Discus Fish Facts

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In one of my other articles i talked about the Beta Fish, Betta Fish or the Siamese Fighting Fish, whichever way you want to call it, and how easy it is to care of it.

In this article we will talk about the complete opposite, the Discus Fish. Okay, maybe i was exaggerating a bit, but if you’re a beginner you might have problems taking care of a Discus Fish. Read on and see if you’re up for the challenge.

To give you an introduction to the Discus Fish we take a look at Wikipedia.

According to Wikipedia the Discus (Symphysodon) are from a genus of three species of cichlid freshwater fishes native to the Amazon River basin. These fish have become extremely popular among hobbyist and there are literally hundreds of different color variants available now. This type of fish is very flat and round in shape and can grow up to 6 to 8 inches.

In the wild waters of the Amazon River system the Discus Fish are very sociable fishes and are always in a large group or school. They are most commonly found in dense planted and wooded areas in slow moving water and their natural food is a mix of aquatic inverts, insects, small fish and fry and any other naturally occuring food.

Some pointers on taking care of Discus Fish:

• When purchasing any type of fish, be sure to buy a group of them so their characteristics will fully develop through social interaction with their own kind
• The Discus Fish are sensitive to stress and disturbance, keep them away in quiet, low traffic areas of your home
• They are almost completely defenseless and need plenty of hiding places
• They are very slow fish, so when grouping with other fish make sure the Discus Fish can cohabit with them. As these slower Discus Fish might have problems competing with faster more aggressive fishes.
• Feed them 2-4 times a day a diet of fresh or frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, high protein sinking pellet foods, mytis shrimp, high protein flake foods, earthworms and whiteworms.
• The Discus is very susceptible to diseases. Make sure water quality is similar to distilled water. Not much minerals and no ammonia presence.
• Aquarium water temperatures should be kept within the range of 80-84 deg Farenheit (26-31 deg Celsius)
• Aquarium water ph level of 5.5 - 6.5

If you’re interested in breeding them here are some tips:

• It’s close to impossible to determine whether a Discus Fish is a male or a female. Males are said to have longer fin extensions and are rounder, but no scientific research has proven this to be true always.
• The best way to breed and have Discus Fish mate is to buy a young group of same colored type Discus Fish. When they do pair up, this usually is for their whole life.
• Discus spawn their eggs on a vertical surface
• It takes 50-60 hours for the fertilized eggs to hatch
• Another 36-48 hours for the small fry to be free swimming
• After 2-3 weeks from the fry reaching the free swimming stage, the fry should be removed and placed in a different tank from the parents.
• The fry should be fed newly hatched brine shrimp and chopped blood worms, six or more times a day.
• As for the parents, they will most like spawn again in a few days.

To see the actual breeding check the video below: