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  1. #1

    Wanting to clarify some things

    Hi all, i am new to Discus fish. Brought my first one 1 month ago, but sadly he passed away (RIP Disco).
    The reason i joined up here is because this is a Discus specific site, i am on another fish site which has been helpful as well but i thought it wouldn't hurt to branch out, the more info the better i hope. I believe i lost my first Discus because i had no experience with them, i have been fish keeping for almost 12 months now with other small species like rosy barbs, guppies, mollies, mountain minnows, cory cats, dwarf gourami and betta fighters. Which i have been very successful with.
    Its a long story but i currently have 3 other discus, i read that they liked their own company so i brought more, and then ended up with bullies. Currently i have 2 discus in my 120L tank whom get along pretty well most of the time, they actually stick up for themselves so its going ok, they have 6 cory cats in their tank with them. The other discus is a lone male in a 2 foot tank, he is a huge bully and i had great difficulty with him in the main 120L tank with the others, so i got him his own tank knowing full well they like to be in schools of at least 5 discus. He has 3 small fish in with him for company, but i don't think he is happy still and it breaks my heart When i buy my new larger tank i hope to introduce him back into the community with the other Discus..
    I have some questions i would like to clarify if possible please:
    How much room do i need for 1 Discus to live happily? Liters per Discus..
    Is it true they need to be in such large schools to be happy? 5-10 Discus..
    Is it necessary to do more than 1-2 water changes a week if the tank is cycled?
    Is it true that blood worms are like crack to Discus?
    Thank you in advance

  2. #2
    Larvae
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    warwick Australia
    Posts
    194
    Hi Sabrina


    Well i am no pro by any means but have been in the discus world for 6 years now, all i can really suggest is read read read read,, there is a world of info on here and the sticky's mostly have what you need to know,,,

    normally you would work on 40-50 ltrs/ discus
    yes they do like to have a happy little family of 5 or more
    water changes are a must due to their diet ( i run a 500ltr show tank in our office and i change it 30-40% daily if not every 2nd day time permitting)
    blood worms are a bit like that but i would recommend using a feeding cone so they don't make a huge mess, other foods you must incorporate are like discus dinner (mix of beef heart, garlic,worms, shrimp etc,)
    i also highly recommend a good pellet like sera granules ( i turn my filter off when i feed so they get trained to know its dinner time, and also it allows you to not end up with excess food rotting in your filter, then i water change so you can suck out the mess,

    I'm sure a lot would agree with me, discuss shouldn't be mixed with things like guppies mollies gouramis and fish from asia,

    also you need to get familiar with all the diseases and treatment methods and medications like ice,velvet, hith, and basic gill fluke treatment and stuff

    and have meds on hand al the time,
    levamisole
    epsom salts
    praziquantal
    metronidazole
    and i keep pertassium permanganate ( condese crystals)


    This may seem like a overload, i did try to summarise but it isn't a species to be taken lightly

    Hope this is helpful though
    Justin
    THE DISCUS DISEASE SYMPTOMS SEEM TO BE SITTING IN FRONT OF TANK FOR HRS ON END!!!

    REALLY WEIRD FOR AN ADDRENALIN JUNKY!!!

  3. #3
    Larvae
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    warwick Australia
    Posts
    194
    oh and make sure you have really good filtration, i run an Fluvial FX5 and its been a great filter, also anything ahem is great, some eheims even have built in heaters which is cool, your other fish won't like being at 30 degrees much, also if you need help just post pics of the fish etc and also your water specs like
    ph
    nitrate
    nitrite
    ammonia
    KH and GH
    phosphate

    you will get help much faster if anyone has data to work with
    THE DISCUS DISEASE SYMPTOMS SEEM TO BE SITTING IN FRONT OF TANK FOR HRS ON END!!!

    REALLY WEIRD FOR AN ADDRENALIN JUNKY!!!

  4. #4
    Hi Justin!
    Thank you for the information, esp the meds i need to have on hand, i will write those down.
    I will elaborate a bit more for you:
    I had other fish, guppies, mollies etc but they have all been sold since i have now got the discus. The only other fish i have in with my Discus now are cory catfish which are great and some celcbrex rainbows which im not happy with.
    In regards to food for my Discus i have a large variety of Discus specific foods like you mentioned. Freeze dried, frozen, pellets etc and yes i
    have a feeding cone.
    My tanks temps are at 27c steady. My water specs on both tanks are:
    PH 7.6
    High Range PH 7.4
    Ammonia 0.25 (i took the last tests after feeding!)
    Nitrite 0
    Nitrate 5.0
    KH 89.5
    GH 179
    Yes the ph is higher than they like but i have been told not to play with the ph up and down powders at all, and that they will be
    fine in this ph range. The KH and GH are also too high i know, but are slowly coming down. I will try to work out how to post pics
    here and add them in another post

  5. #5

  6. #6

  7. #7
    Larvae
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    warwick Australia
    Posts
    194
    Yeh good work,, the only thing i would suggest is bringing that temp up to 30, you will find you will have less troubles with diseases like white spot etc with the temp higher and the fish will feed better etc, unless you have a UV steriliser then you could run 28 i suppose, mind you i like the piece of mind of having a uv anyway just because. Keep up the good work
    THE DISCUS DISEASE SYMPTOMS SEEM TO BE SITTING IN FRONT OF TANK FOR HRS ON END!!!

    REALLY WEIRD FOR AN ADDRENALIN JUNKY!!!

  8. #8
    Hi Justin,
    Thanks, i might go with the uv lights if i can find one to fit my tanks

  9. #9
    Moderator
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    China
    Posts
    2,283
    UV lights are not necessary, just up the temp to 30.

    Looking at the two fish you have, the RT looks quite stunted. The eye ratio is not good and the bridge on the nose is not a good sign at all.The other one, not sure how to describe the strain also shows signs of stunting, but might get better as it grows.
    Why me ?

  10. #10
    Hi Hollowman
    Yes i was aware they are not of good breeding, as in i posted pics of them on another fish site and was told of their stunted looks. I have only had them 1 month and as i said i am new to Discus keeping so im not sure what to look for in regards to stunt, nose bridge etc. I didnt post a pic of the male i have, i will post it here for you to see him. Is he also stunted or has problems?
    Click image for larger version. 

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