Discus Beat

By Frank G Anderson

I am here in the States (Upstate New York)at the moment assisting in arrangements subsequent to my step-father's recent passing, and have been busy with the various things that one gets involved in with this unfortunate part of the lifecycle.But I did get the chance to note in the Buffalo News that discus are here for sale in this area of the world, still, and was pleased to note down the phone number to check this weekend when I get back home to mom's place. For today, Friday, I am taking a break at a cottage my brother has rented and perhaps will do some fishing. First fishing in the US for well over 30 years!!

Discus husbandry is becoming a sort of beacon in the tropical fish hobby, if I am any judge of recent developments. Noting over the Discus-List, for example, recent questions on whether the writer should buy discus or not, or what kind of fish to combine them with (there are none- in my opinion), or how to treat them for an ailment, it appears that interest has grown considerably, and that the discus market, sometimes lax because of an oversupply in a given area and no customers in that given area who want to pay the kind of prices the breeder deserves, has now become something of a commonality instead of a peculiarity. So much the better-off we all will be with the proliferation of this fish across America.

Discus Basics begin with a general knowledge of keeping aquarium fish, and continue on with more advanced knowledge, brought on by personal education and experience, and the input of friends, pro- fessionals, and others. It's that first step, though, general knowledge, and then growing knowledge through intensive learning, that will make discus keeping for the beginner and intermediate fishkeeper a success rather than a failure. While some readers might think I am condescending regarding favoring discus over other aquarium fish, as I mentioned even years ago in previous FAMA articles, part of the entire gestalt, if it were, is the success the fish themselves experience in surviving and then growing and then breeding. While the hobbyist himself might achieve some success in learning how to deal with a tricky fish as another one dies and a new one is bought to take its place, the fact is that the fish themselves then become subject to un- regulated poor fishkeeping practices. They are the ones that pay the price, immediately, and sometimes fatally. So, good discus keeping and other fish husbandry involves keeping the fish alive, and in the hobbyist being humane while keeping the fish. To me, being humane, being successful with discus, is all part and par- cel of just being a responsible fishkeeper. Not the toilet bowl- dumping kind, but the kind that would, for example, go through the trouble to anaesthetize a fish before trying to kill it.

That's only the beginning of the beginning, to make sure that you are humane with your fish. The nest step is to find fish that others have been humane with, and with which good fishkeeping has been practiced. While not always possible to find, these healthy fish, from good rearing and responsible breeders, will provide many thousands of hours of pleasant viewing, and not a little in- tellectual prompting as you note that discus have an entire world of their own in terms of communications, behavior, and certainly beautiful body coloration. Besides the readers who are considering buying their fish discus, there are those who already have one, or two, or more, but who, despite having some success, need a little more confidence, a little more knowledge, before they go out and buy several more tanks to breed discus with. But whether you don't have any discus yet and never did, or have had them before but didn't have any "luck," you can take steps to ensure that your particular discus survive and prosper.

The easiest step is perhaps to not totally rely on the advice, as well-meaning as it might be, of the retailer who sells you the discus in the first place. Often, from the reports I have seen and personal experience I have had, the retailer does not always have a solid - or worse, sometimes not even a basic, understand- ing of discus, and will tell you anything from total nonsense to complete accuracy, depending on his/her level of knowledge and need to get the fish out of the store and into your tank and not his/hers. Business acumen, I believe they call it.

So if you can't rely on the advice of the person in the shop selling you the discus, how are you going to be sure that you are getting what is represented and that it is not diseased or full of parasites, or that it has not been treated with medicines and/or hormones, thus possibly making it completely sterile? Again, the answer is knowledge. When you have absolutely no knowledge, however, and to add that to the fire, the retailer is- n't being totally honest or fully capable, what guards you against making a serious mistake? Articles like this help. Books help. Visits to friends' houses help. Common sense really helps.

Common sense for obtaining discus and then keeping them healthy involves good judgement on where to buy them in the first place, and then caring for them properly, despite the thousands of piec- es of advice you are bound to run into from friends and foes alike! One person will tell you that you can put in just about any kind of other fish with the discus, and another person will say only this species or that will be compatible. The truth is that while discus are somewhat compatible with other fish species, they are not always compatible to the point where it is good for them. That is, you can put discus in with other fish and vice-versa, but it will not usually work out in the long-term interests of the discus. Too much chance of them catching something from other fish that are more resistant to diseases and parasites.

Common sense in discus keeping also involves paying attention to close observation of your discus. I personally keep my nose glued to the aquarium glass at least once a day if the discus are not always spunky, eating well, colored brightly and fins erect. When their physical condition is optimized, I spend more time, which is as it should be, in maintaining the tank. Cleaning the filter, vacuuming the undergravel filter gravel and making water changes, double-checking the fish for any lurking signs of stress, and catching up on reading and reviewing hobbyists' comments on the Discus-List maintained by Dave Hardy.But trouble comes even to the most diligent discus hobbyist, and a disease will reveal it- self, or the discus will begin exhibiting some kind of behavior or body coloration that spells trouble. Again, common sense should rule, not a rush toward the edge of reason. Of course, with possibly several hundred dollars' worth of discus, you are understandably worried and wish to avoid a community failure. A community failure meaning a total wipe out of all your discus!

Don't overreact when meeting a challenge in your discus tank. Find out what it is, and then take simple steps to deal with it. This more often involves simple water changes and vacuuming of the gravel. Yes, while parasites do attack discus, and while bacteria does grow in a discus tank and attack fish, one of the main problems is simple hygiene. Keep the tank clean, and the discus will prosper.

I apologize for the short length and brief content of this month's article, but promise to try to do better next month when arriving back in sunny Thailand.

Regards to all.