This thread is being started for people interested in keeping Discus fish as pets only with no intentions of breeding them.
This is by no means intended as a snub for those of you who do breed them for both enjoyment and profit. In fact, much of what you have learned can be applied here and helpful to others.
But lets face it, no matter how much you talk about and recommend bare bottom tanks, the reality is, people who just want to keep these fish as pets, and I do mean "pets," want to know all the how's and best way to do it in a planted (liver or plastic, in my case both), gravel bottom tank.
I'm not talking about the race to grow them out quickly either, because just how important is that for most non breeders? It's Simply is not.
The other way to honor this hobby is by addressing those interested in just keeping these fish alive, healthy and happy.
I would like to see tank size, gravel depth, filter types, most hardy of Discus types, other fish for such a tank (I myself have only two other fish in my tank, both cats, that's it), plant types and a weekly maintenance schedule.
Personally I have a 40 gallon tank, with 5 discus in it.
They are about nine months old now ranging in size from 3.5" to 4.5," they were dime size when I got them and have always been in a graveled planted display tank.
I clean the gravel once a week and do a 50% water change at the same time. I also do two 25% water changes each week spaced about every two days.
I keep the tank simply set up for display with two live plants and 3 plastic ones, a nice piece of drift wood and a few stones, and two air stones for good aeration of the water.
I use a Marineland Emperor 280 filter.
Of course I did all my research first before putting this tank together to get it working the way I wanted it too.
I actually maintain my pH at 6 all the time and do water changes directly from the tap into the tank. Taboo, not really, since I've kept angel fish alive for 7 years like this...I feel guilty not using a water conditioner, but I don't like adding unnecessary chemicals to my tanks. The water in my area happens to be very good, just lucky in that respect. But of course every body should have their's check before doing this, and even then check it every so often if you can, too make sure nothing strange was done to it by your local water company. You should do what you feel is safest and works best for you.
I experienced only one episode of fin and tail rot on two of the fish, narrowing down the cause from uneaten beef heart, which had been removed from their diets, there for advising any future problems that may cause. Of course that also occurred on the one week I was away for a few days and my Mom over feed the fish a bit...she did it too the dog too, she has this thing about feeding pets a lot of food.
I do not feed them any live foods thus avoiding any parasites that might enter the tank that way.
My fish are on a diet consisting of Colorbits, Spectrum, dried Blood Worms, frozen Brime Shrimp, and Frozen Red Blood Worms.
They are all happy and healthy and growing nicely to my satisfaction with none of them showing any signs of being too thin or stunted...well, the low discus in the pecking order, but we must learn to love that fish too. they are being kept as "pets."
But I found that even it has been growing, just at a slower rate then the others, so how bad can that be?
So for all you who have questions about starting such a tank for Discus as pets, ask them here.
I don't have all the answers, I'm still learning, but there are a lot of members here who do.
And if any one is wondering why I think this thread might be of importance. Well, I was reading a post from someone who's discus laid eggs and they hatch in his community tank.
Of course we know their probably not going to survive, but he didn't know how to deal with it.
We just need to tell them, that almost all fish will breed or try to breed and will lay eggs from time to time, and if you have no interest in rasing the fry, simply remove the eggs as you see them, the fish will get over, it's no big deal.
We also need to let people know that discus are a lot more hardy then we give them credit for and they can be kept happy and healthy in a beautiful Aquarium Environment.
This is by no means intended as a snub for those of you who do breed them for both enjoyment and profit. In fact, much of what you have learned can be applied here and helpful to others.
But lets face it, no matter how much you talk about and recommend bare bottom tanks, the reality is, people who just want to keep these fish as pets, and I do mean "pets," want to know all the how's and best way to do it in a planted (liver or plastic, in my case both), gravel bottom tank.
I'm not talking about the race to grow them out quickly either, because just how important is that for most non breeders? It's Simply is not.
The other way to honor this hobby is by addressing those interested in just keeping these fish alive, healthy and happy.
I would like to see tank size, gravel depth, filter types, most hardy of Discus types, other fish for such a tank (I myself have only two other fish in my tank, both cats, that's it), plant types and a weekly maintenance schedule.
Personally I have a 40 gallon tank, with 5 discus in it.
They are about nine months old now ranging in size from 3.5" to 4.5," they were dime size when I got them and have always been in a graveled planted display tank.
I clean the gravel once a week and do a 50% water change at the same time. I also do two 25% water changes each week spaced about every two days.
I keep the tank simply set up for display with two live plants and 3 plastic ones, a nice piece of drift wood and a few stones, and two air stones for good aeration of the water.
I use a Marineland Emperor 280 filter.
Of course I did all my research first before putting this tank together to get it working the way I wanted it too.
I actually maintain my pH at 6 all the time and do water changes directly from the tap into the tank. Taboo, not really, since I've kept angel fish alive for 7 years like this...I feel guilty not using a water conditioner, but I don't like adding unnecessary chemicals to my tanks. The water in my area happens to be very good, just lucky in that respect. But of course every body should have their's check before doing this, and even then check it every so often if you can, too make sure nothing strange was done to it by your local water company. You should do what you feel is safest and works best for you.
I experienced only one episode of fin and tail rot on two of the fish, narrowing down the cause from uneaten beef heart, which had been removed from their diets, there for advising any future problems that may cause. Of course that also occurred on the one week I was away for a few days and my Mom over feed the fish a bit...she did it too the dog too, she has this thing about feeding pets a lot of food.
I do not feed them any live foods thus avoiding any parasites that might enter the tank that way.
My fish are on a diet consisting of Colorbits, Spectrum, dried Blood Worms, frozen Brime Shrimp, and Frozen Red Blood Worms.
They are all happy and healthy and growing nicely to my satisfaction with none of them showing any signs of being too thin or stunted...well, the low discus in the pecking order, but we must learn to love that fish too. they are being kept as "pets."
But I found that even it has been growing, just at a slower rate then the others, so how bad can that be?
So for all you who have questions about starting such a tank for Discus as pets, ask them here.
I don't have all the answers, I'm still learning, but there are a lot of members here who do.
And if any one is wondering why I think this thread might be of importance. Well, I was reading a post from someone who's discus laid eggs and they hatch in his community tank.
Of course we know their probably not going to survive, but he didn't know how to deal with it.
We just need to tell them, that almost all fish will breed or try to breed and will lay eggs from time to time, and if you have no interest in rasing the fry, simply remove the eggs as you see them, the fish will get over, it's no big deal.
We also need to let people know that discus are a lot more hardy then we give them credit for and they can be kept happy and healthy in a beautiful Aquarium Environment.
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