Animals just eat to survive.įeeding Discus is a subject on which every keeper will have an opinion, usually different! Discus will only accept red foods Most of the world's Discus breeders feed a beefheart mix and, in some cases, have done so for more than 50 years.įeed your Discus what you see fit and offer a varied diet, as feeding is part of the fun of keeping fish! People often say "I wouldn't want to eat the same food every day" - but we eat to survive and for pleasure. They must have a very low pH to surviveĭiscus will survive in a broad range of pH values and again the origin of the fish will need to be taken into consideration, but it is indeed a myth that the pH in the wild is constantly very low.ĭuring the rainy season the water in rivers and lakes will have a near neutral pH.įar more important for domestic Discus is a consistent pH - and nearer to neutral the better.Constant adjustment of pH in water is poor husbandry and will inevitably lead to health issues.ĭon't feed them beefheart because it's not natural Males, when breeding, do often have longer ventral and dorsal fins than females, but I believe this characteristic is more an indication that the fish is in good condition than anything else. I believe the size and shape of the fins is directly linked to fish genetics, the quality of the diet and water provided for it. Discus fins are like fingernails, continually growing and 'dropping off' - not literally, but the fish is able to replace the soft areas of its fins. Males have longer ventral fins than females It should also look clean and bright, as the eye is a good indicator of the fish's state of health and age. Regardless of the colour, always pick fish that have an eye proportional to body size. However, most Discus available today are domestically-bred mutations and the eye can be yellow/red/albino and so on. In the main, wild Discus do have bright red eyes, so some fishkeepers consider a red eye a must characteristic. Yet is the risk worth the worry? Only the individual fishkeeper can decide, My advice, however, is to avoid known risks.ĭiscus must have a red eye to be considered a worthy specimen This is generally referred to as 'Discus plague' and can be treated, although not always successfully, using salt dips/formalin and malachite green/acraflavin. If the fish are going to 'cross contaminate' it will show itself within a 48 to 72 hour period. If after ten days they are fine you can reasonably assume that all is well. So keep your fish in separate tanks while the newcomers undergo a period of quarantine.ĭuring this time avoid transferring even a single drop of water from one tank to the other.Īfter a few weeks take a new fish and an existing fish and put them in a tank together. Usually people will have a happy tank, go out, buy some new Discus, pop them in the tank and 48 hours later notice a problem. So how do we avoid it? Don't do it! However, if you want fish from different places then there's a simple procedure to follow. It can involve two batches of fish that have simply been purchased from different shops. I need to stress that this is not an Asian/German 'thing', as it's often referred to in the hobby. Keeping Discus successfully is made easier by eliminating the known risks and there's conclusive evidence that sometimes, when two batches of fish from different sources are put in the same tank, it can have devastating results - with one set becoming very sick in just a few days. In my opinion the answer is no, but if that didn't happen the hobby would grind to a halt. You shouldn't mix fish from different suppliers/countries Your best course of action is to seek the advice of your chosen Discus supplier, but an increasing number of keepers are considering an RO filter a product very much of the past. Some aquarists acclimatise their Asian Discus to UK tapwater, but top breeders such as Jeffrey Tan advise soft water.Įuropean-bred Discus, however, are quite happy and will even breed in harder water - the reason being they have now been tank-bred over several generations and have adapted to it. Some areas of the UK have soft water on tap, but, even then, it would be wise to run it through carbon.Īsian Discus are also raised in soft water, so will appreciate the same water preparation for wild Discus. Wild Discus will require soft, slightly acidic water and generally the only way to achieve this is to use a reverse osmosis filter. Much will depend on the water your fish have spent their lives in prior to reaching your tank. Beliefs passed through the hobby may not be necessary, beneficial or even accurate - as you'll discover: It's said they need RO waterĪll Discus will live in water prepared by a reverse osmosis filter - but do they all need it?
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