Discus. . .easy?

Hi guys. A while back a new discus pair formed in my tank. They spawned 2 or 3 times and, though young I decided to move them to their own tank. I got the water parameters perfect and after two weeks they finally spawned last night. During tonight however things changed dramatically. The male ate the spawn which set the female into a complete fit of rage. By the time I saw what was happening things had gotten so bad that I now fear for the life of the male. His fins are ripped and his body full of sores from the attacks the female launched at him. I have moved him to a seperate tank and I'm hoping he will recover. Again, this proves that Discus are not easy. Had this happened in a community tank, being seen as docile and calm fish, the male could easily have been left with this female which would have killed him most definetly. Never a dull moment when keeping Discus. . .

 

That is so true!! I have 9 of them, and the smallest of them bumps the bigger ones (3x his size) around the tank!!

 

I want to start with Discus but the problem is... well they seem very hard to keep, and are expensive , not to mention water parameters but still i give you a thumbs up for being able to house discus!!!

 

Used to have 23 breeding pairs of them back in the early 90's - their foibles never seased t amaze me....Perfectly happy pairs who have raised many succesfull broods,suddenly beating the living "dinges" out of each other....Healthy 2year old fish suddenly dead over night...etc... Enjoyed them,but it was this frustration that eventualy made me pack them in....But seeing this months winning pic made my fishy fingers itch for a nice discus tank again....lol

 

Keeping Discus is not that hard as one thinks, especially domestic bred Discus.

The water parameter does have to be perfect for breeding them, but you can have happy and healthy Discus in stable water parameters.

My Discus are happy and growing in a pH of 7, just for example.