Discus?
- Thread starter Yoda1
- Start date
If you never kept Discus before try to get some locally breed tank raised fish as opposed to wild cought unless they have already been acclamated to your local water, but I think you'll better off with at least F1 over F0. In my experiance Discus are no harder to care for than any other cichlid, keep the water warm and environment clean and you'll have no trouble keeping them. Personaly I'm not into bare bottom tanks and have always kept mine in planted tanks with pool filter sand as the substrate, however a nice set-up with drift wood looks good too. If you go with the drift wood subdued lighting such as a 10K fixture over the center of the tank (not running the full length, ie a 36" fixture over a 48" tank) with darker corners is a nice effect and reduces skittishness, also floating some frog bit, duck weed or water sprite will produce a similar effect if your light is strong and you don't want to change fixtures. Raising or growing out Discus in ultra clean bare bottom tanks with constant water changes does help them reach a larger size however I've always been happy with 5" or 6" display tank fish as opposed to 8" show specimens, so it has never been a major issue for me. I had one common pleco and several Ottos years ago that developed a taste for Discus slime they didn't last long after that started, so a word of caution on that subject. As far as water changes go 50% a week is fine more is better do 75% if you can. As for your Ph at 7.6 like I said if you get local fish they probibily come from the same water as yours so it wouln't matter but ask the vendor the water parameters they have been kept in. Once the fish are acclamated I would not mess with the chemisry, the water you use for water changes should be the same as the water in the tank and you'll have no issues. I hope this was helpfull.
Discus need soft water. Ph needs to be lower in the 6.3-6.8 range. Do not get wilds they will break ur heart as they cannot sustain the simplest tank disease. Trust me i have been breeding and raising for over 25 years. ( at least not for the beginner) Temperature of your water which has to be crystal clean at all times should be in the 83-86 degree range. This way you avoid all the tedious things than may go wrong as they get acclimated to ur tank. Plecos have been known to suck on the Discus slime which will stress and hurt the Discus and ( eventually cause disease to the injured area). Go with plants that do not require high high light, Discus prefer a softer tone of light. Amazons and Java ferns along with some plants that can tolerate the higher water temperatures. When you decide to get ur fish, get them from a good source and only one source. ask lots of tank parameter questions! For that size tank, I would start with a nice group of 6-7 medium 3-4 " discus. Lots of water changes and keep close eye on PH and temperature. Hope this helps and good luck.
sorry, but I have to disagree with some of the above. discus do not need soft water. many discus are raise and bred in ph as high as 8.6. wilds need low ph and soft water to breed, but not for show. my wilds are in 7.6 ph and are doing fine. after acclimating, I think wilds are more hardy than domestics. I think the many generations of in breeding have weakened domestics. in the 15 months my wilds have been with me I have never medicated them for anything. I do 60% wc's every 5 days with tap water and Prime. wilds look and behave more natually in a tank with sand and wood only. plants are not needed and are not found in discus waters. domestics are happy in anything from planted to bb. as said by others, the most important thing is to get them from a reliable source.
I dont know what ur water parameters in your area. But it has been proven time after time that Discus do need soft water and clean water. I do know PH is better constant than changing to try and get exact readings. Most Wilds are caught from the Rio Tefe and Rio Negro in areas of flooded river forests which contain hundreds of wood, roots and plants. I am simply stating what I saw on a Discus trip I took a few years ago.
