Getting started with discus

My 14 year old son and I have come to keep discus after many years of keeping a range of tropical freshwater species, especially cichlids. Many people will do likewise, with considerable experience in what makes fish and a tank tick. Is keeping discus the same as keeping angels or Rams? Welł, yes and no.The basic principles are the same, but discus are a fussier fish to keep. Not hard, but a little more demanding. How so? What follows are guidelines and recommendations....I'm sure all sorts of other arrangements work too.

This is a quick 'how to'...we'll provide more detail in later posts.

Tanks 

Discus like a bit of room and a tall tank - and company. For 5 fish, a tank 120x 45x45 is pretty comfortable. 

Yes you can have a planted tank with substrate, as long as you can also keep water quality high. The busier the tank, the harder that is. My advice is to keep it simple. A tank with limited fine substrate, decorated with driftwood and anubias has these advantages...it gives the fish some comfort, is easily cleaned and provides some leached tannins.

Filter

Discus fish must have clean water, with zero ammonia, nitrites and low nitrates. A high performing external filter, with cycled, quality media, is critical. Skimp here and you will regret it at your leisure!

Water

This is probably the most critical aspect of discus keeping. Discus demand water that is near zero in ammonia, nitrites and very low in nitrates. If your tank is not kept this way, discus will not thrive. They will sulk, have poor appetite and be disease prone. There are only three things you need to do to keep water quality high

- Low stocking rate

- a high performing biological filter

- regular water changes of say 25 percent weekly

And test your water! Testing early and often will give you a good feel for how the tank behaves and how to finesse these important water parameters.

When changing water, we use straight out of the tap, which is slightly alkaline, warmed to be close to the tank temperature. We have fiddled around with pH down products in the past, but now don't bother.

pH for discus should be slightly acid, in the zone 6-6.6. That said, as long as pH isn't too alkaline or bouncing around, discus will cope well with a pH of 7. Test your water!

Temperature

Discus like it hot! A temperature of 28 to 31 degrees Celsius is where discus are happy. This is much higher than most other tropicals. 

Food

Healthy discus have healthy appetites. Large flake food, discus pellets and grated or minced beef heart are all part of the mix.

Disease

These fish are prone to parasitic disease and will go off pretty quickly. We now treat the water monthly with Kusuri and have no issues. Is this a bit over the top? Maybe, but it is a straightforward way to avoid the problem.

Tank mates

There is a lot written about this! Our main discus tank has discus, blue Rams and neons. They all seem pretty happy and ignore each other except when the Rams or discus have spawned. We have also kept them by themselves, which is simpler and carries no additions all disease risk. They are spectacular fish and arguable don't need company, but the choice is yours. 

So, summing up, the critical success factors are excellent water quality and warm water. The rest is good fish keeping practice, taken up a notch. Good luck.