Category |
Rating |
Care Level: |
Moderate, see our Learning Center for comprehensive care. |
Temperament: |
Peaceful |
Color Form: |
Huge variety available |
Lifespan: |
15-25 Years |
Adult Size: |
8-12 inches |
Diet: |
Omnivorous |
Family: |
Cichlidae |
Minimum Tank Size: |
50 gallons |
Tank Set-Up: |
Bare-bottom, or Intermediate |
Compatibility: |
Often compatible |
Natural Habitat for Discus
Discus are found in floodplain lakes and flooded forests of the lowland Amazon River basin and some of its tributaries, including the Rio Negro. These areas experience extreme changes in water level due to seasonal flooding. Discus tend to congregate near fallen trees, known as “galhadas”, along the shore. They prefer quiet water, and are rarely found in areas where there is strong current or wave action.
Discus Water Requirements
Discus prefer warm, soft, acidic water. pH should be between 6.0 and 7.0, with hardness between 1° and 4° dKH (18 to 70 ppm). Temperature should be kept between 82° and 89° F. Water conditions for both wild and hybrid discus are the same. While captive bred discus can be kept in dechlorinated tap water reverse osmosis or deionized water supplemented will ensure the the best conditions. Discus require pristine water quality, and depending on the filtration system being used, a weekly or bi-weekly water change of 10% to 25% is highly recommended. Don’t forget to treat tap water with conditioner before refilling your aquarium!
Housing Requirements for Discus
Discus grow to be quite large, and full sized discus will require an aquarium of 50 gallons or larger when they reach adult size. Tall aquariums are best, to accommodate their body shape. Current should be gentle, and décor if used at all should include large broadleaf plants and driftwood that is arranged vertically to simulate downed branches and trees. A few floating plants can also be added to provide shaded areas and cover. Substrate should be fine to medium grade and smooth surfaced, as discus like to forage along the bottom for food.
Discus Behavior/Compatibility
Discus are generally calm, peaceful fish, but as cichlids they can be aggressive toward one another, especially when attempting to pair off and spawn. Shy or submissive fish should be removed if they are unable to compete. Most serious hobbyists do not mix their discus with too many other species. However, suitable aquarium mates include cardinal tetras, neons, emperor and rummy nose tetras, as well as clown loaches and dwarf cichlids such as rams and Apistogramma species. All of these fish tolerate the high temperatures and low pH/hardness required by discus.
What do Discus Eat?
In nature discus eat a considerable amount of plant material and detritus, but also forage along the bottom looking for worms and small crustaceans. They are omnivores and will thrive on freeze dried black worms, beefheart, frozen blood worms, and a variety of pellet and flake food. Frozen and live foods may be fed as treats or to help induce spawning. For best results, rotate their diet daily and feed only what they can consume in 2 to 3 minutes, once or twice a day.
Discus Breeding Level – Difficult
Captive bred discus will pair up and spawn relatively easily, but young, inexperienced parents may eat their eggs the first few times, particularly if other fish are present. After hatching the young feed on heavy body mucus secreted by the parents for a few days until they begin to free-swim. Parents will transfer the young back and forth several times a day.
Hi Michael everything’s good, thank you for asking the fish are doing amazing. They're getting bigger and bigger by the day.
Hey Michael, Steve H. I just bought those F1 heckles from you and I just got your email. Hey, they look amazing. Dude. I am I am thoroughly impressed. I get a lot of fish online and usually average but sometimes below average but usually average so this I would consider these way above average. So I really appreciate it and I will be buying more because I'm trying to put together a kind of a wild breeding discus not a not a hatchery or anything like that just it's my fish room at 30 tanks something I've done for 30 years. I've just always wanted to breed heckles. So I'm actually looking for wild heckles but f1s are really cool. So I just wanted to call and thank you and say everything came out they acclimated like instantly I put them in there, you know in the bags and the tank and the acclimated the temperature in about 45 minutes dropped in and actually ate this morning and so they look really really good about 7.2 pH. You know, I figured that's you know the middle of the road so but yeah. I'm really impressed. Awesome God. Thank you very much. Okay. Take care. Bye.
Hey Michael... Hope all is well just wanted you to take a look at the discus doing excellent... I tried to do it in a review but the files were too large my fault just wanted you to take a look to see how they were doing. Beautiful discus amazing colors very healthy thanks.
I love them, They are doing really well except for the Red Eagle that past away a couple days after shipping. It was past your 12 hour window so I did not make a fuss about it. He almost had no water left in the bag but thought he had a 50/50 shot.
I will definitely order again from you.
Dan
Hi Michael, everything is going well. So far they're not eating. And they keep staying on a corner.
Thanks Michael, I received my discus. They look beautiful.