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		My Name is April and I'm a Discaholic
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		April’s Guidelines to discus keeping Are you are interested in getting started with discus? There are a few simple guidelines to keeping them. If you can meet these requirements then you’re on your way. They are not a hard fish to keep and our water here in the Vancouver area and the Island is ideal. However, our water is a bit mineral poor and need some buffer. First off you need a tank of at least a 50 gallons. I would say the best size, if you can, is a 90 gallon. You need to buy a minimum of 6 juvenile discus - 8 or 10 is better. As young fish they need to school and you need to spread the aggression around. 2 Discus will not work unless they are a pair. Three is the worst number. With four one will surely be the runt and get stressed, stop eating and perhaps die and again there will be three. Second, to learn and to grow juveniles you need to have a bare bottom tank. Any bio-load or food in the gravel and you will be sure to start seeing problems. Discus come from the cleanest water in the world and they need extremely clean and new water daily to grow to full size. If you slack on water changes you will not get growth. If you would like a group in a planted tank or with other fish then it is best to use adult discus. Or grow out the juveniles first in a bare bottom tank then plant it once you learn to keep discus. Also you need to learn their personalities and signs of stress and how to read discus. The best way to learn this is in a bare bottom tank. I always say you need to go by the smiles on their faces. You do not need any fancy filter. Most people use an Aquaclear with three sponges and no carbon or ammonia remover or a Hydro Sponge. The water changes do most of the work. At least a 25% minimum daily water change is suggested. Most breeders do anywhere from 50 to a 100 percent a day to grow big discus. I myself do about 90 percent on juveniles along with wiping down the glass. It is best if you can store water for water changes, but I add from the tap and add chlorine remover and also add a bit of Kent RO right for adding in minerals for growth. Our water is mineral poor and if you don’t keep up on your water changes your pH could crash. Another thing you can add is crushed coral for buffering ph. The next thing you need is high protein food. (This is another reason you need large water changes). I feed live blackworms. This is a personal preference. Some do not believe in them. I have used them for 2 years with daily rinsing and have had no problems. Also I make a beefheart mix which I only use once a day. I use beefheart, prawns, garlic cloves, spirulina powder (from the health food store), sometimes clams, and also a bit of red pepper for colour, and sometimes cod, all ground up to a puree in the food processor. I also add vitamin B 12 and tri vi sol for babies. And when all this is done I add Ocean Nutrition Flake1 flake food to thicken. Then it’s put in baggies to freeze. I also feed a bit of Hikari bloodworms and onf1 flake. I recommend 4 meals a day for juveniles if you can. Adults can go with two meals a day. The fourth most important thing is to quarantine all new fish for 6 weeks then add a fish from your older group to make sure all is well. There is a lot of protozoans and virus’ right now with imported fish. New fish can look perfectly fine but be carriers. I always start a new tank with a new group of fish and use separate siphon hoses and nets etc. Breeding Discus is what I find the most rewarding of all. Seeing the parents care for their eggs and wigglers and seeing them on their sides is to me the ultimate excitement. I now have some nice pairs and very good parents. It takes a lot of patience and waiting for them to learn to care for their fry. Once they do their part, then raising them is also rewarding but takes a bit of trial and error. Some of my favorite strains are my Alenquer cross Manacapuras I got from Australia. Also his red turquoise scribbles. Other favorites are Goldens, Santarem x Alencers, and Sanmarahs, red turquoise checkers, and I still love a nice blue turquoise and my wilds. The strain choices can go on and on...and I have found it’s best to choose a few strains to work with. Otherwise it’s endless. Here are some of my pictures on my webpage. www.discuswest.com I would like to add some very helpful links and some of my Discus breeders friends websites which helped me tremendously with learning and starting with great fish. It takes a long time to learn to see discus and to tell what to look for when selecting them, in other words to develop an “eye” for quality. I help moderate a discus forum where there is a lot of very experienced people and also a great group of friends who have become like my extended family. Questions and help are encouraged and we would love to meet you. There are also conventions and international shows etc. I would love to meet any discus people or people interested in learning to keep discus and you are welcome to come and visit my fish. Best way to contact me is by email, april@starfishisland.com. Forums: www.simplydiscus.com Some of my favorite breeders www.adiscusdream.com www.greatlakesdiscus.com www.ahkaidiscus.netfirms.com www.discusfarm.us

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