Are Discus Really As Difficult As Everyone Says?

[jayjay55531]

 
I've always LOVED discus and wanted to keep them but I always tell myself "mehh I'ma needa buy a RO filter (the water hardness in my area is 300ppm)" and "i'm'a have to do daily water changes" and all that.

but then i just talked to my friend (who lives in my area) who has been maintaining a 55 gallon discus tank for a couple years now. she said she takes care of it like any other tank, uses normal tap water, does a weekly 25% water change and doesn't do anything special with the pH. 

Who with experience can tell me what exactly Discus require in terms of care and maintenance?

Thanks!!

 

[techen]

Overall, I've heard many storys. But I believe now that discus are more hardy than they used to be. Being that some of the discus cost more than a cheap 2nd hand car people like to be prefect when it comes to water and discus.
 
The only thing I can suggest is to try, If your friend is getting on fine then sure it's worth a shot. Just remember to keep everything prefect for them guys.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

A lot of German bred Discus are fine in hard water, there's even a few UK breeders that do fine with them in hard water too, I think it depends where you get them, shop around and send a few emails to breeders and you'll find some that do fine in harder waters.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

I've thought about keeping them before and for similar reasons to you haven't but I believe that whilst once you needed to get your water stats perfect for them, due to breeding they are a lot hardier nowadays.

Sounds to me like your friend is the best person to speak to since you'll have similar water quality to her.

 

[mishmash]

Its been said many times that we do not keep fish, we keep water.  If you can maintain an appropriate temperature and keep the water quality high with decent temperature balanced water changed you can keep discus.  Of course, wild caught species will require more attention to water parameter detail.  But tank bred ones should be fine.  Plenty of bogwood always helps

 

[jayjay55531]

what do you guys recommend in terms of tank size? short term/long term

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It really is a question of strains. There are a number of pretty hardy tank strains that are not difficult to keep. Red Turquoise aka Red turqs are an example. As a rule of thumb, the less a given strain costs at any size, the hardier it is likely to be and the easier to breed as well.

 

[mishmash]

what do you guys recommend in terms of tank size? short term/long term

 
You could keep a group of 6 in a Juwel Rio 180 but when they are full size it may be a little crowded.  Ideally a 4 footer is better.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

I think some things that always come with discus are overplayed but i think mainly this is down to the fact there is a massive section of discus breeders/lovers who do strive to bring on stunning fish. I think this is where some lines are crossed in terms of theories of space, numbers, feeding etc

Like already mentioned, there are some hardy strains nowadays, most people would say you would be best off purchasing adults, even though they are more expensive, as the hardest work is growing discus from young. But then again if you are going to buy adults which are extremely acclimisatised to excellent quality water, maintenance and food this may also cause a bit of difficulty if you are not prepared to continue this level of commitment

 

[jayjay55531]

Thanks everyone!
 
So if I was starting with say a 100 gallon tank (I suppose I need to upgrade when they get bigger?) How often do you think I would need to do water changes?

 

[Electric Warrior]

You really only need to do daily water changes when you are growing out juvies. I think for adults, once or twice a week is sufficient. I think that 100 gallons is more than enough for a small group.

 

[snowflake311]

I have been keeping discus for 2 years now. I still have my first he is my fav. And my largest because I took the best care of him.

IME they are very easy to keep and very hard to grow out. They stunt very easy. So to grow out young discus to there full size it's going to take work. To just keep them as pets and not care how stunted they are then they are no hard then any other fish.

I think part of the stunting has to do with genetics too. They are so inbred and over bred.

Wild discus are not even hard to care for they are hardy. But hard to spawn and breed in aquariums.