Discus care, really so needy?

Lillyan

Lillyan

AC Members
Jan 26, 2010
1,348
0
0
Culpeper, VA
So, I was at a not-so-local fish store today, 2.5hrs drive and I saw some Discus there and the largest Angelfish ever. They had 2 Angels, bodies 4in diameter, it was amazing!

But what I want to know is, do Discus really need the crazy care I've read about? All that constant water changing, etc??

This store had, oh, 20 of them, all 3-4in. Very lovely colors, good fins. But this store is known for their dreadful infestation of BBA. They don't always have healthy fish, usually the Goldfish and Koi are on their last fins. They had another small group of some kind of Cichlids that were horribly infested with Ich, but what can you do?

My boyfriend bought a wonderful Red sword for $12, one of only a few plants not sold out or not covered in an inch of BBA. Actually, the Sword was floating at the top, prolly why no one dared snatch it up in fear it was damaged. They had other huge plants, but they were stiff and leaves out of the water, I live too far to risk taking one home.

Back to the fish, can't they be cared for like other fish? No way this store cared obsessively over them, the tanks they were in were covered in BBA and other issues. Basic needs met, no more, I'm sure. But they looked amazing....

So what's the catch/trick to keeping them?
 
Last edited:
fish store probably keeps them till they sell or die and then restocks the tank. You don't know if those fish were from todays shipment and haven't been harmed, yet, by the tanks conditions.
 
Tank raised discus don't need super soft water. You can feed them a quality staple diet, such as New Life Spectrum pellets, and they will be ok with that - they thrive on frozen and prepared foods. But if you are financially pinched, I would not consider them - they are not hardy, easy fish by any means. Cichlids are harder to keep than most community fish such as barbs, tetras etc., and discus are difficult cichlids although not the most difficult. They do need extra care to do their best. Better food than most fish, more water changes (one 50% weekly should be ok) and access to medication since they do come down with things...all cichlids, including discus, are more prone to HLLE, so having things like Nitrofurazone and Metronidazole handy are helpful.
 
They need good water quality. They can't tolerate ammonia spikes or lingering nitrates. pH has to be very stable. Think of them as similar to puffers in their care. They are as challenging as saltwater fish, more so in a way because there are lots of other methods (live rock, protein skimmers) that SW tanks keep their tanks water quality high. With freshwater, all we can do is use expensive disposable media such as Chemi-Pure. Discus are a fish that are worth the extra expense of high quality carbon replaced on a regular basis.
 
Keeping discus is not hard if you keep things simple. If you have to ask a LFS for advice, you are probably going to head down the wrong road.

It's one of the more expensive fish to get and maintain. They require clean water and that could be more frequent water change. The key is to get quality fish to start with and unfortunately, you are not going to find too many at a LFS.
 
Yes, I never listen to lfs advice. When I see them keep Betta in cups HALF the size of Petco cups, you know they are pulling stuff outta their bums. Some, even smaller than that. Based on how well the tanks are kept also tells me what I can believe and what I can't. Only got that plant because it was in perfect condition. I refused other plants I wanted because they already had BBA growing, leaves coming off or an insane price. $7 for a very tiny, common plant, no way.
I thought the Discus must of been new, they looked far too beautiful, very perky and interested.


DiscusOnly, do you own only Discus? That would be very dedicated... ^.^
 
DiscusOnly, do you own only Discus? That would be very dedicated... ^.^
Click to expand...

As my username suggested, discus is about the only fish I keep. It's about the only fresh water fish I am interested beside the rare pleco and monster fish. Unfortunately, I don't have room for any monster fish.
 
I have discus as well, I do not use carbon on my discus tank only foam. I do water changes daily and on occasion only every other day.I have a python hose so it only takes about 5 maybe 10 minutes to maintain their water each day which I usually do while having a bit of me time in the evenings after the kids go to bed. I feed mine freeze dried black worms, frozen beef heart, frozen blood worms and a staple diet.My ph is 7.2 out of the tap so that is what mine live in. I do not buy from lfs I would only buy from a reputable dealer or a fellow hobbiest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom