Freshwater Aquarium

I often get a knock on the door and am welcomed by a currier holding a polystyrene box covered in ‘Fragile’ and ‘this way up’ stuck all over it. My face will instantly light up and my hands rub together.

I’m sure you have or will be wanting to order discus fish from the internet or over the phone. If so, there are a couple of important factor you must first take into consideration. The main one is that you need to be sure you are getting quality fish, this may require looking at pictures of those fish and talking to the breeder or importer.

What I want to tell you about today is how to unpack and acclimatize your new fish.

Unpacking

You need to unpack one box at a time, don’t go and open every box if you have 4 or 5. I know you want to look at your discus fish but please take your time. Take the lid off the first box and take one bag at a time out. Then open the bag, roll down the bag and float it in the water. Do this for the first box and then move onto the next stage.

Acclimatizing

Now the bags of discus are floating in the water, you need to use a little jug or something similar to gently pour tank water into the bag. You need to do this every five minutes for the next 30 minutes. This helps the fish get used to the difference in ph and water hardness. Then one bag at a time, tip the bag on its side and let the discus fish swim out in its own time.

Once you’ve done this for the first box then move on to the next.

You can also add some ’stress coat’ or ‘melafix’ type product into your tank. I sometimes do this and have had positive results with discus settling a little quicker.

Leave dim lights on and don’t feed for 24 hours.

Your discus should then be settled in fine within a week

Rob owns Discus Fish Secrets website helping beginners and advanced fish keepers with discus problems including keeping and breeding them. Please visit the site for more information on discus and breeding discus

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Caring for Pets: Siamese fighting fish, or Betas, are a beautiful tropical fish. They are famous for being extremely territorial and they attack anything they think might be another male of their species.

Betas should be kept in large, filtered tanks with still water and many hiding places to best duplicate their natural home. At least 10 gallons is recommended, and 50% to 75% of the tank should consist of hiding places for the beta. Betas love to hide and this will reduce stress. The water temperature of your tank should be between 78 and 80 degrees, and never drop below 74 degrees. Most people will need a heater to maintain these temperatures. More than one beta can be kept in a tank, but only one male.

Remember that betas are carnivores. They can be fed frozen or processed meat, though the beta should have consumed his entire meal after two minutes or you have overfed it. Uneaten food floating in the tank can lead to a buildup of bacteria that will hurt your beta’s immune system. They should be fed about once a day.

Change the water in the tank frequently, as the beta lives naturally in places where the water is frequently renewed.

Siamese Fighting Fish can be kept with other kinds of fish, but remember that they are extremely territorial. Avoid fish that look similar to betas, and fish that like to rip at fins.

Take care of your beta and you will be able to enjoy their beautiful plumage for years to come.

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It has been debated a lot about whether to keep discus fish in hard water or soft water. People have had success with both methods so it’s not an easy answer but I will share with you, how I do things and what has worked for me.

Here’s the first rule I use when buying and importing discus fish;

Match the water conditions of your supplier.

If you follow this rule you will be at a great advantage as the discus will already be accustomed to the water you provide. This will cause a lot less stress than moving discus used to hard water into soft water. Now your water doesn’t have to match exactly but if it is about right things should be OK. Don’t go getting stressed if your hardness is out a couple of degrees.

Once fish are settled here’s how I like to keep mine.

Young Discus

Young discus fish should not be kept in very soft water as there aren’t the right minerals present for good growth. They should be raised in slightly hard water with a natural ph. In this water they should grow quickly and healthy. For my young discus I use tap water filtered through activated carbon and then left in storage barrels for at least 24 hours. This will make sure all the chorine is out of the water.

Adult Discus

Adult discus, once 5in should be kept in soft water but still not at breeding conditions as they may still be growing but don’t need the minerals like young discus fish. By lowering the softness and ph of the water you will trigger breeding activity between the adults and should get a few breeding. For my adult discus I again use tap water filter through carbon and left to stand but I also add aquarium peat. This softens the water a little and is fine because of the tap water I have. You may have to use RO water mixed with filtered tap water.

Also if using peat to soften water, make sure it is of the aquarium variety. Other garden peat can contain chemicals that can harm discus fish so just be careful.

On a final note, there is no right or wrong hardness to keep discus these days because they are tank bred through generations and have acclimatized to harder water. Just follow these guidelines and you should be fine.

Rob owns Discus Fish Secrets website helping beginners and advanced fish keepers with discus problems including keeping and breeding them. Please visit the site for more information on discus and keeping and breeding discus fish

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