Discus owners help please

bug-hunt

Need a little info please, as i have read so many books net etc and i would rather hear it from the horses mouth so to speak, what is the ideal condition to keep them? temp, ph, gh, kh, and any thing i might have missed.

herefishy

First of all, are the Discus locally raised or wild caught? Although, wild caught Discus prefer soft water pH of 6.5-6.8, many locally raised fish are acclimated to local water conditions. You will need to research and find out where your fish came from and respond accordingly with the propoer water conditions. I do not track gh or kh. My fish are locally raised and have been acclimated to my tap water. I have found, however, that by lowering the pH to 6.8, I have better success at keeping the young alive. I achieve this by filtering over a softening pillow in my power filter until the proper pH is achieved. I keep the temp at 84F.

Elahrairah

I keep Discus with a couple of blue rams, though I am far from an expert.

They are thriving on water that is 6.8pH, 100KH, 150 GH at about 80F.

I have very hard tap water, so my water changes are 80% R/O and 20% tap.

The only thing I have to check after the change is KH, if I see it is below 80, I add a teaspoon or two of baking soda.

I also have a lot of plants and DIY CO2 injection, otherwise, I probably wouldn't even bother with watching the KH so much

Arash

A lot of people will tell you that Discus are only for advanced fish keepers but in my experience they are easy to keep as long as you follow some basic rules.
First of all, Discus require clean water free of chlorine and heavy metals. You may be best to invest in a water purifying unit. Make sure the water is on the soft and acidic side. pH between 6.0 and 7.0 and better (6.3 to 6.6) with a general hardness between 5 and 15. Now is you want to been them these will have to be lower.
The water should be well filtered but slow moving and be heated at around 82 – 86F.
Another point to cover is that Discus are best suited to large deep aquariums as they commonly grow to around 6 or 7 inch. They prefer to be in shoals of no less than 6 when they are growing up.
They can be kept in bare tanks but benefit from bog wood and plants as these help the Discus feel safe knowing they have some where to hide. If they get stressed and scared in a bare tank they can dash around and damage there selves.
Ideal tank mates for Discus include small tetras from South America i.e. neon tetras. They are also ok with various cat fish and plecs but please make sure the Discus is the largest fish in the aquarium.

hope these helps