That tends to help them feel more secure, and they seem to spawn sooner. You can black out the sides and back and bottom of the tank to give the pair a feeling of privacy. The only thing I have in the tank, is a breeding cone, sometimes two, and a sponge filter which I have had running in a mature tank for two weeks to build up a good colony of beneficial bacteria. The breeding tank needs to be thoroughly cleaned and filled with newly aged water, the same pH as in the community tank. The fry need to be able to find their parents, and it's more difficult in a large tank. I like to use a 2 foot cube, but you could use a 2ft 6 inch standard tank, or even a three foot standard. You will need a separate tank to place the breeding pair in. More acid water will increase the slime production on the parents. But try to achieve this by filtering through peat moss for the most natural conditions. The breeding tank needs to be more acid than that, around 6.5 to 6.8. The increased calcium in the water is beneficial to the bones of young growing discus. If your water is very soft, like mine, this is the simplest way to provide stable water conditions. My community and grow out tanks run at a pH of around 7.2 to 7.4, and I add shellgrit to the floor of the tank to buffer the pH and prevent crashes. I believe this makes for a stronger pair bond, and because they have had to defend their eggs or fry, they are not so prone to egg eating later. I always allow my young pairs to lay eggs at least two or three times in the community tank, before I give them their own tank. If you are aiming to breed these magnificent fish, then I would suggest you start off with 4 or 6 juveniles of the one colour, and allow them to pair naturally in the community tank.
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