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What fish would you reccomend to get as practice for discus. Like would blue rams be a good fish to get and then if they thrive then get discus. This may sound a little confusing but I can't really explain it very well.

I actually bought 2 discus and set the tank up the same day. I know, I know, this isn't the way you were supposed to do it, but I was at an auction and got the discus pretty cheap. I matched my water parameters to the parameters of the bag, with brand new gravel and just brought in a filter from another tank. The fish have almost doubled in size and have also begin to spawn. I personally don't feel that discus are too dificult to keep, I had not kept them until that day, now I have 4 tanks of them. My ph is 7.2 and I run my tanks around 76 degrees.

Monkey,

I agree with Mustang. Discus are not difficult to keep. Problems arise when:
1. They are kept in crowded, dirty tanks,
2. They are not fed a good diet,
3. They are purchased as immature fish,
4. They are not kept in a large enough group.


Many people talk about discus as a soft water and acidic pH fish. They are in the wild but my fish just spawned in water that has a pH of 7.2. The one thing that discus demand is clean water and living conditions. Many discus afficionadoes do daily water changes of 50% or more. Your fish should have water changes of at least 30 to 40% once or twice each week depending on tank conditions.

Discus are predators. They should be fed a good flake or bit food with supplements of frozen bloodworm (mosquito larva) and/or black worm. Small fish should be fed up to 5 times a day. Large fish should be fed once each day. Feeding frozen or live food is cleaner that feeding flake and bits.

Some hobbyists feed prepared beef heart. It is a great food but uneaten portions will quickly foul your aquarium. Given the quality of flake, bits and frozen food, I strongly recommend against beef heart.

Always buy your fish from a breeder. You should buy the largest fish that you can afford. Young fish have immature immune systems. Try to buy fish that are 3 inches or more not including the tail. The cost will be more but your success and overall cost will be better. If you don't know any breeders in your area, I will try to find someone for you to talk with about buying fish.

Discus are a schooling fish and should be kept in a group of at least five fish. The size of the group will minimize the cichlid bullying behavior.

Just a few quick comments on my 20 years of discus keeping. I find good rams difficult to find and to keep.

Last edited by bob wesolowski at 20-May-2005 12:16

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