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pundam
 
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Toledo
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Trilby Tropicals said :
How about a fish sandwich?
Discus are not difficult as Jemy said, Keep the temp. 80-84ish, feed them, and keep them clean. IMO and experiences, nothing more than normal fish care is required. People try to make the water "perfect" for discus and cause WAY more problems than they ever would've fixed in doing so.
Matt
Matt, I was hoping one of you Trilby folk would chime in too.
I'd never seriously considered these fish because of their reputation of being hard to keep(and I know my limitations), but the more I see them(as I haunt Trilby's) the more they interest me, so I thought I would start asking questions. I'm so encouraged!!!
I found with my angels that they seemed to thrive more the less I messed around with the tank, and they only spawned in conditions that were not pristine. That is part of what got me thinking-- maybe, just like with kids and dogs and horses, the more you try to keep them in a sterile environment, the less hardy they are.
I don't mean to let the tank turn into a murky mess, but just allow it to be a bit more natural than what I originaly thought was necessary.
I hope we get some more people to comment on this subject.
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Mary
I've got a mind like a steel....Ohh! Shiny! ::::wanders off::::
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BenS
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85
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Toledo
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I'm certainly no expert, but I kept discus for about 5 years, until I started traveling too much for work. I bought all my fish from Trilby's, (at their previous location) I never had them breed but they certainly grew and thrived in my opinion.
As far as food, I found that they seemed to tire rather easily of the same food, so I fed them a varied diet. Flake food, brineshrimp, beefheart, etc... Periodically one would stop eating for some unkown reason, and I was once told to raise the temperature of the tank to the high 80's for a few days when this happened. It worked everytime, but it made it difficult to keep other fish in there as they would get stressed with the high temps.
I didn't keep the water ultra pure, but did fairly regular 20% water changes, about every 7-14 days.
I was up to Choice Aquarium's last saturday and in addition to the awesome selection of corals and marine fish, they had a great selection of beautiful discus, including some really large ones.
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30 gallon reef June 2007
14 gallon BioCube April 2008
46 gallon bowfront underconstruction
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tames
Posts
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86
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Maumee
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Any recommendations on SMALL fish to keep with Discus? Fish that can tolerate those higher temps? Can Corys and Ottos be happy at those temps?
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"The demand for clarity is responsible for the confusion." -- U.G. Krishnamurti
Maumee Valley Living Reality Meetup Group
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coupedefleur
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568
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the Great Black Swamp
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I wonder how genetics come into play?
For instance, we've talked about how fancy guppies have been inbred so much that they are no longer "easy" fish to keep.
Angelfish are much easier to breed, but many strains aren't that vigorous, and the parents are losing the ability to take care of fry.
So what about discus? Do you think the various "new" varieties are easier/harder to keep?
Are the various wild types/species/subspecies still commercially available? To my eye, a lot of them are much more attractive than the commercial varieties.
Many of the Corydoras species are highland fish who like cooler water. A couple of my cory books have plans for chillers to cool their tanks for breeding. You would have to research specific species to see if they could take those high temps.
I would guess that many of the smaller Ancistrus would work better than ottos.
Rams love high temperatures, and they would make good understory fish for discus. Even though many tetras live in the same waters, they can be a bit shark-like and might give the discus too much competition for food.
It's not easy to find plants that can take the heat either. Barclaya supposedly does well.
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AJ
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Hillsdale , MI
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Great info in this thread.
So are you ready to get your fins wet?
AJ :)
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Visit: www.Aquatic-Terrors.com
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pundam
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AJ said :
Great info in this thread.
So are you ready to get your fins wet?
AJ :)
I'm very pleased that so many people have posted. It's encouraging to hear from so many that these fish can indeed be kept without uber-high-techness and finicky attention to detail(not my strong suit). I'm seriously considering discus for my next tank.
(AND will be getting my fins wet for real on Sat as we go collecting- got my 75 bedded and filling in preparation to add natives even as I type!)
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Mary
I've got a mind like a steel....Ohh! Shiny! ::::wanders off::::
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AJ
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303
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Hillsdale , MI
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Good to hear!
It's funny to hear peoples' astonishment when they hear you keep discus.
They can be quite easy and very enjoyable.
Good luck with your collecting!
AJ :)
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Visit: www.Aquatic-Terrors.com
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tames
Posts
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86
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Maumee
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Well, the plant issue will make me reconsider. I want a heavily planted tank. I will need to do research on the plants I have in the tank I want to use. Good point! Thanks for bringing that up.
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"The demand for clarity is responsible for the confusion." -- U.G. Krishnamurti
Maumee Valley Living Reality Meetup Group
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jemy
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52
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Toledo,OH
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tames said :
Any recommendations on SMALL fish to keep with Discus? Fish that can tolerate those higher temps? Can Corys and Ottos be happy at those temps?
My 55G tank always keep 83F. I used keep goldfish, platy, guppy, zebro, glofish,pleco, applesnail, red cherry shrimp.......
they thrive at High temp.
so This is a myth about cold water fish. Because some kinds of cold water fish can tolerate cold water doesn't mean they don't like warm water. They eat more and grow fast. But beware everylife including bacteria thriving at high temp will consuming more oxygen but high temp water get less dissolubility. so need more aeration to support it.
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