Discus Fish – General Info
Your online discus fish resource for caring, feeding and breeding information related to these beautiful tropical fish. Also be sure to check our Discus Fish Handbook!
Discus fish are a genus composed of three different species of cichlid freshwater fish which are native to the Amazon River basin. The name of “discus” derives from their laterally compressed body shape. They have become ever more popular among hobbyist fish keepers especially over the last century. Initially only a handful of people mastered the techniques of caring for discus, as they are notoriously sensitive to any kind of disturbance in their living environment.
| The fact that they are so beautiful and so challenging to care for, brought ever more popularity to the discus fish. Right now they are a major industry in many countries around the world. In South America, native people catch wild discus fish for a living and sell them to merchants who transport them overseas. And some countries in South East Asia are the most important producers for man made discus fish species, most of which they export to Western countries. |  |
The natural discus species are Symphysodon aequifasciatus, Symphysodon discus and Symphysodon tarzoo although there is some debate around this issue. They have somewhat more dull colors than the man made species due to the fact that in the wild they have to blend in with their environment in order to avoid predators and not to stand out and get eaten.
As previously mentioned, they are a highly sensitive kind of fish and in order to keep them happy everything must be in a perfect state. Discus fish are this way because they have adapted to living at the Ecuador where the water temperature hardly ever fluctuates during the entire year. The biggest changes in water temperature over there are in the range of half a degree or so.
So if you plan to keep discus fish it would be a great if you already had some other fish for a while in order to get accustomed to all the necessitates of fish keeping. You also need to be prepared to increase the difficulty level and to dedicate yourself fully to the needs of your future discus.
A great way is for you to start with 4-5 man-made specimens. The natural discus fish species, are more sensitive to care for in captivity they should be looked after by more experienced fish keepers. Man made species have gotten used to live in the slightly different environment of the aquarium. European discus for example can withstand pH levels of up to 7.5.
The number of discus in your aquarium is also important, as they are schooling fish. If you get just 1 or 2 they will suffer from loneliness and they will not fully develop. You should also choose grown discus for your first attempt. Don’t start with fry or very young fish because they also require more care and you have no idea if they will ever develop intro healthy and beautiful discus fish adult specimens.
Here at Tropical Discus Fish we aim to help you get accustomed to the life of these beautiful and gentile creatures. You can learn the basics by going through our online resources which cover all the aspects of caring for discus fish.
Aquariums
Learn how to look after your discus fish as a professional would. Get started by reading through our aquarium requirements section. You will find everything about setting up your fish tank before putting in your discus fish.
| Key points include:- Aquarium Size
- Water temperature - Their surroundings - Water filtration - Substrates - Compatible fish species - Best Practices etc. |
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Breeding discus fish
Experience the breeding process of discus fish, how to couple your discus as easy as possible and knowing the sex of your fish can all be found in this section. Find out about their tendencies to become aggressive because of breeding territory protection. Discover how frequent water change, a temperature increase and a special diet can trigger discus fish spawning.
Discus fish care
Read our pages for tips to take very good care and get the most from your discus fish as a professional would. Learn the best practices of caring for discus fish and become confident that you’re doing a good job in providing what they need.
Feeding your discus
It’s very important to know what to feed your discus fish! All there feeding requirements are available although they can pretty much be fed on almost any high protein fish food. They can be a little bit stubborn on accepting new food given to them so try just to let them stick to what they know.
Click here for the guide to keeping discus fish, how to keep them happy and have the best aquarium in town!