on DiscusAsAHobbyist.

Cliff

[White Worm]

Well I think part of the problem for me in the past has been avoiding some sort of calamity or disaster for 15 years lol. I've gotten wiped out by hurricane sandy, discus plague, exploding heaters, etc etc. sadly I can't say I've had a discus die from old age and I don't think I'm in the minority in saying that. Another issue is that sometimes when you buy new fish they bring something in with them and well who wants to go 10-15 years without buying new fish. Even with the best quarantine procedures well stuff happens unfortunately. I think this is the saddest part of the hobby honestly. Most of the people who were frequent or daily posters on the forum in 09' seem to have eventually given up or moved on after getting wiped out or just tired. The people I miss reading posts from were Eddie, bobtools, chad Hughes, yss, David rose, mkd, John Nicholson, and many others that I can't think of at the moment. I hope they're all doing well.

Good point. There always seems to be something when you are not paying attention. Bad water change, bad equipment, move across the country, illness, unexplained, etc. I've kept some for years but most have died from other than old age. Sucks.... I do find myself looking back at posts from years ago wondering what happened to some people. I even took a few years off but found myself wandering back. Trying to talk the wife into a new batch of discus is difficult. Luckily, I have a fish room now but it is dedicated to her angelfish hobby at the moment.

[White Worm]

"Average life expectancy and breeding?" - If you didn't cull the ugly, stunted one... Then that booger will be the first to spawn and live forever :eek:

That IS funny!....but probably true.

[pastry]

Always is with me. I can cut the head off a live mullet when fishing but used to turn peace and love'ish with subpar discus... After 20 years and a wife only allowing 1 tank, not anymore :evilgrin:

[RogueDiscus]

I was just wondering what the average lifespan you guys have had with your fish and at what age do breeding pairs usually stop producing viable fry? It seems like certain classic strains like San Merahs for example are fairly hard to come by these days. That got me thinking that keeping a breeding pair of my favorite strain and cycling them out with the following generation every few years would ensure the preservation of the strain. It seems like the only true San Merah's I see nowadays are the Golden based ones and I don't know if they just took a red cover and bred golden into it to make it appear like a true San Merah or if it started with a true one and then they bred golden into the line. Thanks for any input. I know that breeding long term is a massive undertaking but I feel that only keeping and focusing on breeding one strain should dramatically reduce the tanks and equipment required.

I've got a male I've had since 2009 that's still spawning when conditions are right. He's got a younger partner. The San Merah question caught my eye. I've got a San Merah (female?) that I got from Kenny in 2009 that just spawned with a Rose Red I got from him a year or so ago. I'm looking forward to seeing what I get from them. Pics of both groups are in my homestead (Steve's Discus Den).

[ssevasta]

I've got a male I've had since 2009 that's still spawning when conditions are right. He's got a younger partner. The San Merah question caught my eye. I've got a San Merah (female?) that I got from Kenny in 2009 that just spawned with a Rose Red I got from him a year or so ago. I'm looking forward to seeing what I get from them. Pics of both groups are in my homestead (Steve's Discus Den).
Wow Steve that's awesome. I'm gonna check that out right now lol.

[ssevasta]

Good point. There always seems to be something when you are not paying attention. Bad water change, bad equipment, move across the country, illness, unexplained, etc. I've kept some for years but most have died from other than old age. Sucks.... I do find myself looking back at posts from years ago wondering what happened to some people. I even took a few years off but found myself wandering back. Trying to talk the wife into a new batch of discus is difficult. Luckily, I have a fish room now but it is dedicated to her angelfish hobby at the moment.
Yeah Mike I also took a break for a few years after hurricane Sandy wiped me out and it was hard to financially justify the startup costs but I'm so happy that I did. I wish more people that take a break or leave the forum for one reason or another would leave a post saying goodbye or explaining why they're leaving but that's extremely rare unfortunately. It seems like most of the time they just post more infrequently and then one day just stop posting altogether. Another thing I've noticed is that some of them will stop posting but still log onto the forum and I guess either read or send pm's with their close friends. Sometimes when I'm reading an old thread and I see that a particular person was banned I'll look up their last few posts to try to see if I can figure out why they got the axe lol. It can be an interesting way to pass the time 😎

[White Worm]

I've got everything I need but the ($ discus $) and time....Just not feasible right now. When I do, I'm not interested in growing a small batch. Gonna start with 4-5" so I don't have to wait a year to breed them again.