• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

??s about discus

lilthrasher

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
15
Location
FL
ok i have a 26 bow front and i want to add one discus so i was woundering if water hardness is a big deal?
 

chris1932

Apisto Club
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
357
Location
Spring Grove PA USA
26 gallons is not even close to big enough, Domestic Discus may be more tolerant to hardness and temp but not by a large margin. Discus are also a very social fish. I have seen Discus mourn the loss of a tankmate that has died or been moved. Keeping one by itself is not a good idea. A smaller fish like Mesonauta would be a good choice but at least a pair. Most pictures of this fish are not flattering but this one shows a nice looking fish

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/is_that_a_festivum.php
 

Apistomaster

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
703
Location
Clarkston, WA
I guess you know by now your tank is too small for discus.
The question of water chemistry has become much less important after so many decades of breeding discus in captivity.
I have bred successfully several pairs of wild Blue or Brown Discus in tap water which had a pH of 7.6 and almost 500 ppm TDS, moderately hard water.
My largest brood of discus happened to be from one wild brown pair in the water conditions described and the number of fry I ended up selling was 147.
Not even any of my domestic discus have ever come close to that mark.
Blue/Brown wilds are the most tolerant of all the wild discus to variable water parameters. Greens and Heckels are much more demanding. You aren't going to be getting wild discus as a beginner, I assume, so most tap water is acceptable.
I am currently breeding domestic discus in water with a pH of 7.5 and TDS of 450 ppm. I raise discus for the money. If I believed I would get even better results with domestic discus by using wild type water conditions I can and would do it but it just hasn't proved necessary.
 

lilthrasher

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
15
Location
FL
well thank you guys i guess its time to see what i can get from the store i work at tank wise. lol the reason i was wanting to go with the bow front is because its in my room and well to do another tank its going to have to be in the living room/spare bed room and im not there much
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,915
Messages
116,200
Members
13,027
Latest member
tonc61

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top