Discus and other fish in their habitat in Amazonia

Byron

Here is another video showing fish in their habitat. Discus are front and centre, but there are festivum and various characins too. Lago grande do curuai is a lake in the Tocantins area of Brazil.

This video is particularly good because it shows the importance of several aspects of the necessary environment for these fish: minimal light, no water currents, decor (branches, leaves, plants), and being in groups. This is the reason why I am always stressing these aspects; the fish simply expect them, and they will be healthier if they have them.

Enjoy.

ElectricBlueJackDempsey

amazing video! thanks for sharing

Inga

Discus really are so very shy, aren't they? Lovely fish but it amazes me how fussy they are in an aquarium setting but there they are in less then perfect water in the wild. Goes to show that captive fish are weaker then wild fish at least in most cases.

Byron

The thing is, Inga, that the water in their habit is indeed "perfect." Don't confuse cloudy (which has no harmful effect on fish) to being stable in parameters. That is what matters. For instance, nitrates at anything much above near-zero can have an impact on many forest fish.

I always acquire wild fish when I can, never tank-raised. They are almost always healthier, more robust, more colourful, and more likely to remain so and even spawn. Provided one can give them the water they need.

Several longtime tank-raised fish are showing signs of malformations and disease due to successive inbreeding, or so many think is the cause.

Inga

Too True. I guess when I heard people say they do large daily water changes I think of the need to have crystal clear water. They are lovely fish and I have often thought I would love a tank full of them but truthfully, I am not yet ready for them. I have far too much to learn yet. In the meantime, I enjoy seeing them in their natural habitat. Their colors are stunning and I think they look more like Salt water fish then many of the other fresh water fish.

Boscobear

I would have thought at the end of the video, where all those Discus were together they would have all fled from the area with the diver right there. Looked like a couple real aggressive type fish were living in the same local too.

I was thinking about what you wrote about continuous inbreeding. Some of these captive bred fish must have repetitive breedings of brother, to sister, Son to mother, daughter to father, real close inbreeding, and it happens not one generation, but many generations. Aquarium breeding is ok, but really weakens the gene pool.

Great video, really enjoyed it.

rjwwrx

It's great to see what their environment really looks like. Thanks for sharing the video.