Aquacrazed
04-16-2016, 09:52 PM
I want to start a post that I wish existed when I started keeping discus and detail the lessons learned over my 2 1/2 years of keeping discus in a planted tank (although I have many years of experience keeping & breeding other tropical fish.).
I know this is a generalization and assuming you get your discus from a reputable breeder, IMHO, there are hardy strains, medium hardy strains and weak strains. This is especially true when you are planning on keeping discus in a planted tank. I have/had almost all the main strains of Discus except wilds. I know there will be people that disagree with me on this, especially people that keep discus in bare bottom tanks or have a commercial interest on this matter. In my experience, the weak strains are usually the newer strains that are still evolving to be hardy by selective breeding.
Hardy strains:
- Most 9 bar strains, like the blue turquoise varieties
- Pigeon blood strains, like checkerboard pigeons
- Solid blue strains, like blue diamonds
Medium hardy strains:
- Marlborough strains, like red melons
Weak strains:
- Albinos
- Most 14 bar strains like leopards & snakeskins
UV sterilizers:
This is a very controversial topic. For the longest time I didn't think I needed one. I was obsessed with water quality parameters that I could measure (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, conductivity, gh, kh etc.) however I totally missed out on one very important thing. The amount of micro organisms in the water column. In a planted tank there are a lot of surfaces where they can grow and thrive like gravel, drift wood, plants etc. unlike bare bottom tanks. After adding a UV sterilizer, I notice my mechanical filter buildup has been reduced by around 50%. There is less gunk buildup in my tank and also a significant reduction in algae growth. I don't have any solid evidence that a UV sterilizer will give you better success with keeping discus in a planted tank but theatrically the reduction of micro organisms in the water column will make your discus less susceptible to diseases.
Size of discus:
Make sure you get discus that are at least 4" in size, ideally 5" if you want to keep them in a planted tank. Adult discus are a LOT hardier than when they are juvies.
So if you are just starting out with discus, I would recommend only getting the hardy strains (maybe Marlborough's) from a reputable breeder and make sure you only get discus from that one source. Mixing discus from different sources will bring in different types of diseases and create a lot of problems. As for water changes, there is a ton of information on that, be prepared to do more frequent and large water changes unlike with other tropical fish.
Hope this help, just my two cents ;)
I know this is a generalization and assuming you get your discus from a reputable breeder, IMHO, there are hardy strains, medium hardy strains and weak strains. This is especially true when you are planning on keeping discus in a planted tank. I have/had almost all the main strains of Discus except wilds. I know there will be people that disagree with me on this, especially people that keep discus in bare bottom tanks or have a commercial interest on this matter. In my experience, the weak strains are usually the newer strains that are still evolving to be hardy by selective breeding.
Hardy strains:
- Most 9 bar strains, like the blue turquoise varieties
- Pigeon blood strains, like checkerboard pigeons
- Solid blue strains, like blue diamonds
Medium hardy strains:
- Marlborough strains, like red melons
Weak strains:
- Albinos
- Most 14 bar strains like leopards & snakeskins
UV sterilizers:
This is a very controversial topic. For the longest time I didn't think I needed one. I was obsessed with water quality parameters that I could measure (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, conductivity, gh, kh etc.) however I totally missed out on one very important thing. The amount of micro organisms in the water column. In a planted tank there are a lot of surfaces where they can grow and thrive like gravel, drift wood, plants etc. unlike bare bottom tanks. After adding a UV sterilizer, I notice my mechanical filter buildup has been reduced by around 50%. There is less gunk buildup in my tank and also a significant reduction in algae growth. I don't have any solid evidence that a UV sterilizer will give you better success with keeping discus in a planted tank but theatrically the reduction of micro organisms in the water column will make your discus less susceptible to diseases.
Size of discus:
Make sure you get discus that are at least 4" in size, ideally 5" if you want to keep them in a planted tank. Adult discus are a LOT hardier than when they are juvies.
So if you are just starting out with discus, I would recommend only getting the hardy strains (maybe Marlborough's) from a reputable breeder and make sure you only get discus from that one source. Mixing discus from different sources will bring in different types of diseases and create a lot of problems. As for water changes, there is a ton of information on that, be prepared to do more frequent and large water changes unlike with other tropical fish.
Hope this help, just my two cents ;)