Discus Fish Blog

Return To: How Long Will Discus Fish Survive After They Stop Eating *When starting a Discus fish aquarium expect them to be part of your life for a while. With proper environmental care and diet, Discus fish will live an average 8 to 10 years. Keeping in mind that this is an average, I did have one customer tell me that he lost his 13-year-old Discus fish during a power outage. I have never heard of an older Discus than this.As Discus fish age, even in water, gravity still has an effe …

Return To: When Do Discus Fish Get Their Color *I’m often asked, if there are benefits to adding salt in a freshwater Discus fish aquarium. There are two salts I will discuss in this article, Rock salt, and Epson salt.Aquarium salt or rock salt are both the same and can be purchased inexpensively at a grocery store, feed store, or the local aquarium fish store, and has been used in tropical fish keeping for decades. It is believed to help the slime coat of fish, acting as prophylactic …

Return To: What to Feed Discus Fish *Discus fish are beautiful, vividly colored fish that are a great addition to an aquarium. Keepers of Discus fish are well aware that their water must be kept clean and at specific parameters for temperature, and pH levels. In addition to their sensitivity to their habitat, they are also delicate in nature, making them more susceptible to disease than hardier species of fish. There are a number of both internal and external Discus fish diseases to b …

Return To; Discus Fish Tank *Discus fish are popular for aquariums because they are large, vividly colored fish that are marked in a wide variety of interesting patterns and solid colors. Discus are tropical fish and keeping them does require that their water parameters be maintained. Because they can grow up to 8” or 9’ long and almost as tall, you will need a 30-to-50-gallon aquarium. Discus fish are schooling fish, meaning that they are much happier and less stressed when they …

Return To; Discus Fish Tank Mates *Discus fish are among the most coveted of the tropical aquarium fish because of their interesting shape and their beautiful bright colors. It is widely accepted that there are four sub species of the Symphysodon Discus fish found wild in the Amazon River. They are Blue, Heckel, Brown, and Green Discus fish.Blue DiscusThe wild blue discus is very similar to the brown discus with the only exception being that it shows a little more color striation …

Return To; Discus Fish Disease, Cloudy Eye *Discus fish breeding can be difficult in a captive environment, it requires a lot of patience on behalf of the Discus breeder. Before your Discus fish will breed, they must have optimal water conditions in their tank. They breed and raise fry best when they are 12 to 24 months old. The water temperature should be at kept between 84 to 85 degrees. The water should be slightly acidic with a pH level around 6.5. The water needs to be very clean …

Return To; Discus Fish Tank Size *When your Discus fish are thriving and you have room in your tank, you might consider adding some Discus fish tank mates. You will have to take into consideration the many specific needs of your Discus, such as warm water, and a very clean tank, when choosing tank mates. There are several types of fish that make good tank mates in your Discus tank.CharacinsBecause Discus have a tendency to become agitated easily, they need calm tank mates. Characins ma …

Return To; Discus Fish Disease and Treatments *I’m frequently asked. My fish have stopped eating, what medicine should I use to treat them?More often than not, all that’s initially needed is to do a water change, clean the filter including new carbon. Normally this will stimulate appetite and get them feeding again. If the fish do not start feeding after this tank and filter cleaning, then simply raising the tank temperature will get them eating again. By raising the heat stimulate app …

Return To: How to Care for a Discus Fish Tank While Away *The answer to this question will come as a surprise to many. I would like to categorize two sizes of Discus, an adult 6-inch and juvenile 3-inch, also that the Discus fish which stopped eating were healthy and eating before they began their hunger strike.Discus which stops eating will start to shut down in order to burn fewer calories. They do not move much and at the latter stages become lethargic and even disoriented. In the wild, …

Return To; Wild Discus in Your Aquarium  *Discus fish have fairly simple dietary habits. They are omnivores and will eat both meat and plants. An assorted diet that offers both will ensure that they get all of the nutrients they need to color up and be healthy. I feed all of my Discus Hakari frozen bloodworms and either Formula One or Omega One flake to enhance their natural colors. You can also include spirulina flake and freeze-dried krill, which is also good for growth and colo …

Return To; How to Set Up a Discus Fish Tank   *In my endeavor to gain knowledge in keeping Discus fish healthy, whenever I altered my water chemistry it would always come back to bite me. After many years of trial and a lot of errors I came to the realization that these fish did not need me to prepare special water conditions for them. There is much written about how they require acidic, dark tannin colored, soft tropical water, as this is their natural environmental conditions in …

Return To; Discus Fish Aquarium Getting Started  *I’m a firm believer, the single most important secret to keeping Discus fish healthy is, “HEAT”, I can’t emphasize enough that this will ultimately determine your long-term success or failure.Heat, stimulate their appetite encouraging them to eat more, which translates to fast uniform growth and overall health. I keep small Discus (fry to 4 inches), at a temperature between 87 to 90 degrees. The higher temperature revs up their met …

Return To; Water Parameters  *Discus are beautiful vertically swimming pancake shaped freshwater tropical fish from the Amazon River. They bring vibrant colors and personality to any home aquarium. Before buying some of these round colorful beauties, you need to know how to properly care for them. Many people ask, what is the best tank size to keep a group of Discus and how many should be kept together? I find Discus grow faster and larger in smaller tanks; 30-to-50-gallon tanks …

Return To: How to Treat Black Spots on Discus Fish Pigeonblood is a strain of Discus fish and does not apply to all Discus. In early 1991 I brought into the hatchery my first Pigeonblood Discus fish. This was a new strain, which the world had not seen or heard of yet. They were sold to me from a not so well-known breeder at the time as Pigeonblood Discus, I paid handsomely for them, about U.S.$100 a piece for 1-1/2 inch babies. When I bought them, they were described to me as a, “new …

Return To: Why Are Discus Fish Called Pigeonblood In the early 1990’s Pigeonblood Discus fish were introduced to the world and our aquariums. In the beginning this new Discus fish when entered into Asian fish shows, was accused of being highly hormone, or unreal and was therefore disqualified from competitions. In time, due to its unique look these new Discus fish, which began from morphed Red Turquoise originating in Thailand, quickly exploded, spreading around the world and became th …