Can you keep Discus fish ?

Discus fish are one of the most attractive freshwater fish out there and probably type of fish which cause biggest starter disasters for a freshwater fish. Everyday people buy these fish and expensive tank all around the world and within few days they loose all fish. If you want keep these beautiful creatures then first thing you need to do is massive amount of online research about them. Fortunately these days Internet provides you  all the information you need to know. But anyway there is a simple way to figure if you are one of those guys who can be a Discus fish keeper. Look at these facts and figure than your self.

01. Discus Fish are very expensive You won't find any high quality adult fish for else than $100. For School of 5-6 Discus fish it would cost you around $500 or more. Baby fish will be cheaper but lot more hard to raise.

02. These fish are so sensitive to everything from water to other fish. So you will need to buy expensive equipment. A Discus fish tank will cost you more even if it's not a planted tank. You will need a powerful filter system and a big tank plus other things.

03. Discus fish needs special food or you will find your self in all sort of problem. They can grow slow, become stunt or even bloated if you use cheap or wrong type of food. Most Discus fish keepers create their own food recipe to keep their fish healthy and grow fast.

04. This type of fish need frequent water changes. Specially till they reach adulthood you need to do daily water changes. Also keep the tank very clean. This is not something everyone can do. It needs commitment and devotion. Also they are very sensitive to water conditions. You must test your new water before adding it.

06.  They tolerate only fish types of fish as tankmates. Peaceful and fist fish. Preferably Cardinal Tetra, Corydora fish, German Blue Rams etc. 

So do you think can you tolerate all these facts about them ? Can you be sure you can provide everything they need ? If not don't even think about buying. Because unlike other fish they won't last long.

Wild Discus Fish Video

Here's an video of Wild Discus fish at their natural habitats. Underwater world Amazon waters. It's a question for many how Discus fish survive in those muddy and dark waters with all kind of other fish but not in tanks with clear water and all quality food.

Cobalt Brand Discus Flake Fish Food

If you are keeping you need to be careful about what do you feed them. They are sensitive and picky fish. You will find they refuse to eat most of the new food you try to introduce. But still you need to have give them different things like minced Tuna, chicken, beef to keep them healthy and happy. But these things won't provide all the vitamins and things they need. So you need to use fish food too.

Problem with normal pellet food is Discus can end up with bloating other intestine problems if you just feed them average fish food you get from petshops. Discus needs food which is specially made for them. You can find several quality Discus food types including Hikari Discus food but also here's another really good quality type of Discus food brand.

You might already know about Cobalt Brand Discus Flake Fish Food or have tested their sample food. Interesting thing is Discus seems love this Flake food. This product is Co-developed by a internationally well-known Discus breeder, Discus Hans. It was developed to keep show quality Discus fish and to keep them in top condition and color.

Cobalt Aquatics Discus flake fish food loaded with nutrient rich ingredients ensuring consistent growth and superior color.Now you can buy it from Amazon, only 3-Ounce for $11. It's a new product but you can read plenty of positive feedback from Discus keepers and breeders already. Just check the Amazon page.

Seachem Discus Buffer

© Maurizio Santoloc

We all know how hard to keep Discus fish tank. Discus fish must be one of the most sensitive fresh water fish to keep in a fish tank. They are so sensitive about everything, food, water conditions, temperature, tank-mates etc. Most of these things we can control like food, tank-mates, temperature etc But keeping the right water condition is very complicated. Specially if you are new to Discus fish keeping.

There are several variables like PH value, calcium and magnesium values etc. It's not easy to control all these manually. You can get rid of chlorine in water by keeping it for 48 hours before adding to tank but not other things. That's where Seachem Discus Buffer (Here) comes to play. This can replicate the ideal Discus environment by lowering pH & lowering General Hardness. Also it softens water by precipitating calcium and magnesium. This can help you to keep your Discus fish safe. You don't want to change water and night and then in morning look at Discus graveyard feeling like a mass murderer.

But remember Discus Buffer is for lowering pH and GH but if you want to get rid of chlorine, chloramine, or ammonia then you need to use Seachem Neutral Regulator (Here) along with it. The Neutral Regulator conditions the water, rids it of chloramine & ammonia and also helps Discus Buffer to keep to pH value at 7 or low.

Janusz Zajonzs Discus Fish Aquarium

Another beautiful Discus Fish Aquarium with some beautiful and bright color Discus Fish. This Tank belongs to Janusz Zajonz from Poland. A planted tank with 12 adult Discus, Something many Discus fish beginners would dreamed of. What types of Discus fish you can see in it ?

© Janusz Zajonz

© Janusz Zajonz