Setting up a planted Discus fish tank… everything from substrate to filtration.

The larger the aquarium the better, is the first place to start. Preferably an 18 inch or wider aquarium such as a 75,90,120,150 or even a 24 inch 220 or 300 can find it’s way into your living room. If not keep in mind the 1 discus fish per 8 gallons of water as adults rule and the fact that they prefer to be kept in groups of 3 or more (unless breeding).

Once you have secured your discus tank, you will need a stand, hood, substrate, heater, light, filter, dechlorinator, thermometer and plants… Filtration can be accomplished hundreds of different ways! I have found the easiest to maintain and most effective filtration is a Marineland Emperor hang on the back(or side) biowheel! Yes you are thinking, how low tech… 23 years of fish keeping and we have tried every type of filtration from algal turf scrubbers to bio reactors and more!!! You want easy to clean, effective, efficient and long lasting? We have a 220 gallon planted discus fish tank displayed on our plant page that has been running on the same 2 Emperor 400’s for 10 years…

The filter cartridges can be rinsed off dozens of times making them very cost effective to operate. We use normal tap water to accomplish this, as the bio wheels and carbon cartridges will maintain more than enough nitrifying bacterial colonies. Speaking of the carbon cartridges, yes we use a high quality (marineland) activated carbon in these cartridges. Carbon is great for getting the water sparkling clear, just make sure to rinse it well before using to keep from affecting the pH. And MOST IMPORTANTLY… replace the carbon at least every 4 weeks. Carbon that gets old and “filled up” can cause numerous problems with your discus fish. Some of these problems can be ragged fins, hole in the head not to mention other issues… so keep it fresh…

Co2 needed? Depends how often you want to trim your plants and what type of growth rate you desire (not to mention some of the high light species of plants require higher levels of co2) We have used co2 in the past and prefer not to mess with it… I found that producing bucket fulls of plants every week just wasn’t in my time schedule to maintain. There are so many species of freshwater plants that grow quite rapidly without supplementing co2 it became a mute point. Another factor to good plant growth and an active aquarium is lots of small fish… Tetras, rasboras, dwarf cichlids, coryadoras catfish etc. all are compatible with Discus fish and they add a whole new dimension to the tank, making it more lively. Just keep in mind, that it may require extra food to get your discus full. These other fish can get to the food generally faster than the discus… so feed accordingly.

Algae eaters are also a necessity to the planted aquarium, to keep all of the various types of algae at bay. We recommend the true flying fox (Siaminsis) for hair algaes, ottocinclus and busy nose plecos for all the other algae types… Substrate is another hot topic when it come to plant growth… we have found that a bed of 2-3 inches of fluorite made by Sea chem and a topping of 2 or so inches of Quickcrete play sand works wonders. I recommend the quickcrete because most Lowes and Menard’s carry this brand, it is extremely clean (use at your own risk) and it is cheap. Generally a 75 gallon tank will require 60 pounds of fluorite and 75 pounds +- sand. Add the fluorite first, top it with the sand and then when you fill with water, place a plate or pan in the tank to prevent the incoming water from stirring up the substrate (fluorite can be messy).

When it come to heaters don’t skimp! Use at least 2 heaters on any tank 55 gallons or higher. The reason for this is that to use only one heater it must work all of the time. Eventually it will wear out or lock on causing a catastrophe… Our heater of choice is the visitherm stealth. These heaters are very reliable and basically unbreakable. Lighting can be accomplished once again dozens of ways… the more the better when it comes to growing most freshwater plants. We use a custom made spiral compact lighting system on all of our plant tanks… Other good choices are t5s, power compacts and metal halides… Contrary to popular belief, Discus fish don’t mind bright lighting what so ever as long as they have areas to hide if they get spooked…

We run 5000 watts of sodium and metal halides in our pond area with discus fish in the tanks right under some of these 1000 watt lights with no adverse behavior. Decorations for the tank can include rocks (non calcareous… see previous posts on this) and driftwood. Driftwood is one of the most beneficial decorations for the discus aquarium. It adds not only a natural territorial/hiding place, it also adds tannins and helps perfect the water conditions for Discus fish… keep in mind to only use quality wood… no rotten pieces! As far as plants go for the Discus tank, there are literally dozens upon dozens of choices (see our Discus biotope plant packages).

I am often asked… “I thought most freshwater plants can’t tolerate the higher temperatures (82-88) needed for discus fish.” We point out that most of the plants are grown in either Florida, the Carolina’s or tropical Asia, where the water temp quite often gets into the 90’s. Making a plant layout is all a matter of personal taste… Generally work from the back to the front, with the taller varieties in the back, the bushy sword plants etc. in the middle and low growing plants in the front…

Read Full Post »

One of the biggest “tricks” of getting Discus fish or angelfish to spawn is the quality of the food and the amount of food they receive.

Discus fish need more incoming nutrition than their growth needs require to produce eggs. So give them lots of food up to 5 times a day… I have read many a breeders report that they only feed their adult discus fish 2 times a day… We have found that to get the female discus fish to produce the large volumes of eggs (200+) they need not only lots of high protein food (45%+)) but the addition of insects in their diet such as bloodworms, live blackworms, red worms or mosquito larvae. Without these foods the female discus spawing rates goes way down. Another factor in geting Discus fish to spawn of course is the age… Generally female discus fish start spawning at around ten months of age or around 4-5 inches in size. Keeping them in high stocking numbers per gallon can delay spawing until they reach a larger size. The advantage to this is that the female discus fish generally produces more eggs the larger they are.

Once you have conditioned your discus fish with a diet rich in these foods, gotten them to the size/age of sexual maturity (Discus reach full size at around 2-3 years of age) inducing them into spawning can be done by a number of methods: Delay water changes (making sure to not let the nitrate cycle get to dangerous levels) for around five thru seven days. When you do your water change(30%), try and coincide it with a thunderstorm (the barometric pressure drop seems to work wonders) On the water that you use on the replacement water, have the temperature be around 8-12 degrees cooler, and a bit more acidic than the tank water… this almost always will encourage the discus fish into spawning. All of these same principals apply to raising and breeding angelfish also…

Read Full Post »

We are often asked: How many Discus fish or angelfish can be kept per gallon of aquarium?

The rule that we go by for a standard home aquarium is one Discus fish or angelfish per 8 gallons of water. This number can vary quite a bit depending on the filtration used on the discus/angelfish tank and the size of the discus/angelfish in the tank. In most of our 55 gallon grow out tanks in our hatchery, we keep up to 24, 3-4 inch discus fish or angelfish in each tank!. . that is one per two gallons.. This may seem extreme, but there is a continual flow of water in and out of the discus tanks at a rate of five gallons a minute. This water is filter by 8 foot fluidized bed sand filters along with a wet dry biological bed.

Along with this we do water changes of 30% every other day to keep up with the huge bio load. Keep in mind that Discus fish are great jumpers so make sure to keep there tanks well covered… The Discus fish are all fed 4-5 times a day making sure that they all get a full bellies worth at each meal. We feed the younger discus fish a diet of HBH discus pellet food, frozen bloodworms, chiclid delight, several different types of HBH flake food, enriched frozen brineshrimp, mysis shrimp, live blackworms and frozen daphnia.

The reasons for these high stocking densities is that it cuts the Discus fishes territorial fighting behavior down to nothing. Discus kept in numbers lower than one per eight gallons can be prone to this territorial bickering, making them spend more time defending there territories than putting energy into growth. Once we begin to pair our discus or angelfish off we will cut there tank numbers down to one per 10 gallons… Once they have paired off we remove them to one pair per 29 gallon aquarium.

Read Full Post »

Discus fish tank mate compatibility:

Discus fish can live successfully with a large group of other fish species… It is often recommended to not keep Discus fish and Angelfish together. We find this to not be true, we house numerous discus and angels together with no problems. The only problems that arise with keeping Discus fish and angelfish together is when either species reaches sexual maturity and pairs off. As with most Chiclids, Discus or Angelfish can become quite aggressive when defending a spawn, viciously attacking any of the tank mates.

Generally Discus fish reach sexual maturity at around 1 year old, Angelfish a few months earlier… Being very similar in genetics Angelfish and Discus fish can also share quite a few of the same disease problems, so be careful and quarantine all new arrivals. Many other species of tropical fish can also be kept with Discus fish… all of the tetras we carry do quite well, including the Congo tetra. These tetras are extremely beautiful as adults, reaching up to 3.5 inch’s in length with an amazing pastel blue and copper body color with long(up to 2 inches) white streamers on the males tail fin. Cardinal tetras are the most widely kept of the tetras as Discus fish tank mates. There striking fire engine red and cobalt blue colors are a real show stopper when a large school travels though the tank.

Other great discus fish tank mates include most of the species of Rainbowfish. These fish are extremely colorful and peaceful along with the fact that most of them thrive in Discus fish water conditions making them ideal. The corydoras catfish species that we carry all make great additions to the bottom of your discus fish tank. These fish not only clean up uneaten food, but also stir up debris allowing them to be sucked up by the filter systems. The bushy nose plecos are also great discus fish tank mates, cleaning the entire tank yet leaving the discus fish alone. We keep two bushy nose in all of our Discus fish breeding tanks to keep them spotless.

I am often asked by visitors…”All of those babies hatched out with those plecos in there?” Yes, they’re that peaceful…

The dwarf cichlids that we carry also are another great discus fish tank mate for the lower half of the aquarium. These beautiful fish add a great bit of color along with personality to the tank. All of the fish species that we sell, excluding Flowerhorn cichlids and Koi will do great in your Discus tank… If you have any questions just email us and we will answer them for you…

Read Full Post »

I am often asked… “How effective is peat moss at producing beneficial water for Discus fish?”

Peat moss is certainly not required to be kept in the Discus aquarium… It can have a benifical affect adding tanic and humic acids to the water. These acids help lower the pH and soften the water. Peat also has an anti bacterial (so I have heard) effect on the water, lower the numbers of harmful pathogens that may affect your discus fish. Peat adds a tea colored tint to the water, which the native water to discus also contains, making a more natural environment for them. When using peat, use the tea making attitude. A bag of tea will only make so much tea… a portion of peat will only leach so much of essence before it needs to be replenished. Peat can be added to a canister filter, which is the most effective way to get it’s benefits for your discus tank. Another method is to put it in cheese cloth or old hosiery and place it in the discus tank or preferably over a water flow source to obtain maximum flow through to release the properties. As far as what types of peat to use for your discus tank, peats from eastern Canada, generally contain the most tannic and humic acids. These peats can be purchased at most garden centers. Make sure that the products you buy don’t contain anything besides pure peat. Another safeguard before trying them out on your discus tank is to filter the water on a tank of cheaper tetras to make sure you have a good batch of peat… All of this said, we have not used peat on any of our discus tanks in years. I have found that Reverse Osmosis water is the easiest most effective way to produce ultimate discus breeding water. For most of the year we are blessed with very high quality soft (60 ppm) water right out of the faucet. We do have a 2000 gallon a day RO unit for use during times of the year when the water quality drops below optimal Discus fish quality. This happens after periods of very little rain (droughts) or during a cold winter where the main water supply (lake Monroe) receives very little feed water.

Read Full Post »

Another question that comes up quite often is… Is a water softener good for producing Discus fish quality water?…

Generally speaking,no. Water softeners, generally use zeolite or some other ion exchange resin. These resins use salt to recharge them… basically they work by replace the calcium and magnesium in the water with sodium. Sodium is not a friend of the Discus fish. I have a customer that had one trouble after another with his 220 gallon discus tank. I tried trouble shooting with him since his Discus tank had been doing fine for quite some time. The deductions, what new has occurred? The new water softener… after he took his tanks water supply off the softener, there have been no problems since. I have heard this report from many a Discus keeper. This gets us back to the “should I keep salt in my Discus aquarium?” The answer is only if needed. If you have Discus fish that have injuries to the skin or fins, salt (one cup per 100 gallons) works wonders. Salt is very effective in combating a host of problems from fungal to bacterial and Viral. Salt however should not be used on an every day basis. I recently have had a customer that experienced problems with his discus fish developing a fungal outbreak on there bodies and eyes… I asked him numerous questions trying to help him figure out where this outbreak was coming from… I had him send me pictures of the affected fish and in one of the pictures of his Discus I noticed that the piece of driftwood in the tank was sporting a one inch plus growth of fungus over it’s entire surface! This wood was white and spongy looking in appearance (rotten). Once the affected driftwood was removed and a good salt bath was employed the Discus fish went back to normal. Keep this in mind, driftwood is great for the discus aquarium. Just make sure that the wood you are using is solid in structure (no soft, mushy spots) also make sure that it does not have a distinct mushroomy smell (fungus). There are many types of fungal infestations that can grow on driftwood that produce toxins and harmful spores that can wreak havoc on your Discus fish or other tropical’s.

Read Full Post »

I am often asked… Is well water OK to use for Discus fish aquariums?

The answer is… it totally depends on your well. Discus fish like to be kept (optimally) at a pH of 6.0, a hardness of around 60-120 ppm TH. So keeping in mind there is a huge variation in water chemistry depending on the geology of the surrounding area. Generally the water in wells tends to be of a higher pH and hardness. Another factor with well water is surface run off! Discus fish as well as any other tropical fish do not tolerate pesticides or herbicides in their water… Generally after a heavy rain pollutants work there way through the ground into the well and in up in your discus aquarium. This can lead to stress, causing the discus to quit eating properly, loss their normal color or possibly even die. The solution to this problem is run your well water through a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter… these filters remove up to 98.5% of contaminants from the water. This leaves a pure, pH balanced(water comes out of the units at around a pH of 7.0) softened water… perfect for your discus aquarium!

Read Full Post »

Discus fish are on of the more long lived Cichlids, living up to 12 years.

We have several discus in our hatchery that are over 10 and still breeding! Discus fish start breeding as early as 9 months of age, with the average age being around 12-14 months old. Male discus fish quite often develop long filamented streamers on their dorsal fins. These streamers will also develop in females, but 90% of the time it is just in the males. These steamers are a natural development and not indicitive of any genetic abnormalities or hormonal doses. Male discus fish differ from female discus fish (85+%) in that they are larger in overal size, have more robust skulls, posses the dorsal streamers, and have more acute angles on the finnage where it attaches to the body… The only proof positive way to know what sex your Discus fish are besides probbing them is to wait for them to breed. The females will lay long strings of eggs on a substrate, such as a clay brick, a plant leaf, the glass etc. The male discus fish will make a pass over the eggs, depositing an invisible layer of sperm to fertilize these eggs. The breeding Discus will repeat this process for over an hour. Once all of the discus eggs are laid, the pair will guard them non stop (if they are a good pair) after 72 hours (depending on water temp) the eggs will hatch. It is quite common for the discus pair to move the newly hatched spawn to another location as they see fit.

After another 48 hours the discus fry will become free swimming and move to the sides of the pair, where they will feed on a nutrient rich slime coat from both parents sides. After 48 more hours the discus fry should be large enough to feed on freshly hatched brine shrimp, or a fine particle pellet food. We use the HBH discus pellet food to feed these fry. It is a soft pellet that can be smashed between the finger tips into a fine dust that the discus fry will readily eat. Once the Discus fry are eating this pellet food as their main diet… usually two weeks after hatching, they can be seperated from the adult discus fish into there own tank. Feed these young discus fish a diet of live blackworms, enriched brine shrimp, and various high protein pellet foods. The breeding pair of discus will generally breed again in about two weeks after the discus fry have been removed. It is not uncommon that the female discus fish will lay eggs just days after her previous batch was removed.

Read Full Post »

How often should I clean/do water changes on my Discus Aquarium?

Their is so much conflicting info on this subject out there… Some say 2,100% water changes a day, while other say once every other week is fine for your Discus.  We take the approach of evaluating your nitrate cycle.  Monitor your Nitrates, Nitrites etc… keep these levels in the low to non existent levels and also keep your TDS levels below 200 ppm, and your discus fish will grow great and stay healthy.  To monitor your TDS levels it is as simple as purchasing a $40 TDS pen(we will have them available soon on our website)  monitor your water several times a week… do your water changes as needed.

Read Full Post »

My Discus fish are eating algae off of the driftwood in the aquarium. Is this normal?

Yes, this is normal and should be of no concern.  Discus Fish need some green material in their diet.  We offer our discus fish a varied diet of various pellet foods, which contain some vegtable matter along with the higher protein animal matter (shrimp etc.)  Try to give your discus fish a varied diet of frozen bloodworms, pellet foods that are designed for discus fish(try and get ones that are at least 40%+ protein content)… We offer HBH discus pellet along with severa made by Hikari…  Also turkey or beefheart based foods are great for getting good growth rates in your discus fish.  Saltwater fish foods can also be accepted by your discus with great enthusiasm and health benifits.  Emerald entree, and quite a few of the other foods are great.  Feed you Discus fish up to five times a day, with a minimum of 2 times.  Keep in mind… the more you feed the discus fish the more waste is produced.  This need to be cleaned up accordingly… water changes and regular filter cleanings.

Read Full Post »