Discus disc-ussion

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aquazen

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
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Location
NC, USA
I've been following several threads as of late on this forum regarding Discus. I never realized how popular they were until just now. I'm beginnin to see why. They're beautiful fish. I'm thinking about buying a book on how to keep them. I've no intentions on breeding though. Just seems to difficult. I'll be happy with colorful healthy fish.

Just a few quick questions. How many discus do you keep in a tank (aside from one) to prevent them from becoming aggressive towards each other? I know they're supposed to be peaceful, but really, we're talking cichlids here. And is there ANY way to sex them? From what I understand, they all look pretty similar. There's no usual pattern like other fish, i.e. guppy finnage/shape.

I had wanted to just jump right into it, but with the price of the fish, I want to make sure I learn as much as I can before getting started. It would be painful to lose a discus after a week in the tank because of ignorance ($$$). :?
 
You should keep no more than a pair per 20 gallons at the least. Best to always give more room...after all...they are cichlids and can express the aggressions cichlids are notorious for. They are easier to deal with about aggression because they are on more of the peaceable side. A good rule of thumb to go by...introduce lesser aggressives first to avoid unwanted predeation and lessen territorial disputes.

Sexing discus accurately can only be done with adults during the spawning season. There is a difference in their lips however slight and takes good eyes for detail to distinguish the difference. I don't remember which is which, but one has lips that are even with each other and the other has a slight "overbite" (for lack of a better term). The lip looks a bit more puckered. The best way to insure a pair other than buying paired adults is to purchase juveniles and let them pair off. Even if you have just two juveniles, most likely one will mature into a male. It's a fishy thing. They don't need doctor appointments for sex changes. It just happens...LOL.

It's a good thing not to just jump right into discus. As beautiful they are they are really sensitive and demanding fish in their care. They are perhaps the most difficult FW fish to keep alive. Stay away from wild caught even though they do end up doing much better than captive bred for some odd reason, they do come in with hordes of parasites. Once treated, those that survive prove to be well kept and hardy in the captive environment. The captive bred animal, because of the parasite factor, is a better choice. Many are also bred in harder water and the offspring are more tolernt of pH values that would kill a wild caught. The easiest out of the captives are going to be the brown discus. Good species to start with before diving into the more brightly colored Diamonds, Pigeon Bloods, and Ghosts, etc.

Have a good size tank with good biological filtration. Discus do much better in planted tanks. Discus should only go into well established aquariums meaning...no discus till the tank has been up and running with fish for at least 6 months if not more. Before that time you can populate the tank with other critters the discus can live with. Cory catfish (the bottom feeder), otocinclus (the algae eaters), perhaps a school or two of tetras like cardinal tetras and/or harlequin rasboras to name a couple of examples. Do not add schools of small fish AFTER the discus are in there and well established in their territory. They will be eaten. They can tell the difference between fish that are in there before them and those in there after them. The discus should be the most aggressive in the tank community. They tend to do poorly if there's something more aggressive than themselves in the aquarium.

When dealing with any aquarium, but especially important when dealing with fish as sensitive as discus is to have a QT. They should always go into a QT for at least 2 weeks before being introduced into the main tank.

Read. Read. Read...and ask questions. Go slow. Time and patience is key to a successful system...not just keeping fish alive, but keeping them healthy and happy. Become familiar with the nitrogen cycle and upkeep for discus requires frequent, but small water changes. Usually 10% a week to 15% every two weeks. They do not handle large water changes very well. They also like a higher temp than most tropicals. 85 degrees seem to be favorable for them.
 
Thanks for the information. Maybe I won't have to pick up that book afterall. :D

How many tetras constitute a school? And in the case that tetras die off, can you add more without fear of them being eaten? If you have more than one male discus, will they fight each other? And will discus of different patterns breed with each other?

Maybe I will buy the book after all. :x
 
Buy the book. You'll need it and perhaps more than one.

Schools are generally 5 or more. In the case of replenishing a school, there is a risk of them being eaten. I have a 29 gallon saltwater reef at home with a maroon clown that is healing from a fight at the store I help run. I also aquired some tiny catalina gobies. I snuck them in there by cupping them in my hand, feeding the clown and then tucking them into a rock on the opposite side of the tank. It seems to have worked. Then again, the gobies aren't schooling fish and creep along the rocks...not swim in open water. It got them in there in the first place without any attention being given to them by anything else in the tank because they were too busy eating. Worth a try. LOL.

Mature males will fight especially if there isn't enough females to go around. "Brothers" may or may not tolerate each other if there are no females around. Anything can happen when you put animals inside a see through box...lol.

Any pattern discus will breed with another of any pattern...color morph etc. They are all the same species. In fact, mixing the pairs is how some people come out with different color morphs and patterns. Some even patternless. That's the case of genetics and can be relatively applied to just about any animal.
 
As most people who frequent this site know, discus have become my passion. I've spent more than two years now raising these fish and have become somewhat knowledgeable about keeping them. I've attended a few discus workshops and read all I could about this species. BTW, best book I've found is "Discus Health" by Dieter Untergasser.

TCTfish has taken the time and I applaud his/her knowledge and help. I strongly disagree with the statement regarding water changes. Young discus require frequent massive water changes (at least 1/3 of the tank), several times a week. The thing is, it has to be the proper water or TCTfish is correct about it doing more damage than good.

A 29gallon bare bottom tank is ideally suited to raising 5 juveniles up to 4 inches in diameter. The tank should contain nothing but an accurate heater and some good sponge filters. Maintaining a clean environment is the key to raising discus. A bare tank is very easy to keep pristine. Upon reaching 4 inches the discus should then be moved to at least 55 gallons. Only when they reach adulthood can they truly be safely introduced into a community tank.
 

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