![]() ![]() Males, when breeding, do often have longer ventral and dorsal fins than females, but I believe this characteristic is more an indication that the fish is in good condition than anything else. I believe the size and shape of the fins is directly linked to fish genetics, the quality of the diet and water provided for it. Discus fins are like fingernails, continually growing and 'dropping off' - not literally, but the fish is able to replace the soft areas of its fins. Males have longer ventral fins than females It should also look clean and bright, as the eye is a good indicator of the fish's state of health and age. Regardless of the colour, always pick fish that have an eye proportional to body size. However, most Discus available today are domestically-bred mutations and the eye can be yellow/red/albino and so on. In the main, wild Discus do have bright red eyes, so some fishkeepers consider a red eye a must characteristic. Yet is the risk worth the worry? Only the individual fishkeeper can decide, My advice, however, is to avoid known risks.ĭiscus must have a red eye to be considered a worthy specimen This is generally referred to as 'Discus plague' and can be treated, although not always successfully, using salt dips/formalin and malachite green/acraflavin. If the fish are going to 'cross contaminate' it will show itself within a 48 to 72 hour period. If after ten days they are fine you can reasonably assume that all is well. So keep your fish in separate tanks while the newcomers undergo a period of quarantine.ĭuring this time avoid transferring even a single drop of water from one tank to the other.Īfter a few weeks take a new fish and an existing fish and put them in a tank together. Usually people will have a happy tank, go out, buy some new Discus, pop them in the tank and 48 hours later notice a problem. So how do we avoid it? Don't do it! However, if you want fish from different places then there's a simple procedure to follow. It can involve two batches of fish that have simply been purchased from different shops. I need to stress that this is not an Asian/German 'thing', as it's often referred to in the hobby. Keeping Discus successfully is made easier by eliminating the known risks and there's conclusive evidence that sometimes, when two batches of fish from different sources are put in the same tank, it can have devastating results - with one set becoming very sick in just a few days. In my opinion the answer is no, but if that didn't happen the hobby would grind to a halt. You shouldn't mix fish from different suppliers/countries ![]() Your best course of action is to seek the advice of your chosen Discus supplier, but an increasing number of keepers are considering an RO filter a product very much of the past. Some aquarists acclimatise their Asian Discus to UK tapwater, but top breeders such as Jeffrey Tan advise soft water.Įuropean-bred Discus, however, are quite happy and will even breed in harder water - the reason being they have now been tank-bred over several generations and have adapted to it. Some areas of the UK have soft water on tap, but, even then, it would be wise to run it through carbon.Īsian Discus are also raised in soft water, so will appreciate the same water preparation for wild Discus. Wild Discus will require soft, slightly acidic water and generally the only way to achieve this is to use a reverse osmosis filter. Much will depend on the water your fish have spent their lives in prior to reaching your tank. None of the other fish seem to be displaying the same problems either.Beliefs passed through the hobby may not be necessary, beneficial or even accurate - as you'll discover: It's said they need RO waterĪll Discus will live in water prepared by a reverse osmosis filter - but do they all need it? In addition I can confirm that I can not see (nor have I ever seen) anything remotely resembling red worms or bloodworms on my substrate floor (except when I actually feed my fish bloodworms and they land on the bottom ¬_¬). However he DOES have a roaring appetite - and will happily gorge down bloodworms when I put them in the tank - by God he can move fairly quickly when the tanklid comes off =P PS - the Discus is relatively slow in terms of swimming not particularly lively. I was just looking at the fish when I noticed that my Discus had red stringy poop coming out of his anus kinda like a solid red bit with split ends or something! The best way to explain it would be by comparing them to miniature bloodworms they looked the same in terms of size and colour (on the end of it at least).Īnyways is this a cause for concern? And if so then what can I do about it? I've had my Discus Nero for quite some time now (some of you may remember problems I was having with a former tankmate of his, but that has been dealt with and removed). ![]()
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