Smart Ways To Care For Your Discus

After my previous post on the popularity of keeping Discus, I can’t leave you stranded without sharing some tips on how to succeed in keeping a healthy discus aquarium.

4 Areas to Look At When Caring For Discus

1. Living Space

Discus are unusual in that their body shape is greater in depth than length. They can grow to size of large dinner plates. Therefore, they need to be kept in fairly tall tanks, preferably with a minimum depth of 18 inches. On the average, a discus needs 10 to 15 gallons of water per fish.

Discus can be timid if kept in small numbers—they are found in large shoals in the wild, so giving them space to back off into the tank or hide behind plants can help considerably in improving their disposition. Having some decorations, such as rocks and driftwood, in the tank could provide the fish with a sense of security. These decorations can also serve as territorial markers and reduce the aggressiveness of the more dominant fish.

2. Temperature and pH level

Discus are warm water fish. Temperature is a critical factor in not only keeping them alive but also in helping them maintain a good growth rate. Temperate of 78°F to 86°F (26-30°C) are recommended.

The species is highly sensitive to water quality, which should ideally be very soft, acidic (pH 6 to 7) and very clean. What they can’t tolerate is a rapid change in pH in a short amount of time. So if you are going to adjust your water pH, do so very gradually.

3. Water Quality

Fifty per cent weekly water changes are recommended to maintain prime water quality. Check the filters on a regular basis and keep them as clean as possible. The removal of all buildup of detritus from the bottom of the tank and cleaning of the filter material are also very important in keeping your fish healthy.

You may either keep a bare tank with the fish, or use substrate to support plants and other decorations. Sand is the ideal substrate as it will not allow detritus to work its way down into it, and also provides a medium for growing aquatic plants.

“Purist” discus fanciers, though, would recommend that the fish be kept with only its own kind in bare tanks, as gravel and other aquarium décor may harbor bacteria that are harmful to the fish.

4. Feeding Discus

Feed them two to four times a day with a balanced diet of good quality food. Each discus breeder has his won special concoction of brine shrimp, high-protein flake or pellet foods, minced ox heart, prawns, shellfish, carrots, cabbage, spinach and spirulina (a type of algae) powder. These provide roughage, amino acids and other nutrients which help enhance the fish’s color and vitality.

It is advisable to quarantine all live food, such as worms, which you intent to give your discus, as there is always a danger of their introducing disease-carrying organisms into the aquarium.

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