An Introduction to Discuss Fish

by Nicole Buttel

The Discus is a large freshwater cichlid, native to the Amazon River in South America. They were first discovered/described by Dr. J. J. Heckel, an Austrian zoologist, in 1840.

His name is today used to describe the "original" Discus variant. They are increasingly difficult to come by, since most Discus Fish available today has been bred in captivity.

Originally the Discus had three colour variations: Green, Brown and Blue. However, with the Discus becoming more popular among fish keepers, and a lot of money going into research and development of different strains of Discus Aquarium Fish, You can get alomst any color you can emagineable these days

The Discus Fish is by nature a social, yet shy being. In their native habitat they live in large groups with advanced social behavoirs. It is really important when buying Discus Fish you purchase at least 4. This way they will develop their own personality.

Keeping Discus Fish has traditionally been considered to be difficult. The Discus Fish can be finicky, susceptible to disease and easily stressed if they are not kept under optimal conditions. It is getting easier, though, to keep Discus Fish. This is due to most of them being bred in captivity, and new technology being made available to help maintain optimal water conditions.

These days Discus Fish are very popular and a following rise in demand has made Discus Fish are widely available even in smaller aquatic shops, so you don't have to go to specialist stores anymore.

The Discus has been referred to as "The King Of The Aquarium", and though keeping and breeding them is certainly still a challenge for the inexperienced, the later can be very rewarding indeed.

Most Discus Fish Keepers will at some stage want to breed them. There's no doubt that doing so is a great experience - and with a bit of luck - it will even pay for the hobby.

The Discus Fish Tank

Once you decide that keeping Discus Fish is for you - the very first thing you need to consider is - "What size aquarium do I need?"

Obviously you need to stick to what you can afford, and the amount of space you have available, but remember that the aquarium you get is going to be home to your Discus Fish, so it has to meet certain standards.

You're more than likely going to have your Discus Fish on display and most experts recommend a fish tank no smaller than 120cm X 40cm X 50cm. Due to their body shape, Discus Fish tends to like deep tanks better. Also, to keep stable water conditions, you need an aquarium that will hold a lot of water.

Discus Fish are naturally rather shy, so you should keep them away from busy and noisy areas. Also, their tank should be kept away from direct sunlight and radiators(as should all fishtanks), to avoid excess heat and algae. Placing a Discus Fish tank next to a doorway is a big mistake.

Discus Fish also stress easy so it is a good idea to keep your tank at a good height. They get stressed and dont like over head movement. What else can you put into your tank?

Putting some fine gravel in the bottom would be a good start.

If you want plants in your aquarium you can use both live plants, silk plants or plastic plants, according to your personal preference - but nothing really beats the real thing.

Other items you may want to add to your fishtank, to give it that all natural feel, would be rocks and driftwood. Both are quite welcome additions to a Discus Fish tank, as they're often present in the discus' native waters, providing them with shelter.

Gimmics like "No Fishing" signs and sunken ships or plastic figurines doesn't have place in a discus fishtank.

The decor should be kept to a minimum, as it will serve the fish tank best both functionally and aesthetically.

The Ideal Tank Conditions

Discus fish hail from the black water tributaries of the Amazon. The vegetation and substrate in these waters has a high level of humic acid that causes the water to be soft or have an acidic Ph level. The Ph level should be around 5.5 to 6.5 for Discus fish. The water temperatures range from around 26 degrees Celsius to 31 degrees Celsius. The water is generally slow moving.

Discus fish require very good water quality or they are likely to become stressed otherwise. Some people use Reverse Osmosis (R.O) water to get the quality right but as R.O. water is virtually distilled water it is not advised to use it without adding essential minerals and salts that all freshwater fish need. There are supplements that can be added to R.O. Water that will do this. Water should be changed regularly too.

The typical habitat of Discus fish is gentle water movement, a variety of plants and a diverse aqua scape of rocks, caves and bogwood. They prefer to live in a large tank.

Discus fish are generally placid fish but become very protective during breeding and nurturing of fry. It is sometimes a good idea to remove other fish during this time or partition them off.

They will eat most things from flake to live foods.

Discuss fish are some of the most beautiful cichlids you can keep however it can be a challenge to maintain the water quality to their liking. Soft water is often more difficult to maintain than hard water and discus fish are quite sensitive to this. This puts more responsibility on you to know how to maintain the fish tank and keep a regular schedule of maintenance.

About the Author

Nicole uses a great system for caring for her discus fish