AquariumScience

I consider myself a Discus expert … and I’m sure most Discus experts will disagree with me …. I’ve hardly ever kept Discus and have never bred them …… then again when it comes to any aquarium fish I feel I’m an expert … regardless of any hands on experience …..it’s definitely all the mistakes I’ve made over 50 years …. and mistake by mistake I’ve improved.

Basically the literature covers the basic ingredients for success .. although I caution you to read many, many books & magazines … this research is important with Discus as well as any other fish available to the hobby …… regardless of price!

Emulating their natural environment is rule number one … in some cases such as Discus, the fish are less tolerant and the margin of error is slim or nil ….

Discus HAVE lived for more than 17 years in captivity … think about that …..

PH, water quality, temperature, lighting and physical layout …. it’s not rocket science ….

Many fish die because the aquarium keeper loses interest, gets lazy, wasn’t ready to properly care for the aquarium, or went on vacation

The most important ingredient for breeding fish is nutrition … in many cases knowing something about “spawning triggers” such as changes in climate … rainfall, temperature, sunlight(periods of light), PH etc will increase the chance something happens …..

The rules I preach for all aquariums apply to all fish … one is water volume … since the more water volume the more stable the physical and chemical environment …. stability is important unless instigating a change in conditions as a spawning trigger ….. of course knowing a LOT about the fish you are working with is essential ….

Breeding fish like anything else in life is easy or difficult depending on how much effort you put into knowing what you are doing …… READ!

Breeding is without question the most enjoyable aspect of the aquarium hobby … the different characteristics of fish offer plenty of challenges and insight into the wonderful world of nature that surrounds us.

The successful aquarist believes in the concept that understanding how to keep up a successful aquarium leads to an understanding of how important nature is to properly support our planet. Conservation, ecology, environment and nature are the most important words in our lives. Now more than ever