Discus keeping

[Alistriwen]

Im looking to start keeping some discus in a few months in hopes of eventually breeding them. They are, hands down, my favorite tropical freshwater fish and Id love to have some. I always read how difficult these fish are to keep though. What is it about discus that makes them so sensitive? How does one work around this?

I was also wondering what size tank would be required for a group of maybe 6 adults, and what sorts of tanks I would need for spawning / raising fry. You can look at my sig to see what I already have. Id also be interested to know if someone knew a good source for discus since they are not normally for sale at my lfs(s) and when they are it's usually really drab ones.

Thanks all!

 

[ziggy2]

First off, welcome. You should post on the Discus and Angles thread.
Discus are not really that hard to keep. You just have to do a lot of water changes. If you want to keep six (which is a good number, I wouldn't keep less) I would suggest nothing less than 75 gallons. A high tank is advised. Discus like water over their head. I keep mine in a 110 that is 36" deep.

You just have to make sure the tank is very well established. Depending on where you get your fish, you want to match the parameters that they have been raised in. They do not do well with swings. Good luck. Check out the discus threads, they are very helpful.

 

[hillbilly]

Yep. Just keep your water clean, temp. in the 80's, high protein food, and you should do fine. Try to keep the tank as stable as possible, no wild ph swings and such. If you practice good husbandry, you should have few problems. It ain't rocket science, despite what some people will lead you to believe.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Easiest way to maintain water parameters is to use RO water. Machines are cheap enough and keep you with enough water to do the changes.

We keep 6 in a 65g and do a 5g a day change, takes about 10min

 

[WyldFya]

First off, welcome. You should post on the Discus and Angles thread.
Discus are not really that hard to keep. You just have to do a lot of water changes. If you want to keep six (which is a good number, I wouldn't keep less) I would suggest nothing less than 75 gallons. A high tank is advised. Discus like water over their head. I keep mine in a 110 that is 36" deep.

You just have to make sure the tank is very well established. Depending on where you get your fish, you want to match the parameters that they have been raised in. They do not do well with swings. Good luck. Check out the discus threads, they are very helpful.

Yep. Just keep your water clean, temp. in the 80's, high protein food, and you should do fine. Try to keep the tank as stable as possible, no wild ph swings and such. If you practice good husbandry, you should have few problems. It ain't rocket science, despite what some people will lead you to believe.

For both of the above, as well as the OP... pH swings are not much of an issue at all. My discus go from 7.4-5.6 every day, and back to 7.4 every night. Domestic discus are not that picky when it comes to pH any more.

 

[WyldFya]

Easiest way to maintain water parameters is to use RO water. Machines are cheap enough and keep you with enough water to do the changes.

We keep 6 in a 65g and do a 5g a day change, takes about 10min

Yes RO units make it easy to have specific conditions, but are not required for keeping discus. Having an RO will just cost more money, with having to add nutrients to the water to keep discus healthy.

 

[WyldFya]

Im looking to start keeping some discus in a few months in hopes of eventually breeding them. They are, hands down, my favorite tropical freshwater fish and Id love to have some. I always read how difficult these fish are to keep though. What is it about discus that makes them so sensitive? How does one work around this?

I was also wondering what size tank would be required for a group of maybe 6 adults, and what sorts of tanks I would need for spawning / raising fry. You can look at my sig to see what I already have. Id also be interested to know if someone knew a good source for discus since they are not normally for sale at my lfs(s) and when they are it's usually really drab ones.

Thanks all!

The starting number you have is perfect. Depending on how much work you want to do, a 55 will do for you. Discus don't need a terribly tall tank like some will tell you. One of the most important things when it comes to buying discus is getting a reputable breeder or importer. Low quality discus will generally equal more deaths. Investing in a hand held TDS meter is a very good idea, as you can monitor your tank closer. Water changes are very important, and if you want to breed, a bare bottom tank would be best. Omega one Super color flakes are very good to have as well as bloodworms. My discus are fed on Omega one super color flakes, Hikari bloodworms, home made beefheart mixture, and NLS discus food. A good variety and regular feedings is important. I feed mine 3-5 times a day. The more you feed, the more you have to do water changes. If you maintain water parameters (checked with a TDS meter) and feed high quality foods often, and get good stock of discus, then you will be able to attain full grown discus without any problems.

 

[Alistriwen]

Right now I do 25% weekly on our adult tanks and 25% 3 times a week on our fry tanks, so keeping up with that wouldn't be a problem at all. I do intend to invest in good stock which is part of the reason I want to make sure I know what Im getting into beforehand. It would really suck to spend hundreds of dollars on them and lose them all. It's good to know that they aren't as difficult as Ive been led to believe though.

Im also thinking of doing some angels because I think the two species would look great next to one another, so I'm curious how they get on in tanks together? I obviously wouldnt have my breeders together but since I'm likely going to have to use my parent's basement for this, Im going to have to have a few real nice planted displays as compensation for taking over their recently rennovated basement .

On the subject of food, I use spectrum omega grow formula now, the pellets are probably way too small for discus but I know they come in larger sizes. I was told that it was pretty much the best stuff available, would that be true for discus as well? We also feed a mix of live and frozen brine shrimp, frozen glass worms, freeze dried bloodworms, staple flake food and when we had cons, con fry, now just any fry we want to cull.

I imagine the above would be a sutiable diet for them as well?

 

[ziggy2]

Be careful mixing discus and angels. You want to keep the ratio right or the discus will not be happy. If you have 6 discus, I would only have 3 angels. I personally think it works best with half. Many people will tell you to not do it at all. I have a few with mine and they seem to do alright.

Discus like a varied diet, your choices look Ok to me. Mine like beefheart alot. I give them froozen bloodworms and pellets also.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Yes RO units make it easy to have specific conditions, but are not required for keeping discus. Having an RO will just cost more money, with having to add nutrients to the water to keep discus healthy.

I suppose it depends on 2 things:

1. Where and how the discus were raised and what they were kept in/used to. If you were getting fish that had been kept in ro all their lives and suddenly a major swing +2 or 3 would give them a bit of a shock and have some affect on health.
2. Quality of tap water available, ours is shockingly bad with an average of 8.2

As for adding nutrients to the ro, this is something that we were recommended not to do when we started using the machine and although we did lose the odd fish now and again in the first year, we have only lost one fish in the last 12-14 months.
Is this something that the majority here would suggest to do even with no obvious problems?