Aquarium Discus Fish need close attention to maintain them fitly. They are very temperamental fish. With some guidance you can be on your way to conserving a attractive "aquarium discus fish" aquarium.
first advice :How many discus you should keep an aquarium?
The general rule of thumb is to only keep one discus fish per every 10 gallons of water your tank can withhold. Discus admire room to roam so use this guideline and you will save yourself from overcrowding your fish.
The general rule of thumb is to only keep one discus fish per every 10 gallons of water your tank can withhold. Discus admire room to roam so use this guideline and you will save yourself from overcrowding your fish.
The second advice :Discus prefer a tall sized tank
You would like to get a tank which is taller than longer. For instance if you had a tank which was 6 feet long and 18 inches deep you would be better off trying to find a three feet tall and four feet wide. However with this being said if were to have a tank similar the first one I mentioned. I don't suggest you run out and purchase a new tank. These are just some guidelines to follow. They are not gospel however as a rule you do want to have at least an 18" tank depth.I don't like to use anything smaller than 35 gallons because the smaller the tank the harder it is to maintain the water.
You would like to get a tank which is taller than longer. For instance if you had a tank which was 6 feet long and 18 inches deep you would be better off trying to find a three feet tall and four feet wide. However with this being said if were to have a tank similar the first one I mentioned. I don't suggest you run out and purchase a new tank. These are just some guidelines to follow. They are not gospel however as a rule you do want to have at least an 18" tank depth.I don't like to use anything smaller than 35 gallons because the smaller the tank the harder it is to maintain the water.
The third advice:Discus are creatures of habit
Upon bringing your new discus home be sure to ask the breeder or fish keeper the type of food they were feeding the fish. Even though Discus don't require any characteristic diets they don like their food to be changed all of a sudden. Feed them the new food in small doses. Do this for a few weeks increasing the dosage. This will keep your fish stress free during the food change.
The fourth advice:water quality
Keeping your water chemistry clean and stable is a MUST! First you need to keep the water clean by making sure you change it when needed.
Proper water temperature for discus is between 82 and 86 degrees F. You also need to test the water hardness. The water should be soft, between 3 and 15dH. The PH level is next important factor.
PH is possibly the biggest cause which most fish keepers have some trouble with. Discus do not like to accommodate these PH factors. They will survive in other PH conditions however do not fool yourself in doing so.The problem is they will always be stressed and their life span will be compromised. The bottom line is always test your water conditions and make very gradual changes when need be. When you make drastic chemistry changes this puts more harm than excellent on the fish causing them an abundance of stress.
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