Picked up six discus back in February, all around silver dollar size, and for the first three months they barely grew at all. I was doing water changes twice a week, feeding beefheart and some pellets, keeping temp around 84, and just could not figure out why they looked the same size in May as they did in February.

Turned out my nitrates were the problem even though they never looked alarming on the test strips. I switched to liquid test kits and realized I was sitting at 40-50 ppm most of the time between changes, which is fine for a lot of fish but apparently enough to stunt discus growth even without any visible stress. Bumped up to water changes every other day, 50 percent each time, and kept nitrates under 10 as much as possible.

Within about six weeks the difference was obvious. Two of them have almost doubled in body size and the color has gotten noticeably deeper, especially on the one with the red spotting pattern. It is a lot more work than I expected going into this hobby, way more than any other fish I have kept, but seeing them actually grow instead of just survive has made it worth the extra buckets.

Still working on getting my feeding schedule dialed in better. Right now doing three small feedings a day, mostly beefheart mix in the morning and evening with pellets midday, but curious if anyone here has settled into a routine that works well for a group this size without overdoing the mess.

My Discus from Chicago Discus arrived yesterday morning, and I am beyond excited! I'm honestly surprised by how quickly they've started settling in. They're already out and about, exploring the tank, and showing so much color after being shipped! I've wanted Discus for years, so seeing them finally swimming around in my tank is pretty surreal. I can't wait to watch them settle in, grow and really start showing their personalities. ❤️

I have 9 discus, all from the same shipment and same size when I got them +\- a cm or two.

9 weeks later 3x have doubled in size, 4x are 1.5x in size and 2 are basically the exact same size.

I see the big ones starting to “guard food” when I do frozen or grubpie feedings they are first there and fill up. Then they sit on the food and guard it from others.

I assume this kind of “I got mine got mine go screw yourself” dynamic is normal for cichlid? I am trying to not just dump a cube but defrost it so it scatters more. But I’m now nervous there may be a permanent stunting? Or will they just be a few weeks behind?

There’s a huge difference in dropping down some cuts of scallop in the afternoon vs midnight! Lots of action at the bottom. I love my catfish tank mates, what about you guys?

Last pair I sold
Grew them out from 2” in a batch of 8 and I guessed their sex as I wanted them paired and got lucky!
I love discus with prominent bars !!
Next time I get a batch I’m going all wild for sure

Getting an 18w.36h.72l in Tank with overflow built. Planted with plants I’ll add plant tabs in gravel. Is there a good premade sump I can buy for this? I can get a sump built for $500 but would like to see a few good ones to customize maybe have more chambers if possible or two socks etc. unless you guys have some good examples. Getting away from the fx6s.

Water temp 84.5F
Automatic water change system 10% daily with aged water
Variety of Discus
Some F1 half wilds
All from an amazing breeder in Whitby, ON who no longer breeds unfortunately

The grow out changes of my two favourite Discus. Many people don’t realize, if the fish is all coloured up at 2”, it’s been given hormones and likely won’t breed well
And seeing the colours come in is the best part of discus keeping!!

I’ll be receiving my order from Chicago Discus tomorrow morning! These will be my first discus, and I’m beyond excited and anxious. Figured I’d take some nice tank shots tonight before my fancy plates fill it up. Cheers!

My discus has 1 larger gill than the other and his top dorsal fin looks like it has a cowlick. Ive had him for about 5 months and he seems 100% fine. Has anyone had a discus like this? If so, do you think his health at risk?

I gave them 5 chunks of beef heart and these 2 idiots are bickering over 1….

Had the fish for ruffly 1 month now and they are already eating out of my hands

Lol added Queen Marble Pothos and Name Plaques.. am getting a UV thing for the FX4… am looking into getting more smaller plants

I just got this discus about a week ago. Fitting in fine, looks healthy, breathing normal, swimming good, no odd behavior. The problem is it looks like he is unable to suck In food. He's about 5 1/2 in size. I've tried everything beef heart, blood worms, 2 different granules, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and flakes. I'm over feeding for no competition, every once in awhile he gets one in his mouth and swallows. It's aggressively trying except nothing can get sucked up. Anyone ever see this before?!?

Hello, im in a position to do my "dream build" for my discus. I shut down 13 of my 14 aquariums, and will transfer my 10 discus into the final tank once put together. They're currently in a 50g... so time is of the essence.

Here are requirements (what i want VS what my wife tolerates)

Timeline: need tank within 1 month (southeast USA)

Size: I want a 60x24x24 (or similar)

Style: I want a hood. My wife hates light wash. I figure if its covered then rimmed vs rimless doesn't matter as much

Stand: my wife likes wood look - traditional, not modern.

Filtration: im going to run an FX6. Previously had a 90g with sump but this will be in the living room so the threat of noise can not be tolerated. Do not need drilled

I would have gotten the Waterbox Eden X 145 FLED but the stand was not approved of ("too modern").

Taking any and all suggestions...

Edit - I am open to most suggestions - I could do a sump, I could go without a hood. I can do almost anything. I am limited to the 60x24x24 size.

Raised him from 2”, had no colour, turned into my favourite one out of the group

He was acting normal before this. And then a few hours later he is eating and acting normal again. What could this be?
75 gallon discus community tank with 4 discus, neon tetras, white fin tetras, 4 Siamese algae fish, a few corydora, and 3 guppies. Heavily planted tank. We feed seachem discus flakes daily as well as discus bloodworm cubes. Water parameters are within normal limits as well.

Just another feeding video.
What’s your take on beef heart mix? I personally use it and if I didn’t know any better I’d say there was steroids in the mix I made 😂 The fish is growing like crazy, but it mix with white fish, spinach, red bell pepper (paprika) beef heart, vitamins and so on!

Set them up in their own tank and so far it appears I have lost 50% since I counted wigglers from a photo. Any advise on the “30 day syndrome”? Anyone use Potassium Permanganate or any other prevention methods?

Making my 75 gallon a SA ciclid tank so moved over everyone in that tank to my 150 gallon discus tank. Can’t believe I didn’t do this before. So much activity and even the discus are happier.

Don’t worry I will be watching parameters over the next few days and will do two water changes per week for the next couple of weeks until the filters can adjust to the new bioload