Discus Fish

Are you considering keeping aquarium discus fish?

Well if you are, then you have come to the right page to getting you started and on the right track. Once you get going you’ll be hooked for life!

Discus fish are thought of, by many fish hobbyists, as being the ultimate in aquarium fish… the King of the Freshwater Aquarium!

If you have kept other South American fish such as Angelfish or Oscars, then you should have little trouble keeping aquarium discus, so long as you use commonsense and give attention to the basic needs of the fish. This does not mean that discus fish can be introduced into your comm unity tank and left to their own means. They have very different needs to many other aquarium fish and will need special attention that can often be disregarded when raising other fish.

You will come across fish hobbyists who will claim that discus are too difficult to keep alive and healthy, and that they will certainly give you heartache, costing you a small fortune.

This may well be true to those who succumb to temptation at the fish store and buy these beautiful exotic fish without doing their homework. It is far better to be prepared than uninformed, resulting in costly mistakes. When in the fish store, rather than hastily looking at Discus For Sale and picking out your fish, it would be prudent to firstly wander over to the aquarium fish book collection on display and pick out a selection of discus fish books to read. The best investment you could make is to get hold of a supply of books and spend a lot of time and effort learning all you can before you buy your first fish! An excellent guide to get you started is “Discus Fish Secrets”. You can buy it as a downloadable ebook by clicking here.

Discus fish are demanding in both food and water conditions and they are difficult to keep parasite and disease free. The rest of this article will outline some fundamental parameters for you to follow.

You can do it… you can keep and even breed discus too! Here goes…

The Background on Discus

Discus fish are a type of cichlid which originate in their native form in the equatorial rivers flowing in the tropical Amazon Basin. They are truly a tropical fish, requiring high water temperatures and soft acidic waters to thrive. They come in a variety of colors, can grow up to small plate size and usually live to around ten years.

Aquarium discus are social fish who do best in small groups. Having just two will often result in arguments. It is best to keep a group of 6-8 fish with no less than three. Watch for arguments amongst your new fish. You may have to remove any weaker fish.

Selecting new Fish

•    Look for discus with a well rounded shape, free from wounds or defects.

•    Their eyes should be in proportion with their bodies (large eyes on a small discus is a sign that the fish is stunted and will not grow). Black or dark eyes are a sign of sickness… look for bright eyes.

•    Check the fish breathes equally using both gills (one side gill movement suggest parasitic gill flukes).

•    Look at their faeces. Dark faeces on the bottom of tank are a sign of healthy fish, whilst white droppings indicate intestinal parasite. 

•    Ask to see the fish eat. A healthy appetite suggests healthy fish.

Introducing New Fish

 Introduce fish into their new Discus Tank by carefully acclimatising them to the tank water before releasing them. You can do this by gradually adding tank water to the plastic bagcontaining your new fish until you have double the volume. Then lift the fish out and into their new tank, being careful not to pour the water in with them (could introduce disease or pollutants).

The new discus will dart around trying to hide. Just leave them be, with a dim light and they will soon find their confidence.

Discus Food

 Aquarium discus will eat most anything. However; it is best to feed them an appropriate mixed diet especially when Breeding Discus. A good quality flake or pellet food in conjunction with ground beefheart and a treat of brine shrimp would provide all the dietry requirements of your discus. Steer clear of feeding your fish freshwater live foods such as blood worms, tubifex or black worms. These foods, which are favoured by many other species of fish, are too risky for aquarium discus fish as they carry parasites and diseases that discus are very susceptible to.

It is advisable to find out what your new discus fish had been eating with their previous owner and start them out with the same diet and then gradually introduce new foods.

Discus only have small digestive systems and will only eat a little at a time. Avoid over feeding them. Allow them to eat and then routinely siphon any uneaten food from the bottom of their tanks an hour or so later. It is best to feed small amounts regularly. To enhance your discus color, look out for flaked food with the ingredient xanathan, a natural color enhancer.

Well there you have it… doesn’t sound too hard! Hope I haven’t frightened you away from the most beautiful of all aquarium fish. Having said that, I do strongly advise that you do a lot more reading on keeping this delicate fish before you buy.

What's it worth to have an aquarium discus fish expert right by your side giving you real-life tips and advice?

Rob Clark is the author of Discus Fish Secrets. He is an experienced expert and really does know what he is talking about when it comes to keeping and breeding aquarium discus.

He has produced the ultimate guide to discus fish care, breeding and keeping them healthy. His book is fairly priced, comes with testimonials, a 100% money back guarantee and bonus freebies. If you are really interested in having the healthiest happiest discus fish then go ahead and click this link and read more about what his book has to offer.

All the best.