Discus Fish and Aquarium Care Tips

Cleaning Tip - If you have sand be super careful when cleaning your tank.  Sand will scratch with the lightest of pressure when removing algae.  This is very difficult to fix once done, and you'll wish you'd been more careful every time you see that scratch. 

Decor Tip - New wood can get a fungus covering when first added.  Looks horrendous, some fish will eat it but it will go and isn't harmful.

Decor Tip -  Some strains of Discus (Pigeons) will pepper with a dark background.  They will develop tiny dark dots as they try to blend with their darker surroundings.  Dark decor is best avoided if you want to minimize peppering. 

Feeding Tip - Do not over feed.  Try and ensure that all food is eaten and the smaller left overs are removed by any clean up fish that you have.  You can always put more in but its difficult to get uneaten food out.

Filter Tip - NEVER CLEAN A FILTER USING TAP WATER, ALWAYS USE OLD TANK WATER.  NO CHEMICALS ARE NEEDED OR SHOULD BE USED

Filter Tip - Some filter media is very expensive, sintered glass, ceramics tubes, bio this and that...  I read that 30 ppi foam is the best media for bacteria to colonise.  I've no proof but I have one filter full of it and its going well.  It was cheap too, no Ammonia or Nitrite in that tank, and it doesn't need cleaning that often either.

Filter Tip - The filter needs cleaning to prevent it becoming blocked.  If flow is not reduced you do not necessarily need to clean it.  When you do clean it be gentle with the filter sponges and do not clean the media too vigorously.  The good bacteria in those filters need looking after and you do not want to clean it so thoroughly that they are removed or damaged.  Do not turn the filters off for too long and the bacteria can start to decline when starved of new water.

Filter Tip - Wash your hands and thoroughly rinse them before putting them in the tank.

Filter Tip - Activated carbon has been shown to increase instances of HITH (Hole in the Head).  I believe it removes certain properties from the water that are better left in the water.   I would only use this for a short time after a treatment, but your better off just changing the water. 

Fish Tip - Always quarantine any new additions to a tank.  Failure to do so can/will end up with problems.

General Tip - If you are planning to keep these fish, keep these fish.  Plants, other fish, the look of the tank (rimless etc) should all be secondary to keeping these fish properly.  Trying to do it all just makes things very difficult.  A covered tank is a good idea as they will jump at some point and you will lose a fish.

Heating Tip - A single heater will either set to heat or no heat when it fails, either way the outcome is not good.  I have had a large heater in a small tank stick on and the fish died very quickly.  You can limit the possibilities of this by running two heaters, half the recommended size for the tank.  If one of these should fail you will have longer to notice and fix the issue.  Its very unlucky for both to fail at the same time.

Lighting Tip - Discus are very easily startled, even dimming a light a few percent can cause them to dash in all directions.  So no abrupt lighting changes are recommended.

Lighting Tip - If you have new fish or possible tank issues, turn the lights off for a day or two to reduce stress.  

Lighting Tip - Try and provide some decor or cover that provides some secluded places, so they can choose to escape the full glare of a modern fish tank light.

UV Tip - Change the UV bulb regularly, most units have safety cut outs but never activate a UV bulb if its is not covered by its enclosure.

Water Tip - Never use straight RO water for fish (unless topping up marines). 

Water Tip - Consistency of water parameters can be more important than the parameters themselves.  An ever changing pH value is far worse than a consistent pH that is slightly wrong.

Water Tip - Visit you local water suppliers web site and search water quality.  You will get a report on your water supply by postcode.  These are averaged values and indicate whats coming out of your tap.  This will give you a good idea of what you need to do, or if you are lucky enough to have happy fish in your tap water. 

Water Tip -  pH changes are not good for any fish, so a stable reading is better than a reading that fluctuates around a perfect value. 

Water Tip - The lower your kH reading the more susceptible to pH changes your tank will be.  So be careful to maintain a steady kH reading in your tank.  Staying around 5 - 8 will help keep a constant pH.  

Water Tip - Aeration is a good thing, it helps filters and keeps good levels of oxygen in the water.  But it will force carbon dioxide out of the water.  Dissolved carbon dioxide makes the water slightly acidic and can lower your pH.  Heavy aeration therefore can increase your pH. 

Water Tip - CO2 injection can change your pH.  Always carefully monitor your pH, abrupt changes in pH are one of the worst things to happen in a Discus tank.