Helpful tips about the discus fish
Feed recommendation
There is a lot of discussion and differing opinions about feeding discus fish. We feed our STENDKER discus feed, which we have specially adapted to the needs of discus fish, exclusively to our own animals in our breeding facility. It is a good and balanced feed mix that contributes significantly to maintaining the health, colourfulness, reproduction and growth of discus fish. We recommend feeding your discus fish with our STENDKER discus food 3 times a day. Our STENDKER discus frozen food is available from pet shops as 30 gram sausages, 100 gram blisters and as 500 gram flat bars. The required amount of feed can be easily cut from the frozen 500g feed board into portion-sized pieces with secateurs. Our thawed food keeps in the fridge for two days (see also "Feeding and food for discus fish"). Group size of discus fish The discus fish is a schooling fish and should therefore be kept in a group of at least 10-12 animals. We strongly recommend keeping to this number, otherwise an animal will be separated from the group and not receive enough food.
Selection of discus fish
You should decide in advance which type of discus fish you want, as animals from different breeds have different strains of bacteria and therefore must not be mixed! Discus fish are offered in pet shops as wild catches, Asian offspring or our STENDKER discus fish (made in Germany).
Sleep and circadian rhythms of discus fish
It is optimal for your discus fish if the lighting is switched on and off at the same time every day (controlled by a timer). It is also important that they are fed at the same time if possible. Optimal is the morning feeding one hour after the light has been switched on. At lunchtime, the second meal and two hours before the lights are switched off in the evening, the third meal. The animals get used to the feeding times and are eagerly awaiting you at the window at the usual time. Feeding from hands that have been previously cleaned with water (absolutely remove cream and soap residue with a brush under running water) is possible within a few days.
night light
In the wild, Pisces orient themselves by moonlight or the sun. With a night light, which you can control via a timer and which should overlap with daylight, you can help the animals to keep their bearings and minimize jumpiness. If the light is suddenly switched on in a dark room, it can happen that the discus fish are so frightened that they "shoot" fearfully through the tank, jump out of the aquarium or even bang in front of the aquarium glass. Through this impact on the
discus fish can even die (e.g. through a skull fracture). With a night light you minimize this risk. (a “moon” baby light in the socket would also be possible).
Location of the Discus Aquarium
Feel free to place your discus aquarium in a busy place in your living space, as our discus fish are used to people and like company. Make sure that your aquarium is not exposed to direct sunlight, as this promotes the formation of algae. Also, please do not set up your aquarium behind a door, as this location makes the discus fish more easily startled.
Use of the fish after transport
It is extremely important to use the fish properly after transport (described in detail by us under "Use of the fish after transport". You should
1. Make the temperature adjustment slowly when the animals with pure oxygen
have been packed. (with the fish bag closed so that oxygen does not escape)
2. Adjust water (open fish bag and fill aquarium water into fish bag)
3. Fill the fish into the transport box or bucket and insert them carefully with the fishing net
The old transport water should be thrown away and not get into the aquarium,
since it is already very polluted by transport and your water quality deteriorates
would.
Difference between temperature and water balance
Temperature adjustment is carried out with the fish bag closed, for example by placing the fish bag in a transport box and pouring in the aquarium water from the outside. In this way, the temperature of the water slowly adjusts. If the temperature difference is less than 4°C, the water adjustment can take place. Water adjustment is carried out with open fish bags. Attention, the use of fish
should be completed after a maximum of 15 minutes after opening the bags, otherwise the discus fish would suffer from a lack of oxygen! When adjusting the water, pour about as much aquarium water into the fish bag as is already contained in it. Then you can put the discus fish in a tub, a bucket or a transport box and carefully place them in the aquarium with a fishing net.
water change
Run cold tap water for about 5 minutes so that you don't use the stale water in the pipes for your aquarium. Warm water is usually heated in the boiler, which often contains copper tubing that can poison the aquarium water. Fill the bucket with fresh tap water, preferably with a shower head (at a distance of 10-20 cm) (this removes chlorine residue). Please fill the fresh tap water carefully from your bucket (which is only used for this process of changing the water) into your aquarium. Please repeat this process until the old water level is reached again. Please clean your hands thoroughly from soap residue and any chemical residues with a brush under running water before you reach into the aquarium!
Tips for your vacation
Most fish die on vacation because the neighbor means too well and feeds them too much. Therefore, it makes more sense to simply take a feeding break for your fish during your vacation. Because discus fish from 10 cm in size and other half-grown fish can easily survive 2-3 weeks without food. Older and larger animals even survive longer lean times of 1 to 2 months. Such fasting periods also occur in nature every year and can even be very beneficial to health. There is no need to change the water during this time, as there is hardly any contamination due to the lack of feeding. Please note:
– Control the light in your aquarium using a timer
– Running an additional (second) pump/filter continuously as a failsafe
(do not accidentally connect to the timer for the light!)
– Lowering the water temperature to 27°C
(curbs the hunger of the fish, makes them calmer and reduces the metabolism) After the holiday, you should initially feed your fish little and increase the meals cautiously at first. The animals and the filters first have to get used to the normal amount of food (increase the number of bacteria and the filter performance).
Aquarium Insurance
In the unlikely event that your aquarium leaks, for example when changing the water or due to leaking adhesive seams, we recommend aquarium insurance. As a rule, you can take out supplementary aquarium insurance with your household contents insurance. This additional insurance is relatively cheap and highly recommended, since water damage can often cause considerable costs (possibly water flow through several floors). You can exclude this risk with a minimal expenditure of money. Please inquire with your insurance company and take out supplementary aquarium insurance via your household contents insurance. Water temperatures and influence on the behavior of discus fish The normal temperature for keeping discus fish is around 29-30°C. If your fish are too calm and sluggish and don't eat greedily but rather hesitantly, you should increase the water temperature to 33 °C for about two weeks. This increases the metabolism of the discus fish and stimulates their activity and feeling of hunger. If your animals are very agile, aggressive and fight each other, you can "cool down" the temperament and aggression of your discus fish significantly by reducing the temperature to 27°C.
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