Beauty comparible to saltwater fishfish

[Cleo642]

I can't wait to start my saltwater reef tank one but I think I will also get smaller blackwater planted tank for a pair of discus. They are beauties. The pictures at the bottom are from the Jack Wattley discus page if anyone is interested in that info. They almost have a tang shape like a yellow tang. Just saying my two cents. Oh, sorry for typo in the title.

 

[SaltyT]

Beautiful fish. I kept an amazon biotope tank with discus back in the 90's. I haven't seen discus in LFS in years!

 

[Cleo642]

Beautiful fish. I kept an amazon biotope tank with discus back in the 90's. I haven't seen discus in LFS in years!

I know, me you have to buy them online now. That seems true with alot high quality, beatiful fish. When I bought a discus years ago, it was from the lfs but it seems like that one was the only one he ever had. If I get my discus tank again I will order from jack wattley discus. Those fish are just stunning.

 

[mfinn]

I sooo want to get back into discus.
Just don't have the room anymore.

 

[Cleo642]

I sooo want to get back into discus.
Just don't have the room anymore.

I know and with all the new color varieties it's hard to resist.

 

[KJ]

IMO both fresh and salt water fish are beautiful.

 

[Cleo642]

 

[Waters]

You know you have made it to the pinnacle of freshwater fish keeping when you can successfully keep Discus. A planted Discus tank is comparable to a nice reef tank. Like some of the nicer saltwater fish, they can be pretty expensive.

 

[Cleo642]

You know you have made it to the pinnacle of freshwater fish keeping when you can successfully keep Discus. A planted Discus tank is comparable to a nice reef tank. Like some of the nicer saltwater fish, they can be pretty expensive.

I also wanted to say that years ago that was primarily true. But now that just about all discus is captive bred, it has become easier to maintain discus. I had one when I worked at a grocery store years ago, it was a blue snakeskin, and he was beautiful. While they require a more advanced care than your averaged freshwater fish, most intermediate and advanced aquarist can care for discus, and have beautiful specimens as pictured.

 

[Waters]

I also wanted to say that years ago that was primarily true. But now that just about all discus is captive bred, it has become easier to maintain discus. I had one when I worked at a grocery store years ago, it was a blue snakeskin, and he was beautiful. While they require a more advanced care than your averaged freshwater fish, most intermediate and advanced aquarist can care for discus, and have beautiful specimens as pictured.

That is good to hear.....I have been out of touch with freshwater fish for a long time. Back when I had my planted tanks, they were extremely expensive and difficult to keep.

 

[Cleo642]

That is good to hear.....I have been out of touch with freshwater fish for a long time. Back when I had my planted tanks, they were extremely expensive and difficult to keep.

The fish themselves still cost, depending where you get them from, is about $40 -$70 a fish. Some new, special variants are more. The wild caught they use to have in the beginning ama stuff we're hard to acclimate and hard to feed. Just like the ORA captive bred aquarium fish now, they are adapted to aquarium life and hardier.

 

[3dees]

my 120 gal. reef is a converted wild discus tank. kept them for three years. they are not hard to keep. just a huge amount of maintenance. 80% wc's twice a week is a pain. as beautiful as discus are, they are a boring fish. they just sit there. might as well hang a picture. if I wanted colorful fish from fw, I would go with African cichlids.

 

[Cleo642]

my 120 gal. reef is a converted wild discus tank. kept them for three years. they are not hard to keep. just a huge amount of maintenance. 80% wc's twice a week is a pain. as beautiful as discus are, they are a boring fish. they just sit there. might as well hang a picture. if I wanted colorful fish from fw, I would go with African cichlids.

Yes, wild discus are harder to care for. I had a tank raised and he was more colorful and swan around the tank m Discus so require a little more care than the average fish. They are "Kings of the aquarium". Captive raised fish are more adjusted to aquarium life.

 

[retiredsailor]

Check Hans Discus, or Discus Hans can't remember which. He always had great stock as well. He's also one of the few US based discus breeders and sellers.

 

[Cleo642]

Check Hans Discus, or Discus Hans can't remember which. He always had great stock as well. He's also one of the few US based discus breeders and sellers.

I have heard of him before but really that familiar. He and Jack Wattley must be the few.

 

[3dees]

this is what I gave up. my wild biotope, which means no plants except for some floating. cleaning the sand around and thru all the wood was a real pain.

 

[Cleo642]

this is what I gave up. my wild biotope, which means no plants except for some floating. cleaning the sand around and thru all the wood was a real pain.

It was beautiful!

 

[Humblefish]

Looking over this thread makes me miss FW. I used to breed angels & discus in the 80s & 90s. I'm guessing a lot has changed since then. I remember putting peat moss in the HOB to keep the water soft. The water would turn this slightly amber or rustic color.

 

[Cleo642]

I

Looking over this thread makes me miss FW. I used to breed angels & discus in the 80s & 90s. I'm guessing a lot has changed since then. I remember putting peat moss in the HOB to keep the water soft. The water would turn this slightly amber or rustic color.

I Did that too, it give the water a brownish tint. I also used tetra blackwater extract and their liquid plant fertilizer. Made my plants real healthy when I had the tank. Makes me miss it too. One day I will set up another.

 

[Humblefish]

I Did that too, it give the water a brownish tint. I also used tetra blackwater extract and their liquid plant fertilizer. Made my plants real healthy when I had the tank. Makes me miss it too. One day I will set up another.

Ever feed yours live blackworms?