The Discus Fish

It’s rather cheap to maintain your discus fish, but they aren’t cheap to actually buy. A discus fish looks how it sounds, like a disc. They come in multiple colors, and patterns, but they’re all in a cylinder shape. The discus fish is native to the Amazon River.

Life span:
It’s best that you really want a discus fish before you buy it, and make sure you like it. Discus fish can live up to 10 years of age if properly cared for.

Colors and patterns:
You can find discus fish in blue, green, yellow, pink, red, orange, and yellow. They each come with individual designs on their bodies but they main patterns are: stripes, dots, and solid coloration. Sometimes the discus will get a mixture of patterns at birth, this comes from both parents, and it’s nothing more then a mixture of inheritance from both parents. Also the discuss fish can be found in multiple colors rather then just one color and then its patterns.

Housing:
You have to offer at least 15 gallons of water per discus for a healthy and happy discus fish. You can use gravel or no gravel. If you use gravel then you should use sand, because sands doesn’t allow waste to build up underneath of it. If you don’t use any gravel then you have to make sure that the bottom of the aquarium does not get waste build up. You can use plastic or real plants in a discus aquarium. You can use other dÃ?©cor such as: statues, caves, hides, ectâÂ?¦ You should check to see what kind of fish would be compatible with your discus fish if you want more then just one specie of fish in your aquarium. You can use the average freshwater filtration system for a discus fish aquarium, and just add air pumps to keep a consistent flow of oxygen running through the water in your aquarium. And it is very important to keep a heater running at all times in your aquarium.

Food:
Discus fish are carnivores meaning they eat meat. Their diet includes: beef heart, blood worm, shrimp (ghost shrimp work too), white fish, liver, plankton, and a flake mix full of high proteins. The discus fish eats a couple times a day. I can’t tell you how much your discus fish will eat per day, it just depends on the fish’s appetite, and this also goes for what time a day your fish will eat. People find it easiest to get a morning night routine going for meal times, and if you continue following this routine then your fish will learn to follow it as well.

pH and water temperature:
The water temperature should stay between 85 and 90 degrees F. Your pH should stay between 5.0 and 6.0. Discus fish are hard to maintain (water condition) so it’s very important to make sure your water conditions are at the levels they’re suppose to be at. This could be the difference between life and death for you discus.