Question for Pros

[SoCalDiscus]

Hello SoCal,

Thanks for the interest. Actually the lFS had only had them for a week so from the information I have gathered I thought I should wait before buying them. While waiting, I went to another LFS to see what they might have. Well this other LFS blew away the quality of fish where I had seen the first Discus. The second store is expecting some imported Discus on the 16 of March. They are suposed to be 5"-6" in diameter, and Blue @ about 55$ each. Now I don't know what to do. I have never been so nervous about buying fish before. I've looked at your gallery and may I say WOW!! I wish I was closer to you so that I could get some more advise. The guy at the LFS said he would not put them with Angels because they carry the same kind of diseases and etc. I really don't know what I am going to do.

.................

Hi mishelly,

Honestly, the guy at the fish store is right about the issue with the angels. They can harbor parasites that they can tollerate but will be problematic for the discus. However, I have been to many fish stores where they keep angels and discus in the same tank... go figure... A good resource for learning about discus is simplydiscus.com. There are people who keep discus with angels and do fine. Its just a risk you have to take into consideration, especially since you are looking at more expensive fish. Being that you are new to discus, a few other basics you should know is that they require warmer water (84-86 degrees). You also probably dont want a pH any greater than 7. Some discus are raised in harder water and do fine too... but in general they like soft water (low pH, KH, and GH). I keep mine at 6.5 pH. Here in the LA area, our water is like liquid rock so I have an RO/DI unit. But I also keep primarily discus and do alot of water changes. There are other methods for softening water such as peat moss and maylasian style drift wood.

Discus are succeptible to gill flukes and internal parasites. I think the gill flukes are what the angels carry... but i'm not 100% on that. One of the primary treatments for flukes is called prazipro by hikari. It is also in other meds such as parasite clear by jungle labs. This medicine (prazipro) can kill your corys. So, keep that in mind. I had corys and I gave them away so I could treat without the hastle of moving them. Most people keep discus by themselves, or with plecos, but not in a community tank.

The reason I mentioned all of the stuff above is not to scare you out of doing it, but so that if things don't go as planned, you will have some idea why and what to do. Some discus are really hardy and could probably tollerate anything while others are just a pain no matter what you do. If you really want some motivation, check out sunrisetropicals.com. If nothing else it lets you know what is out there.

What you may want to do is slowly adjust your water parameters (temp & pH) and see how your current fish do. If they still look happy after a little while, then you can consider adding some discus. Then, as I said before, make sure you see them eat and that they aren't hiding in the tank. I have done that before and its no fun.

Let me know how things go!
-Eric

 

[mishelly111]

Hi Eric,

Well, I can't thank you enough for all the info. Frankie is completly amazing by the way!! Now, I hate to be such a bother but this is my passion and my husband helps me alot because I have a bad arm and he has to do alot of the work for me . My husband has some questions about the CO2 injection. Would it be ok for him to contact you by e-mail with his qustions? I don't want to waste other peoples times in the forums with our questions. You seem to be very knowlledgeable and helpful.

Also, I noticed that your tanks have all different variations of Discus together. Would you have baught 1 or 2 of different kinds and put them together or did you buy several of all these kinds and lost some? I am just wondering if I should buy 3 the same at once or get some different ones and the same time?


Thanks again,

Your help is greatly appreciated.


Michele

 

[SoCalDiscus]

Hi Michele,

Thanks!, We really have a great time with Frankie. We actually saw another pleco like him on the boards for sale in northern california... but we dont have any more room for big guys. Although I am tempted. Feel free to email if you like: eric @ socaldiscus.com. But, its also just fine to ask questions in the posts. Especially if you just continue in this one. You never know who wanted to know the same thing but didn't ask. Either way is fine with me.

About the different strains. We have not personally seen any behavioral difference between the strains (color variations). We just buy what we like. From what I have read, the exotic looking strains originated from selectively bred crosses between the original wild strains and various genetic anomolies found in the wild such as albinos. So none of them are all that different.

Which ever fish you buy, just watch how they get along in their current tank. There is definately a social order. To make things easy on yourself, I would probably select fish from one tank or system of connected tanks. That way you know they have already been exposed to each other. Also, you want to make sure that you buy from a healthy tank. Do not buy from a tank where other discus are dark in color. Sick discus, especially blue diamonds & leopard snakeskins turn black. You will also want to watch for a stringy/excessive slime coat, and white and/or stringy feces. If you spot a sick guy in the corner, you should think twice. Again, I have paid the price... We have never "gotten lucky" when we took a gamble.

We have found that the thicker the fish, the better. From our observations, it seems that the thick ones have a better chance of growing big. The bigger fish obviously cost more, but I have had better luck with them than the juveniles. Especially for your first discus I would probably go for nothing smaller than 3.5 - 4 inches, the bigger the better.

Sorry for the long windedness... I just figured I would give the reasoning behind my answers and all the info I could think of to help you have a positive first experience with discus. A sick fish is no fun. A $100 sick fish is stressful.

-Eric