"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I have MTS in full swing, and have the go-ahead from the spouse to set
up a large (90+ gallon) discus-only tank. I currently have a 50-gallon
bowfront with angelfish, 2 gouramis (1 gold and 1 pearl), cory cats,
cardinal tetras, and 2 ottos. In a 10-gallon divided tank, I have 2
bettas and 2 ottos, and then one other betta in a 5-gallon Mini-bow.
Every fish has been healthy and happy so far - I do 20-30% water
changes each week, and feed a rotation of live, frozen, and pellet
food. However, I have never tried a planted tank, yet. I plan to do
this with the Discus, though.

I am wondering if anyone could recommend some books (or email groups?)
for keeping discus. I love these fish, but I know that they are tricky
to keep. I currently use RO water in all my tanks, buffered with Kent
R/O Right and a tiny amount of Chichlid buffer to bring it to 7.0 ph.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated!

- Lisa


You could pick up a lot of anecdotal information from Discus posts in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.cichlids and Discus forums, but it sounds like you
have everything under control already ;~)

From your experience, there really isn't much more Discus-unique
information, so I'll just throw in my usual 'couple' of comments ;~).

Like Angelfish, i) they don't do well in strong currents (having to do
with their body shape), ii) they break off into small groups, arranging
their pecking order and sometimes gang up on individuals, and iii) they
prefer to not have large fast fish around.

Suitable tank-mates are shoals of smaller tetras, corys, hatchetfish,
apistos and if you don't mind pinching from other parts of the world
Kuhli loaches (to just name a few choices). If you want to see Discus
fry, I would skip any open water fish (tetras etc), and keep to only
corys, loaches, otos etc. They are imo, easy to breed, but a bit more
problematic for raising fry.

For ground cover, they aren't too fussy, but they don't bottom feed
effectively from dense vegetation, so be sure to leave them an open area
in the front to 'graze' on sinking foods.

If keeping large plants, stick to types which have vertical formations
(ie: tiger lotus) rather than wide horizontal growth (ie: Amazon swords).
Small to medium plants are at your discretion. The same formula applies
to driftwood, low horizontal and/or large/tall vertical or angled pieces.
Other interior designs (ie: stonework) are at your discretion, keeping to
a moderate amount of a type which will not buffer your water by
dissolving calcium into it.

Water stability and feedings are an area where Discus have some
reputation as being more 'sensitive'. This varies tremendously after
they have acclimated though (becoming large hardy fish if they aren't
babied too much ;~). The only relatively common variable is to keep
their water from getting too hard or alkaline (or having the pH bounce
around), and to feed a good variety of higher protein foods. Often,
planted Discus tanks are CO2 charged to help with the plant growth and
hold the pH down (though CO2 should not be thought of as a requirement
for successfully keeping Discus). If targeting certain parameters, a pH
of 6.8, 3dgH, 5dkH at 80-82F would seem to be a good nominal start point,
but always investigate the water they were born into or are coming from.

Discus transport best one to a bag. I have a blurb on my site about
floating expensive fish (air bag, ammo-lock, add water slowly etc). I
find that it takes several months to find good stock. When I would bring
in special shipments, I'd have Discus enthusiasts ready to buy them in
the bags they arrived in (so they would only acclimate once in their
tanks). This was always risky as I couldn't warranty something I hadn't
acclimated, so I would give a risk-discount instead of a warranty. In
your area, the situation might be very different, with specialty shops
have lots of Discus. These fish are almost always available locally bred
as well (due to their mark-up), so that's another good source.

The first week or two can be exasperating as they are somewhat moody when
moved, and will often lose colour, darken, hide and not eat. Be patient
for a few days, and then try some frozen bloodworms ;~). If there are
already other *smaller* Discus in the tank, then they acclimate much
faster. If there are larger Discus, then you see typical cichlid
behaviour, with new pairing and individuals being shooed away from food.
They can't effectively kill or injure each other, so their tactics are to
starve out the chosen 'runt', so if you can't feed the runt and they
don't make peace, then be prepared to move some fish around to other
tanks.

As with all territorial cichlids, the best seems to be to start with the
quantity that you want (plus a few extra), all at a similarly small size
(ie: 3 months). Expect their color to initially fade (dyes, hormone
treated foods and/or just acclimation) and then they will color up to
what their proper colors will be.

Discus are a little bit like children, in that they need a bit more
attention (and usually get it ;~), and are more personable (typical
'thinking' type behaviour of carnivorous cichlids). They are extra
rewarding when all is well, and extra exasperating when all is not ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk