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Written by: Paul Villeneuve - Edited by: Martha Morris - Photos courtesy of the author, Martha Morris and Patricia Husband February, 2011
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO GETTING STARTED WITH DISCUS - #3BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO GETTING STARTED WITH DISCUS - #3.docx
INTRODUCTION Family: Cichlidae Genus: Symphysodon 1. S. Discus Heckel - 2. S. Aequifasciatus (green discus) - 3. S. Haraldi (blue and brown)
Wild discus inhabit some of the tributaries of the Amazon River in South America. They usually live in large social groups in shallow river, stream, or creek beds of slow-moving water near the banks where tree roots protrude, providing cover. Vegetation hanging overhead provides shade from the bright light. The water temperature is generally constant in the 27 to 29 Celsius ( C ) range (low 80s Fahrenheit (F)} . The pH is acidic, usually in the range of 5.0 to 6.0. The water is very soft as it contains very small amounts of dissolved minerals. These conditions differ significantly from the environment usually found in home aquaria but the discus have adapted well. For instance, domestic discus have shown
they are able to thrive in steady but wide-ranging pH levels, up to 8.0. They have also done well under consistently stronger lighting conditions, and in heavily planted environments. However, all discus remain largely intolerant of poor water quality, or water temperature below 27 C (81 F).
Figure 1 Nhamunda Red Wild Discus There was very little known or written about discus until after the middle part of the 20th century, and it wasnt until around the 1960s that hobbyists in various parts of the world began breeding wild-caught discus. After that time, a good deal of information began to emerge about keeping and breeding these marvelous fish. In the 1970s and 80s, there was a proliferation of breeders who established discus fish farms for local and export sale, mainly in South East Asia and some parts of Europe, particularly in Germany. By 1990, many new and colorful varieties of this intriguing fish had been developed. Discus are one of the most graceful, interesting, and arguably the most beautiful of all freshwater tropical fish. The fascination of keeping and raising these magnificent fish has taken the aquatics world by storm, and youre one of the many wanting to get started with this very satisfying hobby. This guide is intended to get you started on the right footing to enable you to raise the King of the Aquarium in good health, with the least amount of start-up snags and problems. Heres how to get started!
2. Filtration
There are three types of filtration, i.e. biological, mechanical and chemical. 1Biological filtration refers to the breakdown of toxic ammonia into nitrites, and then into nitrates by a colony of bacteria. These bacteria are often referred to as beneficial, or nitrifying bacteria. Mechanical filtration refers to the process of removing solid waste matter and other particulates from the water column. Examples include foam pads and flosses. Chemical filtration removes chemical impurities and discolorations and clarifies the water. Carbon is often used for this purpose.
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All three types of filtration can be maintained, or housed if you will, in the actual filter container types that you select for your tank, whether that be a Hang-On-Back (HOB), or canister. A sponge filter will provide for biological and some mechanical filtration. Your colony of beneficial bacteria will establish itself in or on tank surfaces, but primarily on and within whatever filter media you elect to use in your filtration container(s). There are many reliable types of filters to choose from. Many, if not most, discus keepers raise their fish in barebottom tanks and they usually employ one or more sponge filters, often supplemented by either HOBs or canister filters, to provide for all their filtration needs. In a planted tank, the preference seems to be to use either HOBs, or canisters, or both together, and to forego sponge filtration, primarily for aesthetic reasons. The size of the tank, its purpose, and your preference will determine the needed type, size and capacity of the various filters which are available to choose from. Capacity is measured by the volume of water turned over each hour. A complete turnover of at least four times an hour is suggested as being suitable. An example of adequate filter capacity for a 220 L (55 gal.) tank would be to use a filter rated for tanks up to 300 L (75 gal.), and which has an average water flow rate of 800 L (200 gal.) or more per hour. This will result in a complete water turnover rate in the tank of approximately four times an hour.
2. Planted/Display Tank
This second option can be either discus only, or a community type tank with some other species of fish. For the hobbyist, there is arguably nothing more attractive than a well aquascaped discus display tank. Its a sight to behold and could suit you well, particularly if you have previous experience keeping tropical fish in a planted tank environment. The ratio of fish to size of tank will be reduced in this set-up, given the quantity of water taken up by substrate, plants and other dcor. In this case youll want to either increase the size of your tank, or reduce the number of fish youll be keeping. For example, if you were planning to keep eight adults in a 300 L (75 gal.) bare-bottom tank, you should reduce that number to six in the same-sized planted tank. Secondly, for your discus sake your water temperature will need to be maintained at no less than 28 C (82 F) nothing lower will do and that can pose a challenge for keeping plants, as many varieties do not do well at that temperature and above. Planted discus tanks entail more work and attention to keeping both elements healthy and thriving. Your focus will obviously have to be on the discus. So, if you have no prior experience with a planted aquarium, you would be well-advised to go for a bare-bottom setup, at least until you gain experience with discus. However, if you do have experience with planted tanks, you neednt be fearful of giving it a go if you accept the challenge of the extra attention and diligence needed. Its certain you will find it most satisfying and enjoyable.
I.
You have made your decision as to the size of tank and type of set-up you want, and you have bought the tank, stand, lighting, and the other necessary pieces of equipment. The tank has been set up in its permanent location in the room, you have readied the filter, or filters, for operation, and you have placed the heater into the position you want it. If doing a planted tank, you have also added your selection of rinsed substrate, driftwood, or any other dcor, and put your desired arrangement of plants in place in the substrate. As a last step before plugging in and starting the filters and the heater, you have filled the tank, at least to a 90 % level, with conditioned warm tap water of at least 28 C (82 F). It is now important to ensure the tank is cycled. NEVER, never introduce discus to an uncycled, or cycling tank. It can, and probably will, kill them. Its cruel and expensive ! Cycling can probably best be described as the growth of colonies of beneficial types of bacteria, called nitrifying bacteria. They are necessary because they neutralize ammonia, convert it into nitrites, and finally render the nitrites to produce nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish, whereas nitrates are much less toxic, and generally harmless in moderately low concentrations. When you cycle a tank, you are really cycling the filter materials, or media. While there will be some bacterial presence on the tank glass walls, on driftwood or other decor, and in and on substrate, a majority of the bacteria will likely be in the filter(s), although a good amount may be located in the substrate. Colonies of beneficial bacteria can only develop and survive in the presence of ammonia. In a cycled aquarium, these bacteria will maintain themselves in sufficient quantities to render harmless all the ammonia that is being produced in the tank by fish, and by decaying plant matter, uneaten decaying fish food, etc. Fresh water from the tap has very little or no ammonia and no beneficial bacteria. One of the more accepted methods of starting the cycling process, called the fishless method, is to begin introducing store-bought ammonia (NH3) to a newly
water filled tank. Bottled ammonia is readily available in approximately 10% concentration with only water added. Read the label. It should contain only ammonia and water - no dyes, fragrances, nor surfactants. It should be colorless and should NOT produce any foam when shaken. You can buy this ammonia at most discount or chain grocery stores or hardware stores. With the filter on and the heater running, add sufficient ammonia to your tank to produce an ammonia test reading of 4 or 5 ppm. Start by adding five ml of ammonia for every 40 L (10 gal.) of water, or 25 ml in a 220 L (55 G) tank. Swirl it around and let it sit. Please note that ammonia at the dosage level suggested above is the quantity needed when using a 10 % concentration of ammonia in water. If youre using 100% pure ammonia, the dosage will need to be reduced accordingly, i.e., by 10 times, - only six to eight drops of ammonia per 40 L (10 gal.). Test the ammonia level and add more ammonia if necessary, two or three ml at a time, until a test shows a reading of 4 or 5 ppm. Then test daily or every second day until the ammonia level has dropped to around 2 ppm. This indicates that bacteria have begun to develop and neutralize the ammonia. Test for nitrites at this point; you should get a reading indicating that nitrites are present. Add more ammonia, five to ten ml at a time, to bring the level back up to 4 or 5 ppm, in order to maintain sufficient ammonia in your tank for the growing bacterial colony to consume and survive. Keep testing for ammonia and nitrites daily, or every second day, while at the same time adding ammonia regularly until the nitrites have spiked up to a high reading. It will take a few more days for a high nitrite level to drop to a low range, as the type of nitrifying bacteria that renders nitrites into nitrates take somewhat longer to grow and multiply. During the cycling process, it is suggested you regularly check the pH of your tank water. A low pH of 6.0 to 6.5 during the cycle will slow down the development of the nitrifying bacteria colony and perhaps even stall its growth. If your pH is maintained above 7.0 during the cycle this should have the effect of hastening the process. Over time, when your testing regularly reads a 0 level for both ammonia and nitrites anywhere from 12 to 24 hours after you have added your last dose of ammonia, you will know that the bacteria levels have developed in sufficient quantity to deal with the ammonia in the tank. At this stage, the nitrates level will be high. Do a large water change of 75% to 90% to reduce the nitrates to 20 ppm or less. Your tank has now fully cycled and is ready for fish. Remember, you need to keep adding ammonia in small amounts every day or so while your tank is cycling and the bacteria colonies are growing, so the bacteria will not die off, until you are ready to add fish to the tank. This process generally takes around six weeks. Bicarbonate of soda can be added to the water to raise the pH above 7. This ensures a quicker and more successful cycle and reduces the cycle time by one to two weeks. One final note, if youve opted to begin with a planted tank, consider allowing some further time following the cycle to acclimate and start your plants growth before introducing the discus. A total cycling and seasoning period of 45 to 75 days should allow the plants sufficient time to become established. The entire cycling process can be eliminated if you can buy a cycled sponge from the discus supplier, or add a seasoned, colonized filter with all of its media intact from an established healthy tank to your new tank. In this case, fish can be added immediately. If you do so, test your water daily for the first few days to ensure there is no ammonia or nitrites. This is to confirm that the size of the bacterial colony you have introduced is sufficient to deal with the fish bio-load you have placed in your tank. If you add cycled media it should come from the fish supplier or from another tank you have, not another source like a friend or the LFS.
II.
WATER QUALITY
Discus are tougher than a lot of people think and they can be relatively easy to raise and keep healthy if one follows the rules. Perhaps the most important of these rules is maintaining water quality at a high level. Discus are more demanding, or shall we say, more intolerant in this area, than almost all other types of tropical freshwater fish. Here are the conditions that need to be maintained on a consistent basis.
D. General Maintenance
In addition to consistently maintaining good water chemistry via your wcs, you will need to incorporate some other maintenance items in your daily, every second day, semi-weekly, or weekly routines. Wipe down the inside walls of your
tank when doing wcs in order to remove algae and discus shedded slime coating, which film onto the glass. If your tank is planted, you will need to regularly vacuum your substrate. Semi-weekly or weekly might be enough, but some do it with each wc if not more frequently than that. If you are using HOB filters, your filter media should be rinsed on a regular basis, no less than weekly, but better still, semi-weekly. Rinse the filter media in the tank water after it has been pumped out, or in conditioned warm tap water, so as to avoid destroying any significant amount of beneficial bacteria. If you were to concurrently rinse all, or most, of the media in untreated tap water, for example, or discard most media items all at once for replacement with new, (such as very dirty and deteriorating foam pads, sponges, filter floss, etc.) you would effectively be removing or destroying a very large portion of your biological filtration system (the beneficial bacteria). This could result in dangerous spikes of ammonia and nitrites. Change old, discard-ready media to new on a rotated basis, one filter at a time, and/or one media component at a time. The use of pre-filters on your water intakes will improve the efficacy of your filters, whether HOB or canister. If using canister filter(s), discus keepers will usually rinse media and clean their filters on a less frequent basis, on average every second or third month. The use of pre-filters on their intakes, coupled with the size, power and efficiency of these filters as opposed to HOBs, will make this more extended cleansing routine adequate.
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There are, generally, three sources for discus: Local Breeders: They will usually provide healthy fish, acclimated to local conditions. You will first need to obtain positive references to fully satisfy yourself that the breeder sells healthy, quality fish. This route does of course support local breeders, but the fish being sold generally tend to be very young. Reputable breeders understand that sales are often by word-of-mouth and so they want to maintain a positive reputation. Importers: Like the breeders, reputable importers strive to maintain a positive reputation. Again, get references. This source generally costs more than local breeders, but the variety available is much better and the size bigger. LFS: This source is usually expensive. They are unwilling or unable to invest the time and money discus require. It would probably be non-profitable if they did. The fish are often on a central water system, and so pick up illnesses from other fish. The quality, even if healthy, tends to be poor. This source is not recommended.
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While some LFS sell healthy, quality discus, most do not, so you would be well-advised to buy your fish from an experienced long-term breeder or importer in or near your area. Many discus keepers acquire their stock from wellknown sources of high quality discus, and have them air shipped to their location. If and when doing this, it is important to ask for photos in advance of the fish you will be buying. The delivered product should equate to the photos you were given. Do your homework here, and seriously consider getting your fish from one of several experienced and reputable sponsors of the The British and International Discus Keepers Association (BIDKA), the Simply Discus, or other forums. Check them out and make enquiries of other forum members.
C. Stocking Ratios
How many fish should you buy? Discus are social fish and have shown to be most comfortable when kept in a group of five or more. They are generally peaceful, but being cichlids, they are prone to somewhat aggressive behavior toward their own kind . They will almost always develop a pecking order quite normal behavior for discus. While this somewhat bullying behavior can be quite stressful to those being picked on, it is rarely physically harmful in a group of this size. Discus rarely show aggression towards other fish. Keeping fewer fish than suggested above will often result in one or two being bullied to an undesirable extent by the dominant one as the pecking order is established. So, there is safety and security in numbers. The generally accepted rule of thumb is to keep no more than one adult fish per 40 L (10 gal.) of water, or five or six adult fish in a 220 L (55 gal.) tank. If raising juvies, double the number of fish should do well in the same-sized tank until they grow out to 10 cm (4) and over. Then you will have to consider downsizing your group of fish, getting a larger tank for them, or getting another tank and splitting the group. Overstocking is never a good idea. It can be stressful on the fish, and it ties the hobbyist to his or her tank. One cant miss a wc, and one is completely dependent on a never-fail source of electricity.
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V.
When quarantine procedures are not followed and cross-contamination occurs, or the fish are experiencing stress, they can succumb to parasites, bacterial infections or funguses. Causes of stress are many and varied, but the most common are: Poor water quality and conditions Poor diet Overcrowding Bullying
While most, if not all, discus harbor some form of parasites or other pathogens on or within their bodies (just as animals and humans do), healthy discus immune systems are well able to deal with this, keeping matters in check and nontroubling. When the immune system is weakened and starts to break down, pathogens get the upper hand, causing poor health.
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A. Recognizing a Problem
If and when any of your fish ceases acting normally and begins to behave in strange, unusual ways, its almost always a sign that something has begun to go wrong. Examples of strange behavior include isolating itself from the rest of the group and hiding a good deal of the time. It may refuse to eat, face the rear of the tank, display clamped fins, show a lack of color, or a very darkened color, or rub itself on plants or driftwood. All of these behaviors are signs of distress in the fish.
B. How to Proceed
First, test your water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. If your tests show any unusual abnormality, such as the presence of ammonia or nitrites or a significant change, up or down, in your normal pH level, immediately do a large water change. Check the pH of the wc water before you do the change, and then test your tank water again after the wc to see what changes have taken place in either ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or pH levels. There is no need to panic. Stay calm, observe the characteristics of your tank and all your fishes behavior, and begin seeking the help of other forum members by posting a thread, detailing all of your tank conditions. Explain the problem, outline the symptoms, which meds you have already tried and the results, and state the tank size, age, number and size of fish, your wc regime, whether bare-bottom or other, temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings, and anything new you have recently added to your tank. You will get help from experienced discus keepers on the Simply Discus and BIDKA forums who will advise you on how to proceed.
CONCLUSION
This guide should have supplied you with all of the step-by-step instructions necessary to properly launch you into successful discus keeping. The sections on cycling the tank, water conditioning, water changes, acclimatizing and quarantining, along with sources of your livestock purchases, are particularly important. You would do well to review them carefully, and ensure you have a good understanding of what you will need to do. If you have questions regarding any matters related in this guide, you should of course not be shy about asking other fish forum members. The search button can be very useful in finding information. It is sincerely hoped that after reading this, you will have cemented your decision to move ahead with plans to keep discus. If you make an honest effort to adhere to the principles set out in this guide, it is almost certain you will find that the patience and dedication involved in discus-keeping will make for an extremely interesting and rewarding experience. You will soon see for yourself that discus are not only beautiful, but have the unique personalities to match! Have fun with the hobby!
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Books:
Au, Dick - Trophy Discus (Cichlid Press 2007) Au, Dick - Back to Nature Guide to Discus (Aqualog Verlag GmbH) Soh, Andrew - Discus: The Naked Truth (Andrew Soh Pub., 2005) Soh, Andrew Discus: Problems and Solutions (Andrew Soh Pub., 2009) Shulze, Eberhard Discus Fish: The King of All Aquarium Fish (Discus Limited, 1988)
Additional Credit Honorable Mention: To Keith Perkins, for assistance and improvements to final text.
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