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.

Mark Frost is founder Discus Answers - site providing information and tips on caring discus fish. Mark has successfully kept discus for over 20 years. Want to find more about discus-information [http://www.discusanswers.com]? Then visit www.discusanswers.com [http://www.discusanswers.com].

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.

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 Care, visit http://www.discusfishcaresecrets.com.

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.

Make sure you are familiar with all the guidelines for buying Discus Fish before your spend a penny. Look here: http://www.livediscusfish.com/

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.

Find free tips and ideas on how to keep and take care of discus fish [http://www.breedingdiscusfish.getmytips.com], please visit my site: www.breedingdiscusfish.getmytips.com [http://www.breedingdiscusfish.getmytips.com]

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.

If you want to other discus fish care information that's guaranteed to help you raise beautiful discus fish, click here.

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.

Want to know more about the author and his work?

Visit his latest website, Discus Fish Care to learn more now.

For more information, please go to http://www.Discus-Fish-Care.com/

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.

To see all the information this author has to offer about Discus Behavior you can visit his famous website @ The Discus Secrets Website where you will find heaps of articles pertaining to the keeping, breeding, care of, tank setup, behavior and much much more.

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.

If you want to raise discus fish and learn how to properly care for them, click here.

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.

If you want to breed discus fish and learn how to properly care for them, click here.

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.