Tell me all you can about keepin discus

[polgara]

My friend got a couple of young discus. one died within a week, so we think we must be doing something wrong. Is there any thing we should really know about these guys, how to keep them healthy and happy.

Thanks for all the help you are about to give.

[Luke*]

How young are they? Young ones are more fragile than older ones. Discus like a lot of fresh water: very low or no nitrate. In a bare bottom tank it's also easier to see if anything is wrong with their faeces which might tell you what disease they have, if any. The easiest thing to start with is getting the water conditions right. They like it warmer 28-30 degrees celsious and just make sure the pH is constant. Hope this helps.

[Warren]

How young are they? Young ones are more fragile than older ones. Discus like a lot of fresh water: very low or no nitrate. In a bare bottom tank it's also easier to see if anything is wrong with their faeces which might tell you what disease they have, if any. The easiest thing to start with is getting the water conditions right. They like it warmer 28-30 degrees celsious and just make sure the pH is constant. Hope this helps.

28-30'C is a common misconception with discus. Their native environment only reaches this temperature for a couple of months each year during the dry season. They are happy at normal tropical temperatures 25-27'C as well as up to 32'C. Mine usually spawn like mad after doing a water change, which drops the temperature from 28 to 24 over about 30 minutes. It simulates a big rain in nature.

I've spoken with a lot of people about the discus imports over the last couple of years. I've been keeping them for 10+ years and until recently have never had any trouble raising them. Any import I've bought in the last 2 years has had about a 50/50 live die ratio long term. Some die within weeks and others after 18 months, - for no apparent reason.

I recently bought 12 discus from a local breeder. All are doing very well and growing fast. This is what I'm used to with them, no hassles, hardy fish.

I'm not alone either, there's at least 4 other people I've spoken to recently with very similar problems.

Discus like to be kept in big numbers. I have 18 in my tank and plan to put in another 6. They school in the wild in groups of 100+. They are happiest in a species tank, ie discus as the main feature with a few other fish like neons, cardinals, rummy nose etc. They do not usually go well in community tanks. They may grow ok but their colours are often quite dull or grey.

[robert]

If you want to keep discus you should start with a least six fish, they have a pecking order from the boss to the runt, bare bottom is the way to go till they are big enought to put in your main tank,i cant stress enough about cleaning down the glass and water changes, this is the secret if you like to keeping discus.Check out the sites www.dph.nl and simply discus .com, before you buy any more read every thing you can or you will have them dying all the time and be put off .

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