Discus Husbandry

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markandhisfish

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from day 1 of getting a tank i saw a picture of discus and i just wanted 1 . was told no way should you attempt these fish they are for serious experts only. ok i thought fair enough i will wait. as you all know a couple of weeks ago i got a group of discus. .............. BUT .... before i got the fish i did a ton of research browsed lots of sites , several different forums etc to learn what to do when it came to keeping these wonderful fish. and most of what i read to be honest was quite daunting.

these fish are made out to be super delicate , extremely hard to keep , and very easy to kill..............NOT TRUE!!!!!

example . when netting a discus due to the flattened shape of its body it lies on 1 side and often gets scraped eye , fin damage etc. i have seen all sorts of wierd and wonderfull explenations for this , such as fungal infections, genetic deformities and the best was that it was ph burn. bascly meaning that the water had burned the fishes eyes and the eye was blind/damaged. AGAIN RUBBISH!!! it is slight damage from netting that will heal in a couple of days as long as your water is clean.

yes it is true that discus do have certain special requirements....... however these are not nearly as complicated as so called experts will have you believe.

lets break it down to its true factors here.

as long as you meet these few simple requirements then discus are no harder to keep than any other sa cichlid.

these requirements are easy to meet with just a little bit of effort and care. and basicly they are these

1) higher temps than most tropical fish 28 to 30 degrees centegrade
2) not too strong a current again very easy to manage
3) clean water and clean tank
4) calm tempered tankmates
5) a good high protein diet due to the fact that discus have quite a poor metabolism


and basicly thats it meet those 5 simple rules and you can keep discus with a great level of success.
 
Bloomin' heck, swear you read my mind!
Just been on a particular site to research them a little bit more and thought I'd double check with you.
It says about doing 3 water changes a week, is that correct?
 
depends on many variables really stang. such as stocking levels , wether they are adult or juvenile fish etc. i do 25% every other day, and to be honest could probably get away with less as my fish are adults and my tank is quite lightly stocked, i just like to make sure its always in top condition. at the end of the day , just watch the fish they will soon show you if they nned a water change , by their general colour , appearance etc .
 
Thanks for that, want to make sure I get it right if we do decide to definitely go for Discus. Plan to spend the next couple of weeks reading up on them more. :good:
 
if you do decide to go and get discus , get fish that are 4 inches or above, by this stage they are geting into adulthood and care is much easier than for small juveniles. small juveniles do need lots of feedings and waterchanges etc for optimal growth but with subadult/adult fish the learning curve is much easier.

when reading ad researching you will encounter many myths and lots of rubbish , but also lots of valuable info tthat you should listen to. it is only when you start to keep the fish that you see for yourself..... if that makes sense.

il give you another example . on a specilist discus forum which obviously i wont name ( rules lol ) i was following a thread about water temp with discus and waterchanges . the op was saying his temp dropped slightly and was asking if it was a problem he was told by a couple of people that if he was re-filling from the cold tap he should stop straight away , because drops in temperature are considered very harmful to discus and potentially even fatal. they then went into great detail about how they matched the temp of the new water to within half a degree before adding it to the tank abd that anything else would harm and stunt his fish .

now this is absolute rubbish.
if you think about it in the wild discus are found in the shallow feeder streams of the amazon where in the wet season these streams can be suddenly deluged with rain water which can quickly drop the temperature by several degrees. not only does this not kill fish , it does the opposite it is a trigger that can enduse spawning. if you change 20 to 25% of your tank volume and re-fill from the cold tap it should drop your temp by around 2 or 3 degrees , which will cause adult discus no problem whatsoever.
 
Looks like I've got a fair bit of reading to do. Off to bed now but may end up picking your brains next time I'm on if you don't mind? :unsure:
 
of course i dont mind . altho i should point out that altho i did loads of research 1st and i have learned a lot ive only been keeping the fish for a short time. but i have a very good mentor that helps me. any questions you have fire away and if i can help i will. :good:
 
of course i dont mind . altho i should point out that altho i did loads of research 1st and i have learned a lot ive only been keeping the fish for a short time. but i have a very good mentor that helps me. any questions you have fire away and if i can help i will. :good:
Thanks Mark, really appreciate it :*
 
Hi Mark,

Can I pick your brains please.

I have keept tropical fish for a great number of years now on and off. I have recently had a disaster with my tank and lost all my fish NOT A GOOD week, anyway I will get over this.
The tank is being stripped and deep cleaned and left to totaly dry then cleaned again etc for a few weeks.

Giving some thought as to what next I want to keep discus fish.

The question are.
My tank is a 4 foot tank, how many can I keep was thinking of two pairs, and what other fish can I keep and what numbers.
I would like to include Rams and rummy nosed tetras which I have been told do make good tank mates.
Also looking at some cat fish.

Can I add any shrimps to the tank along with a few snails to keep the bottom clean?

Any advice very much appriciated with the set up requirements.

Regards

Mark
 
not a problem , i know how daunting i found it when i decided to take the plunge. but once you actually do it you will find , just as i did , that they are not nearly as delicate or difficult as their reputation as long as you meet their basic requirements.
 
Personally I dont think its keeping the fish thats the problem its keeping the passion for keeping the fish that causes problems. Last year my hubby's mate quizzed me every time he visited about keeping fish, then he went out bought a tank and stocked it the following day :crazy: dispite what I told him, he was fine for a couple of months, with water changes etc now he doesnt bother with it at all. Now he wants discus!!!!

I enjoy reading all your threads on your discus it makes me smile seeing just how passionate you are about them and its enjoyable reading all about them knowing they are not a fish for me. Now take my fish of your avatar :lol: (just joking hun)
 
lol star vinny may be in your tank now but he still knows his daddy :lol: also i toally agree with what you say regrding the passion for keeping the fish. if in time the interest will fade and you find yourself saying ooh il miss this waterchange cos i cant be bothered then this hobby isnt for you.

hi markf6233

what problem did you have that is so bad that you want to spend. a few weeks cleaning yur tank? if you do that then you will find that when you think your tank is clean enough that you will have to cycle it all over again.
 
The reason they are said to be so hard to care for is because the average "fish keeper" does not take the best care of their fish and should not keep discus. BUT to people like us that know what it takes to keep fish happy and healthy for years we can care for a discus no problem.

I don't think this fish for the first time keeper but if you know what your doing they are not harder then other cichlids. I thought my Wild Parrot was going to be hard to care for. I was scared she would get HITH. But turns out she is doing great and not any harder to keep then my other fish.

My next fish adventure will be discus. I think my husband would like them. He likes bright fish with lots of color.
 
lol star vinny may be in your tank now but he still knows his daddy :lol: also i toally agree with what you say regrding the passion for keeping the fish. if in time the interest will fade and you find yourself saying ooh il miss this waterchange cos i cant be bothered then this hobby isnt for you.

hi markf6233

what problem did you have that is so bad that you want to spend. a few weeks cleaning yur tank? if you do that then you will find that when you think your tank is clean enough that you will have to cycle it all over again.

Hi Mark,

I have had repeated problems with a fungi infections in the tank, I was gutted when I lost both of my Pleco's as I had them from tiny to big over 6 years and as my computer desk is next to the tank it was great when working watching them.
I was gutted when I lost them and so fast. I almost gave up and was going to sell everything but my wife said we should give it another go, so I have decided to deep clean the tank just so that I can be sure its super clean, any ideas on how best to do this would be appriciated.
I also want to paint the house walls behind where the tanks will site and change around the room so it will be empty for a week or so and have plenty of time to dry out as I have been told this is a good way of ridding fungi. As for keeping Discus I have always wanted these but could never set up another tank just for them so now is the chance to build something special.

The plan is to get the tank set up and matured for as long as it takes, introuduce the snails/Shrimps and perhaps some of the other fish like Rams and wait a month or so for everything to settle down.
I will be away the last week in august so I do not plan to get the Discus fish until I return.

Any advice on the intended tank mates would be appriciated, looking after them is not a problem, I love keeping fish as I find then so interesting. I may in the future get another tank for a marine set up.

Many thanks
 
told you mate about these fish

I struggled at forst when I kept them cos I mollycoddled them and bought babies from a dodgy LFS but once you have bigger fish they are no different than any other cichlids IMO anddisplay the same bullish characteristics

Can't wait to get my tank going with them waiting for the substrate at the moment :good:
 

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