Discus: Longevity of Keeping Discus

Hey all! This is mainly just a curiosity I’ve had recently about discus. Discus have been my most desired fish, unfortunately I just don’t have the space for the tank needed for them right now but hopefully within a year or so. I’ve done so much research on them and I keep seeing other discus keepers (mainly on YouTube) end up giving them away and not doing discus anymore, or having the discus die of a devastating disease. YouTube may not be the best source but I am curious: does keeping discus in a home aquarium have an inherent time limit? Are they so difficult that keepers give up? I’ve followed Jack Wattley for a while and he would always say discus can be kept by anyone who is willing to devote the time. I’m just curious of anyone who has kept discus here- is it rewarding, is it that much different from other fish?

 

I think 86 ssinit has been keeping discus for a long time…

 

I think 86 ssinit has been keeping discus for a long time…

Yes I was hoping they could provide some insight thanks for the tag I’m still figuring that out haha

 

Well there’s a lot to discus! Time time and time. You must enjoy changing water. Big tanks are not needed to start in discus they’re just needed as you add fish. A 55 is good a 75 better. 6 discus in either can be done. Next you need a 29 or bigger qt tank. This really is mandatory. I’ve got 3 qt tanks. One always running.
Thing with discus is in my opinion they’re just not bred to last. You’re right so many get into discus without a clue and get lucky for awhile. Then the luck changes and things go south. These fish are weak and are very susceptible to diseases. Just mixing discus from different seller could destroy your tank. Happened to me already. That’s the number one reason people give it up. The Facebook and utube crowd now are into overstocking their tanks with discus. And they buy from many sellers. One problem fish and they’re done in. Sellers are not breeding for longevity there breeding for color and looks.
But they can be kept. Don’t buy from local stores unless you’re a regular at the store and know they just came in. Don’t buy discus from a tank with black discus in it. Best to buy online and from a quality seller. Go to the discus forums to find out who’s selling good fish. Many just selling garbage. Many bad reviews out of wattley I would not recomended them to anyone. Gabe is not Wattley and more interested in his utube ch than his fish. I can tell you seller if you’re interested. But you’ve got to be all in. My 2 discus tanks of adult fish get their water changed at 50% 2-3 times a week. My qt tank gets 80% daily four the first 2 months I have them.
How easy do they get sick. Recently I bought 4 discus locally. I’ve bought other from this place before. The place put them all in the same bucket then bagged 2 in a bag. Fish looked great. Got them home added to my qt and within the first week three of the 4 got sick. They cross contaminated in the tank. In the pet store each type was in their own tank. I figured they were from the same seller. But I was wrong. 2 weeks later with one dead the other 3 are starting to get better. That’s how easy it is for them to get sick.
I’m allways around and please ask me questions. I love to help and get people interested in them. But you need to know it’s not easy . Some pics. The last are the sick guys.





and the sick guys

 

HAHAHA GouramiGirl100 we are so in sync. This was me legit three months ago. And now the rams! And 86 ssinit is THE BOMB (I mean look at the pics!)! Here’s a thread written by 86 ssinit for beginner discus keepers.

For Beginner Discus Keepers | Discus Fish Forum
Edit: I saw some stunning rams yesterday and these discus. I really can’t get over both.

 

Well there’s a lot to discus! Time time and time. You must enjoy changing water. Big tanks are not needed to start in discus they’re just needed as you add fish. A 55 is good a 75 better. 6 discus in either can be done. Next you need a 29 or bigger qt tank. This really is mandatory. I’ve got 3 qt tanks. One always running.
Thing with discus is in my opinion they’re just not bred to last. You’re right so many get into discus without a clue and get lucky for awhile. Then the luck changes and things go south. These fish are weak and are very susceptible to diseases. Just mixing discus from different seller could destroy your tank. Happened to me already. That’s the number one reason people give it up. The Facebook and utube crowd now are into overstocking their tanks with discus. And they buy from many sellers. One problem fish and they’re done in. Sellers are not breeding for longevity there breeding for color and looks.
But they can be kept. Don’t buy from local stores unless you’re a regular at the store and know they just came in. Don’t buy discus from a tank with black discus in it. Best to buy online and from a quality seller. Go to the discus forums to find out who’s selling good fish. Many just selling garbage. Many bad reviews out of wattley I would not recomended them to anyone. Gabe is not Wattley and more interested in his utube ch than his fish. I can tell you seller if you’re interested. But you’ve got to be all in. My 2 discus tanks of adult fish get their water changed at 50% 2-3 times a week. My qt tank gets 80% daily four the first 2 months I have them.
How easy do they get sick. Recently I bought 4 discus locally. I’ve bought other from this place before. The place put them all in the same bucket then bagged 2 in a bag. Fish looked great. Got them home added to my qt and within the first week three of the 4 got sick. They cross contaminated in the tank. In the pet store each type was in their own tank. I figured they were from the same seller. But I was wrong. 2 weeks later with one dead the other 3 are starting to get better. That’s how easy it is for them to get sick.
I’m allways around and please ask me questions. I love to help and get people interested in them. But you need to know it’s not easy . Some pics. The last are the sick guys.

Thank you so much for the info! I’m all in when I get my tank which will still be a bit unfortunately. But dang you don’t recommend Wattley? I was going to buy from them and make the trip down south (about 5 hrs for me) just for their discus that’s a bummer

HAHAHA GouramiGirl100 we are so in sync. This was me legit three months ago. And now the rams! And 86 ssinit is THE BOMB (I mean look at the pics!)! Here’s a thread written by 86 ssinit for beginner discus keepers.

For Beginner Discus Keepers | Discus Fish Forum
Edit: I saw some stunning rams yesterday and these discus. I really can’t get over both.

Haha we really are in sync! Thanks for the thread about to dive in!

 

Where are you located? There are a few places down south and on the east coast. Myrtle beach discus,Hans and Pingco Discus. All good places!

 

Where are you located? There are a few places down south and on the east coast. Myrtle beach discus,Hans and Pingco Discus. All good places!

I live in North Fl but myrtle beach discus isn’t too far. Are there any online places that ship well? I was hesitant to order discus online but it is an option. I have a few months to pick a place

 

All mentioned ship great. 90% ship well. It’s been done for so long now you’d really have to try to mess it up. But again ask before you buy. There are many scams out there. People use other people’s pictures of fish. Scamming is crazy online and on marketplace…. So you’ve got to ask before you buy. This really is not just discus or fish it’s everything. Even selling you’ve got to check the buyer. Make sure they’re from market place. Put cash only on all your listings. If they agree to buy right away and want your cell# and Venmo acct they’re usually scams.

 

All mentioned ship great. 90% ship well. It’s been done for so long now you’d really have to try to mess it up. But again ask before you buy. There are many scams out there. People use other people’s pictures of fish. Scamming is crazy online and on marketplace…. So you’ve got to ask before you buy. This really is not just discus or fish it’s everything. Even selling you’ve got to check the buyer. Make sure they’re from market place. Put cash only on all your listings. If they agree to buy right away and want your cell# and Venmo acct they’re usually scams.

Thank you! I’ll order from one of the above when I’m ready. Would you say they are all pretty equal in quality- Hans, pingco , and myrtle beach?

 

I’ve never bought from MBD but have read many good reports and seen pics. Pingco has great fish. Dennis discus and Chicago discus also sell great fish. Are you on Facebook?

 

I think it needs to be stressed to most that you need to choose and stick with one of the two supplies of discus.
You are either going with Asian stock or German.
They should not be mixed and you should know where your fish come from.
I chose German and never had any troubles with them.
The choice you make will limit and or determine who you can get your fish from.
This is no joke.
Unless you are a pro just one wrong fish can tumble the kingdom.

 

I’ve never bought from MBD but have read many good reports and seen pics. Pingco has great fish. Dennis discus and Chicago discus also sell great fish. Are you on Facebook?

I am not but I could make an account if it’s important

I think it needs to be stressed to most that you need to choose and stick with one of the two supplies of discus.
You are either going with Asian stock or German.
They should not be mixed and you should know where your fish come from.
I chose German and never had any troubles with them.
The choice you make will limit and or determine who you can get your fish from.
This is no joke.
Unless you are a pro just one wrong fish can tumble the kingdom.

Thank you for this advice, I will for sure only be buying from one place. That was always the plan because I wanted to ensure they would get along as well so I wanted them from the same line

 

Coral the Germans have surrendered! Both Stendker and the other breeder have stoped breeding. Hans after a big falling out is now selling Asain from a place called Discus X. Many happy people with his new fish!

GG Not necessary but there are many pictures of the fish people get. Thing is you’re not getting the help you would find here with a problem. I post pics and offer some help but Facebook is so random it’s very hard to help anyone. So you really just need to look at the pics and move on. Many good seller show their fish there.


Another great thread here is Discus gang updates. A group of us all started on discus together and helped each other. Was fun but does show you how hard these fish are. Many joined in over the 2 years we did it. But I believe I’m the only one left. Which is an eye opener. All had success but the demands of these fish can really just stop you. Corals words of staying with one seller are important. That worked with the German Asian thing. But now it’s all Asian and even the sellers are buying from different breeders so you can still get a cross contamination just by mixing one sellers fish together. Just happened to me. But mine were bought locally. Most important thing now is a qt tank and a prolonged qt.

 

Coral the Germans have surrendered! Both Stendker and the other breeder have stoped breeding. Hans after a big falling out is now selling Asain from a place called Discus X. Many happy people with his new fish!

GG Not necessary but there are many pictures of the fish people get. Thing is you’re not getting the help you would find here with a problem. I post pics and offer some help but Facebook is so random it’s very hard to help anyone. So you really just need to look at the pics and move on. Many good seller show their fish there.


Another great thread here is Discus gang updates. A group of us all started on discus together and helped each other. Was fun but does show you how hard these fish are. Many joined in over the 2 years we did it. But I believe I’m the only one left. Which is an eye opener. All had success but the demands of these fish can really just stop you. Corals words of staying with one seller are important. That worked with the German Asian thing. But now it’s all Asian and even the sellers are buying from different breeders so you can still get a cross contamination just by mixing one sellers fish together. Just happened to me. But mine were bought locally. Most important thing now is a qt tank and a prolonged qt.

Awesome thanks so much for all the advice! Hopefully I get the tank within this year and get started

 

So I read through this and still have my doubts about Discus.

Having not kept them but always admired them I do want to believe that Discus can give satisfaction to keepers long term.

However, the only person among my friends who kept Discus gave them up after a few years and said they were too much work.

I've kept a group of Clown Loaches for 28 years and have frankly found them a very easy and very entertaining and satisfying fish to own. They are naturally sociable so there are not usually any problems other than some occasional and limited squabbles over their position in the hierarchy.

The only fish I've kept that I can compare Discus to is Anglefish. Both are Cichlids. When I purchased a group of juvenile Angelfish they were fine for a while until a pair formed and tried to drive all the others out of the tank so they were removed. After breeding the pair would fight. Eventually one of the pair of fish sustained damage and the other was removed. Luckily the damaged fish recovered completely. I kept this single Angel alone in a community tank and it was then a wonderful aquarium fish if allowed to boss the tank. This meant keeping it with fish too big to swallow and too small to rival.

My question is what happens when keeping a tankful of Discus if one wants to keep them long-term. Is it similar to my experience of keeping Angelfish and if not why not?

 

Well for me no. When discus mate and lay eggs they do protect an area but it’s not the whole tank. And sometimes I’m not sure who’s the parents cause there may be 3 protecting the eggs. The problem with discus is keeping up the tank and qting any new fish or plants.

 

Well for me no. When discus mate and lay eggs they do protect an area but it’s not the whole tank. And sometimes I’m not sure who’s the parents cause there may be 3 protecting the eggs. The problem with discus is keeping up the tank and qting any new fish or plants.

Why are they so susceptible to disease? Is it because they are being inbred? If I were to buy wild discus would they be hardier? I know wild would have other more stringent requirements like pH and TDS etc but would they be less susceptible to disease? Just curious

 

Yes being inbred. Are wilds better? I don’t know. What I remember as wilds from the 80s sure has changed. Todays wilds sure look like they are being bred by somebody . Ways to nice looking than the wilds I’ve seen in the 80s. Wilds are the craze now. Thing is these wilds are being bred in vats on the Amazon. Really not wilds in my opinion. Saw these recently at a local store.

just to nice looking for wild. And look at the prices!! Insane!

 

Yes being inbred. Are wilds better? I don’t know. What I remember as wilds from the 80s sure has changed. Todays wilds sure look like they are being bred by somebody . Ways to nice looking than the wilds I’ve seen in the 80s. Wilds are the craze now. Thing is these wilds are being bred in vats on the Amazon. Really not wilds in my opinion. Saw these recently at a local store.View attachment 875390View attachment 875391just to nice looking for wild. And look at the prices!! Insane!

Wow that price is insane there’s no way I would spend that on a single fish, especially if it needed to be kept in a school crazy!

 

Well discus in general are very expensive. Yes those are just crazy priced! Wilds for some reason are demanding crazy prices. Thing is who knows how wild they are . I bought a discus locally for $15 at the size of a quarter. It had just come in and was labeled as super reds. Ive seen this fish all over the net advertised as wild
i don’t think it’s to wild!! If anything it was a cull.

 

Well discus in general are very expensive. Yes those are just crazy priced! Wilds for some reason are demanding crazy prices. Thing is who knows how wild they are . I bought a discus locally for $15 at the size of a quarter. It had just come in and was labeled as super reds. Ive seen this fish all over the net advertised as wildView attachment 875402i don’t think it’s to wild!! If anything it was a cull.

Beauty! My discus locally (whenever LFS gets them in it’s rare) are 170$ usually but I wouldn’t buy them from my LFS bc they are in bad shape

 

Most local stores have no idea how to take care of discus. At 170 a discus you’ll do much better from the sellers I mentioned. If buying buy all at once. Cheaper for shipping.

 

Most local stores have no idea how to take care of discus. At 170 a discus you’ll do much better from the sellers I mentioned. If buying buy all at once. Cheaper for shipping.

Yeah no for sure not buying from them. Going to buy all at once from a single place