discus

yikes , we pay $$$$$ for there fish ,and they are eating them every day ,watch the national geographic channel ,you will see shoals of discus like 500+ and ,
hook line and arowana ,mmm tastes like CHickEN

 

This is a pic from another book on discus which I have not seen myself, but which does seem to have a lot of good information, Bleher's Discus.

So this is how you get your supper in the Amazon.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I recently read a review in which the critic said that once you have read Bleher's Discus volume 1&2 you should be able to think like a Discus. Pity the books are so hellishly expensive!

 

As far as I can see from Heiko Bleher's website, only the first volume is available:

http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=22

This book is a very extensive overview of where discus occur in nature and how the whole ecosystem works. If you want to understand why discus react in an aquarium in the way they do, you need to have this background.

I am sorry to have to say this though, and that is that the concept of this book was already used by the German discus author, Hans Mayland, who wrote two books which in my opinion were the reason why many German aquarists made a success of keeping and breeding discus. The first of these books was "Diskusfische - Könige Amazoniens" translated "Discus fishes, the kings of the Amazon". This book was published in 1981, and it helped me tremendously, this book was at that time light years ahead of anything that was written in English. The second book that Hans Mayland wrote was called "Diskusfieber" or "Discus fever" in which Mayland describes the water conditions and fishes in general in many of the rivers of the Amazon. Although the amount of direct discus info is less in this book, it also contains a wealth of information. It was published in 1988 and again was light years ahead of the English press. Basically, in the book that Heiko has published now, the concept developed by Mayland is expanded and he outlines these issues but now in English instead of German.

It will be interesting to see what Heiko will come up with in his volume 2.

I have not bought the first volume, but if I have some extra cash, it would be the first book that I would think of purchasing.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I found a site on the net Prof where they discussed the 2nd volume. Apparantly it will be available soon and in volume 2 Bleher apparantly goes into detail about Wild discus breeding, especially with regards to Heckels, as well as how the different strains have all come about. I agree with you, although from what i have read it seems a fascinating book, money wise I would think you can get better reading as an aquarist, this seem more documentary style info for interest sake.

 

so then they was 2
,how many more can i add ,i heard about 4??

 

they was 2 - Who is they?
what did you heard about 4?

If you've read all prof posts on Discus then you would know.
A minimum of 8 Discus together. To minimize fighting between them.

Don't buy one or two at a time. You wasting your money!
I learned the hard way. And saving up to do a batch of 8 fish at once.

 

wow lots of replies thanks for all the information guys it has realy helped.

 

yes ,well it was more of a precaution than anything ,you cant just go buy 8 you need good qualty stuff and i doubt youll get 8 aaa grade discus at 1 time ,the aggression thing could be sorted out by removing the previous discus from the tank and leting the new ones settle dow and gain territory then introduct the old ones back to tank to aleviate the territorial behavior

this method was tried by me with my oscars ,a way more territorial and aggresive fish so it works

 

If you buying 8 discus from an LPS, I doubt you will even find 1 good quality Shakester. Hence we have always said from the beginning that if you want to keep discus, you need to get them from a reputible source, and then buy 8!

 

yes shakester, that approach may well work with oscars, but moving those Discus from 1 tank to another and then back again will put them under enormous unnescessary stress. You have to have to have to understand that you can never compare Discus to experience with other species. They may share water requirements or temperature with some species, but in temperament they are unique. Rather just leave them to fight, it will not last for ever. I also think if you go to good suppliers, they can give you 5 or 8 very good fish. This might sound rude, but I seriously doubt that you would even be able to walk in a shop and pick A Grade discus yourself! How would you know what makes it A Grade? So i doubt you will know the difference. I have kept Discus for 6 years and i will not say i can. All i can do is pick a fish that appeals to me. Dont overcomplicate an already complicated matter.

 

Marco i have access to a never ending supply of Teffe wilds

 

hi Henk. Tank bred or wild caught? I'm considering getting a couple of Red spotted greens, but I dont want 'wild' trouble so I want to get tankbred F2's. What about Browns? Gosh they the most 'commen' discus yet they have become 'hoender tande'

 

no these are all wild wilds.... my biz partner took 5 the other day and they are all eatings the profs pellets and omegaone shrimp pellets

 

I would be interested. . . You must pm me. At the moment i'm just dealing with the 'disease' i got from taking those small discus. I wont get any fish for a while till this is sorted out. Lost a very very special fish last nite. Thats how it goes i guess. Just hope i dont lose more

 

i'll let you know next time they tell me they are coming in. it's always sad to lose a special fish. what are you threating with?

 

Prof has helped me with this. I'm using Chloromycetin. Anti-biotic that is apparantly very strong. Of all fish i have now lost 1, and there still 2 doubtfull. Sucks man!

 

Hi Shakes,

You are really getting on with the Brits (Afrikaans pronounciation, and not the town...), I want to congratulate you on all those full words and sentences, your mom would really be proud.

Keep it up boet!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Soo, the discus are fine, but they are whacking my neons the neon[blue red] tetra,
So the option is to give the discus back ,or to upgrade the neons to cardinals or jumbo neon tetras
Whats you verdict??

 

Shakester, my verdict applies to me only. I'm married to Discus and can never imagine gettimg rid of them. If they are bugging your neons (which by the way shouldnt be in that tank with them in the 1st place) its you who will have to decide what you want to keep in the tank. If you want to get rid of something just bear in mind that the move will affect the fish negatively. We keep fish because we care, so this should be an influencing factor too.