Hahahaha.... I'm so happy! I was having such a crummy day at work that I just wanted to sit down, relax, and play some World of Warcraft. (hey, you wanna bash the game, we can start another thread for that... not on this one 
Well, I decided I'd poke my head in my room and see how my fish were doing first, and found that 4 of my discus were on the left side of the tank, all huddled near each other, and 2 (turq and sapphire) were on the right side of the tank, near the intake tube for my xp2.
I decided to take a closer look, and to my great surprise, they appeared to be cleaning the filter tube (there is a little bit of brown algae on it, as you'll see in the pictures) and every few minutes, sapphire would put her (guessing her by the action) underbelly up against the filter tube and very slowly swim upwards. She kept doing this every couple minutes, and as they continued picking at the surface, this rubbing up on the tube became much more frequent. (like on the order of once every 10-15 seconds) I didn't see any eggs coming out of her, but every time one of the other discus came anywhere near, turq was VERY quick to chase them all the way over to the other end of the tank, and hurried back to hover right next to sapphire.
Realizing what was going on, I gave Lisa (my gf) a call to let her know what was going on, and she suggested I take some pictures. DUHHH! Why didn't I think of that?!? I was so excited... well, when we got off the phone, I ran to grab my camera, tossed on the 50mm lens, and started snapping away. Turq got real defensive and even looked like he was trying to chase me off every time I leaned towards the tank to take a shot, so I just kinda sat back and watched in awe... snapping off the occasional shot. I tried to get a shot of turq as he faced me, as I could clearly see his ovipositor, which appeared very pointed. (to me anyway, I might just be hoping he's a male and not just 2 females trying to breed) I could neither get a clear shot of it, nor could I really get a good shot of sapphire's ovipositor, but it certainly did seem wider than turq's... so I'm hoping that they genuinely are a male/female pair. I had no idea they'd start trying while still so small... unless I'm mis-judging their sizes, they're only around 4" each. Turq is quite a bit bigger than sapphire, and both have been REALLY pigging out this week... lots of blood worms, and some beef heart and plankton mixed in for a more well-rounded diet. Well, without further adieu, here are a few of the pictures I managed to get. I was so excited that I wasn't really thinking while taking them, so they're not particularly good or anything, but they are relatively clear. Hope you all enjoy, and I will keep everyone updated.
Well, I decided I'd poke my head in my room and see how my fish were doing first, and found that 4 of my discus were on the left side of the tank, all huddled near each other, and 2 (turq and sapphire) were on the right side of the tank, near the intake tube for my xp2. I decided to take a closer look, and to my great surprise, they appeared to be cleaning the filter tube (there is a little bit of brown algae on it, as you'll see in the pictures) and every few minutes, sapphire would put her (guessing her by the action) underbelly up against the filter tube and very slowly swim upwards. She kept doing this every couple minutes, and as they continued picking at the surface, this rubbing up on the tube became much more frequent. (like on the order of once every 10-15 seconds) I didn't see any eggs coming out of her, but every time one of the other discus came anywhere near, turq was VERY quick to chase them all the way over to the other end of the tank, and hurried back to hover right next to sapphire.
Realizing what was going on, I gave Lisa (my gf) a call to let her know what was going on, and she suggested I take some pictures. DUHHH! Why didn't I think of that?!? I was so excited... well, when we got off the phone, I ran to grab my camera, tossed on the 50mm lens, and started snapping away. Turq got real defensive and even looked like he was trying to chase me off every time I leaned towards the tank to take a shot, so I just kinda sat back and watched in awe... snapping off the occasional shot. I tried to get a shot of turq as he faced me, as I could clearly see his ovipositor, which appeared very pointed. (to me anyway, I might just be hoping he's a male and not just 2 females trying to breed) I could neither get a clear shot of it, nor could I really get a good shot of sapphire's ovipositor, but it certainly did seem wider than turq's... so I'm hoping that they genuinely are a male/female pair. I had no idea they'd start trying while still so small... unless I'm mis-judging their sizes, they're only around 4" each. Turq is quite a bit bigger than sapphire, and both have been REALLY pigging out this week... lots of blood worms, and some beef heart and plankton mixed in for a more well-rounded diet. Well, without further adieu, here are a few of the pictures I managed to get. I was so excited that I wasn't really thinking while taking them, so they're not particularly good or anything, but they are relatively clear. Hope you all enjoy, and I will keep everyone updated.
