How to Pick Up and Keep Your Discus Fish Smartly

So you have thought of starting your fish keeping hobby with the discus fish. You have visited your local pet shop, made some research on the Internet and you have sufficient place in your living room to keep them. Now the basic question is how to get started?

If you look at the Internet, you will find that there are many websites dedicated to discus fish. You get elaborate information on planting your aquarium for discus fish, treatment of water and its regular cleaning, feeding habits for them and so on. But you may be confused over different presentations.

If you want to find out some useful tips at one place for starting your hobby with discus fish, here are some important ones -

1. You should have a sufficiently large tank for them. The tank should be at least 60 gallons in capacity. For installing such a tank, you also need a sturdy base. You should fix a good location which does not get exposure to direct sunshine. There should be some filtration system working in your tank which will keep the water clean. There should be a heater for maintaining the temperature of the water. There should be a moderate system of lighting in place.

The tank should be covered with a hood all the time. You should also have a hose for cleaning the bottom of the tank.

2. Once you are ready we had the aquarium, you should give some time for cycling the water. This will help to form bacteria on the filters which will be useful for the fish. You should consult your pet fish shop for the type of filtration system ideal for your tank.

3. Now let us turn to the stage of buying discus fish. You will obviously prefer healthy fish. If you can find out a good breeder near your area, you will be able to get good quality fish. However, if there is none, you can still order by shipment from reputed breeders. The shipment will cost you around $100 and you may go for urgent or priority service.

4. Once you get the discus fish at home, you should quarantine them for some time before you introduce them to your main aquarium.

5. Here are some important tips for finding out healthy discus fish. The movements of the fish should be reasonably fast. If the fish is trying to hide in the dark, you should avoid it. If there is any dead fish in the tank from which you are buying your fish, you should avoid such fish. You should also see whether there are any visible injuries on the fish. The skin should be without any scratch and it should not look slimy. The eyes of the fish should be clear. If the fish has bulging eyes, it is not a good indication. You should also see whether the fish is able to eat the food easily.

6. You can buy up to 10 small discus fish for the size of 60 gallon tank. There should not be more than 2 inches in length. However once they start growing, you should keep them in the proportion of 10 gallons of water per fish. This will help you to keep the aquarium clean.

7. You can add some bigger size gravel so that the cleaning becomes easy. If it fits in your budget, you can add some ceramic decorative items which are attractive and will be easy for cleaning.

8. You should try to keep the conditions of water close to those which discus fish enjoy in their natural habitat. For this purpose, change at least 25 per cent of the water every three days. The temperature of the water should not exceed 84° F.

9. Your discus fish will have a big appetite. But remember, hungry discus fish are always healthy. You can offer them a wide variety of food including flaked food, live food, boiled vegetables and frozen foods. You should provide dry food in the morning while you can feed them live food in the afternoons and evenings.

If you have already decided that you will start your fish-keeping hobby with discus fish, it's a good decision. You will enjoy every moment of it right from buying them, their growth, their interaction with each other and their graceful swimming all around the aquarium. You will learn a lot from your hobby. Always feel free to ask questions to your pet shop staff make a research on the Internet and take advice from friends to update knowledge.

Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way. His famous digital book, "Secrets on Keeping Beautiful Goldfish", offers simple, easy to follow instruction for raising healthy, long-living goldfish. Visit his website http://www.goldfishcaretips.com to learn more about expertly raising your goldfish and to receive your FREE copy of his special report, "Fish-Keeping Hobby Secrets Revealed".

3 Most Important Discus Information Tips

Having a pet fish in your home can be quite rewarding since aside from the fact that fish are adorable and easy to care for, they also help create a more vibrant and lively aura in the room.

If you are a fish enthusiast or you simply just want to have a fish for a pet, then perhaps you might wish to get a discus fish. These tropical fish are simply fascinating with their unique diamond shaped flat bodies as well as their exquisite colors that seem to glow under water. But before heading out to the pet store and get one, you must first learn discus information so that you'll have an idea on how to take care of them.

Suitable environment

You may learn by reading a guidebook that if you get a discus for a pet, you need to set up a place for it to live. Getting a simple aquarium filled with water is not enough as you need to have a more conducive environment for the discus as this will serve as its habitat.

Depending on the number of fish you wish to have as well as the allocated space in your house, it would be great if you could buy a big fish tank or aquarium so that the fish will have lots of room to swim in. Plus, you can also put other tank ornaments like water plants and pebbles. You also need to consider getting tank filters that will help keep the water clean so that the living conditions for the discus remains healthy.

Most information that you'll find will include details about the water temperature for the fish. Since these fish are used to the tropics, they survive best when the water is warm. When filling up the aquarium, use a thermometer to gauge the temperature.

Make sure that it is about 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit with a pH level of about 6.5. You can also place some underwater plants to help filter out the bacteria and increase the oxygen levels in the water. Likewise, the plants can also be a great place for the discus fish to hide when threatened.

Feeding requirements

Discus information also includes feeding requirements for the discus fish. Like all living things, they also need sustenance in order to survive. While, when in their natural environment, they eat tropical plants and algae, living in a controlled habitat may make it more difficult for them to fend for themselves.

You can help by placing some tropical plants that they usually chew on as some of these are available in pet stores. But the more recommended thing to do is to provide them with fish food like dried flakes. These things are easily found in pet stores and contain essential vitamins and nutrients that will help nourish the discus.

Finding companions

Perhaps one important tip is that you need to know is about finding mates or companions for your pet discus. These fish are not hostile creatures. In fact, they are able to live well with other types of tropical fish.

However, getting bigger fish than the discus might become a problem as the bright colors from discus skin may attract the attention from the bigger fish and they may end up bothering the discus. It would be better to get fish like the neon tetras and the rams.

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Discus Fish Care - Free Tips How to Keep Your Discus Fish Healthy

Discus fish care could be a boring task, however they are a selection of the most fantastic fish out there to keep and to see. One of the things you want to be certain to focus on is their habits and try to not mess with their natural habits. Discus fish, while quite entertaining and with great personalities will have a tendency to be shy till they get their confidence up.

The standard of water in your discus fish tank is of the greatest significance. They have to have pure, clean water and that needs some effort by you. You will want to do a partial water change one or more times a week if not 2 times a week. This implies that you should replace twenty-five to fifty percent of the water while being careful not to annoy the fish any more than you've got to.

With water being the most important thing that you've got to focus on when working with discus fish care, you will need to take into consideration the oxygen levels in the water and the temperature also. The temperature of the water actually has an impact on the oxygen levels of the water. You will need to make efforts to keep the water in your discus tank between 83 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Permitting your water temperature to rise above that may cut the amount of oxygen in the tank and cause stress or worse to your discus fish.

Another thing to bear in mind with reference to water is the pH level. Since the tap water that you are possibly putting into your tank has chlorine and other chemicals in it, you must add some chemicals to keep the pH level between 5.5 and seven, while the perfect pH being six. Should you get outside of this range, your discus fish can become stressed and develop sicknesses.

Discus fish have a tendency to not perform nicely in too crowded of an environment and will do miles better with lots of room to swim about. If you are going to put a substrate on the base of the tank, use rocks and ensure that they do not have heavy metals in the rocks that are not good for the discus fish.

If you are going to place some ornamentation in there, try and keep it simple with some plants for them to hide behind and perhaps a bit of driftwood as that is close to their environment. Plants in your tank are fine while they are natural, live plants. Avoid the plastic variety although they might have a prettier appearance and appear to be more low upkeep. The live plants will put oxygen into the water and make the discus more at ease in a natural environment.

Something else that you will have to think about with discus fish care is the use of nitrifying bacteria in the filter. These colonies of bacteria are important as they keep down the ammonia and nitrites in the water by eating the fish waste.

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Buying Discus Fish - 5 Tips For Getting the Best Fish

Buying Discus fish is not just a matter of picking out which fish look the prettiest or most colorful. Color and pattern are truly important for your own satisfaction, but there are more important factors to consider.

Most of the time you will be dealing with domestically bred discus instead of wild fish. There are now lots of discus breeders around the globe. You can find them locally if you or a friend knows someone who is an avid discus hobbyist, but there are numerous breeders who have very large operations. Most notably, there are some very well respected discus farms in the Far East. Places like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have many breeders who sell internationally.

You can also still get wild Discus right from the waters of the Amazon River. There are some very trusted sources who "harvest" Discus from their natural habitat.

But let's assume that you find a fish store, a pet store, or even a local Discus fish keeper who just happens to have some Discus for sale.

What do you look for in addition to color and pattern when buying Discus fish?

* First, the fish should be active and inquisitive. It's possible for fish to look happy. Those are the kind you want. Try slowly putting your hand over the aquarium and see if they show interest, as if looking for you to feed them. If they do, this is a good sign.

* Ask the clerk or tank owner what the water conditions are. Discus aquariums should be slightly acidic (pH of around 6.0) and warm, about 77-85F (25-29C). If the person you are working with does not know these parameters, you probably should look for another source.

* Check the physical appearance of the fish. They should have a bright, round body. Dark fish with fins drawn tight to the body are not healthy. Likewise, fish who are retreating to the corners of the tank should be avoided.

* Discus should have nice bright eyes. Red eyes are good. Cloudy eyes are a sign of trouble.

* If you decide to take some of these Discus fish home with you, make sure you introduce them into your own tank quickly, but don't just dump them in. You more than likely will have a plastic bag with the new Discus in it. Simply float the bag on the surface of your tank for about 5 minutes, not any longer than that. Then untie the bag and gently submerge it into the tank. Allow your new fish to swim into their new home. Do not dump them.

Buying Discus fish that are happy and healthy is a great way to enjoy your discus fish tank for years to come.

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Tips on Keeping Your Discus Fish Healthy and Happy

Most of fish keepers, either beginner or advanced keepers, say that discus fish are considered as the most well-liked kinds of fishes to keep. There are many fish keepers over the world to proudly keep them due to their beauty.

But this fish can be very expensive because of their attractiveness. Since this creature come with temperamental character, you should pay close attention. They will be really responsive regarding with the food you give them and the water where they live. Really different with other species, this fish need your special attention and persistence to make them happy and healthy.

However, this fact should not hinder you from keeping this type of fish. Through properly learning, you can keep and breed them successfully.

One thing that you should pay attention, they like to swim. You must prepare enough space to wander around in the tank. As a consequence of this fact, you must prepare ten gallons of water for each discus fish. You must ensure to prevent aquarium from overcrowding, in case dealing with this type of fish. Since such condition will cause them stressed, and if they go through higher stress, the more chances that they will be unhealthy.

Above fact requires you to prepare big tank for keeping them, in case you want to keep more than 2. In addition, you must keep in mind that if you want make them happy, you must keep them no less than six discus fish together in the same tank.

The two factors that you should really take into consideration are the shape and size of the fish tank. You should know that discus fish like better a tall sized tank. For that reason, you have to prepare the tank that is taller than longer. For instance, it's your decision to make a tank which is 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. A 35 gallon tank is a proper size designed for them. However, it is advisable to try getting a larger fish tank. In addition, with larger tanks, maintaining water quality is much less difficult than smaller tanks. Also, it's important to understand that discus fish are somewhat sensitive regarding water quality.

Since discus fish will be really sensitive in term of water quality, keep the water clean and maintain the stability of water chemistry. You must replace no less than 50 % previous water with fresh water every week as well ensure that PH level is always stable.

The proper temperature for keeping this type of fish around 82 until 86 degrees F and the hardness must be about 3 and 15dH. In addition maintain PH level approximately 5 and 6.5.

Mentioned above are important stuffs you have to keep in mind if you want keep discus fish successful. By applying above tips, surely you will have experience and capability to keep healthy and happy discus fish.

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How to Take Care of Discus Fish - Simple Discus Fish Care Tips

You need to take excellent care of some discus or if you are planning to keep discus fish. The discus may die if you mistreat them accidentally. In order to avoid future accidents, I will be giving you some basic tips on how to take care of discus fish, which can grow beautiful and colorful discus.

Many have a myth that taking care of discus is suitable only for the advanced fish keepers. There is no truth in it. The discus can be taken care easily even by a common man. The following are basic simple rules, which I will share few tips regarding discus fish care.

1. Aquarium Size: Because of their sizes discus fish should be kept in deep tanks. Since they size may increase up to 6 or 7 inches, and they continue to increase the size, they prefer to wide space for their survival. The discus fish can be kept in the empty tank provided if you add plants or bog wood to the tank. If they are frightened the discus feel safe place for hiding in plants or bog wood. They hurt themselves from dashing around in the tank. They get stressed very easily if they are kept in bare tank.

2. Aquarium Water: The best way to keep discus fish healthy by keeping the aquarium water clean and avoiding chlorine and heavy metals. We have to invest in water purifying unit to keep the discus aquarium tank clean. We have to make sure that water is filtered and movement of water should be minimal. The normal temperature should be between 82-86F.

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Present Newly Bred Discus Fish to Your Guests With Pride!

Many people feel that discus fish is one of the most attractive fish in their aquariums. There are other beautiful varieties like cichlid or clown loach but if you just have a look at the pricing, you will notice the difference. Discus fish are most expensive than these varieties of fish, usually costing from $250 onwards.

So if you learn how to breed them, you can proudly present them in the aquarium and also can sell them to the local pet shop in exchange of fish food or aquarium supplies. This is the next step after keeping discus fish at home. It is not simple but it is not complicated either. Read carefully the following tips for the successful breeding of discus fish -

1. The first step is to set up an environment conducive to their breeding. There are two options. The first option is to speak to the staff of your local pet fish store to get some tips. They can also supply you a mating couple. That is an easy one. It is faster and the chances of success will be very high. Usually the prizes for such couples can range from $300 to $500.

2. You can go for another option of buying half a dozen juvenile discus fish and then breed them once they grow. It is not an easy process neither it guarantees the success but you will enjoy it thoroughly.

3. You should put all these fish into one separate tank which you can call 'breeding tank'. It should be independent of the main tank where you keep all other varieties of fish. This tank can be of the capacity of 20 gallons at least for a couple. Based on this formula, if you want to introduce more numbers, you can increase the size of this tank.

4. While filling this tank, use the water from the main tank which is already treated. If you use freshwater, the fish may develop stress. They will be comfortable with the same quality of water.

5. You should keep the bottom of the tank clear. You should not put any docs or gravel there. Discus fish may create a lot of waste which will be accumulate at the bottom of the tank. To clean it up easily, you should keep the tank filled with treated water only. The only thing which the fish will need is a vertical surface which will help them for spawning.

6. Discus fish will lay their eggs on the vertical surface. You can provide such a surface by even putting in the tank a ceramic pot upside down.

7. If you feel that your fish are stressed, you can add a couple of plants providing them a place for hiding.

8. Always use a powerful filter for maintaining the conditions of water in the tank. You should check the ph levels of the water frequently so that the quality of water is kept conducive for breeding.

9. A very important thing to remember about breeding of discus fish is cleaner conditions of water. The fish will not breed if there are spikes of ammonia in the water or the temperature is fluctuating. You should also keep a watch on the cleanliness of the water. It is recommended that you clean the tank every day so that all the dirt and waste is removed quickly.

10. After successful breeding, you should remove the adults from the tank. The fry should be kept independently in the tank. There may be some parasites on the body of the adults and they may be harmful for the new ones. You should also provide a good nutrition to keep the new ones healthy and help them grow faster.

Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way. His famous digital book, "Secrets on Keeping Beautiful Goldfish", offers simple, easy to follow instruction for raising healthy, long-living goldfish. Visit his website http://www.goldfishcaretips.com to learn more about expertly raising your goldfish and to receive your FREE copy of his special report, "Fish-Keeping Hobby Secrets Revealed".

Discus Fish - The Top 3 Tips To Taking Good Care Of Them

Do you want to learn how you can take good care of your discus fish, keep them healthy and make them happy all the time? If you answer yes, this will be the perfect article for you. What you are going to discover here can help you achieve what you want with your favorite pet. So continue to read on to discover the top 3 tips.

In fact, this kind of fish is not easy to keep. However, it is not that complicated as well. As long as you have the heart to learn and to take care of them, you will have no problem keeping them and make them healthy and happy. So here are the top 3 tips for you...

1. Make sure you clean the aquarium and change the water regularly. Preferably once or twice a week. This is to ensure the water is in good quality that your discus used to. You do not have to change all the water, just 20 to 50 percent of it will do. The key is to maintain the quality of the water so that your fish will not get sick. As you know, this kind of fish is very sensitive to the quality of the water. So just be more hard working to do this.

2. If possible, get some real plants and decorate your aquarium. Your fish need a good environment just like you need a warm home. You do not want to live in an empty house do you? So get some real plants instead of plastic plants to decorate the tank. Real plant actually has the ability to keep the water in balance and provide a better water quality to your fish. Besides that, you can add in small gravels as the substrate at the bottom of your aquarium.

3. Avoid putting the aquarium somewhere busy with traffic. You have to understand that discus fish is a shy fish. They will tend to hide when they come across any movement. This is especially obvious when your fish are still not used to the environment. Do not put your aquarium somewhere with direct sunlight. This will promote the growth of algae and the sunlight tends to heat up the water. Besides that, do not put your aquarium on the bottom of the floor as well. If you are keeping your discus for display, get a good aquarium stand and show it to everyone that you have beautiful fish.

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Use Correct Technique of Feeding Discus Fish

Providing appropriate food to discus fish is not very difficult. You have to follow a few guidelines so that you can keep them healthy.

1. First important tip for feeding discus fish is to remember that they are slow eaters. No doubt they will eat a lot but they are not aggressive to grab their food. They will not run to catch the food as soon as it is offered. They will always prefer to remain at the bottom of the aquarium and they will constantly search for the food which is falling over there.

2. This habit of discus fish will increase your work of maintaining the cleanliness in the aquarium! The uneaten particles of food will constantly get accumulated at the bottom and they will contaminate the water after some time. So you should remember to clean the tank very frequently. This is similar to cleaning the dishes after you eat your food!

3. You can clean bottom of the aquarium by vacuuming it. The dirt and the uneaten food particles can be siphoned off from the bottom of the aquarium every day so that you can take more time to change the water. The vacuum will pick up the pieces of food easily and it will be useful for maintaining the hygiene of the water.

4. You should provide discus fish with a variety of food. The basic food for them is dry pellets but they love to eat live food like brine shrimp. All this food is easily available at the local pet shop.

5. Discus fish will require food many times in a day. You should drop at regular intervals pellets of food and they will eat them slowly.

6. The pellets should be soaked in water before offering to the fish. If you offer dry pellets, the fish will eat them and will have ache problems. The pallets will swell in their belly after eating and the fish will suffer from bloating problems.

7. If you are not able to provide them live brine shrimp, frozen ones are good too. They are excellent source of proteins and they will keep your fish healthy. You can store brine shrimp in your refrigerator and offer them to the fish at regular intervals.

8. Usually discuss fish would like to eat live worms. Black as well as white warms are available in the pet stores. You can purchase them alive and keep in your fridge so that you can offer them at your convenience. You should never buy huge quantities of live food because it may get bad after some time.

9. You can also offer homemade food to your fish. Beef heart is considered to be a very good treat for discus fish. It is high in protein and you can combine it with other ingredients to make it a perfect food. However if you are a beginner, you should take care in offering homemade food. You should initially offer such food in small quantities to find out whether it is appropriate for your fish.

10. You should regularly observe your fish to find out their eating preferences. You can make a small research on the Internet also. Articles on fish keeping and forums on fish will provide you a lot of valuable information.

You can do your homework well before you bring discus fish at home. This will avoid all future shocks and disappointments.

Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way. His famous digital book, "Secrets on Keeping Beautiful Goldfish", offers simple, easy to follow instruction for raising healthy, long-living goldfish. Visit his website http://www.goldfishcaretips.com to learn more about expertly raising your goldfish and to receive your FREE copy of his special report, "Fish-Keeping Hobby Secrets Revealed".

Discus Fish Behavior

Sustaining discus fish as companions is an excellent past time still one really should recognize all the many varieties of discus behavior within your aquarium before you take upon such a project. Having said that, before you can actually buy ones starting set of discus you first need to recognize the fish as well as their particular habitat for yourself to effectively keep these things as pets not to mention keep all of them healthy and happy.

All the discus fish originated as a schooling sort fish in the Amazon River container locale. They prosper in channels and ponds adjoining the Amazon River. They are members of the cichlid family of fish and they also like warmed deep water.

And for this reason itself, you want to look for the largest and also deepest tank your house along with price range allows.

You'll have to understand that discus fish happen to be social critters. They live and travel in groups of more than five or more. Therefore, ensure that you get no less than 5 discus fish swimming around within your aquarium tank to keep them happy and prevent them all from becoming lonesome. With an increase of discus fish inside your tank, they should be less susceptible to acting up. You need to take into account that depressed discus fish usually are combative to their own type together with other types of fish.

Getting discus in groups will likely guarantee reproduction, which can sooner or later boost the population of fish inside your aquarium. As you can imagine, possessing little discus swimming around the tank is a really gratifying view.

In their surrounding,these fish are acknowledged to be graziers. Which means that within their habitat, they can continually seek foodstuff. This is the reason you should attempt feeding your discus more than once daily. Having said that, you may want to steer clear of over feeding them. The secret in nourishing discus will be to not feed them more than 2 -- 3 times on a daily basis.

You need to take into account that discus are vulnerable to varieties of health conditions. Some may have problems with parasitic worms and a wide variety of different bacteria. You can view their healthful through taking a glance at their waste material. Clear or white colored feces are generally clues that a person's discus fish could possibly have interior organisms and that they are ill and need your attention.

At the same time, you ought to monitor their behavior. If ones own fish go upon foods strike, it's an obvious warning they're not well. The color within their scales can also get darker, and that is indication that the fish is suffering.

These are generally some of the stuffs that you will need to be aware of concerning discus fish. Take into account that you will need to put in place the tank and the environments in it that mirror their own natural environment. Doing so can keep your current discus fish happy and healthy.

Have these tips in the mind and you will be sure you could be able to appreciate ones pet discus swimming around ones own fish tank for a stretch of time.

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How to Raise Discus Fish - Simple Things You Should Know When Raising Discus Fish

A wonderful aquarium or fish tank can earn you lots of appreciation from whoever is visiting your house. And discus fish is the best fish that you can choose for your tank. This is because not only are they very colorful and attractive, but also they adapt to aquariums better than most tropical fishes.

However, they do have some specific habits and thus you require proper care so that they can adorn your tank for long.

Discus are shy and this can complicate their overall behavior when put them together with other breeds. However, the following tips can ensure that you do not have any problems in raising them.

The tips on how to raise discus fish are:

1. Make sure that the water in the tank remains between 74 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the ideal temperature for discus fish to grow because it is similar to the warm water of their natural habitat.

2. Also maintain a pH level between 6.5 and 7.5 for discus fishes. In case the water becomes too acidic, bring down the pH level with soda.

3. Keep the water clean at all times with the help of filter pumps. Also clean the filter regularly to ensure that it functions properly.

4. Buy discus fish food only, because they have very specific food habits. You should give them small and frequent meals, to facilitate growth.

5. As far as the right ambiance is concerned, you can try to keep the fish tank in a quiet part of your house, because discus don't like din.

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How to Breed Discus Fish - Simple Tips That Will Help You When Breeding Discus Fish

Discus is an extremely popular aquarium fish almost all over the world. Observations say that this fish shows a highly developed social behavior and hence is choosy about their breeding partners. Originally from the Amazon and its tributaries, they like to be in groups, or communities. So if you are keen to have them in your aquarium, make sure that you buy a group of discus.

Breeding discus fish can be a little tricky as it needs a partner of its choice, clean water and a stipulated temperature to lay eggs. If you want to do it at home, follow these tips on how to breed discus fish:

1. Take a large tank of water, preferably about 10 gallons in size so that you can keep at least four discus fish in it. Discus won't be happy if you don't give it its friends! A good idea is to keep two of each gender.

2. Another tip on how to breed discus fish is to keep a thermometer attached to your tank which will keep a constant check on the temperature. Discus needs 80 degrees to breed.

3. You have to make sure that the water is sufficiently clean. Frequent changes of the same can be necessary if you feed the fish a little too often Always remember that discus likes to breed in clean areas.

4. Once you see a couple of discus cleaning up an area, you can be sure that they have decided to breed. Place this couple in a smaller tank of water and let them lay the eggs. The pair will also fertilize the eggs, so let them stay in the smaller tank for some time.

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Feeding the Discus Fish

The right feeding is one of the most important things if we want to have our discus fish healthy and beautiful. Below I will try to give you the most important feeding tips.

Discus like all other fishes needs a variety if talking about food. They need a lot of vitamins and minerals so food should be very different.

While your discus is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) you should feed it about 5 times a day. Later when it grows up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) you can feed only two times a day. Reduce feeding times every three to five days. Don't feed your fish when you are going to turn off the lights.

Firstly, when buying the discus, you should ask the seller what type of food did he use when feeding discus. If you think that food was picked well than you should follow using it further. If you decide to change the type of food than you shouldn't do that too fast because changing food instantly can cause starvation of you discus. That can take up to one month. So you better firstly make a mix of 90% old food with 10% of new and see how your discus fish reacts. If the food fits to your discus fish than you should raise the quantity of new food up to 10% every next day until you reach the moment when it will eat only a new food. If you see that changes are going too fast - your fish isn't eating so well like before, you should make changes slower.

It is a necessity to feed your discus with some live or frozen food. I recommend you to try some of these:

-Frozen or Live Adult Brine Shrimp

-Mosquito Larvae

-White Worms

-Daphnia

-Chopped up Red Worms

-Mysis Shrimp

-Glass Worms

Also don't forget to give your discus some pellet food. Moreover you can try giving your discus fish raw turkey or beef hearts or livers chopped in small pieces. Some people think that it is the best food to the discus.

By clicking here you will find more great tips about discus fish and its feeding.

How To Determine The Sex of Discus Fish

One of the biggest question asked of the discus breeder is "how do I determine the sex of my fish?" There are very few easy identifiable identifiers in this process. Here, we will discuss the methods used by some of the top breeders.

In juvenile fish, determining sex is almost impossible. It is only when they begin to pair off that an opportunity arises to help in the determination of sex. Juvenile fish, both male and female, have a rounded dorsal fin, and it is not until they begin to mature that a difference can be detected. As it is never wise to excessively handle the fish, close observation is in order to aid the breeder.

In Allnut Enterprises' King Discus Hatchery, for example, it is an easy process to determine who is who, as we have observed these fish for a while, and can determine the sex of the pairs we own. This would be true in any hatchery. But to the uninitiated or casual observer, this would not be easy to do.

Some of the identifiers: The male will have thicker lips to aid him in his fight to protect the female, and will be more aggressive. He will be larger than the female, his forehead is thicker, and we have observed that if the discus are a bit shy, the male will have a tendency to stay between the female and the observer.

The dorsal fin of the male will be pointed, and the female's dorsal fin will be rounded. Note that in juvenile discus, this is not apparent.

The breeding tube of the female, between the anus and anal fin, is broader and rounder than the male, and will have a blunt tip. The male, in turn, has a smaller, sharper breeding tube. Be aware that this is only evident during spawning, and should be closely observed.

It has been said that the male discus fish will tend to have a less intense color and more pattern while the female tends to be more colorful but with lesser pattern. I disagree, because too many variables are in place here, such as the health of the discus, the water parameters, and feeding pattern.

In an interesting article by Jeff Richard, [http://www.aquaworldnet.com/dbws/sexingdiscus.shtml] he discusses an article from Diskus Brief, a German publication, which reports a very successful way of determine sex of a discus by using simple geometry. Jeff reports, and I quote: "Picture a discus facing to your left ... you would be looking at its side. Find the Dorsal (Top) and Anal (bottom) fins and look where the fins slope down toward the Caudal (tail) fin ... make sure you're looking at the fins after they have curved back toward the tail. The Dorsal and Anal Fins become (almost) straight after the fins curve down (or up) toward the Caudal Fin ... extend an imaginary line along this straight section of the 2 fins back toward the tail which just touches the Dorsal & Anal Fins past the Caudal Fin. These two imaginary lines should intersect behind the fish. The key to sexing the fish is where the lines cross the Caudal fin. If they pass through the Caudal Fin, the fish is most likely a FEMALE. If they miss or just touch the Caudal Fin, then most likely it is a MALE." Thanks, Jeff!

Sexing Discus is difficult at best. The easiest way to do so is to raise a group of at least six to eight discus, and allow them to pair off when ready. It is a beautiful sight to see this happen, and makes the hobby well worthwhile.

Alden Smith is a published author, and has been marketing on the internet for 7 years. His website, King Discus [http://www.kingdiscus.com], is an active gathering place for discus breeders and lovers of discus fish.

His wife Betsy is the administrator of All The Best Recipes [http://www.allthebestrecipes.com] a site rich in online recipes and cookbooks.

Discus Fish Food - Everything You Need to Know

While keeping up the water in your discus fish tank is perhaps the most crucial factor in the condition of your pets, feeding is important also. If your fish are undernourished, they can lose their protection and become sick or unwell. There's a large number of data out there per the right discus fish food, I'm able to try to make it easy on you here with this easy article.

You have probably spent a fair deal of money on getting your tank set up and buying your discus fish if you have got them already. If you have not, you have possibly at least looked at the costs related to this entertainment and notice you need the best for your discus fish to be satisfied and healthy.

The discus fish food that you should buy in pet stores could be enough for your discus fish, however it's not financially possible for them to put everything in their food that your discus fish may need. For that reason, you'll desire to consider making your own fish food, and this isn't tricky to do. A simple recipe is shown below:

1 1/2 lb fresh beef heart

1/2lb shrimp (shelled)

1 bunch of spinach

1 package of unflavored gelatin powder

1 multivitamin tablet (Centrum)

Trim all the fat from the beef heart and grind it up in a food processor. Once that's done, place it in cheese material and wash with cold water getting the maximum quantity of the blood out as you can. Chop up the shrimp and unfreeze out the spinach.

Mix all this together in a bowl with the gelatin powder and the multivitamin tablet. Mix fully and place the mix in a zip lock bag. Flatten the mix out in the bag and place it in the refrigerator. Before you feed the mix to your discus fish, you'll need to break off a portion of the frozen mix and let it unfreeze overnight in the chiller.

This will appear like a pain, but after you have made it once, it is a breeze to do and with this recipe, it will make enough to last you for months. The additional benefits will be recognized in the behavior and vitality of your fish.

Adult discus fish should be fed twice every day while baby fish are always hungry and can be fed up to 3 times a day. There are far more things that fish will eat, and you want to actually give them some variety in their diet. For example, you can feed them bloodworms from time to time, or simply cut up salt water shrimp. Feeding them one kind of food all the time could cause deficiencies that will finish up in poor growth and their becoming subject to sickness.

Making your own fish food and maintaining some of the tips that have been given to you here should steer you to having content and healthy fish for ages to come.

Evelyn Stone is a discus fish expert. Discover The ULTIMATE Guide For Discus Fish Care, Learn The Secrets How To Breed And Grow A Happy & Healthy Discus Fish!
Learn more information about Discus Fish Food, visit http://www.discusfishcaresecrets.com.

Tips for Preventing Discus Fish Disease

The discus fish is a species of fish from the Amazon. They are called "discus" in reference to their appearance; they are shaped sort of circular and come in bright flashy colours. They are used to the rivers and streams of the Amazon and they like lots of dense vegetation in their habitat along with soft water. While these beautiful, flashy, Tropical fish have been the rage for the last ninety or so years they are not the easiest to keep. They can be considered a very delicate type of fish and easily disease-prone.

When caring for discus, you need a very large tank for them to stay healthy. At the age of only six months they are about the size of a tennis ball so that should tell you approximately about what size tank they will need, normally around a minimum of 10 gallons per adult fish as a rough estimate. As they do better in a larger group, about six to eight together, from this you can see that a rather large tank is indeed required.

Discus fish Maintenance Tips

Water - needs daily attention and weekly total cleaning. The temperature should stay at a steady twenty-eight to thirty degrees Celsius. Discus Fish like to have slightly acidic water with a P.H. level of at least 6.0 to 7.0. Also carefully monitor their tank for nitrogen waste.

Aggressive Fish - Don't house them with aggressive fish as they don't do well. They are fine with more docile fish but really prefer more of their own species. Be careful not to house them with much smaller fish as they might consider them food.

Discus Disease

Proper aquarium maintenance is probably the most important aspect of discus care; water plays a key part in keeping your discus healthy. If the temperature in their tank isn't watched carefully they can become depressed. If you see the colours of your discus start to fade then you know that you have an unhappy fish, an unhappy fish will stop eating and you may even notice that they start breathing faster. If you start to notice that they are passing a white-rope-like stool then they have become ill due to the tanks temperature. But this is easily addressed by fixing the conditions in their tank that are undesirable.

Care must be taken in choosing the type of fish that your Discus are housed with as they can become stressed by aggressive house-mates and then become ill. If you notice that they are acting like they're stressed, than simply removing them from the other fish will help them. A common mistake is housing them with an algae eating type of fish and thinking that this breed is harmless to them.

Discus Fish can get diseases caused by worms. One of the more common of which is hole in their head disease. This can be treated by commonly available medicines. These can be used with their frozen food. There are a number of other more serious diseases that they can get but, in the vast majority of cases, can be avoided by keeping a clean tank and the right water temperature.

To learn more about keeping and breeding Discus fish, go to my Discus care website, there you will find out about preventing Discus disease and also a complete list of common Discus diseases

Discus Fish Breeding Tips - Easy Ways to Breed Your Discus Fish

The discus fish is a favorite among aquarium owners worldwide. Research indicates that this fish exhibits an advanced social behavior and thus is selective about its mate. Originating from the Amazon River and its branches, they are most often found in groups, or communities. Therefore, if you are going to stock them in your aquarium, you should make certain that you purchase several of the fish.

The breeding of discus may be somewhat complex since it requires a mate of its choosing, clean water, and a certain temperature in order to lay eggs. Should you desire to take on the task, use these discus fish breeding tips if you want to breed your fish the easy way:

1. Start with an aquarium of about ten gallons so you have room for a minimum of four discus. The discus will be unhappy if it does not have any friends! It will be a good move to have two males and two females.

2. A second discus fish breeding tip is to install a thermometer in your aquarium to maintain a continuous watch on the water temperature. Discus require 80 degree water to breed.

3. You must make certain that the water is clean. Do not forget that the discus prefers to breed in a clean environment, so frequent water changes may be necessary, particularly if you feed the fish too often.

4. When you observe that a couple of discus are working together to clean an area, you can be confident that they have chosen each other to breed. Remove this couple into a smaller tank and permit them to lay the eggs. Since the pair will fertilize the eggs eventually, let them stay in the second tank for quite a while.

If you want other secrets on discus fish breeding, click here.

Quick Tips For Breeding Discus Fish

You will find that many discus owners will come to a stage were they decide its time to start breeding discus fish. Its not impossible however it can be hard work, but if done correctly can be rewarding. Like all cichlids, discus choose a spawning site then guard and rear the eggs and resulting fry.

Here are some quick tips for you...

Pairing: Discus fish really don't take well to arrange marriages, the best way to get a pair to gather is to buy a group of young unrelated fish of the same colour type and let them pair up themselves. This might happen from when the fish are half grown, spawning usually occurs when there ¾ of their adult size. The fish will usually remain a pair until the remainder of there lives.

Spawning: Discus will choose a near vertical smooth site, which they clean and then the female will lay any ware from 80-400 eggs and then the male fertilises them. It can take between 50-60 hours for the eggs to hatch and another 36-48 hours until their swimming freely.

Breeding Tank: Its best to keep the breeding tanks simple and to have a simple air powered filtration, spawning sites (terracotta cones, broad leafed plants or slate) and no substrate. The water needs to be very soft so the eggs can develop properly. The quality of the water needs to be excellent and have a temperature of about 84-88F. Also a suitable tank size is 24x18x18.

Feeding and Conditioning: The parents will need a good and varied diet not just to condition them to spawn, but to provide nutrition when they are feeding their fry. Large water changes, a temperature rise and heavy feeding is often a good spawning trigger.

Fry Rearing: It's a good idea to give the fry additional feedings of small foods such as (BBS) baby brine shrimp whilst with parents. You will notice after about 3-6 weeks the parents will be exhausted, also the fry will be growing fast it's a good idea to remove them. This is where lots of tanks and water changes are needed to achieve a decent growth rate. I used to grow circa. 40 fry to just under 2" in a 55G tank, and this required heavy water changing. The discus market is saturated with fish, so it best to grow 20-50 excellent fry than 80 runts. Growth is reasonable, but not spectacular.

So if you're thinking about breeding discus fish I hope these quick tips have been of some use to you.

Remember it pays to do your research.

Discover The Secrets to Breeding Discus Fish

Tips on How to Determine the Gender of Your Discus Fish

There are a variety of methods that breeders use to know the gender of a discus fish, most of them are used when they have already grown. While they are still young, it is virtually impossible to determine its gender. Also, be warned that over handling the fish may result to its death.

Therefore, you need to have a very keen observation so that you will be able to truly determine the sex. You have to to be very patient and to follow the fish well, for those who do not know the differences between the male and the female, it would be very hard to discover its gender.

Here are some tips which can help you identify the gender:

• Male discus fish have thicker lips. They use their mouth to fend off any attackers. So the thicker lips are necessary for their protection and of the females as well.

• The male tends to be larger and has a bigger forehead. The male also tend to be more aggressive, they also tend to come between the female and any intruder to protect the female.

• In the female, the dorsal fin will seem to be rounded, while in the male, it will look more pointed. This is not distinguishable when the discus fish are still young, you can only notice this when they are in their adult stage.

• During spawning, you will notice that the breeding tube of the male tends to be smaller and sharper, with the female, the breeding tube will be rounder, and broader. The breeding tube can be found between the anal fin and the anus.

• Some breeders say that the female discus fish have a more vibrant color, but there are fewer patterns.

It's never easy to find the sex of an animal when they are small, especially when they are fishes. Fishes tend to be fast and moving all the time. So this may cause a lot of problem.

But, if you really determined to become a breeder, then use these tips to help you out. Determining the gender of your fish will help you to pair them equally.

Too many male fishes and they tend to fight, and you may lose your fishes, too much female and then the pairing will be set off. But always remember, you can only successfully determine sex when the discus fish are older. I hope this tips helps.

For more tips,advice,and information on how to care your discus fish, please visit: [http://www.SecretOfDiscusFish.com]

Discus Fish Information - What You Should Know When Raising Discus Fish

A great looking fish tank or aquarium can be admired by anyone who comes into your home. A discus fish would be a great pet to have in that aquarium. The reason for this is not just because they are beautiful and colorful, but they adapt to the aquarium environment a lot better than a lot of fish that are tropical.

But, if you are going to keep a discus, they need proper care and have a few habits you need to know about.

These fish are very shy, so they do not do well if you put other kinds of fish with them. But, using these tips will help make sure that you don't have any issues with your discus.

These are some tips on raising discus fish:

1. Be sure that you keep the water between 74 degrees Fahrenheit and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a perfect temperature for these fish to be in because it is the same as the temperature of the water where they originally live.

2. Make sure you keep the pH level somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5. If there is too much acidity in the water, lower the pH by using soda.

3. Make sure you use filter pumps to guarantee clean water. You will also need to make sure the filter is cleaned on a regular basis so that is works the way it should.

4. Discus fish eat particular food, so give them only food designed for them. To help them grow, feel them small meals more often.

5. When it comes to noise, you need to put the aquarium in a place that is quiet, because discus fish do not like a lot of loud noise.

If you want other discus fish care secrets, click here.

Keeping Discus Fish Disease Free

So you want to keep discus fish or are already keeping discus fish. One of things you must do is keep your discus fish healthy and disease free. In this article I'm going to give you a few tips on how to keep discus fish disease free as:

One of the most common assumptions with discus is that they easily get disease and die. This is not true. They will only get disease if you mistreat them.

The root of the problem is stress, if you cause discus stress there immune system will lower and make them venerable to disease. It is important to keep stress to a minimum so below I have made you a check list of things to do.

o Make sure all water is free from chlorine and heavy metals. It is important that you invest in either an RO unit, water purifier or use a good quality tap water condition.

o Give your discus a good varied diet including frozen bloodworm and slow sinking granules.

o Don't place your discus aquarium near a door and all the movement will cause them stress.

o If you are keeping young discus, keep in groups of no less than six. Discus are a shoaling fish.

o Make sure there are no large changes in pH, hardness or temperature when changing water.

Above are just a few things that you can do to make sure your discus fish live a happy life and remain healthy. Remember discus are not hard to keep, they just require regular water changes and a good varied diet like most other fish. For more details on discus fish please check out my website below.

Rob owns Discus Fish Secrets website helping beginners and advanced fish keepers with discus problems including keeping and breeding them. Please visit the site for more information on www.discus-fish-secrets.com.

It's Not Very Difficult to Keep Your Discus Fish Alive by Following a Simple Routine

It is a common perception that discus fish is very difficult to keep at your home aquarium. This is just half-truth. Many fish-keepers full do not have any experience in keeping fish of this kind will always tell about their failures blaming discus fish. However if you have some experience in fish-keeping, if you are prepared to take some extra efforts, you will see no difficulties in keeping them.

Here are the things which you must observe if you want to keep discus fish alive and healthy -

1. The quality of water in your aquarium is of prime importance for the health of discus fish. Poor quality of water always results in sickness and death of discus fish. You should always remember that the fish is originating from Brazil. The waters in that country are generally soft and acidic. So you must try to replicate the same quality of water in your aquarium.

2. The size of your aquarium is very important. If you are keeping a large quantity of water, it is easy to manage because the conditions of water will not change frequently. However, if you want to keep the fish in a small aquarium, you have to be very careful in preserving the quality of water.

3. You must understand the nitrogen cycle. This is very important for keeping any fish in the aquarium. If you are not aware of what it means and how to maintain it, you better understand it by making search on the Internet and by discussing it with the local pet shop. If you are not prepared to run the nitrogen cycle regularly, it is better to reconsider about your plants to keep discus fish.

4. High contents of ammonia or nitrite in the aquarium water will be harmful for discus fish. The fish can survive only with the minimal contents of these toxic chemicals in the water. To keep the water absolutely clean and free from all these harmful contents, you have to clean the bottom of the aquarium almost every alternate day to remove the particles of un-eaten food from there. These particles will produce ammonia which will be lethal to the fish.

5. The ph level of the aquarium water has to be maintained in a specific range. The recommended level for discus fish is 5.5 to 7.0. If there is any variation from this level, discus fish will not be able to tolerate it. If you live in an area where the hardness of water is very high, you should make specific efforts to keep it under control for your aquarium. You can install a reverse osmosis filter which will clean the water and also keep the ph levels very low.

6. You should have sufficient knowledge about feeding discus fish. If you have adults, you should feed them at least have two to three times in a day. However the quantity should never exceed their requirements. The excessive food will accumulate at the bottom of the aquarium and it will start contaminating the water quickly.

7. Periodic changes of aquarium water must be done. Never change the entire water at one time. You should change about 25 per cent of the water every time.

All the about things are simple to understand and follow. If you set up a routine to take care of all these things and followed it strictly, you will be able to enjoy the company of discus fish for a long time.

Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way. His famous digital book, "Secrets on Keeping Beautiful Goldfish", offers simple, easy to follow instruction for raising healthy, long-living goldfish. Visit his website http://www.goldfishcaretips.com to learn more about expertly raising your goldfish and to receive your FREE copy of his special report, "Fish-Keeping Hobby Secrets Revealed".

Discus Fish - Insider Tips For Starting a Discus Aquarium Today

Keeping a Discus fish aquarium can be a battle or it can be a pleasure. Very often, it is only a battle because we fail to understand the natural needs of the fish we are keeping. Although we maintain the temperature, water conditions and lighting levels, sometimes this is just not enough. However, once we start to observe our fish and examine how they are built, and how they behave, we begin to acquire a greater insight into their requirements and can implement the changes necessary to create a thriving aquarium.

One of the most important tips for keeping Discus fish, is to be ready to act fast when problems arise. In an enclosed ecosystem, little problems spread quickly and affect the entire environment. Monitor and observe you tank on a daily basis. If you can catch a problem and fix it within 24 hours, you have a much better chance containing it.

When it comes to the internal workings of the Discus fish, most of us would choose to ignore this aspect; out of sight, out of mind. However, if we understand how the digestive system of a species works, and whether it is a herbivore or an omnivore, we can be sure to provide a suitable diet. Discus will eat a variety of foods, but this doesn't mean you should take their diet lightly. There are certain foods that can carry parasites, and these must be avoided at all costs, as they may make your fish sick. Because of this, many discus owners will not feed their fish any live food other than brine shrimp.

At the end of the day, if you take the time to learn how to treat these fish well; maintain proper water chemistry and temperature, give them a proper diet, with compatible tank mates and plenty of space, and stay on top of potential disease, you will be rewarded with an aquarium full of some of the best fish in the world.

I hope you have realized that gaining an insight into learning how Discus fish 'tick' will turn ownership of this wonderful fish into a rewarding experience. With proper knowledge, anyone can build and maintain a thriving aquarium full of Discus fish, or any other species. Good luck with your adventure!

Do you want to discover great tips on how to start a Discus fish aquarium? Do you want to keep your tank healthy and happy for years to come? Visit http://www.discusfishinfo.com to find a step by step guide.

Discus Fish Health - How to Keep Your Discus Happy and Healthy For Years

Discus fish health truly has 2 main areas of concern and those are the fish's water and the discus fish's food. Of smaller concern, but worth discussing is that you must do a little analysis before you put your discus fish in with other species in your tank. They may not be good tank friends and this could cause your new pet stress.

Knowing what signs to have a look for can help enormously with discus fish health for the easy reason that treatment of sicknesses is boring and hard. It's best to do everything that you can to be preventive in your attempts at frustrating any stress causing environmental issues.

There are occasions where adding some medication to the water will solve the problem, however this is not the case almost all of the time. Your discus fish's water is like the air that we breathe as humans. Should our air be soiled and polluted, we'll develop health issues. With discus fish, you need to keep their water clean and at the right temperature and pH levels. You will need to do a partial change in the water one or more times a week changing out between twenty-five and fifty percent of the water. You should have an excellent biological filter and ensure that it stays clean.

An alternative way to be fully certain that your discus stays healthy is by utilizing and reverse osmosis filter. A reverse osmosis filter uses a little, semi-permeable surface that permits only water molecules to pass through it, filtering out minerals and trace substances which are unhealthy for the discus. When using one of these, you could have to think about adding some minerals as this removes everything except pure water and there are a few things that your fish wants.

One of the largest health concerns with discus is bugs and worms that they can develop, and their immunological systems will keep them in check till they become stressed. Observing the fecal matter of your discus fish can show symptoms of bugs or worms in your fish. White feces, clear feces are 2 signs. Apart from their feces, you can tell mostly by their behaviour. Bugs can bring about a number of observable symptoms from hiding, developing a darker color to food strikes and not eating.

Often times if a number of these symptoms happen, you can try doing a water change in the tank. Discus fish are terribly delicate to their environment and could cause them stress. If this doesn't do the job, there are medicines that you can put into the water that can help clear up any discus health issues.

Among those are metronidazole. Metro as it's known is step one in treating bugs should your discus get infected. Also common with these bugs are worms, so you must find a de-wormer to be employed in coordination with your Metro treatment.

As stated before, prevention is way easier than treatment when it comes to discus health. Following these tips, while ensuring your discus has proper nutrient elements and feeding will insure that you could have satisfied and healthy discus fish.

Evelyn Stone is a discus fish expert. Discover The ULTIMATE Guide For Discus Fish Care, Learn The Secrets How To Breed And Grow A Happy & Healthy Discus Fish!

Learn more information about Discus Fish Health, visit http://www.discusfishcaresecrets.com.

The Discus Fish Diet

Feeding Discus Fish can be challenging at times. While they have no specific nutritional preferences, and can be be fed on just about any high protein fish food, they're often extremely cautious to new foods, and will go without eating for up to 4 weeks before accepting a new food.

This is obviously not very healthy, particularly not for younger fish, so the wise thing to do is to ask what they are being fed at the time of purchase, and then take things from there.

When trying to change their food, do not use the starving technique to get them to eat the new food, but rather feed them with a mix of the foods, and gradually change from one to the other.

The best thing to do is to, over time, get them used to a varied diet, rather than just sticing to one kind of food. So what kinds of food should be part of their diet?

Fish Flakes

Just about any will do - but it's better to stick to a top brand one for quality control purposes. Discus Fish prefer to be fed at mid water to bottom levels, so you may have to soak and squeeze the flake food first.

Bloodworm

Definately a firm favorite with the discus fish, which can and should be used once daily. Make sure you use frozen irradiated worms, because there's less chance of them having parasites in them.

Brine Shrimp

Discus Fish love frozen brine shrimp, and they contain important vitamins and minerals that will enhance the colour of the discus fish, and keep them in a good overall shape. Defrost and rinse them before feeding.

Granules and Freeze Dried

On this one you're spoilt for choise, and they are all good for Discus Fish food. It's a good idea, however, to stick to the top makes (like Tetra Bits) to ensure good quality. Some of the cheaper brands can cause bloating and constpation, because they absorb water, and expand when the fish have eaten them.

Foods to avoid

Beef heart or pork heart has traditionally been fed to Discus Fish to promote good colouration and fast growth - but there's issues with feeding your discus a diet high in mammalian protein. Also, live foods should be avoided as the health risks involved in using them far outweigh the benefits.

Sticking to the menu above is well better - it's simply not worth taking the risk.

General feeding tips

As a rule of thumb - it's better to feed too little than too much - if you're not sure how much food to give. Discus Fish are slow eaters that will graze and pick at their food, and should be allowed to do so at their own pace. 5-10 minutes is usually enough for them to eat well. If they are less than that you may want to feed a bit more - but be careful not to overfeed them - because this will affect the water conditions in a negative way.

Find more advice, tips and valuable resources on how to keep Discus Fish at Squidoo.com

Solutions for irregular water chemistry

Crystal water

You need to know about the solutions that you can get rid of this irregular water chemistry. To do this, you must test our water of the aquarium to maintain a stable environment for fish of the launch of the disk. Unless you test your water, you may not understand if the water is stable to launch or not. Analysis of water is important and you need to do, but in my experience, I suggest that you do not go behind these figures which are said by experienced enthusiasts. Some Aquarium read that pH should be x and hardness must be y and continually add buffers and chemicals to the water to change the pH and the hardness, resulting in wild swings in water chemistry. TO AVOID THIS! Most of the fish and even your disk can support up to a certain range of chemistry of the water, but they do not tolerate rapid changes. Maintain stable water chemistry and to keep the level optimal for your specific fish, is difficult. Several parameters are interdependent, so that if you change one, the other changes as well. Be able to manage and manipulate water chemistry to provide a stable and healthy environment is the challenge facing any Aquarium. The Cycle of nitrogen (ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate) three major water chemistry parameters are the ammonia / ammonium (NH3 / NH4 +), nitrite (NO2) - and nitrate (NO3)-. These three chemicals are important because ammonia and nitrite are both very toxic to aquatic life, even at low concentrations. Incidentally, neither one is great for us either. Nitrate, and that much less toxic than ammonia or nitrite, is toxic in high concentrations. More importantly, it is a large plant nutrient and therefore causes algal blooms.

Now a days, many products are available on the market that claim to detoxify ammonia and nitrites. These preparations are acceptable to use in an emergency, you must store these products too. As when a dead fish discus causes a huge ammonia Spike, but they are not a substitute for good filtration and rearing. These things do not actually remove nitrogenous waste of the system. they simply link to the ammonia and make it less toxic to fish. All of the nitrogen is still in the system of the other populations of algae and bacteria. There is still no substitute for biological filtration and old-fashioned good water changes. In my aquarium, I have this system of biological filtering for fish of the launch of the disk with great success.

View the original article here

Breeding of fish in the drive - all you need to know!

The disk of breeding fish can be quite a complicated process and should not really be attempted by beginners! Considered one of the most beautiful tropical fish, they require a lot of prerequisites and care to be ready to be occupied for the "King of the Aquarium!

Fish of the disk of breeding may start in two ways, one of more expensive than the other. Expensive but faster and more reliable method is to buy a pair of existing Discus which are, in the absence of a better term, consistent with the other. Or you can purchase a group of Discus - at least six is recommended - and hope that a couple will occur as they age. In addition, it is recommended to buy different varieties of Discus fish as this will help to expand the gene pool of genetics.

Keep in mind that once a pair is formed, they essentially become the dominant party and that they will claim private territory. At this stage, remove the other fish or move that torque in a special reservoir of reproduction - about 20-30 litres should be perfect. To ensure that the tank has hide stains as well as pairs of Discus will fight occasionally (as any fact couple!).

If you have the couple. Now comes the care. The disk of breeding fish requires strict regulation of the many factors - Chief among which are quality of the water and food.

At least 25% of the water in the reservoir of change twice a week-minimum. Ensure that the levels of ammonia and nitrite are virtually non-existent - is extremely important to keep the waste nitrogen as close to zero as possible. Discus are fish of acid water to maintain the levels of pH at a distance of 5-5.8 is vital. Especially when changing the water - fish Discus can go in shock if the levels change too quickly. In addition, regulation of the temperature of the water goes hand in hand with this. For fish reproductive drive, the recommended water temperature is about 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

The disk of breeding fish will also include many worms. Disk fish like white and black worms and feed on live prey for help in the process of reproduction. In addition, adult brine shrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae would sufficient.

Once that spawning begins, you can expect up to 15 eggs every week or so! Usually, these will begin hatching within 48 hours. Don't worry about the preparation of food for them immediately because they feed off the coast of the Discus adult for the first days.

And this is the General overview of fish breeding Discus! Good luck and enjoy your new disk!

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Fish of the disk of care - you should know

First, I'll share what I have known a few years. I was a huge fan of discus at the time, but did not really an index on the techniques of good care of the disc throwing fish . I saw a full of discus tank beautiful blue color at local aquariums and without thinking twice, I bought 10 pairs. They were expensive and I didn't even have an appropriate installation tank in my house, but nothing could prevent me to buy these fish from the start of the disk. You can imagine how crazy I was.

Shortly after inclusion in one of my biggest reservoirs of glass, I could feel that something is not right, but I couldn't figure out what's wrong. Some the discus looked like they were really uncomfortable, but I couldn't figure what to do. Two days after, I lost seven of them. Yes, seven of them died and I transferred the remaining in a smaller tank. It was a very sad day and I realized, if you do not know how to care for your fish from the disc correctly, disasters could happen very easily.

I wanted to make sure that the same mistake will not happen again. I visited the Aquarium, started to read articles online and purchased a few books on the disk to store fish local book as well. Everything I learned helped me a lot and now I know everything I need to know about the care and breeding Discus fish.

I love my drive and I am sure that you do as well, and I want to assure you that you will not make the same mistake I did. It is not possible for me to present you the guy at the local aquarium or send you some of the books that I have in my collection, but I can give you information online. What is this Web site. Everything I post here will help you learn more about the care of fish of the disk or the disk of breeding fish.

I will add new articles when I have free time (I am a web designer occupied as well..), but if you are really interested in learning everything you need to know about fish from the start of the disk, I can recommend an e-book. Believe me, even with the knowledge that I have had, I was surprised by this product and the amount of little neat tricks and tips, that I could learn from him. Try... I am sure you will enjoy it. You can check it out by clicking the following link...
The ultimate of Discus fish guide to care and breeding

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Discus aquarium 101

Fish of the disc are a particularly special breed of fish and therefore an aquarium of the disk must be also special! Fish of the disk are very intelligent and more aware of their entourage of other fish. With this in mind, let's look at just what you need to create the perfect disk fish tank!

Fish of the disk are generally large enough that therefore naturally an aquarium of the disk must be rather sizable thus. The minimum recommended dimensions are typically 120 cm x 40 cm x 50 cm. Remember however that fish of the disk are more comfortable when with one school of the disk, which means that you may need a largest reservoir for account of the increase in the number. For a group of approximately 5, a Discus aquarium will contain approximately 55 to 90 gallons of water.

Which brings us to the quality of the water - a very important factor. A Discus aquarium should have zero ammonia and nitrite in its waters. High levels of these chemicals in disc throwing fish stress, which can cause serious health problems. Tank bred Discus in water with alkaline hard so your pH levels of the water around 7 years is recommended. A tank of fish exclusively Discus should be 20 to 40% of its water cleaned around two times per week.

Wise, recommended temperature ranges are 28 degrees Celsius for the purpose of display and approximately, 32 degrees Celsius, for purposes of reproduction. When you change the water, be sure to make sure that it is approximately at the same temperature that the fish of the disk are prone to "shock" which can lead to health problems.

Thus, the position of the aquarium of the disk is very important. Keep in mind that Discus fish is very shy and will hide when uncomfortable so keep them away from the occupied areas and the light of the Sun. Plants are a very good idea as they provide shade and a hiding spot (does not mention also be able to the pleasant to watch char)! Pieces of driftwood and the occasional rock (devoid of metal ores or contaminants!) is highly recommended as part of the natural environment of fish from the start of the disk.

Keep in mind however that Discus fish provide most aesthetic therefore keep the decor to a minimum and to deal with avoiding sets "fun" as the vessels or objects made of plastic.

Enjoy your brand new Discus fish tank - perhaps your fish like always!

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The Importance of water.

Discus tank

When it comes to disk throwing fish care, it can be a rather complicated to make sure that your fish are healthy and happy and get everything they need, fish of the disk are not really recommended for beginners, but if you want to test, then there are some important factors you should consider when it comes to disk fish care, and one of the most important factors in the health of a fish of the disk is water.

Fish of the disc are from the Amazon, and if they are used to the warmer, more acidic water types. The ideal temperature for a water reservoir of the disk should be around 26-31 C for adult fish and fish baby of the launch of the disk and disk throwing youth, the ideal water temperature must be kept to 31 c. It is important for the soft and acidic water with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5 level, and it's a level of ideal pH for the fish wild caught discus preserve their health.

Many Aquarium believe that water in a tank of fish of the disc should be changed often (it is same with any fish tank), but if you keep a well planted tank that includes adequate filtration, lighting and bottom dwelling fish to clean up the mess as discus leave behind after eating, then it should keep the tank much cleaner and clearer water for more and you can simply top up the tank every two days with RO water. When it comes to plants and other fish that you decide to keep in the water with your fish from the start of the disk, you should choose fish and plants to complement the launch of the disk, so that they are able to flourish and many do.

When it comes to disk captive fish reared, then it is possible for them to adapt to harder water which makes it bit easier care drive fish. The discus in captivity can survive in water with a pH balance of up to 6.8 (this is not appropriate if you try to breed discus however, soft, acidic water is better for livestock) when the pH balance is low, and it protects the fish from the disk against the poison of toxins (primarily ammonia) which allows throwing of disk to live in conditions that are almost the same as the conditions of the water that they have evolved from (Amazon River).

It is important to note that a pH level drops below 5 can inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria which may exist in the filter that you provide. Therefore in regard to care of fish of the disk you should remember that the temperature and the pH balance of water is very important everything to abandon or modify the pH may cause to the start of the disk to be sick and can cause they die, which explains that it is not considered as acceptable for owners of inexperienced to handle disk of fish fishHowever, we must learn some where and if you are really interested in owning your own aquarium of the launch of the disk, so make sure you read all the information that is available on the disc throwing fish care.

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Establishment of a Discus Aquarium

You've been to every local fish store in your area. You've spent hours online looking at Discus galleries. You've started thinking of things you can sell to pay for the Discus fish and aquarium set up. You've put your couch in the garage to make room for the aquarium. It sounds like you've been bitten by the bug Discus. Now, how do you get started?

A healthy Discus

There are as many opinions on how to properly raise Discus as there are websites devoted to them. You will find debates over planted tank vs. bare bottom, tap water or RO, what to feed them, how often to change the water and how much, it goes on and on. These debates contribute to making Discus keeping fun or a real bread. It really depends on your likes and dislikes. If you enjoy the excitement and challenge of learning something new and are able to successfully translate many different opinions into "what works best for you", then keeping Discus will be a fun rewarding undertaking which you can enjoy for years to come. With that being said, the following are some guidelines to what I've learned over the years and what works best for me in setting up a new Discus aquarium.

In choosing the tank, start with a minimum tank size of 50 gallons. Make sure you have a suitable place to set up your aquarium. You will want a very sturdy support for your tank which you will position in a location that doesn't receive direct sunlight. The filtration system will be made up of two extra large sponge filters run by an air pump along with an external box filter such as an Aqua Clear properly rated for your tank size and containing a pre filter sponge on the intake tube. You will need a heater with a ratio of 5watts/gallon, meaning a tank size of 50 gallons would require a 250 watt heater. The tank needs to be covered and there are hood options available when you purchase your tank. You will want one with a lighting strip as well as a cover for the tank. In a pinch you can always pick up a piece of Plexiglass from your local hardware store and cut it to fit. In order to keep the tank clean and maintained, you will need a siphon hose, a five gallon bucket and a sponge clean utility.

An absolute must is starting with healthy Discus. If you are lucky enough to have a reputable breeder in your area you are ahead of the game. If not, mail order is also an exciting option. There's a real rush and excitement to having Discus delivered to your front door. Make sure to research any online vendor you may want to order from. There are some great breeders out there with a great selection. On the downside shipping usually runs from $50-$ 75 depending on the service. If mail order isn't an option and you are left with your local fish store you'll need to take some precautions and do your best to pick out healthy fish. If possible try to find a shop that specializes in higher end tropical fish and avoid chain stores. Find out what the shop's quarantine and guarantee policies are. Ask them how long the Discus should be quarantined once you get them home. If their answer is "you don't need to", this is a major red flag. Ask questions to get a feel for how well they support and care for their product.

When you walk by the tank, the fish should be active and come up to greet you. Avoid fish that are dark, hiding or hanging behind uplift tubes. The water in the tank and the tank itself should look clear and clean. If there are dead fish in the tank keep walking. Now, (if you haven't left the store) look at the fish, they should have a full body that doesn't look sunken and is free of scrapes, bumps, visible injuries and or parasites. The body shape should have a nice round appearance void of bent, stubbed details and flat foreheads. Check the skin and make sure it doesn't have a dull, matte, or slimy look to it. The purposes should look healthy and not have a cottony or milky appearance. The fine should be intact with no white specs or splits and not be clamped to the body. The Discus should be using both pectoral purposes to move about. Watch for how the fish are breathing. An overly rapid gill rate or if the Discus looks to be gasping is a good sign of parasitic gill. The fishes movement should be fluent and have no problem with balance. You don 't want to pick a fish that can' t hold level itself. The eyes of your Discus should have a healthy clean look to them. The eyes are a good indicator of how well it's been taken care of. You will want a fish with small eyes compared to its body with a pupil centered. Big or bulging eyes are usually a sign of neglect. Ask to see the Discus eat. Be wary if they feed live blood worms or tubiflex worms. Watch to make sure the fish are able to easily get the food into their mouth. Avoid fish that continually miss the food that is right in front of them or don't seem interested in eating. Most 2? - 3? Discus wont have full body color or pattern at this size.

For the proposed 50 gallon setup you will want to purchase from six to ten, two - three inch juvenile Discus. Young Discus like the security of numbers. Make sure you follow standard procedures and that your tank is fully maybe acclimation as stated above. As your fish grow mature and a pecking order will develop. Eventually the smaller weaker Discus will need to be removed in order to keep a 10 gallon to 1 Discus rule. In order to provide an easy way to keep a clean environment environment for your new fish, use a bare aquarium. That means gravel No. or plants. The bare bottom tank makes it easy to vacuum fish waste and wipe down the glass. If you'd like, you can add a ceramic pot or two to give your Discus an anchor to establish territories but the pots will need to be moved and wiped down with your water changes to ensure they aren can't trapping waste. Once a week you will want to clean your pre filter and every few weeks, your sponge and box filters, being careful to use de-chlorinated water as to not harm the beneficial bacteria. A good tip here is to siphon some tank water into your five gallon bucket and use that for your filter cleaning water.

Clean water is a crucial element in growing out your fish. You will want to match the water conditions as closely as possible to that of the source of your Discus. Daily exchange rates of 50 to 60 percent is recommended and at least one year every other day schedule. You will want to provide new tap water that has been de-chlorinated and matches closely to the tank water in temperature at 84 degrees. Avoid using RO water for young Discus, they need the minerals of harder water to aid in development there. Once they have matured and if you're interested in breeding them you can dabble with softening their water. If you have purchased Discus from different places you will need to keep them quarantined separately for 4-6 weeks. Don't Cheat!

Your new Discus should greet you at the front of the tank with a voracious appetite. Happy healthy Discus are always hungry. You will want to break up their feedings over several times during the day adding up to six small feedings. Feed a variety of foods using quality brands of dry and frozen foods. A good tip is to feed dry foods which your fish may not like as much early when they're hungry from their overnight fast. Feed messy or frozen foods later in the day closer to your water changes.

The Discus hobby is a great one. It has its ups and downs just like anything. If you enjoy not only the beauty of the fish but actually watching their behavior, growth and and interaction, Discus keeping will stick with you. There's a lot to learn and this is just a small start. Make sure you do a lot of reading and ask lots of questions. Start with healthy Discus, keep their water and tank very clean, feed them well, and you're sure to succeed!

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Video of reproduction for the fish of the disk

We have managed to find a quality video of reproduction of the Discus fish 'You Tube'. We have integrated the video below for you. Please see the.

On video: Discus fish video reproduction showing female laying eggs and the male of fertilization (turq blue female and male cobalt). Place original-loader, the dimensions of the tank used in this video are,
Length-36??
Width-18?
Height-24?

Enjoy video disk of breeding fish...

If you are a lover of Discus and made similar videos that you would like to publish on this Web site, please send an e-mail to info@discusfishbreedingblog.com and we will post it here as soon as possible.

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Exotic Fish

Executive Summary About Exotic Fish By Joseph Devine

Gold Fish

Many people find a tank full of swimming exotic fish to be a soothing, erudite addition to the house, and the collecting of such fish can be a great hobby. Many of the most attractively appointed fish tanks feature animals that aren’t native to one another, and fish, unlike dogs, are never going to be truly domesticated. Fish tanks are always going to be a matter of Survival of the Fittest, and if you’re not prepared for the eventuality of fish eating one another, an aquarium probably isn’t right for you.

Ocean-dwelling fish require sea water to live, whereas freshwater fish will die in such an environment. Understand the nitrogen cycle and how it affects your fish. The general rule of thumb is that a tank can support 3 cm of adult fish per every 4 litres of water (1 inch of adult fish per gallon), or 1 cm of adult fish per 30 square cm of surface area (1 inch of adult fish per 12 square inches of surface area).

Executive Summary About Exotic Fish By Michael C Logan

More often than not people tend to think that it is very easy to keep fish. Before you buy exotic fish you must prepare for them. Make sure the aquarium is either well lit or has a little bit of sun light available for temperature control of the water. Your fish will inevitably turn out unhappy in such circumstances. Do not wait until you bring home the fish to make theses preparation. You must buy basic aquarium material as well. By this I mean by a good enough fish tank with plenty of swimming space for the fish. You can install heaters if you live in very cold places.

Once the fish have been bought and shifted into the aquarium buy suitable fish food for them. You cannot take a chance with the water the fish are going to live in. a slight infection could kill the fish. Do not starve your fish. You must clean the aquarium often. Read intensively on fish before you purchase them.

Executive Summary About Exotic Fish By Paula McGill

The purchase of an exotic fish and the maintenance of its environment is a simple and recognized as being effective in breaking the monotony of solitary life. The purchase of an exotic fish is a solution increasingly being offered by various psychologists, counselors and coaches influenced by the art of Feng Shui. Indeed, in addition to recognizing the relaxing properties of an aquarium in the house and the movements of fish that inhabit it, they argue that it is beneficial for people living alone to take care of the fishes habitat. Everything is important, the choice of fish, the diversity of their color, their rarity and compatibility, the choice of plants, temperature and pH of the water, objects of maintenance, etc.. Over time the novice will want a more complex setup with more tropical fishes and plants, his study of the aquarium will then have to be perfected. The choice of fish, their compatibility, the plants and sea anemones are more complex and he must somehow become a specialist to take care of the world he creates.

Check out my other guide on Freshwater Fishing. Thank you for reading my article about Exotic Fish.

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