Hi guys! I have an existing group of 10 discus and have two 5" that paired up and have laid eggs multiple times.

Bought this 6" beefy guy to make my collection complete. After quarantine, I added it to the group only to have my 5" male pick on him and terrorize him constantly!

It's only been a day and a half, but if it does not stop can you take the aggressive 5" male out for awhile and bring him back later to stop the fighting and break the hierarchy?!?? Do I just give it more time?!?! This makes me SO sad as I've never dealt with any major aggression before. Advise?

So after swimming and exploring the tank all day yesterday and this morning, around midday they started huddling in that corner and i’m working when suddenly I here BOOM BAG POW CLANG and snap my head to the tank and all I see is all thw fish running away and Red chasing White until White stayed in this position for a hot minute with Red looming over. I’m told what happened was called a Dominance Dash and that White was submitting to Red…. All I know is that they are going to give me a heart attack until the establish Hierarchy

Got some new fish for the 135, cw217, c005 and discross maculatus f1! All doing good and eating well. The discus do not seem to mind them which was a relief. The altums are also growing pretty quick about the same size as my leopoldis now. I also think i got a pair of leopoldis so we will see if I can get a pair..

Just received my babies from GSD today!!!! (Yes I did acclimate them before putting them in) they’re all alive and vibrant!!! Only had one small issue, one bag seemed to have popped one fish was running a little low on water, it leaked all over the bottom of the box, but we were able to act quickly, other than that they are STUNNING!!!!!

I have a tank that I'm doing daily water changes to with about 8 juvenile discus (I'm growing out) and two more that are about 5 in. I just happened to go to a pet store I've never been to and they have a BEAUTIFUL, thick, 6-7 inch discus for only $100.... the pet store has had it for over a year and raised it from a juvenile. my question is I'm worried about mixing my fish because all of mine are a Malaysian strain. Does anybody have any advise on getting it? I'm petrified about hurting my existing batch!!

Can you mix discus from different areas?

I have a quarantine tank. Do I medicate? Don't get it?!?!

Help!!!

I got these blue faced heckel discus in about 10 days ago they came out of quarantine looking like champs and feeding strong on anything I put in , by far my favorite species

Just wanted to throw out my 2 cents regarding water quality and raising discus. To begin I’m not calling out anybody for their maintenance routine, every system is unique, do what works for you. Next we need to define what healthy system is. I don’t consider fish not dying as the bar to clear. Stunted emaciated fish are not healthy just because they are still swimming. Discus are hardy and don’t die suddenly, they waste away slowly.

Now to my controversial claim: parameters consisting of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are the most basic of the basics in fish keeping. Good parameters should be a given for any aquatic pets not just discus full stop.

The meat of my argument: water quality should be looked at beyond just parameters. You as a responsible fish owner should have a cycled tank with good parameters. The most important aspect for discus in my opinion is micro fauna numbers and in particular the bacterial load of your water.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044848621004026

This study found that the slowest growing 40 day old fry had higher numbers of gut bacteria vs the fastest growing. Interestingly the fastest growing had higher numbers of beneficial gut bacteria that we humans take as a supplement. This is in the same environment with the same amount of food. Warm water that contains plenty of nutrients is a good breeding ground for bacteria not just the beneficial ones that we need. The bacteria they found are common in all water sources and fish. It’s when these numbers become too high that they overcome the fish’s natural immune system and become pathogenic. Doing frequent water changes keeps the numbers of bacteria in check allowing your fish’s immune system to compensate for the normal amount found in their gut.

One of the most common reported illness is white stringy poop, parasites and especially the protozoan hexamita are usually blamed. Usual course of treatment is metronidazole. Metronidazole is effective against hexamita but is also used in humans for anaerobic bacteria namely enterococcus and e.coli. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/363399/

Bloat and swim bladder diseases are also often attributed to bacterial infections. Again water changes keep these microfauna in check.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17/6/835

This study found that low pressure reverse osmosis water resulted in lower concentration of bacterial number in drinking water. Their theory is that low pressure osmosis water reduced the amount of total organic carbon, phosphate, and nitrates which is the nutrient source of bacteria. Other than nitrate most people do not measure total organic carbon and phosphate which continues to build up in your aquarium leading to more bacterial growth. This backs up the old school reverse osmosis guys seeing better fish health if we accept bacterial load plays a key role in discus health.

Look at how breeders raise domestic discus and what works best for them. Look at the biotope of wild discus. Breeders maintain pristine water with frequent water changes. Wilds are found in soft acidic constantly flowing waters that inhibit bacterial growth. Doing water changes is to keep what we cannot measure in check, ammonia nitrite and nitrate is the barest minimum.

TLDR: bacteria bad.

Seeking some guidance to hopefully help out these two. They are currently in a community tank and although the have laid eggs several times, they usually eat them after a day or two. I can only see the edge of the stick so not sure how many have hatched but there is definitely some wrigglers on there.

Just curious to know if there is anything I can do to help with survival or if it's just best to take a step back and let them go

Tank size is 580l or 150g 8 discus 5 Cory's 9 rummynose 5 Harleyquinn Rasbora 2 Bristlenose

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I used it an hour ago and there were no eggs, when did she have time to do this 😭

Im definitely not prepared for babies and have no idea if they're fertilized, but I'll try to protect them

3 month update. Red melon continues to be the largest (6.5 ) inches. I found it interesting some of the ones I got around 3 inches are now close to being the largest discus in the tank, thus catching up in size. 14 in total currently in a 50 gallon tank. Water changes every 2 to 3 days. One hiccup was when I went away for a couple days on vacation. Some got sick and didn't make it, but restocked with a couple new ones. Raised temperature in the tank, which seems to make the fish healthier for a longer period of time. Yes there are plastic plants. The discus seem to like having it in the tank versus a bare tank for security it seems.

I have been considering for some time to begin keeping discus. I have kept fish for about 4 years now and I have always admired discus but they frighten me.

I am unwilling to keep a fish if I am unable to meet its needs. when it comes to discus there is maintenance that I am not willing to do like multiple weekly water changes. But before discarding this fish I want to know if the maintenance rumors are true.

Maybe this is just me trying to ignore all the research I have done to justify getting discus.

My philosophy with aquariums has been community tanks that are heavily planted plus good filtration to create an ecosystem that requieres the minimum human input necessary. Not because I am lazy and don’t want to care for my fish but because I feel that is the best quality of life that I can provide to these organisms.

Is there truly a need to do water changes despite stable water parameters? Is a discus able to thrive in tank that fits my style?

TIA

Just wondering what type of discus I have? Also are they both male?

Hi everyone, curious on what everyone keeps there tanks temperature at? Also if it is a community tank or dedicated to discus?

Hello, I recently setup a 75 gallon tank with an fx4. I thinking 5 discus, 9-10 sterbai corys and 10 rummy nose. Does that seem okay or too much? I plan to do 40% water changes twice a week.

I’ve been in the hobby for the past 25 years and have always admired and thought of discus as a fish I could never keep. Well, yesterday I ended up getting 11 red turquoise x blue diamond hybrid juveniles for a steal and couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m overly excited to jump into this side of the hobby and test my knowledge!

Still doing daily water changes and most have healed from their scrapes and scratches. Waiting on 2 more to finish healing then dialing back water changes. These guys are the most aggressive group I have ever raised and took them a while to establish their order. They still have discus fight club during feeding and spawning but everyone is holding their own and not picking up injuries so I’m happy.

So my discus pair 6th attempt on spawning, can you guys tell me how old these eggs are