After keeping tropical freshwater fish for a number of years, I decided to try my hand at Discus. Below, I share my experiences and things I'd do differently if I had to start over again.
First of all, here was my objective: I wanted to raise and breed discus. My goal was to get 6 discus and hope for a breeding pair to form. I would then move the pair to 30 gallon breeding tank and keep the rest in a 55 gallon show tank in my den. A year and a half later, when a breeding pair formed, I decided that I really did not want to get into breeding due to time constraints so I am not breeding the discus.
Research:
After deciding to raise Discus, I found that I first needed to do some research and find out as much as I could about raising and keeping discus. I went to a local book store and purchased a book on Discus. I found this to be helpful, but I felt that I still needed some more knowledge before diving in and purchasing the Discus. I then went to the internet and found a number of sources there to be extremely helpful. The two sources that I found most helpful were the Discus-L mailing list and the aquaria FAQs. After reading the FAQs thoroughly, I spent 4-6 months just lurking on the Discus mailing list to find out everything I could. Although the wait was extremely difficult, I learned a tremendous amount during this period prior to buying any discus.
After my learning period was over, there were a number of decisions I needed to make:
1) Gravel or Bare Bottom?
Since I had only a single 55 gallon tank for Discus, it needed to serve as both a show tank and grow out tank My show tank was to be a planted tank, so I chose to go with Gravel. If I had to do it again, I would have kept it bare bottom for the first 6-8 months while the discus were growing and converted it to a show tank (or get another tank) afterwards. Cleaning a bare bottom tank is much easier than a gravel bottom tank and, since I was feeding the young discus 3 times a day, it made for a lot of work keeping the gravel clean. If you have the time to spend on it, gravel is ok at this point, but bare bottom is easier to keep clean. The drawback is that barebottom tanks are not very attactive (IMO), but I could put up with a bare bottom tank for 6-8 months. As it turns out, I ended up moving the discus to a 125g tank after about a year anyhow!
2) Live or Plastic Plants?
I chose live plants because my other tanks have live plants and I love them. My Discus tank has: Hygrophila difformis (water wisteria), Hygrophila corymbosa, Hygrophila polysperma, Anubias var. nana, Cryptocoryne balansae, willisii, wendtii, Echinodorus bleheri (Swords), and Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern). All the plants (except for the swords) did well. I couldn't grow Swords in any of my tanks so I don't think it had anything to do with the temperature of the Discus tank. I started off with 1 40W light (Triton), but later switched to two 40 watt lights (1 Triton and 1 GE full spectrum). None of these plants are very demanding, so I did little else other than fertilze occasionally.
If I had to do it again, I'd wait until the Discus were established and I was sure everything was disease free before I added live plants. I ended up having a problem where I needed to medicate (so I thought) and turned the temperature up. The plants all came through ok, but the crypts didn't do too well for a while.
3) Discus only tank or Discus plus other fish?
I wanted to have variety and I chose to add other fish to this tank. After looking into what type of fish are compatible with Discus and could survive the higher temperature of tank, I chose to add some Clown Loaches, Cardinal Tetras, and a few Otocinclus. I have observed no problems with any of these fish and the Discus. When I moved to the 125g tank, I also added a school of Harlequin Rasboras, a couple of Rams, and a Bristlenose Pleco. All of these fish have been excellent tankmates with the Discus. Some people have complained about Oto's sucking on the sides of the Discus, but I have not seen this (knock on wood!). I actually think the presence of smaller fish have a calming effect on the Discus.
The Clown Loaches and Discus are quite fun to watch during feeding time. They will each try and steal a piece of beefheart mix right out of the other's mouth. Other than that, they pretty much ignore each other. The Clown Loaches have gotten quite big given 3 feedings per day. The Loaches also prevent any food from remaining on the bottom of the tank uneaten.
One recommendation, I quarantine any new fish for 4-6 weeks before adding it to my discus tank.
4) Filtration:
I chose to start out with a sponge filter and an Aquaclear 300 with two sponges in it. This seemed to work fine, but I really liked the AQ300, so I removed the sponge filter and went with two AQ300s. I did not use any carbon, just sponges in the AQ300s. Now, on my 125g tank, I use an AQ500 and a Magnum 350 with 2 biowheels. This is an excellent setup. I use the Micron filter in my Magnum and I use 1 sponge and a nylon filled with Peat in my AQ500. I have found no problems with this setup causing too much turbulence in the water. In fact, the Discus seem to “hang out” right by the output of the AQ500. It's closest to the door to the room and they sit there and beg for food.
One thing that is a must, is to make sure your tank is fully cycled prior to adding any Discus. A tank can take 6-8 weeks to completely cycle. I had my tank up and running for 8 weeks with fish prior to adding the Discus. I used Cardinal Tetras to cycle the (which was a mistake because I lost quite a few). I think the Rasboras or other hardy tetras would be a better choice.
5) Heater(s):
I went with two 150 watt heaters in my 55g tank.. I thought that 2 smaller heaters were safer if one happened to fail. This setup worked fine. In my 125g tank, I have two 250 watt heaters.
6) Water conditions:
I was on a municipal water system. My PH = 7.2, my hardness app. 150ppm. I originally used SeaChem's Acid Buffer to alter my ph down to 6.8, but after reading “a previous post to discus-l], I decided to just use tap water without adjusting PH or hardness. I keep the temp at 86F.
Recently, I moved to a new location which has extremely hard water with a PH of greater than 8.0. The water has a lot of alkalinity as I could not get the PH to go down no matter what I tried (Peat, PH down products, etc). The PH would initially drop and bounce right back up. I eventually purchased a RO unit. I now use 25g of RO water, with 1g of tap water and some Kent RO right. If I need to adjust the PH at all, I use a little Acid Buffer.
I also started using Peat in the filter and I will always use Peat from now on. I actually like the “tea” coloring in the water but the Discus seem to love it. I have seen a noticable difference in their color since using Peat. My water is now kept at a PH of app. 6.3-6.5 and very soft. I am careful to ensure the water has enough buffering to avoid a “PH crash”, but I now use an electronic PH monitor just to be sure.
7) Water Changes:
I originally did 10-15% every other day and a 40-50% change about once every 10 days. For the first few water changes, I aged the water > 24hrs. in a rubbermaid container prior to adding it to my tank. After seeing what a pain this was (the trashcan was in the basement), I started going with direct tap water via a python water changer. I measured for chlorine and chloramine every month or so just to make sure there aren't any significant changes to the water quality. There has been no chloramine present in my tap water and chlorine has been 0.00-0.25ppm. I added a little Stress-Coat or Amquel as I added the water to the tank. The fish have shown no stress using this method. After the fish were grown, I switched to two 25% water changes a week.
Since I moved to a new location and have an RO unit, I now use a different approach. My “change” water is stored in a 32g rubbermaid trashcan, where it is adjusted to the appropriate parameters. There is a powerhead (for cirulation) and a heater in the trashcan. I use a Python water changer to syphon water out of the tank (and vacuum the gravel once / week). I then use a powerhead/water pump to refill the tank with the water in the trashcan.
8) Where to buy Discus?
Since I didn't know of any reputable breeders locally, I chose to go with one of the ones recommended on “ discus-l” via mail order. I ordered 6 cobalts. They arrived right on time. I opened the box and found 7 instead of six (by 6 get one free???) The seventh one almost dead in the bag and didn't make it. Of the other six, 5 looked great and 1 was kind of dark (this one also died after about a month). The 5 fish come straight to the front of the tank any time I enter the room and beg for food. They are now full grown, very healthy and a breeding pair has formed.
I've since ordered 7 more discus via mail order. All of these are healthy and have voracious appetites. If you don't have a reputable source for Discus locally, I highly recommend mail order.
9) Food:
I've tried a number of foods and the discus like just about everything I've tried! I was a little surprised at that. I feed them three times a day and rotate the selection of food between: Tetra 5 star flakes, Aquadyne flakes, homemade beefheart mix, Tetra bits, freeze dried brine shrimp, and occasionally frozen brine shrimp. They eat all of these aggressively, but really go wild over the beefheart mix. I plan on trying earthworms this summer as I have heard very good things about these. I tried frozen bloodworms once and the next day all my fish were scratching and gasping for air! I have no proof proof that this was caused by bloodworms, but I won't take the chance again. I also stay away from black worms and tubiflex worms due to concerns about disease. My largest discus was a little bloated after pigging out on too much Aquadyne once. I think it expanded in stomach, so now I am very careful when I feed them this or any pellet type food. I have not seen this problem again.
10) Disease:
The only disease I've seen in almost 2 years (knock on wood), was the scratching and gasping after I fed the bloodworms. I originally thought it was gill flukes, but one of my friends suggested it was ich and recommended I turn the heat up to 92F. I tried this and it helped some, but the fish were still scratching so I was back to my original thought of gill flukes. Please note, that I increased aeration and increased the frequency of water changes during this timeframe.
I hated to do it, but decided to treat for flukes. I used Coppersafe at ½ dose because I've had success with that in the past. It seems to have worked, but others have emailed me since then to say that they have had problems with Coppersafe and Discus. If I had to do it again, I would NOT have medicated. I would have just kept up with frequent water changes. I am of the opinion that most fish have flukes at a low level and it is other environmental conditions that cause them to be a problem. As long as the water is kept clean, the natural immunes systems of the fish can fight off many common problems.
Summary:
So, what have I learned in about 2 years of keeping Discus? Well, for one, they are much hardier than I originally believed. Also, there are many different way to successfully keep Discus. Water conditions vary, tank setups vary, filtration varies, etc... I am of the opinion that there are a few elements that are key to successful discus raising:
1) Starting with healthy, quality Discus from a reputable source and adhering to strict quantine procedures for any new fish.
2) Maintain good, stable water quality through frequent water changes. It is more important to have clean water with stable parameters than to achieve the “ideal PH and hardness” .
3) Provide a varied diet which is enriched with vitamins. This will keep your Discus healthy and vigorous.
The biggest problem I have found with Discus is that they are extremely addictive. You start with a few. Then you want a few more of a different strain. Then a different strain. Then some Wild Discus.............
I must admit, it's a great problem to have.