discus

[stephenray75]

Are keeping Discus hard? I havent decided if i want discus or chiclids.

[Dangerdoll]

discus ARE cichlids, hehehe ;)

Nonetheless, 125Joe could help answer this. What I do know though is that they need a lot of space, like to be in a group, and require high maintenance as far as water changes are concerned.

[dolphin7]

They are BEAUTIFUL fish & somewhat more sensitive than most cichlids. IMO the hard part is the growing stages. They need plenty of protein & plenty of water changes to reach max potential.

If you have time & space, get min 4-5 identical-sized Discus. An adult requires abt 8 to 10-gal tank capacity. If the tank is planted/decorated, stocking levels should be lower.

If you have a busy schedule, it's not a good idea to keep Discus...

That said, I think 125Joe & elgecko can offer better advice here. :)

P.S: Check out http://www.dph.nl/

[elgecko]

Once you get them settled in, they are hardy fish as long as you do your maintance.

[RobUK]

I think water parameters and temps have to be pretty much perfect.
Allthough there cichilids I have seen many in tanks with neons and the like so I guess there not overlly aggressive (read somewhere there quite shy and timid fish allthough cant remember where)

I was considering keeping a couple in a new 180L I am setting up but we'll have to wait and see as thats suppose to be the new home of my parrot fish :)

[Cearbhaill]

I haven't found them to be difficult at all. As long as you are regular in your maintenance and feed a good varied diet they will do fine for the most part. They do prefer to be kept in groups, and the tank has to revolve around them- I wouldn't just throw them in with any assortment of companions.
Water temperatures for instance have to be high- at least 85ºF, and keep them only with other peaceful South Americans if not in the recommended dedicated species tank.

But if you feed well, keep them clean, and work around them a bit they are as easy as anything else.

[stephenray75]

well i have a 90 gallon tank. I am going to put some Live plants. I have a cascade canister filter. Im looking into getting a kent marine bare bone ro unit. does 1gph. I normaly do weekly water changes on my salt so this would be the same. the temp on the tank stays about 80 degress. So would all this work?

[Cearbhaill]

You will need to raise your temperature to a minimum of 85ºF.

[RobUK]

Surely a temp that high must restrict what if anything you can have in the tank with discus??? or will most tropicals live happily at that temp?

[elgecko]

83 - 86 is best for discus. Higher temps for juv are best. Adults can be at 83.

[Cearbhaill]

Surely a temp that high must restrict what if anything you can have in the tank with discus??? or will most tropicals live happily at that temp?
That's precisely why I said you need to work around them and not expect them to fit into just any tank with a haphazard selection of fish.
Everything has to revolve around them.

[anonapersona]

Also, if you want them in a planted tank, it is best to get grown fish, for they are dificult to feed in planted tanks. It is hard to put in enough food to get them to grow and not have the tank polluted.

So, you either have to get a batch of young fish, grow them in a bare bottom tank to a good size , then convert the tank to planted, or you buy (very expensive ) adult fish.


growing the young ones is a lot of work

Anona, just done with the 4th feeding, 3rd bottom siphoning, and a 50% water change and glass wipedown -- a daily routine for 23 baby discus.

[simbadda]

I don't really see the attraction towards Discus fish...:confused: They don't look that great to me, maybe I'm just seeing the ugly ones o0

[becky_e]

Simbadda, if you go to liveaquaria.com, you'll see how beautiful discus are. They can be as colorful as SW fish. And they get to a nice big size. The discus can be found under freshwater fish.

[dolphin7]

I didn't see it too, until I found out they are cichlids & have loads of personality. I used to think they were just pretty fish, & I hate pretty stuff - pretty pooches, pretty dolls, pretty lace blouses etc. Yuck.

But it's pictures like these that changed my mind: http://album.discusnews.com/album1/album1-1.shtml I can't right-click so you're gonna have to click the link.

Young discus look quite dull, & brown or wild ones also, but over time I grew to appreciate the subtler hues of those born on wild side.

[Hans]

i have heard that they are not as finiky as they used to be since they are tank raised in less that natural water peramitors. crap, we have one at petsmart which is doing fine at a ph of 8 and steady ammonia of .25, not to mention extrermly hard

[stephenray75]

Well I havent decided what to put in the tank. I know i want a few fish that get fairly big and will add life to the tank. I dont care about the fish being pretty either. I have all ways gone for the weird fish. I wish i could get some pirahana. It sucks that alot of fish i would like is illegal in texas.

[Captain Hook]

If you want unique for a 90 I would get puffers. They're interesting and predators.

As for discus, they're too high maintenance for me. Do look pretty nice tho.

[dolphin7]

I love Ornate Bichirs (Polypterus ornatipinnis, 5th pic: http://www.arofanatics.com/members/kuay5/bichircollection/) & Endlicheri's(http://www.arofanatics.com/members/mewmender2/endlichericollection/). I'm looking into getting either one soon. Why not consider them?

Can't keep plants with em though.

[dwayne]

What about an elephant nose fish? Gnathonemus petersii is the scientific name. I saw these at an lfs a few weeks ago and they are the coolest...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0549&view_records=1

The nose is cut off in this pic, but you get the idea
http://www.med.teikyo-u.ac.jp/~ysuga/images/E_fish/Mor-one.JPG

Here's another pic:
edit: second picture didn't work out...

~Tara

[delmore]

I was very close to getting discus, but the frequent water changes (50% daily preferred by some) was the reason I decided not to. I'm very happy with my Uarus. Not nearly as colorful but I appreciate the 1 time a week water change.

[simbadda]

meh, look like pancakes to me :D

[bennubird]

I've kept discus at different times for extended periods of time, graduate school got in the way most recently.

I've read where people have kept discus in water that is hard and the pH is high. However, I'd be curious to see how those fish look as adults if they grew up in those conditions.

Water changes are important, however, I never did the 50% a day routine. A lot depends on what you're feeding, how much of it, and your filtration. If you're trying to create an environment where your fish will thrive and spawn repeatedly then you're going to want really soft water, at a suitable pH (I would say 6.0 - 6.5), that is free of ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, and few heavy metals. The point here is that what's important is that the water is clean.

I don't know any personally but some discus keepers use no filtration and rely completely on water changes. I have a life - meaning I have to work for a living - so I don't have that much time and even if I did I wouldn't want that regiment with my current aquarium and water source configuration.

However, to each his/her own.

[delmore]

The discus experts will tell you that discus only need soft water for breeding. They can thrive in higher pH / hardness, maybe not liquid rock. Massive water changes are needed to grow big, healthy, show quality discus. without big water changes you end up with stunded fish, or fish that look just ok but don't reach their full potential.

[Cearbhaill]

Personally- I raised my Discus like any other fish- I never did the daily water changes and 6+ feedings a day to push growth to its max. The guys recommending this are growing Discus almost as a sport to see who can grow the largest/roundest/fattest fish on the planet.

I raised mine in a planted community tank- I did feed frequently and a good variety but nowhere near 5-6 times a day. Water changes once a week. My pH is something like 7.4 and KH is 4.
I lost one of my ten initially (don't know exactly- he just wasn't there one day) at the quarter sized stage but after that all have thrived. I bought ten figuring 4-5 would be lost, and here it is nearly a year later and I still have nine.

[stephenray75]

well i wanted to put some Fw leaffish in there but they are seasonal and I dont know when i can get more. I had a elephant nose before. Did you know they are easy to actually train. I use to get some tin foil and make a ball out of it. He would play with it.

I know i'm getting a fire eel just gotta figure out what else.

[jeffbraz]

I have 7 discus, 3 rams, 2 dworf guramies, and a dworf pleco, i have a planted take, all my discus are almost at full size and i've had them sence fry. at first i had to pay alot of attention to them but now i only do 2 1/4 tank water changes a week and feed 3 times a day,( different food every feeding) all are happy and im loving them, they are very shy when anyone else but myself or my wife go up to the take, all in all not that hard to take care of tho. one thing i found is that they like slow moving to almost no movement in the tank. so i keep the current to a minimal. i also keep my temp about 85 degress.

[PumaWard]

I personally have found discus to be hardier than angels and guppies. The largest reason people have problems with them is 1.) they do not take the temperature seriously (they need 82F (preferably at least 84F-88F) for their immune systems to function properly). and 2.)discus are 'expensive', so when they fall ill it's not so easy to replace them.
I have seen discus handle poor water conditions (water with ammonia and nitrite) far better than many other tropicals, though I don't think they should be subjected to it.

I personally have experienced problems with my juvenille discus in my planted tank with regular feeding regimes, however, everyone's experience is different, mine is I have ended up with 3, possibly 4 stunted fish. If I had to do it all over again, I would have waited and gotten all 5''+ fish as they do so much better in planted tanks and you don't have to worry about grow-out periods.

However, I do have 1 adult, probably in the 6'' range and he/she is flourishing on regular feedings and cleanings.

As a rule of thumb, you should keep them in groups of 5-6 fish in at least a 55g. The larger the tank, the more fish, all the better.

[Blinky]

Just a quick thought, I recently read that Discus are shy and don't appreciate foot traffic (the person even said that they prefer to be approached slowly and may react fearfully if you 'sneak up on them' and surprise them); if your tank is in a busy part of the house you might want to check into this to see if it holds true.

[PumaWard]

I recently moved 3 of my juvenilles into the kitchen where the tank divides the kitchen and living room. Two of the three have adjusted extremely well, the other is picked on a lot by the other two which probably doesn't help the initial shyness (neither did the rather long catching period for this particular fish which was probably very traumatic for him and has made him fear people for a while).

I go in my room, where I have an adult and juvenille in a 38g, quite a bit when I am hope and the fish can't see me until I am standing 2 feet in front of the tank. Niether are upset by this and are always happy to see me.


Discus, like other fish, need time to adjust to their surroundings, but after they have, they are like any other fish and lose the fear factor once they realise they will not be harmed.

[clayt101]

I just got 2 juvinile discus a week and a half ago. I have never kept them before, but went for it because they were already used to hard water (about pH 8) and kinda cheap. I kept them in quarentine until yesterday, but the larger one started chasing the smaller one, so I decided to put them in the big tank with my other fish, including Altum Angels. Today I fed them for the second time in the big tank, and 1 of the discus had no trouble at all competing for food, the other was still kind of shy, so I fed it on the other side of the aquarium. Hopefully, it too will start feeding with all the others.

[anonapersona]

I've kept my baby discus in the busiest part of the house, on a counter in the kitchen facing the back door and at the corner to the den. They are only shy right after I clean the tank, particularly if I wipe down the walls, but they recover fast if you bribe them.

I've just moved them to a much bigger tank on the opposite wall yesterday, so now the tank is next to the door and closer to the kitchen table. I've added a light so they now have to deal with reflectiosn from the bare bottom tank, and they recovered from this in just minutes. Again, bribing them helps.

I feed them 4x/day, twice they get beefheart with a vac before and after, twice they get frozen cubes, and I give them a pinch of New Life Spectrum Grow formula whenever they beg -- so they are always happy to come to the front when they see people.

[elgecko]

My fish are not shy at all. I walk into the room and they swim to the front of the tank to greet me. They do not even get scared when I clean the tank, or wipe down the front and side glass. I sometime have to take the gravel cleaner and nudge them out of the way so I can see what I'm doing.
My sisiter has some that when you enter the room they freak out and hide. Not sure why they act so different. All my discus are Pigeon Bloods, she has some Leopard skins and a snowflake.