Is It Male or Is It Female?
This topic has been all over the discus community for who knows how long. How do we know if a discus fish is male or female? Most discus buyers ask this question before they decide on purchasing a handful of fish. However, nobody can give a solid and guaranteed answer to them. People online asks this to us as well. What we can tell them is that they would know when the fishes have grown and start breeding in pair. But this doesn’t really satisfy the question because most people want to breed them without guessing which is male and which is female. Basically, figuring out a discus sex/gender is still an uncovered mystery – for most.
Although being able to figure it out depends on chances, discus owners and breeders studied the fish’s behavior and characteristics, and somehow came up with some helpful tips on how to identify if your discus is a male or female.
I started on poll/question thread in our facebook group and asked people on how to know if a discus is Male or Female. Thankfully, many have responded and gave us helpful tips and ideas to solve this puzzle.
Here’s what they said:
These being said, it is still uncertain. The only proven way in identifying is by WAITING IT OUT. Trying to check its gender when still a juvie just by looking at it is almost impossible. Juvies tend to look almost the same because they haven’t developed their unique form and colors. About 6-7 months, they will start to show hints of coloring as it is being told theoretically that male discus has duller color and more patterned than female. However, color is not particularly an accurate method in sexing because of several factors that directly affects a discus’ health that manifests to color and patterns.
To those who seek to get a breeding pair – realistically, you can’t have proven pairs unless you wait it out. How you may ask? It has been suggested to acquire about a group of juvies from a trusted discus fish seller at once and wait for them to start pairing up. When they grow, and found a pair, then it’s jackpot. You only need to make sure that they are well and healthy until they start breeding. This process is almost like gambling, you play with chance and probability and winning is uncertain. But when you did win, it is worth the risk taken.
If you think you have another way or method, comment below. Tips and ideas are helpful and will benefit everyone!
