markandhisfish
comfortably numb
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.
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.