How to Keep Healthy Discus

There's no need to talk about why to keep discus. One look and you'll know. They're big, gorgeous fish with an elegant shape. They were called "The King of the Aquarium" and that's still true today.

Oddly enough, part of the allure with discus is that they have a reputation of being difficult to keep. If you can make them happy enough to breed, you've probably earned bragging rights among any set of fish-keepers and at least a modicum of respect at your local fish store.

So what DOES it take to keep discus? Here's the list:

1) Nearly perfect water
2) Heat
3) Excellent nutrition
4) Space

We'll review the basics of each component here. For more information, see the articles on each topic (water, heat, nutrition and space), but for the master's course on the subject, consider buying a book.

1) Nearly perfect water

Discus want low pH (6.6 to 5.6), soft water that's as free of chlorine, heavy metals and everything else as you can get it. Some lucky people have good discus water straight out of the tank (most notably, New York City has lovely discus water). But if you live somewhere with hard water (almost everywhere "out west") you're probably going to need an RO unit.

pH can be fairly easily fixed. There are dozens of water additives that can drop pH in the pet trade. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them have phosphates. Phosphates grow algae. If you're planning on having plants in your tank, you'll also be dosing the water with quite a bit of fertilizers. Add phosphates and fertilizers for plant growth to the nice warm water that discus love, and its possible to see an algae explosion happen overnight. So you'll want to see out a water additive without phosphates. My favorite is Acid Buffer by Seachem, which also conveniently comes in several sizes. Seachem also makes a complimentary product, Alkaline Buffer, that will raise pH if the water coming out of your tank is extremely base.

Removing heavy metals is pretty simple. There's a product called "Prime" that many discus keepers swear by. Add it to the tap water per the instructions on the bottle and your fish will be fine.

Softening water is not so easy. Discus like water hardness between 3 and 7 gH, with a similar kH. You'll want the kH of the water to be at least 4.5, or you'll be set up for some nasty pH swings. The best bet is to buy a comprehensive test kit (like the Red Sea Fresh Lab Deluxe kit) and test your water for EVERYTHING. Be sure to test the water coming from the faucet you'll be using to do water changes. If your water is harder than gH 8, or if you find high levels of any metal or other poison, consider getting an RO unit. They run from $99 to $399, depending on the daily capacity.

I have spoken with a breeder (who has 20 years experience) who does not test his water hardness on a regular basis. When I spoke to him about it a few months ago, he said it was around 10-11. That's pretty unusual -- most of us discus keepers seem to be a little obsessive about water hardness and water quality (which we should be), but that was good evidence for me that having water with super-low hardness might not be totally critical. That said, this is a breeder with 20 years experience, who surely knows how to keep his fish in top notch shape -- if everything else is perfect, he can probably get away with harder water. The rest of us should test our water and aim for nothing harder than 8 gH.

If your water hardness is right on the cusp of being OK, consider adding a few pieces of VERY well cleaned driftwood to the tank. The driftwood will over time release compounds which will soften your water a bit. Adding peat to the filter will do the same. The peat may tint your water a bit; maybe not the perfect glass-like water you'd want, but the fish seem to like it fine. Some people think it lends a wildness and authenticity to the water, which is probably true.

There are a few water conditioners that promise to reduce water hardness: "Amazon Rain", "Instant Amazon" and "Black Water Expert". Of the three, Black Water Expert seems to be the most widely used.

Continue to page two of How to Keep Healthy Discus

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