BREEDING: Very basically, buy six 5cm fish, allow them to mature and pair off naturally. Two fish will segregate themselves from the others and begin to spawn. I always leave the pair where they are and allow them to fight off the other fish, a hopeless task which will result in the eggs or fry being eaten. This instils better parental care of the breeders in the future spawns. I allow this to happen twice, then move the pair to a tank on their own (water temperature 28 degrees Celsius, ph 5.5). Once settled in they will usually spawn after a 50% water change. If all goes well once the fry have become free swimming they will find their first nourishment from the sides of their parents (a wonderful sight). After about ten days start feeding newly hatched brine shrimp. When young discus are about the size of a five cent piece, start feeding them crushed flake food. Then proceed to cut up blood worms. Acceptable foods for discus are flake foods, pellets, frozen blood worms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and beef heart mixes. Add spirulina flakes to their diet as discus do require a certain amount of vegetable matter. In ending, discus don’t just roll over and die, we kill them with our mistakes. Armed with a little knowledge they can be an easy chore, particularly when first starting out with discus, buy from a dealer who specialises in them. So you can draw on their expertise, also try to buy local bred fish, they are by far easier to keep than their imported counterparts.