I don't have discus anymore. I had quite a few (~20 individuals at one time) between 1995 and 2005, only wilds, both haeckels (S. discus) and S. aequifasciata (greens and browns). Except for one pair shown in the second picture, which were purchased directly from Oliver Lucanus (yes, I travelled to his home in Canada to pick them up), all my fish were RESCUED (purchased one by one very cheap because they were dying) from local fish stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and nurtured back in my home in Massachusetts. All came originally very skinny, dark, some swimming head down, and some with very bad cases of hole-in-the-head, and certainly with internal and gill parasites. I dewormed and nurtured them back to gorgeousness, but did lose a few; any I lost was shortly after bringing them in (the first months) as they were in that bad a shape. Didn't lost any after recovery, except for a single one that jumped out because I forgot a tank lid open overnight, and it must have gotten spooked.
I agree with some of the things said here, but not all:
- Better to keep them in bare bottom - Yes
- Better not to have them in planted or community tanks - absolutely correct. Substratum, plants and other fish makes too difficult to maintain good water quality. And most plants can't take the temperature.
- UV required - BS. I never had one, or felt I needed one.
- Lots of water changes required - Absolutely. Every other day.
- High temperature (mid-high 80's) - Absolutely.
- Get them big because they won't grow big in your tank - BS if you do it right (follow the yes's and No's above and below)
- I fed mostly earthworms (grown by me), frozen mysids, and frozen bloodworms (Piscine Energetics), + my own frozen recipe including some of above+ Spirulina and some veggies. I started using my own beefheart recipe; after some time I stopped using beefheart, and never missed it.
- At the time, blackworms became easily available (mail order) - best way to get parasites into one's precious tanks. Discus (and all fish) love them, but it is not worth it.
- Dark aquaria required - Not really, just not bright lights.
- Tannins added to water - Yes, it helps a lot, but it is not strictly necessary. I prepared my own water using Canadian peat moss bought by the bale, and magnolia tree leaves.
- Many of the commercially bred fish come with weak immune systems, parasites, and other problems - Absolutely yes. But there are also honest, capable and reputable breeders, the trick is finding them.
Below some of my fish. Unfortunately I lost most pictures. In 2003 I had to move cross country to Cincinnati, the home of liquid limestone water. I left all my discus (~20 then), some Uaru, and some tanks to Al Sabetta, then the administrator of SimplyDiscus. The idea was that he would keep them, enjoy and continue to breed them and that I would eventually get them back (or some descendants) when I was settled in. That never happened, so Al got a great deal then, but me too because I could not have thought of better hands than his. No money was ever exchanged and there was no expectation that it would have.
In some of the photos, remaining scars from HITH can still be seen, and some fish still look a bit skinny. However, they were healthy, and trust me, their improvement was remarkable. Amazing what good care can do to nearly dying fish!
