Is It Worth It....

[shroob]

Hi all,

Discus have always been one of those fish that I'd like to keep, but always sometime in the future. I am put off by their demands and quite honestly, price. That has changed recently, last month my favourite LFS got a small group of discus in, priced at £90 for 6 - only 2-3" or so and some really attracted me. They are marked from Thailand, I don't know if that means anything to anyone but they look just as good as any discus to my eye.

The tank I would put them in would be my main display tank, which as some of you might know houses my polleni, argentea and BN plecs. I would have to trade these in in order to house the discus (with existing credit and these I estimate I should be able to do a straight swap for 6 discus and possibly some dithers). My dream is to have a semi-planted SA themed tank - sand, plants, bogwood etc.

My main issue is if I am up to the standards of discus keeping, their needs in regards to water quality and maintenance. I have seen posts on here from people saying that the demands of discus are a 'myth', but I'm wary I would end up with 6 dead fish. And is this a case of 'the grass is always greener...'.

Thanks for any comments you may have.

 

[walkers101]

as said they are not as hard as people say ive only been keeping fish in general for 6 months and i have had discus for the past few months and i have not had one single problem

try it and you will see

 

[snowflake311]

Discus are not nearly as hard as people might have told you. Yes they need extra food and extra wc to keep them Growing and looking there best. Even with average care they will live. Tthey are hardy fish but with poor care will look bad and not grow as well. So it's better to do it right and give them the extra wc when young and feed them the best food you can. Heat is also key. They need lots of good quality food, clean water, and a warm tank.

Yes they are worth it. Mine eat from my hand and are so much fun to watch. They greet me everytime I come near the tank well all my cichlids do so that might not count. Haha.

 

[markandhisfish]

they most certainly are worth it . much more interactive than i expected , and stunning to boot . not a fish for the marine biologist only as some would have you believe but not a fish for a lazy keepr ( which i know you are not) . not nearly as delicate as their reputation , in fact a healthy discus is tough as nails . having said that they are not forgiving of mistakes . if you plan on growing out juvies , then to get them to reach their full p[otential you will want a very high protein diet , with lots of waterchanges.

best advice is not to get those lfs discus , with discus , most of the damage of stunting etc is done at a very young age , and in lfs conditions they JUST WILL NOT get the level of care they need and in 95% of cases will laready be stunted. also £90 for 6 discus that small is expensive. if you get them from a specialist dealer , tghen depending on strain youre lookin at 10 to 15 pound per fish , and more importantly they will have recieved the right care from day 1 so you will get much better healthier fish with true potential to grow out into real stunners.

where are you based shroob?

 

[Monty-2010]

definitely worth it, they'll be good to you as long as you're good to them!

 

[shroob]

they most certainly are worth it . much more interactive than i expected , and stunning to boot . not a fish for the marine biologist only as some would have you believe but not a fish for a lazy keepr ( which i know you are not) . not nearly as delicate as their reputation , in fact a healthy discus is tough as nails . having said that they are not forgiving of mistakes . if you plan on growing out juvies , then to get them to reach their full p[otential you will want a very high protein diet , with lots of waterchanges.

best advice is not to get those lfs discus , with discus , most of the damage of stunting etc is done at a very young age , and in lfs conditions they JUST WILL NOT get the level of care they need and in 95% of cases will laready be stunted. also £90 for 6 discus that small is expensive. if you get them from a specialist dealer , tghen depending on strain youre lookin at 10 to 15 pound per fish , and more importantly they will have recieved the right care from day 1 so you will get much better healthier fish with true potential to grow out into real stunners.

where are you based shroob?

Sheffield.

I have a very good LFS and am not so concerned about the fish being stunted as I trust the owner and know they take good care of the fish.

I may have been stingy with the size's, I went there yesterday to have a word about them and possible exchange. He is ordering in some more next week for me - so I have a better selection to choose from. After talking I think I am going to take the plunge. I will be picking up 6 discus next week, in exchange for my polleni, argentea and BN, no money changing hands, which I think is a terrific deal.

Thanks for all the posts. I suspect that some people would post what they did, after reading about their experiences with discus.

 

[snowflake311]

I think that's great that you can do the exchage. My store let's me do that too as long as the price of the fish is = to the one I want. I think you will be happy with them. Personaly I'm not one for haveing he best of the best looking discus. I'm a sucker for an animal in need. I have taken in needy discus and they are far from perfect.
They turn out to be healthy and happy when in proper care.

Many discus people disagree with getting poor quality discus from a lfs. I understand when we buy these less then great discus it's like saying it's ok to flood the market with them. But even these poor quality fish can make healthy good pets. Also they can grow out to suprise you. My first discus a PB had turned out to have a good shape but weak chin, nice color, good eye size. I'm happy with him. He is also growing like a weed. My other lfs fish are not as nice. One has poor shape chip eye weird color that's why I like her. My others shape is a bit off. My new one we will have to see he is really small. I say whatever I'm not breeding them. If I'm going to breed I would buy an adult proven pair. Sure my one lays eggs and it's fun but that's it.

I think you are getting a good deal and with good care they will be great pets. Might even turn out to be great fish you never know. Also since you are just getting into discus I think this deal is perfect. Good luck.

 

[Davo86]

Would personally never in a million years swap a polleni and argentea for Discus but good luck whatever you decide

 

[rdp50734]

Discus are not for me, I tried keeping them, but cichlids and snakeheads are my type of fish! I love your polleni and would not dream of swapping it for even a bunch of discus! However if your heart is set on discus then you need to do what you have to! Just make sure discus is really the fish you want!

For me the keeping of discus was not hard, ie good clean water, varied diet etc.. I think its easy once you have kept fish for a while and thoroughly understand what you need to do.

 

[markandhisfish]

agreed its a great deal . i wasnt bashing lfs when i said the quality will be better from a breeder/dealer , its just a simple fact that 99% of the time lfs employees just dont have the time/knowledge to do 4 or 5 feedings and a waterchange every day to grow out juveniles , plus they will almost certainly be on a centralised system , and therefore at too low of a temperature. with a breeder/dealer on the other hand they are 1st and foremost discus enthusiasts , also discus is their day to day job so the level of care will be spot on.

before people jump on me i should point out that im not saying lfs will supply bad discus , just that specialists will supply better , its horses for courses at the end of the day .

what foods do you plan on giving shroob?

it wants to have as higher protein contents as possible for optimum growth. tetra prima i have found very good , as well as tonyt tan granular food , and australian blackworms .
ive had excellent results with a beefheart mix ( stendker heartmix ordered online) and a seafood mix ( made by myself) , but if you plan on having a semi planted tank with sand/gravel , then i think those will be too messy . ( particularly the beefheart which is super messy!)

heres links to the tony tan food and the blackworms , both excellent food and pretty cheap too.

http/shop1.actinicexpress.co.uk/shops/DiscusSouth/index.php?cat=Tony_Tan_Granular_Feeds&ActinicSID=bf9939abba4e579ff08921b9a5d87fb2
http/shop1.actinicexpress.co.uk/shops/DiscusSouth/index.php?cat=Australian_Blackworms

heres a really usefull guide for whatg to look for when selecting discus
http/www.aquariumhobbyist.com/discus/beginner/index.html

 

[snowflake311]

It's a fact that here in the USA the normal lfs sell poor looking discus. Some that are a bit deformed to the trained eye. Almost alway skinny. Like my lfs discus might look great to the average person but to discus freaks they have many flaws. But a good lfs that cares could have some good one. I agree if you buy from a good breeder or importer you will get the quality that the store don't get. Basicly lfs sell pet fish nothing more. There are some exceptions.

 

[kaivalagi]

I don't think it's worth keeping discus but that is just me, many others obviously get a great deal from it and I am sure they don't mind spending the extra of their fish either.

I for one, don't have enough time due to working away to do the extra feeds and water changes so they are out of the question for me anyway. That plus I would sooner have the variety of cichlids you can keep together rather than just the variety of colour/pattern strains with the same body shape which exist in the discus world.

If I had the time, money and space for an extra tank to house discus on top of what I have it still wouldn't interest me either, I would sooner have a snakehead or african cichlid tank to diversify on what I keep

Lovely as they are they're just not my cup of tea

 

[AstonN24vantage]

never kept any but my dad did they are amazing fish

 

[shroob]

I've always liked amazonian themed tanks, but have had 'larger/aggressive' cichlids for most of my fishkeeping life. In a way I fancy a change and the challenge of discus, I too am wary I will not be able to commit enough time to them, but I think that may be just nerves, plus the reputation of discus will give me the imputus to be more involved.

I would also like your opinion's on the school of tetra/cory's I plan to keep with discus if I do take the plunge. I plan on getting 1 large schoal of tetra - I like cardinals personally, so how many in my tank (350 litres). 2 pairs of german rams - if I can source a good pair). And finally a shoal of cory's - I've heard some species are better than others due to their tollerance of warmer temperatures.

I would keep my BN plec - but the stories of them taking a fancy for the discus coat put me off. Anyone tried this personally? My LFS also has some locally bred whiptails if I'm not mistaken - any opinions?

Oh, and as an experiment I will put 20 or so RCS in there - most of the things I've read on the net say they get eaten, but I figure its worth a shot.

Cheers all.

PS. Thanks for the links

 

[markandhisfish]

i understand what you mean shroob . i was terribly nervous when i 1st went to get my discus , but as long as their basic requirements are met then they are no harder than any other cichlid. if youve kept rams before with any level of success then yopu can easily keep discus . cardinals would work well , 30 or 40 would be no problem in your tank. when it comes to the corys the only ones that will really handle the higher temps are sterbais . i am sitting on the fence as to wether or not to add a bn plec with mine for the very same reason , altho if its kept well fed it may well be fine , i know a lot of people keep plecs in their discus tanks , but so far i have resisted.

dont know wht you mean by rcs so cant really comment there .