There has been a number of rumours about how difficult it is to keep discus fish but this is not true.
If you do some basic things they grow really well.

Anything in particular? I have always wanted to try discus.

Dear friend,
As I saw you have drawn a very nice tank and since this type has worked for you well why not to continue with it.
My advice about discus fish as I have already posted before is to keep things as simple as possible.I am talking about the usual hybrids and not wild discus of course.
No1.Use tap water if it has a ph around 7 and you know it doesn't contain any harmful substances.
Perform water changes of about one fifth of their aquarium litres once a week.
No2.Keep with them only quiet compatible fish,I mean not fast moving and of course no aggresive species.Pay attention to the plecos not to grow too big.Prefer ancictrus of any type or any other easy going ones.
No 3.Put the gravel you like,I prefer light brown or even better sand as it doesn't destroy the barbels of corydoras.I would put a good group of ten in an average aquarium.
No 4.Add harsh plants like annubias,valisneria tiger and some cryptocoryne that can stand the high temperature that discus are kept.29 degrees Celcius for me is perfect.No more no less.But if this changes because of the weather conditions don't worry for three more degrees minus or plus.Discus are not going to die because of that.
No 5.Buy some nice bogwood for decoration and for your plecos.They will die without wood for their digestion.

Now about the fish.

A.Buy one discus fish for every 40 litres of water your tank holds.Do not prefer big discus.They are very expensive and they usually don't worth their price as they are in most cases quite old.
B.Choose only discus fish that are not afraid of you when you approach their tank in the store.
C.Buy the ones that have a very round shape not only when the edges of the fins create it but the body itself must be very round too.If the fish is not round when small it will never be.
D.Look for small eyes compared to the body.A fish that is of medium size and has big eyes compared to it,probably has lost its chances to develop for some reasons and it will never grow any bigger.
The eyes should be small,round and no etched on the edges.
E.Don't pay much attention to the names they give to the colours as many times you will find the same discus variety under different names.
For any other questions you have I will be happy to answer.

Thanks a lot. ;)

The tank I drew is in operation. It has been running pretty much non stop for eight years. Only the fish and plants have changed, and water of course. I have not lost any fish due to water quality, or lack of it. I lost plants because of a bad choice of fish. I had 20" Amazon Swords with wide leaves and good color. They were eaten. The fish that died were terrorized by the single remaining fish. A beautiful Cichlid, but bad sucker. My wife slipped it in when she got bored with the 4" Silver Dolars and larger Tinfoil Barbs after six years.

The test readings as of last evening were Amonia 0, Nitrites 0 Nitrates 30 pH 6.2 Hardness 3.4 GH Temp 80F. I do 15% water changes once a week now, so 20% is no big streach. This is steady with only temp (by choice) and nitrates fluctuating (water changes).

Sand would be my first choice for substrate. That would work much better for fish and plants. The filter can be modified to work with sand. Fortunately, there is setteling room where any sand sucked into the UGF could be recovered without any chance of dammage to the Rena XP3 below.

I am an instrument tech by trade, and instructor by profession, so I am a bit cautious in matters like water quality/stability.

I guess I have been a bit scared of buying Discus Fish. I always wanted too, but had heard too many horror stories and such. Not to mention concern for the investment of time and money. Thanks for the support and advice.

Harry, that is priceless advice about Discus, thank you for sharing it with us.

Here are some rumors I have heard about Discus that maybe you can give more feed back about. I have read both sides of the discussion but as an owner you can give personal perspective:

1.) Discus prefer subdue lights, that is why they have larger eyes.

2.) Discus prefer less water movement/aggitation.

3.) Discus need to be fed more often but in smaller doses. They constitpate easy or something like that.

4.) Discus should be bought in groups so that they don't become too territorial. Adding a single discus to a group is harder to do.

5.) Discus can be picky eaters.

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Very good additional information.

You will enjoy a well planted tank as discus fish don't eat them.Try to put the long leaved plants in the back-ground and the sides if you want leaving enough space for them to swim.I often uproot and throw away vallisnerias and prune anubias cutting the plants in half and achoring again the upper parts that are more fresh and clean from some algae.I always try to leave a lot of the area where their bits fall clean from plants so as to be able to pick up the ones from the bottom easily.
I will be very happy to see photos of your steps towards the creation of a discus evironment,as well the arrival of the fish etc...

Here is a link to a photo in my gallery.
Aquarium Gallery - 55 Gal after new substrate(sand) and new plants

As you can see, The tall plants will be in the center of the tank, with swim room on the perimeters. This is due to the placement of the tank (in a wall visible from both sides.)

Thanks for the help. If you don't think this type of setup would be condusive to discus please tell me. I will still have the tank, and will still get good fish, but I do want the tank compatible with the fish.

Thank you for the nice pictures!
It's very beautiful and the way it is constructed to be visible from both sides is a great idea.It is logical then to put the big plants in the middle.
However,keep in mind that discus fish sometimes need to hide when they want to feel more secure.
Sometimes because there is a person around who moved suddenly close to them or because one of them is chased by another.For this reason give them a chance for a temporary shelter.
You can go as close to the discus aquarium as you want provided you don't move very suddenly.From time to time they get so much scared of a sudden movement that dash and crash into the other end of the tank.I have heard of a discus that died after one or two crashes into the sides of the tank because he got scared.
If you can create a more densely planted area,for example on the one side of the tank,this could be very helpful to them.
Also,remember that if all your fish hide all the time although there is no obvious reason this is a different thing.In that case there is something wrong with their environment,probably the water chemistry or the function of the filter.;)
Keep in touch...

Hary,

Thanks for the help and compliments. I will be buying more plants this comming weekend. The LFS is about a hundred miles (160 K) away. So it is a planned trip to go to the fish shop ;) . I'll plant the filter end with thick tall plants for hiding. Anuba of some type most likely. I'm going to try low tech. (no CO2, Low-Med. Light 2-3 wpg)

Hi!

I prefer to buy big (not old but big) Discus fishes. I usually want to be able to see what kind of colour they have. From the beginning I bought small Discus, but they didn't turn out as well as I had expected them to. It's not like I didn't like them just as much (I love all my fishes anyway), but today I think before I buy.

I also think that the difficulty of keeping Discus comes and goes. Sometimes it's easier and sometimes it's harder (hardest is to write all of this in English LOL).

Thanks for sharing your experiences and good luck with your Discus!

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Sivan

A real aquarist is always wet on the arm

A lot of this is great in theory but unfortunately most of us don't live close to a good breeder or fish store. My LFS has 1-2 Discus that are constantly being medicated. I chose to try my luck by purchasing four 2" Discus online. My shipment comes in on Wed so wish me luck!

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Hi Dmaaaaax!

I don't have a really fish store who sell Discus where I live either so I bought my Discus from other places, far away from where I live. They have all arrived by bus to my town. It's very expensive but I think it's worth it (it's probably for the best that I don't have room for any more now). In south Sweden there is many good breeders of Discus. Maybe I should move down there, hahaha! Or why not to Amazonas? =)

I hope you didn't missunderstand me, I like small Discus too, they are cute! It's just that I personally haven't had much luck with them, when it comes to looks and colours.

I wish you good luck with your new Discus! What kind of Discus is it? It feels like the day before christmas, waiting for the new Discus to arrive, doesn't it

Kind regards
Siv

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Sivan

A real aquarist is always wet on the arm

I wish you good luck too!We will be waiting for the first pics soon!

Sivan,

I understand you perfectly.:D I know about picking good colors because some fish display them and some never really do. For instance German Rams and even cardinal tetras. Some Cardinals look more green than blue. I always go for the nice darker neon blue. Unfortunately I don't know of any stores within 50 miles of where I live that sell a variety of Discus so I am crossing my fingers.

I ordered 1 Alenquer red (most natural looking), 1 purple cobalt, 1 rainbow dragon, and 1 red melon scorpion. I also got 3 SAEs, since the one petstore near me that has some refuses to sell them. She uses them to keep her plants algae free. They get shipped tonight and I took a half day tomorrow!

The thing I am most worried about is balancing them in a fully planted tank since they come from tanks that are completely empty. I am worried about enough light for plant vs too bright for them, enough CO2 for plants vs O2 for fish, hotter temp vs algae...etc.

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Your choice of Discus seems to be very nice! I'd love to see some pictures of them later. It is always worrying to balance new fishes, and especially Discus. Do you already have Discus or other fishes in that tank today?

I have learned that always put my new Discus in a other empty tank alone for a while before I put them together with the "old ones". A person learns by making misstakes LOL!

Have your new Discus arrived now? Don't know what the time differens is between our contries

Good luck again!

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Sivan

A real aquarist is always wet on the arm

Shipment was delayed due to a snow storm where the Discus breeder is located. He is hoping to ship them out today....ugh....this is worse than Christmas! lol

Ohh well one more 50% cleaning tonight.

I do not have any disus yet, these will be the first to go in the tank. The tank currently has cardinal tetras, emperor tetras, otos, and 1 angel fish (small).

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--->Pictures of my 75g Amazon tank<----

Dear friend Dmaaaax,
I am sorry for the misunderstanding.When I read this in a hurry I thought that this was information from your own experience and I didn't see that you asked for my comments.Now I will try to make up for this.

1. I don't think that the size of the eye of the discus fish has to do something with the light.It's the environment they live in.I mean that wild discus need subdued light because their habitat is like this but not our hybrids and think that their eyes are not that different in size!Are they?
Of course don't overdo it every exaggeration can create trouble.
I have always used two fluorescent lamps of 36 watts each,which must be replaced every six months.The one is pink and the other white in order to create a more natural immitation of day light.

2. Yes,I believe that discus fish don't like strong currents and it can be a reason that your discus fish look frightened.I always adjust the current to move in a way that doesn' create a kind of turbulence all over my discus aquarium.

3. Yes,I think it is better to feed your discus four times per day on smaller quantities instead of two but be sure that the quantity is enough for all of them.I would also be sure that some bits go to the bottom for bottom feeders like corydoras,plecos etc

4.I also agree that discus live better in a groupWe usually buy a small group of 4-6 small discus fish to grow up together,however if one discus dies I usually replace him with a young one as I can't add a new group and increase the number too much.Usually there is no problem with it.

5.Discus fish can be picky eaters but they can get used to new food little by little.Give them something different once a day.For example my automatic feeder provides them with the usual dry bits three times a day but the fourth is frozen food that I give them myself.I also crumble in the automatic feeder flakes that contain garlic as I find it very good for their digestion and a guard against intestine parasites.