Poll: Keeping Discus Fish

[macman7010]

Do you have any interest in Discus

 

[tetrin]

i do, but 2 factors are keeping me away from them at the time being -
daily pwc's
and prohibitive costs.

if and when i can design an automated water-change system, i'll definitely give them a try. for the time time-being, i'm enamored with mbuna.

 

[Stuart]

You don't have to change water daily for Discus unless you are aiming to breed them.

They aren't the cheapest fish but my LFS has them for £30 or less.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Daily partials are best for their health.

 

[macman7010]

daily partials often prove to be best, although a daily partial can be anything from a 20%-40%+ change.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Actually, discus breeders do 100-200% daily.

 

[Hrafnkel]

Why on earth would you do 100% daily? Seems like it'd be more stressful to the fish than helpful...

 

[macman7010]

Yeah, my good friend that breeds Discus does 2 daily 100% changes. He has his tanks set-up on an automated system that slowly continues to take a little water out while replinishing it. I dont have such a system and most of my fish are beyong the sub-juvenile age and moving in towards the adult ago and are not in need of the ultra-large changes that most young discus need.

These fish can, have and will continue to be successfully kept with several times weekly or bi-daily water changes. Jack Wattley often recommends in his column 3 water changes a week. Discus' strong slime coat along with thier sensitivity to water quality and likelenss to become infected with parasites all cause the aquarist to make more than frequent water changes.

 

[tetrin]

hmm, 3x a week is still possible, considering i'm doing pwc's every other day in my yellow-lab fry tank. but that's mainly because i want them to grow asap. i know that weekly pwc's would be enough.
but with discus, neglecting pwc's doesn't seem healthy to me. and there's the problem - i'd always have to be on top of pwc's. an automated system would definitely take out a lot of labor, and i could use that time to enjoy the fish and their behavior.
anyway, its an interesting thread. i'd love to see where people are when it comes to the king of FW aquariums.

 

[macman7010]

tetrin,

I think if you purchased juveniles beyound the small or sub-juvenile stage of development you would be in good shape. I mean getting fish that are 3-4 inches in size, and typically this is a common size sold at fish stores and by private breeders sometimes.

You could start with adult fish, and limit your water changes to twice weekly, but adult fish are large and come with a greater expense, and again watching your Discus grow is one of the great joys of thier ownership. One reason for daily water changes also is the hormone secreted by larger discus fish that can impede the growth of those that are smaller. If you are keeping Discus and doing water changes only twice or three times weekly I would recommend using lots of fresh activated carbon to pick up the slack on removing the hormone.

 

[tetrin]

thanks for the tips macman . i'd possibly be buying juvies (unless somehow i get extremely rich overnight). i definitely want to watch my fish grow, which is why i bought all my mbuna as juvies. and i saw the pheromones in action among my gouramis.

but, this is definitely not sometime in near future, i'd need maybe a year or two of experience before i can gather up the courage to get them.

 

[DepotFish]

I like them, but they aren't for me. I like the general "fish" shape like what you'd get if you asked somebody to draw a fish. Elongated body with a dorsal fin, split tail and whatever pec fins. I'm not that into the fancy fish.

 

[macman7010]

understandable DepotFish, no doubt discus are not for everyone. tetrin for reference I would recommend just doing some research and reading, talking to breeders. Remeber though that some people over due what is needed to keep discus.

 

[tetrin]

you are right macman. maybe i'm just overthinking . but i do have the majority on my side -

"They are nice looking but seem to be hard to care for
26% [ 6 ]"

just kidding .

 

[macman7010]

true, lol. Not suprising. Jack Wattley who really is the father of the American Discus hobby has often given conflicting advice to readers. One month he will hammer a reader for not doing daily water changes, than the next month he will say that 2 water changes weekly is more than enough leaving one to ask, "what is the right answer."

Really the right answer if whatever works for a given person, as I am sure Discus are kept in a variety of conditions that Jack Wattley, myself, and likely BrianNY an advisor here would not advocate, but they may thrive in that condition.