Discus fish have proven to be extremely popular in recent years and a lot of this has to do with the fact that more and more tank bred Discus are now available for aquarium keepers as more breeders than ever have managed to breed this wonderful fish.
It was only in the 1960's that pioneers of breeding the Discus fish managed to get results, famous names include the legendary Jack Whatley, they firstly had to work out how to keep the Discus in the correct conditions before they could even attempt to start breeding programs. In the early days the Discus fish were very fragile, there were many mortalities as they do not travel well and conditions had to be perfect to keep the Discus alive.
Nowadays Discus fish are much hardier, tank bred specimens are much more adapt to fending of diseases and parasitic infections but their aquarium conditions still have to be faithfully kept to the highest of conditions to get the best colouration from the fish and to ensure that the Discus have long and happy lives.
There is so much choice to choose from as through selective breeding hundreds of strains have been developed and unusually for species of fish, many of these strains look as beautiful as the original wild strains that started off the immense interest in the Discus. They have earned their nickname "King of the Aquarium" , they look majestic swimming around the aquarium and they are indeed a very peaceful species.
Unfortunately there are still many common mistakes that aquarium keepers still make when keeping Discus fish, the most common one being that Discus are a natural shoaling species and prefer the company of their own kind, they ideally should be kept in small groups of at least 6 specimens, single specimens tend to take a long while to settle in the aquarium, they will also be skittish and hide away a lot. You will also see a different behavioural pattern when they are kept in groups, as they are a shoaling fish they will develop a pecking order, one member of the group will be the dominant fish so there will initially be a few squabbles between the Discus fish until this order is settled. A good point to remember is that each Discus will require at least 10 gallons of water volume to ensure that it has plenty of swimming room in the tank, to keep a small group the aquarium will need to be at least capable of holding 60 gallons of water.
Another common mistake that novice Discus keepers make is to add the Discus fish to an aquarium full of boisterous tank mates. They need to be kept with other peaceful species that will not disturb them, I have always had good results with Corydoras for the bottom dwellers and a shoal of Cardinal Tetras for the mid dwellers. I have often seem Clown Loaches kept with Discus fish, the loaches are always busy and become active during the night hours as they are a nocturnal fish, Discus need to rest at night so as you can see this is a classic example of the wrong tank mates being selected
Whether you are keeping tank bred Discus or wild caught Discus fish, they demand a high water quality, always perform regular water changes and keep the substrate clean with regular vacuuming of the aquarium substrate. Never overfeed Discus, leave one day of the week without food, this will give the Discus fish the chance to cleanse their digestive system and prevent any ailments.
Following a few simple rules will make your life easier but keeping Discus fish has never been an easy task!
By: Jan Hvizdak
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