Discus Fish Care – Things You Should Know
First of all, I’m going to share something I experienced few years back. I was a huge discus fan at that time but didn’t really have a clue on proper discus fish care techniques. I saw a tank full of beautiful blue color discus at one of the local aquariums and without thinking twice, I bought ten pairs. They were expensive, and I didn’t even have a proper tank setup at my house but nothing could prevent me from buying those discus fish. You can imagine how crazy I was.
Shortly after I put them in one of my larger glass tanks, I could feel that something is not right , but I couldn’t figure out what’s wrong. Some of the discus looked as they were really uncomfortable, but I could not figure out what to do. Two days after, I lost seven of them. Yes, seven of them died and I transferred the remaining to a smaller tank. It was a very sad day and I realized, if you don’t know how to care for your discus fish properly, disasters could happen very easily.
I wanted to make sure that the same mistake is not going to happen again. I visited local aquariums, started reading articles online and bought some books on discus fish from the local book store as well. Everything I learned helped me a lot and today, I know everything I need to know about Discus fish breeding and care.
I love my discus and I’m sure you do as well, and I want to make sure that you are not going to do the same mistake I did. It’s not possible for me to introduce you to the guy at the local aquarium or send you some of the books I have in my collection, but I can give you some information online. That’s what this website is all about. Everything I post here will help you learn about discus fish care and/or discus fish breeding.
I will be adding new articles when I get free time (I’m a busy web designer as well..), but if you are really interested in learning everything you need to know about discus fish, I can recommend you one e-book. Trust me, even with the knowledge I already had, I was amazed by this product and the amount of neat little tricks and tips I could learn from it. Give it a try.. I’m sure you will appreciate it. You can check it out by clicking the following link..
The ultimate guide to Discus Fish Care and Breeding
How Can I Get a Breeding Pair of Discus Fish?
This is a common question asked by lot of people, who are thinking of breeding their own Discus Fish. There are three different ways to successfully obtain a good breeding pair of Discus Fish, and all three are explained below in details.
Method #1 – Getting a proven pair of Discus
This is the easiest and the fastest method, but will cost you money. A proven pair is a bonded male and a female, which has already produced young ones. A solid proven pair can be very expensive depending on quality and the variety. This method can be risky but rewarding if you manage to get a truly bonded, genuine proven pair. Young Discus can be sold for a decent price and you will make the money you spent in no time if you consider doing it as a business.
Just be careful when you are buying the pair. Make sure they are truly bonded. Make sure the seller is a reputed company or a person, someone known to you, or was recommended by someone you trust. This greatly reduces the risk factor and usually you can start making money right off the bat.
Method #2 – Getting a pair from young discus fish
Get 10-12 young discus (about 1-2 inch body size), and let them grow in a large tank. Try a non-expensive variety if you are doing this for the first time. After several months, you will notice some of them pairing up and trying to get away from the rest and mark territories. This is a sign that they have bonded and the pair should then be moved into a separate tank. You can find more information on how to set up a tank in some of the articles we have posted on this website.
With this method, you have more control compared to the first one, and you will get good experience raising the young discus for several months.
Method #3 – Buying young adult discus fish
You can also buy young adults (about 5 inch in body size) from a seller. At this stage it can be possible to identify male/female discus. Buy a few pairs so the chances of you getting a solid pair suitable for breeding will be high.
As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages in every method mentioned above. I personally prefer the second method, but I know people who have achieved great success by using all three, and all of them are very practical.
Discus Fish Breeding Video
We managed to find a quality Discus Fish Breeding Video on ‘You Tube’. We have embedded the video below for you. Please check it out.
About the video : Discus Fish Breeding Video showing female laying eggs and the male fertilizing them (female blue turq and male cobalt). According to the original up-loader, the dimensions of the tank used in this video are,
Length -36″?
Width -18″
Height -24″
Enjoy the Discus Fish Breeding Video..
If you are a Discus lover and have made similar videos you would like to publish on this website, please send us an electronic mail to info@discusfishbreedingblog.com and we will post it here as soon as possible.
Discus Fish Tank 101
Discus fish are a particularly special breed of fish and thus a Discus fish tank must be equally special! Discus fish are highly intelligent and more aware of their surroundings than other fish. Keeping this in mind, let’s look at just what you need to create the perfect Discus fish tank!
Discus fish are generally quite large so naturally a Discus fish tank needs to be rather sizable as well. The minimum recommended dimensions are usually 120cm x 40 cm x 50cm. Remember though that Discus fish are more comfortable when with a school of other discus, which means you may need a bigger tank to accommodate the increased numbers. For a group of around 5, a Discus fish tank will contain about 55 to 90 gallons of water.
Which leads us to the quality of the water – an extremely important factor. A Discus fish tank should have zero ammonia and nitrite in its waters. Elevated levels of these chemicals stress out Discus fish which can lead to severe health problems. Tank bred Discus do well in hard alkaline waters so having your water pH levels around 7 is recommended. An exclusively Discus fish tank should have 20 to 40 percent of its water cleaned around twice a week.
Temperature wise, recommended ranges are 28 degrees Celsius for display purposes and around 32 degrees Celsius for breeding purposes. When changing water, be careful to make sure that it is approximately the same temperature as Discus fish are prone to ‘temperature shock’ which can lead to health problems.
The position of a Discus fish tank is quite important as well. Keep in mind that Discus fish are very shy and will hide when uncomfortable so keep them away from busy areas and sunlight. Plants are a very good idea as they provide shade and a hiding spot (not to mention also making the tank pleasing to look at!) Pieces of driftwood and the occasional rock (devoid of metallic ores or contaminants!) are highly recommended as they are part of a Discus fish’s natural environment.
Keep in mind though that the Discus fish provide most of the aesthetic so keep the decor at a minimum and take care in avoiding ‘fun’ decors like ships or plastic objects.
Enjoy your brand new Discus fish tank – may your fish love it always!
Discus Fish Breeding – All You Need To Know!
Discus fish breeding can be quite a tricky process and should really not be attempted by beginners! Considered to be one of the most beautiful tropical fish, they require a lot of prerequisite conditions and care so be prepared to be busy for the “King of the Aquarium!”
Discus fish breeding can begin in two ways, one more expensive than the other. The expensive but quicker and more reliable method involves buying an existing Discus pair who are, for a lack of a better word, compatible with each other. Or you can buy a group of Discus – at least six is recommended – and hope a pair will come about as they mature. Additionally, it is recommended to buy different varieties of Discus fish as this will help to expand the genetic gene pool.
Keep in mind that once a pair is formed, they essentially become the dominant party and they will claim private territory. At this stage, either remove the other fish or move the couple to a special breeding tank – around 20 to 30 gallons should be perfect. Ensure that this tank has hiding spots as well as Discus pairs will fight occasionally (as any couple does!).
So you have the couple. Now comes the care. Discus fish breeding requires strict regulation of many factors – chief amongst which are water quality and diet.
Change at least 25% of the water in tank twice a week- minimum. Ensure that ammonia and nitrite levels are practically nonexistent – keeping nitrogenous waste as close to zero as possible is extremely important. Discus are acidic water fish so keeping the pH levels at a range for 5 to 5.8 is vital. Especially when changing the water – Discus fish can go into shock if the levels change too quickly. Additionally, regulating the temperature of the water goes hand in hand with this. For Discus fish breeding, the recommended water temperature is around 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Discus fish breeding will also involve a lot of worms. Discus fish love white and black worms and feeding live food to them helps in the breeding process. Additionally, adult brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and daphnia would be adequate.
Once the spawning starts, you can expect up to 15 eggs every week or so! These will usually begin hatching within 48 hours. Don’t worry about preparing food for them just yet as they feed off the adult Discus for the first few days.
And that’s the general overview to Discus fish breeding! Good luck and enjoy your brand new Discus!
