Discus Fish Care Information

Discus Fish are one of the most popular amongst aquarium owners. They are very beautiful, intelligent fish. Discus fish will interact with you and are able to follow movement. It is said that discus fish will eat out of your hand, and they are always aware of what is going on around them. However, discus fish have very unique living conditions and do require knowledge on how to care for them. If discus fish aren’t cared for properly they can become aggressive, get sick, and even die. A little background information regarding the native habitat my help you better understand the care needed for these beautiful fish. Discus are originally from the Amazon, living in small lakes, creeks, and streams coming off the Amazon River. In the wild they can blend easily amongst the tree roots close to shore, as they have black markings on them which make them blend easily. The water is warm and mostly calm where the live with acidic PH ranges.

Before setting up your aquarium for discus fish there are a few things you should be aware of. You should try to find out the parameters of your local tap water. If the water has a very high PH you might want to get softened water to lower the PH level. Most cities in the U.S. add chloramines to the water to disinfect it. Chloramines are a mixture of ammonia and chlorine which are toxic to discus fish. You should also keep in mind the you should use a minimum of 5 gallons per discus fish.

First thing in setting up your discus fish aquarium, like any other aquarium you need to cycle the water. Discus fish like clean water and don’t thrive well with high levels of nitrate. Water changes should be done often. A sign that the aquarium might need a water change is there are low levels of PH or high nitrate levels. If you forget to do water changes often, don’t take out a large amount of water when doing your next water change. This can be dangerous to the discus fish, that is why it is important to remember to do water changes pretty often. Also over feeding can increase the nitrate levels, which the water should pretty much have zero nitrate levels. When adding plants to your aquarium make sure to wash them thoroughly to remove the bacteria before placing them into your tank. They sell safe plant disinfectant at local pet supply stores.

Discus fish like to be kept with other discus fish mainly, you should not have one discus fish by itself in a tank full of other fish. The younger discus fish will consume their food very fast as the older ones will take their time eating. In a group full of discus fish one will usually stand out to be the most dominant one. The dominant discus fish will be the first one to eat during feeding time, usually making it the largest of the group. Overfeeding can be a big problem with discus fish. Besides harming the levels of nitrate and making the water cloudy, discus have very small stomachs making them only able to consume a little amount of food. Discus fish are better off when not fed dry foods. This can cause the stomach to hydrate and can cause serious problems. Hikari brand frozen foods and frozen brine shrimp are the recommended diets for Discus fish. Omega one is also a good for Discus as you will see changes in their color, making them more vibrant and looking healthier.