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Tips & Tricks |
Copyright © February 2002 by Lucie Schoenenberger.
| Tips for discus fish | Aquarium fixtures | |
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In the amazon and other rivers where discus live the water temperature stays constant all the year at 30° + 1°C. Therefore it is necessary to keep the water temperature in the aquarium at approximately the same level at 29°C.
For baby discus I suggest a water temperature of 30°C, youngsters are kept at 29°C and adult fishes at 28°C. When partly changing water in the tanks, a decrease in temperature for a short period of time does not influence the wellness of the fishes. If kept at temperatures below 28°C for a longer time, discus react with stress and may become ill.
Poor water quality in the tanks (containing more than 100 mg/L nitrates) or phosphates are harmful. If so, baby fishes stop eating. The presence of nitrites (formed from nitrates) is lethal. For this reason I remove the mud from the tanks daily and I replace some 5-10% of the water. In bigger periods of time, or if indicated, approximately 2/3 of the total water is replaced. This way the discus feel good and do not require any medication since years.
No water conditioner, plant manure, or CO2 are added into the water. Instead, the tank is aerated with a water jet filter, which is cleaned weekly. This way I have no algae-growth and the plants in the tanks remain at a low but constant level.
The pH-value of the tank water only changes little during the day, just arond pH 7, during the night it may slightly decrease to pH 6.8, raising to pH 7.6 til evening.
Baby fishes are kept in pure tap-water having a total hardness of 15-18° german hardness (°DH).
After a major water change in the big tanks they are refilled with tap-water as well. The daily rate of exchange in connection with mud-removing (5-10%) is made with a 1:1 blend of tap-water and water from the reverse-osmosis.
Trace-elements and mineral salts which are required for a good health of the fishes are topped off from time to time (hW mira vit, or a similar product).
It is hardly possible to install too many filters in a aquarium. To obtain a water, free of nitrates, the volume of the filters should be 10% of the total volume of the tanks. It is therefore very important to partly change water in addition to filtering especially at excessive feeding.
External filters are installed at every tank. Internal filters and jet filters complete the filter installation. I recommend to cover the water intake with a fine gauze, as the food is for the fishes and not for the filter. ;-)
My aquariums are illuminated with a single neon-tube. The light has a bluish shade (Grolux or Triton). I found however that cheaper neon-tubes from the supermarket can be used without any problems (Truelight, Sunglow or similar products).
Good additional fishes are Paracheirodon axelrodi (Red Neon) or other Paracheirodon. Also small south-american Cichlids as the Apistogramma or other not growing big fish.
Against snails use at least two Botias and Catfish (take at least two Ancistrus, Parancistrus or Sturisomas). Put some sand on the ground for Catfish and take at least two of them. Sturisomas are nice because they are visible also during day-time (see also Pictures).
Any stress on the fishes has to be avoided! If fishes are chased too often or they do not harmonize within the community they get shy and stop eating.
Loricarides and other fishes which interfear with the discus too much, should be put in a seperate tank. Loricaridaes sometimes attach themselfes to the discus and botias bring unrest to the aquarium.
Conflicts within groups of mating discus are common.
My fishes get food 3-4 times a day, whereas adult discus can be feed one to two times daily, if the food not only contains dried flakes.
The menu for my discus looks as follows: in the morning around 10 o'clock I feed various qualities of deep-frozen
moscito larvaes, in addition to it some powderd shrimps and fine hashed meet.
For dinner frost-dried brine shrimps or frozen brine shrimps with some granulat. I give some additional
Artemias. Youngsters get some tubifex FD in the afternoon.
Important! Use only Tubifex frost-dried (FD) and by no means Tubifex frozen, as they may contain eggs of worms or other parasits which can contaminate the tank.
The main meal is given in the evening and contains mixtures containing beaf-heart (as Diskusquick without shrimps, SV2000 or similar products). The menu is completed with some red moscito larvaes.
Loricarides require soft roots for filling their stomach for example mangroves (as they have a long intestine). To make the aquarium look nice some mopani roots are added. Before putting mopani roots into your tank, you should put it in clear water for 1-2 weeks, because it can color the water brown or yellow.
Peaces of ordinary wood could rot. In a case like this it has to be removed at once! For this reason I do not use any forest woods.
Roots from swamps usually swimms on the surface of the water.
The bottom of my tanks is splitted to a part filled with gravel (quarz) and a part left clean.
To get this separation, stripes of glass or acrylic is glued to the floor. This way it is very convenient to remove excessive food and mud.
My tanks only contain few plants. For example big Vallisnerias, Kriptokorynes or Anubias. Also other Amazon plants have survived.
Last but not least: Loricarides require some caves to hide during the day!
