yogi
02-25-2012, 02:47 PM
You Can Succeed With Discus
Attending an American Cichlid Association convention is always an exciting time for any fish keeper. While attending the 2011 convention I worked at the North American Discus Association table. Discus clearly stole the attention at this convention with about 50 entries. I was surprised at how many people came to our table for information on discus. But what also surprised me was how many said they like discus and thought about getting some, but heard that they are hard to keep. That line was true maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but things have changed a lot. With the amount of information available in books, the Internet forums and information from other hobbyist keeping discus is possible for almost anyone.
So you now know the inspiration for this article. After being attracted to discus you need to have some information if you want to keep them successfully. Discus fish are not hard to keep, but they require a bit more maintenance than your average freshwater fish. For this reason, they are not for everyone-- but they are for the hobbyist who wants something a little more challenging. Keeping and raising discus is more an art form than an exact science. There is more than one way to keep them.
One of the most important things is to start off by buying healthy fish, even if they cost a little more. Otherwise, this could be one of your biggest reasons for failure-- even if you do everything else right. Very few pet shops keep discus correctly or healthy. I said very few because there are some great pet shops out there. But by and large, when it comes to discus, you're usually better off buying from a breeder or discus vendor. Most are reputable, but not all. Do your homework first. You can do a web search on the breeder's name or business. You can also check on the various discus and fish forums and ask questions.
A good tank to start with for discus is a 55 gallon tank. Most people buy juvenile fish in the 2 to 4 inch range. Discus color up a lot faster today than they did 20 or 30 years ago. They still won't reach their full color potential until they almost are adults. A good number to start with is about 6 to 10 discus. You are better off with a bare bottom tank. Discus fish like clean conditions. You can paint the outside bottom of the tank a light brown or light blue color. You're also better off with a light colored background, light blue works very good at showing off your discus. For decorations, live plants in pots or floating are good. Plastic plants with a lava rock, ceramic base or floating, and driftwood (real or ceramic) also looks excellent in a discus tank.
If choosing the discus in person there are some obvious signs to look for. Look at the general conditions of the tanks and make sure they are clean and well maintained. Water spots on the glass do not count as being dirty. Look at the overall health of the fish, healthy discus do not have white stingy feces. They should be attentive and most should come to the front of the tank when you look at it. They are both curious and looking for food. The eyes should be clear and not large for the size of the fish. The fins should be intact, straight and the fish should not be skinny. Most discus strains have a red eye and it's a desirable trait.
The tank does not need a lot of expensive equipment. A hang-on-the-back filter works fine. You do not need to use carbon in your filter, but you need to keep the filter floss clean. Please do not put the discus tank in a high traffic area of your house. Discus can live in a ph range from about 5.0 to 8.0, but it's important you keep it stable. Wild discus come from soft acidic water, but with your first discus I recommend captive bred discus. Through the many years of captive breeding discus have become more tolerant of higher ph and slightly harder water. They require a temperature between 82 and 86 degrees, but discus fish do not need like a lot of bright light to look good.. One single 4 foot t-5 or t-8 striplight will do the trick on a 55 gallon discus tank.
Discus need water changes to thrive, at a minimum, 35 percent per week is needed. If you can do 25 percent 2 or 3 times per week you will be much better off. It's a good habit to always siphon out the waste during the water changes, Refill the tank with water conditions (ph and temperature) similar to your tanks. parameters. In some households the water parameters might change after 24 hours of circulation. This is known as "de-Gassing." In this case, you may choose to age your water for a day. So know your water, and be sure to use a good water conditioner to remove chlorine or chloramines. If possible filter your tap water through a carbon water filter to remove some impurities and heat your water storage container to about your tanks temperature. If you are going directly from the tap to your tank, put the chlorine remover in your tank before you add the new water.
Discus fish absolutely require good food. Do not think that using beef heart is a must, discus can do good with it and they can do good without it. Some other good choices are a high quality pellet or flake. They also need variety. Quality frozen food like bloodworms, brine shrimp and mysis shrimp are good additions. Some additional frozen foods available are chopped mussels and chopped clams. Discus fish eat mostly from the mid - water or the bottom of the tank - not from the top. Do not, under any circumstance, put discus into a community tank. I'm not saying it can never be done, but not in the beginning. You're on a learning curve! For a starter, make the discus the main attraction of your tank. For being a fairly large fish discus have a small mouth and are fairly slow when they move around. The fish in the community tank would out compete them for food. A good tank mate is the albino bushy nose pleco. They eat leftover food, they stay small, they don't bother your discus and they clean algae from the tank. You only need 2 for a 55 gallon tank.
Today through captive breeding there are colors, patterns, spots, stripes and solids for almost every taste. I need to let you know that most discus should reach between 5 and 7 inches in total length. Different colors and strains reach slightly different sizes. They each grow at a slightly different pace. Discus will be almost full grown in their first year. In their second year they will get a little larger and a little thicker.
They say discus can live for about 10 years. I say if you keep them alive for 5 years you did a great job! I have a theory that discus fish age about 15 human years in the first year, and then about 8 or 9 human years each additional year. At the point that they do reach full grown, you will need to reduce your 55 gallon tank to a maximum of only 5 or 6 adults. They are peaceful, graceful and slow moving unless scared by something. A 55 gallon tank with 5 or 6 full grown full - colored discus makes a very pretty sight.
Attending an American Cichlid Association convention is always an exciting time for any fish keeper. While attending the 2011 convention I worked at the North American Discus Association table. Discus clearly stole the attention at this convention with about 50 entries. I was surprised at how many people came to our table for information on discus. But what also surprised me was how many said they like discus and thought about getting some, but heard that they are hard to keep. That line was true maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but things have changed a lot. With the amount of information available in books, the Internet forums and information from other hobbyist keeping discus is possible for almost anyone.
So you now know the inspiration for this article. After being attracted to discus you need to have some information if you want to keep them successfully. Discus fish are not hard to keep, but they require a bit more maintenance than your average freshwater fish. For this reason, they are not for everyone-- but they are for the hobbyist who wants something a little more challenging. Keeping and raising discus is more an art form than an exact science. There is more than one way to keep them.
One of the most important things is to start off by buying healthy fish, even if they cost a little more. Otherwise, this could be one of your biggest reasons for failure-- even if you do everything else right. Very few pet shops keep discus correctly or healthy. I said very few because there are some great pet shops out there. But by and large, when it comes to discus, you're usually better off buying from a breeder or discus vendor. Most are reputable, but not all. Do your homework first. You can do a web search on the breeder's name or business. You can also check on the various discus and fish forums and ask questions.
A good tank to start with for discus is a 55 gallon tank. Most people buy juvenile fish in the 2 to 4 inch range. Discus color up a lot faster today than they did 20 or 30 years ago. They still won't reach their full color potential until they almost are adults. A good number to start with is about 6 to 10 discus. You are better off with a bare bottom tank. Discus fish like clean conditions. You can paint the outside bottom of the tank a light brown or light blue color. You're also better off with a light colored background, light blue works very good at showing off your discus. For decorations, live plants in pots or floating are good. Plastic plants with a lava rock, ceramic base or floating, and driftwood (real or ceramic) also looks excellent in a discus tank.
If choosing the discus in person there are some obvious signs to look for. Look at the general conditions of the tanks and make sure they are clean and well maintained. Water spots on the glass do not count as being dirty. Look at the overall health of the fish, healthy discus do not have white stingy feces. They should be attentive and most should come to the front of the tank when you look at it. They are both curious and looking for food. The eyes should be clear and not large for the size of the fish. The fins should be intact, straight and the fish should not be skinny. Most discus strains have a red eye and it's a desirable trait.
The tank does not need a lot of expensive equipment. A hang-on-the-back filter works fine. You do not need to use carbon in your filter, but you need to keep the filter floss clean. Please do not put the discus tank in a high traffic area of your house. Discus can live in a ph range from about 5.0 to 8.0, but it's important you keep it stable. Wild discus come from soft acidic water, but with your first discus I recommend captive bred discus. Through the many years of captive breeding discus have become more tolerant of higher ph and slightly harder water. They require a temperature between 82 and 86 degrees, but discus fish do not need like a lot of bright light to look good.. One single 4 foot t-5 or t-8 striplight will do the trick on a 55 gallon discus tank.
Discus need water changes to thrive, at a minimum, 35 percent per week is needed. If you can do 25 percent 2 or 3 times per week you will be much better off. It's a good habit to always siphon out the waste during the water changes, Refill the tank with water conditions (ph and temperature) similar to your tanks. parameters. In some households the water parameters might change after 24 hours of circulation. This is known as "de-Gassing." In this case, you may choose to age your water for a day. So know your water, and be sure to use a good water conditioner to remove chlorine or chloramines. If possible filter your tap water through a carbon water filter to remove some impurities and heat your water storage container to about your tanks temperature. If you are going directly from the tap to your tank, put the chlorine remover in your tank before you add the new water.
Discus fish absolutely require good food. Do not think that using beef heart is a must, discus can do good with it and they can do good without it. Some other good choices are a high quality pellet or flake. They also need variety. Quality frozen food like bloodworms, brine shrimp and mysis shrimp are good additions. Some additional frozen foods available are chopped mussels and chopped clams. Discus fish eat mostly from the mid - water or the bottom of the tank - not from the top. Do not, under any circumstance, put discus into a community tank. I'm not saying it can never be done, but not in the beginning. You're on a learning curve! For a starter, make the discus the main attraction of your tank. For being a fairly large fish discus have a small mouth and are fairly slow when they move around. The fish in the community tank would out compete them for food. A good tank mate is the albino bushy nose pleco. They eat leftover food, they stay small, they don't bother your discus and they clean algae from the tank. You only need 2 for a 55 gallon tank.
Today through captive breeding there are colors, patterns, spots, stripes and solids for almost every taste. I need to let you know that most discus should reach between 5 and 7 inches in total length. Different colors and strains reach slightly different sizes. They each grow at a slightly different pace. Discus will be almost full grown in their first year. In their second year they will get a little larger and a little thicker.
They say discus can live for about 10 years. I say if you keep them alive for 5 years you did a great job! I have a theory that discus fish age about 15 human years in the first year, and then about 8 or 9 human years each additional year. At the point that they do reach full grown, you will need to reduce your 55 gallon tank to a maximum of only 5 or 6 adults. They are peaceful, graceful and slow moving unless scared by something. A 55 gallon tank with 5 or 6 full grown full - colored discus makes a very pretty sight.