Questions for 125gJoe or anyone with discus

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

Dahlia

AC Members
Sep 3, 2003
378
0
0
46
South Carolina
www.livejournal.com
A while back I was really considering getting into discus, but all the bulletin boards and info I read discouraged me from it. I can see where someone might enjoy being very meticulous breeding a fish like discus or killiefish entirely for the pleasure of spawning and growing fish, but that isn't what appeals to me about this hobby. The idea of bare bottom tanks and plastic shoeboxes of fish doesn't fit with the fact that I enjoy spending lots of time watching my fish for their beautiful looks.

The recent pics of your tank has gotten me thinking about discus again though. You seem to go more along the path I would take. I have some questions regarding your setup.

-Did you start bare bottom and rigorously grow juveniles to a large size, or do anything special to raise your discus to the size they are now? Are they large specimens or a little smaller than discus breeders prefer? How long did it take them to reach the size they are now?

-Did you buy show quality fish? Did you buy them from a private breeder or an LFS? Fish show? What did you do to find the fish you chose?

-How often a day do you feed? How often do you do water changes and what extreme of changes do you do?

-Do your fish ever breed? Do you ever raise fry?

-Do you consider your fish much more difficult to keep than "regular" freshwater fish?

-Have you or do you ever have disease problems with your fish such as hole in the head, etc.?

-Do you keep any other fish species with your discus and would you recommend against it? If I did I would just want otos or something of that nature to keep my plants clean. I don't think I'd want any other fish detracting from my discus, but just out of curiosity would they eat a school of cardinal tetras?

Thanks! Right now I'm working on some planted tank setups that should eliminate my budget for months, but I still have one spot I think I could fit another tank so I am daydreaming. :)
 

125gJoe

2009 VMAX
Jul 6, 2002
3,047
0
0
OUch.

I answered all your questions and forgot about the 'time-out' on here and lost it all........

I knew I should have 'copied and pasted'........

..gotta go to work...
sorry will try it again in the morning...


:eek:
 

Deb2

AC Members
Jun 4, 2002
314
0
0
60
Folsom, CA
Visit site
I have kept discus for 20 years. I didn't find a difference in their health, or growth in BB vs planted. The only difference is that a BB is easier to clean. You will never be able to vacuum the gravel as clean as a BB. That being said, if you like the sterile glass box approach and you want easy then that is what you should have. I personally don't care for the look.
My discus spawn in a planted tank. I remove the fry when they are taking baby brine shrimp, or between 2 and 4 weeks. I put the fry in a barebottomed with a seeded sponge filter. Fry get fed about 4 times a day and I change 20 to 50 % of the water in their tank usually once a day, but I skip a day here and there (working a double shift doesn't leave much time for fish). The adults are fed twice a day with flakes soaked in garlic juice, blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp. At night they get live black worms.
The fish I have now were bought from an LFS that has good quality fish. I look for good color, you don't want the discus to be dark barring is ok because discus will bar up easily. You also want a nice round shape, and eyes that don't look large for the body (study some pictures of discus so you can tell the difference). I also prefer red eyes. Then look for all the usual problems such as torn fins, clamped fins, injuries or signs of disease. I also ask to see the fish feed.
I don't consider them to be difficult, at least not any more with all the tank raised varieties. We know much more about them than we used to and as long as you keep up with water changes, temp. 84 degrees, feed good food, quarentine new arrivals, you will be successful. If you are thinking about spawning you should have a pH of 6.5 or lower, and GH and KH of 4.
I have had every disease known to discus (except the discus plague) over the years. That is why I am careful to quarentine new arrivals. I have had varying sucess with treatments.
I keep angels, clown loaches, siamese algae eaters, rummy nose tetras, and cories in the tank. The only fish that I have had a problem with are otocinclus that were eating the slime coat off the discus, needless to say they are no longer in the tank. they may eat cardinals but if the cardinals are large enough they won't.
Hope this helps even though I'm not Joe.

BTW, Joe you either rambled on more than I did or you type awfully slow :p .
 

Cearbhaill

Reads the Gribble Report
Mar 22, 2003
1,395
0
0
South Florida USA
Visit site
I bought 10 baby Blue Diamond Discus from a vendor on Aquabid. They were shipped via Aiirborne Express and came through without a hitch.
They live in a 90 gallon community tank with Rasboras, Cardinals, Diamond tetras, Cories, Otocinclus, Farlowellas, and Ghost Shrimp.
I change 30% of the water every week replacing it with well aged/aerated water- my water is naturally soft (KH3) and near 7.0 pH.
They aren't old enough to spawn yet.
Never had the first problem or disease with them (knock on wood).

I feed them 3-4 times per day- mostly live California Blackworms, a huge variety of frozen fare (brine shrimp, mysis, Wattley formulas, and even one marine formula), and occasional spirulina. I also augment with fresh minced garlic. I find that using live and well rinsed frozen allows me to feed them as frequently as they need for good growth while not gunking up my tank. Since I began feeding live I can't even get one speck of detrius to come up in a gravel vacuuming tube.

I don't think they are difficult.
I'd recommend getting the tank well established before adding them, quarantine, and go for it.
 

125gJoe

2009 VMAX
Jul 6, 2002
3,047
0
0
Deb2 and Cearbhaill, thanks! Now I don't have to type so much! :D

We change our water weekly. 1/3 is the amount for a change, and we keep the temps the same, or very close to it. We use R/O water since the water here is extremely hard. We add back R/O Right and Discus Essential to replenish the pure (stripped of all chemicals), R/O water.

Our Discus were bought from "A Discus Dream" -- in Ohio , I think.. We picked them up at the airport as we didn't like the idea of having them sit in a delivery truck possibly thru the day! We tried and tried to find Discus locally, but no luck with that. It seems the LFS's we tried didn't want to take the time to set-up a warmer water Discus tank. Or worse, the ones that had them looked sickly...

I would never keep Discus in a bare bottom tank. It seems just a bit cruel, as they seem very paranoid sitting in an 'empty' tank just because they are being bred in large groups, or have lazy keepers... :( Discus need places to hide if they want to, like most any other fish. Plants and driftwood in with them is so much better. Some delicate plants can't handle the warmer water, so check into that. Meaning, thin, "hairy" varieties don't seem to handle it.

We got our Discus small in size, of about 2 1/2" to 3"... I think it's good to get them young and watch them grow in..

The "wild" varieties usually have vertical bars on the sides. I prefer solid colors of "domestic" Discus. The bars can still show some on domestic fish when they are stressed.

We feed ours twice a day. Variety of foods is good -- I'm not sure why they love Tetra Color Bits so much.. :scratch: At this point, they like them the most, even better than Bloodworms! The colors on our fish (can I brag??) are incredible! I'm thinking the "Color" Bits helped!

Always keep an eye on your water temp...
Between 84 and 87 degrees works great for us. Use two heaters in case one fails, the other should be able to keep the temperature stable enough.

Wow! I'm getting long-winded!

I learned about everything here at Aquaria Central, and some stuff I knew from previous aquarium set-ups. I rarely check in at Simply Discus website, but it can be very useful too!
 
Last edited:

Dahlia

AC Members
Sep 3, 2003
378
0
0
46
South Carolina
www.livejournal.com
Yay thanks everyone! This has gotten me so excited.

Cearbhaill, you mentioned you have ghost shrimp in with yours, no one eats them? Could I keep some of the algae eating shrimp with discus without them turning into snacks? Cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, etc. Of course, I've yet to research if these mind the higher temps.

Did any of you treat your fish for diseases "just to be sure" while they were in quarantine? How long do you need to quarantine discus to be sure?

Also, from what you have said, you just add your juveniles directly to the planted tank and let them grow up there, correct? What size do your adult fish get (or are they adults yet?)

It's too bad I have to wait!
 

Cearbhaill

Reads the Gribble Report
Mar 22, 2003
1,395
0
0
South Florida USA
Visit site
The way I look at it the ghost shrimp are excellent scavengers until the Discus get bigger- then they will be an excellent snack. They're cheap enough I'll be happy to restock. I buy them from Aquabid as well- I believe I bought the last bunch of 36 for $10.
Cherry's and Amano's are too expensive to be feeders :D

I did use praziquantel while the Discus were in quarantine- but only because I already had it on hand from Goldfish use. I also fed them Metrodiazonale food for the same reason- I had some. I like to be sure whenever possible that no flukes or intestinal protozoal diseases find their way into my tanks.
I wouldn't have bought it specifically for Discus though- there's not enough anecdotal evidence that it is needed on every new fish (unlike Goldfish).

I'd recommend finding he best breeder I could find and trust that they keep their fish parasite free- ask them to specify how and what they do. Still quarantine to be sure, but I don't believe I'd treat with anything unless I saw a specific need.

My fish are not adults yet- dunno how big they'll get.
That might be the drawback to keeping them in a planted community tank- you simply can't force growth like you can in barebottoms.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store