Info On Discus

[cmcpart0422]

Hey guys im thinking about starting up a discus tank. Im not interested in breeding them or anything just want to enjoy them. I have done a little research and it seems like they are hard fish to keep happy. I was wondering if there are any discus owners out there that could give me some info on what i would be in for if i decided to start up a discus tank, and the maintenance that they require. Thanks alot.

-Chris

 

[mscichlid]

I have a group of heckles now, but a few years ago I did keep the domestic type. I learned the following things:

The basic maintenace of discus entails copious amounts of food and water changes.
The basic formula for the amount of discus per tank is based on 10 gals per fish.
Discus should be kept in groups of five or more, unless you have a breeding pair which can be kept in a 29 gal.
Small discus should not be kept in planted tanks...but people do it anyway.
Most discus keepers keep their fish in bare-bottom tanks to make it much easier to clean up excess food and waste.
Quite a few people who keep discus wipe the interior of the tank at water changes with paper towels.
Discus can be kept in tap water, however I don't think this means water that is extremely hard or has a pH in the 8 range.

There are other folks here who have discus who could add their experience or can dispute the information I supplied.

Let us know what you get.

 

[F8LBITE]

Ill be watching this thread because I want to do a discus tank next too. We had Dick Au as a speaker at one of the meetings a few months ago, he had a great presentation and made me want to dive in head first into discus.

 

[cmcpart0422]

i want to get some but i just wanna make sure i know what im getting into b4 i make my decision. The other option is a piranha tank. I would love to get some more input though on the discus.

 

[mscichlid]

Well...I'm sure you've done a lot of research already.

You may have been to these sites:

http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/index.shtml

http://forum.bidka.org/

http://www.discusnada.org/

These are the places that I frequent.

 

[maddog10]

Discus, like most fish, can adapt to different water conditions. So long as they are not extreme (as Francine has mentioned). With discus you need to really maintain 'perfect' water when you are trying to breed them or groom them for shows. Not so perfect water conditions can stunt their growth, especially when growing them out from fry or juveniles.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Something I'll add to this:

I interviewed a discus breeder who told me that he prefers harder water for growing fish out. Even though they won't breed in hard water, they grow faster in harder water than they do in soft water. I don't understand why that would be, and I have no way to verify that, but I thought I'd just pass it on.

Another point that I'll relate. Years ago, David Boruchowitz gave a talk at a PVAS meeting. He stressed the importance of keeping up with water changes for fish health.

At one point he said that if you're keeping a fish in water that's not to their liking (soft water fish in hard water, or vice versa), it's even more important to keep up with water changes. Not only is the fish dealing with the stress of water that it's not suited to, it's also dealing with the high ammonia levels and other toxins present in dirty water. Keep up with the water changes, and you at least eliminate one of these stresses.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (maddog10 @ Dec 15 2008, 07:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Discus, like most fish, can adapt to different water conditions. So long as they are not extreme (as Francine has mentioned). With discus you need to really maintain 'perfect' water when you are trying to breed them or groom them for shows. Not so perfect water conditions can stunt their growth, especially when growing them out from fry or juveniles.[/b]

 

[cmcpart0422]

Thanks for the info everyone. I have visited a couple of discus forums and read some articles and they are high maintenance fish. Lots of people have RO filter systems which seem to be pretty expensive. And along the lines of water changes most dedicated owners do 25%-50% changes every day!!!!! And they set the water for changes aside the day b4 and aerate it and heat it in advance. They also say that keeping the tank bare is the best way to keep the tank clean. As cool as they look and sound i cant deal with all this. I like having gravel and plants in my tank. maybe in the future when i have some more cash and time ill look into them again but now is not the time.

 

[mscichlid]

I appreciate that you looked into it before jumping into it. The folks who tell you that discus are easy are the ones who usually maintain several tanks of them and are the ones who pretty much gear their attention to them full time.

 

[Andrew]

You have an amazing resource here in CCA, Discus Hans! Plus a number of local stores that carry his fish ...

Hans' fish make for a great first-time experience as they are healthy, hardy and more adaptable than many (please notice I didn't say "all") others that may be available. We've gotten a large number of relatively unsophisticated aquarists interested in these fish and, as long as they are willing to put forth the effort and listen to advice, they are well-rewarded.

Stendker (Hans' source of fish in Germany) breeds lines of discus for physical health as well as beauty. They do not introduce new color strains into the market until they are certain that they are solid fish and meet the standards set by their existing lines of fish.

The difference to you is that the discus are likely to eat a wide variety of foods, adapt to a variety of water conditions, and offer a margin of error that even if you do have trouble for whatever reason, you'll have time to correct the problem before irreparable damage is done.

Believe me, as a retail store, I wouldn't carry discus at all if they weren't similar in care requirements to most of the other fish that I sell. It simply wouldn't be worth the time. Discus Hans is one of the first suppliers in the US to offer discus that a retail store can confidently stock without being overly concerned as to losses or devoting a disproportionate amount of time and effort to keeping healthy.

Give 'em a shot, you won't be sorry.

If this post is toeing the line of inappropriate commercial promotion, I apologize. I have never kept anything like his discus before though and hope this comes across as a testimonial rather than a sales pitch. The content in this post isn't really different from Hans' talks on discus anyway...

 

[phishphorphun]

Andrew, fair and balanced imo.

 

[marge618]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (phishphorphun @ Dec 16 2008, 08:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Andrew, fair and balanced imo. [/b]

Ditto

 

[cmcpart0422]

Thanks for the info Andrew. When i do decide to start a discus tanks your store and hans is where ill start. The timing is just not right for me now but i will, in the future, start a discus tank.

 

[George]

I treat my Discus the same as my Oscars, Angels, severums, and all my other fish. They do fine. Of course I have only had most of them for five or six years so the jury is still out. Someone here gave you bad info. They will breed just fine in hard water. The eggs probably won't hatch but you aren't interested in breeding anyway, right? Discus are easier than Piranha.

George

 

[cmcpart0422]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GJR2 @ Dec 17 2008, 09:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I treat my Discus the same as my Oscars, Angels, severums, and all my other fish. They do fine. Of course I have only had most of them for five or six years so the jury is still out. Someone here gave you bad info. They will breed just fine in hard water. The eggs probably won't hatch but you aren't interested in breeding anyway, right? Discus are easier than Piranha.

George[/b]

No i am not interested in breeding them. How did you come to the conclusion that discus are easier then piranha? Ive been to several discus and piranha forums and i have read countless articles on both. It seems that when done the right way discus are a high maintenance fish. All that Piranha need is lots of room, balanced diet, good filters for the size tank they require, temp 76-82, and a ph between 6.5-7.5. Piranha owners only do 15%-25% water changes once a week. The more i read on piranhas the more they sound like cichlids. Lots piranha owners even say that cichlids are more aggressive then piranhas.

 

[George]

Yep, Piranha are very shy. They are very hard to get comfortable and often get scared by any movement. Discus have the rep but Piranha are the real cowards. It is pretty hard to find dithers for Piranha too.

Piranha required much filtration and your suggested water changes might not keep up with the filth. Piranha are VERY messy eaters. My Discus get by with 25 to 50 per cent a week water changes. That is the same as most of the rest of my fish. Before you conclude any bad stuff, there are several folks around who have Discus that were eggs in my basement. My Discus are kept at 76 to 80 degrees. All my fish are. I do not use heaters.

Discus and Piranha are about the same difficulty as long as you do not want to breed them. If you want other fish in the tank, including more of their own kind, Discus can be easier.

George

PS. Discus are prettier too.

 

[cmcpart0422]

Thanks George. This is the reason why i started this post. I wanted to get some ones first had experience with the fish. Im sry if i came across as questioning you. I just want to make sure i get the most info possible before i even consider a fish for my tanks. I do appreciate you input on the topic.

 

[George]

And in the end, they are both pretty cool fish that will teach you a bunch. Hope I helped.


George

 

[animicrazy]

I guess somebody has to be the but-head and throw an unpopular opinion out there - this is what works for me (I keep both hybrid and wild discus - mostly wild):

* Water changes are a good way to kill fish in West Baltimore so I do as few as I can get away with.

* Using RO water is a stupid way to waste money; better spent at the pool hall or on more fish that you don't really need. I filter my tap water (for all my fish) through two stage particulate and two carbon blocks and then a UV unit - you can use a garden hose with the nozzle in one hand and some dechlor in the other (Prime is good but I think Aquascience Ultimate is better - sue me).

* Dry food is for the birds; I use it but only when I'm lazy or poor - Hikari Bloodworms and Mysis shrimp are better for the fish and the tank stays cleaner.

* People, and sometimes even me, keep glass bottoms because Discus will eat off the bottom of the tank thus consuming their own feces - not very smart fish; but I have tanks with a quarter inch of sand and crushed coral (just a little) (for buffering) and I do not vacuum the gravel.

* You can kill any fish if you try hard enough, even Pink Convicts, but if you start with a healthy Discus and follow the same common sense rules as for other fish you will be just fine.

P.S. Most of the info on Discus sites is garbage; they are fish: feed them, give them a consistent and clean environment, and you will be just fine. All the hype is just to justify 200 bucks a fish.

Just the ravings of a madman.

TMS

 

[George]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (animicrazy @ Dec 25 2008, 03:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I guess somebody has to be the but-head and throw an unpopular opinion out there - this is what works for me (I keep both hybrid and wild discus - mostly wild):

* Water changes are a good way to kill fish in West Baltimore so I do as few as I can get away with.

* Using RO water is a stupid way to waste money; better spent at the pool hall or on more fish that you don't really need. I filter my tap water (for all my fish) through two stage particulate and two carbon blocks and then a UV unit - you can use a garden hose with the nozzle in one hand and some dechlor in the other (Prime is good but I think Aquascience Ultimate is better - sue me).

* Dry food is for the birds; I use it but only when I'm lazy or poor - Hikari Bloodworms and Mysis shrimp are better for the fish and the tank stays cleaner.

* People, and sometimes even me, keep glass bottoms because Discus will eat off the bottom of the tank thus consuming their own feces - not very smart fish; but I have tanks with a quarter inch of sand and crushed coral (just a little) (for buffering) and I do not vacuum the gravel.

* You can kill any fish if you try hard enough, even Pink Convicts, but if you start with a healthy Discus and follow the same common sense rules as for other fish you will be just fine.

P.S. Most of the info on Discus sites is garbage; they are fish: feed them, give them a consistent and clean environment, and you will be just fine. All the hype is just to justify 200 bucks a fish.

Just the ravings of a madman.

TMS[/b]

Sounds like you got it nailed Mad. When are we going to see some of your Discus fry in the auction?

George