So, here's just a few thoughts.įirst and maybe foremost, it is not a required food for discus. Was looking this thread over again and just wondering if in your post above BF means beef heart?Īrguing over beef heart has been going on for years in the discus world and I'm not here to be argumentative or to prove beef heart is wrong, per se, but it is certainly not the only effective way to approach discus keeping and not the way I would (or did) keep them. Hope the discus do well for you and hopefully, the tetras come through ok. One of my SA tanks with discus included pink tailed chalceus (large, active characin) up to about 6 inches, some very large angels, and a 6" arowana, and the bosses of the tank were a big pigeon blood discus and a gold pearlscale angel of about 7" diameter (I never see them like that these days) who ruled the tank but were perfectly peaceful with each other.Ĭongrats. The other half of the problem with some people is they keep and feed them quite unnaturally (I'd like to say stupidly, but that's a personal opinion and I'm trying to be objective here) and then wonder why they have to do constant water changes and constantly medicate them to keep them well. And there's the rub, you have to get good quality fish, not just color but health-wise. So, what I know is what worked for me and based on my (past) experience with discus (several years worth) I'd agree with those saying they're more robust than some people think- but, with the understanding that this is when they are healthy and happy and of good genetic stock. So, what one discus keeper believes is different from another and what works for some people doesn't work for everyone. The discus world is rife with debates and contradictory advice, just the way it is. Generally, I find that tank mates for discus are more often ruled out because they can't handle being with the discus, not because discus can't handle being with them. Others recognise that they are /cichlids,/ that they do quite well in a mixed tank (within certain reasonable restrictions), and are not complete wimps - they'll fend for themselves. A lot of people have this idea that they should ONLY ever be kept in species tanks, or perhaps with a handful of very, very passive fishes: certain plecos, maybe a pair of Apistos, Cory cats, stuff like that. Ultimately, it comes down to two schools of thought on Discus. Unless you're fairly novice, or just "dump some flakes on the top," you can make sure the fish are all fed with a minimal amount of effort. And, it is fairly easy to make sure that all the fish in the tank are eating, and getting plenty, without polluting the water. But, they're also not going to have the "Gee, did someone put food in my tank?" reaction of some of the more slow, stupid fish out there (cough, cough, orandas). Okay, they're not going to rush to the top and gobble down flakes like a lot of tetras. I see it in saltwater tanks fairly frequently, too.ĭiscus, however, are not that passive a feeder - they'll get plenty of food. I have seen people mix relatively slow feeding fish with relatively aggressive feeders and essentially starve the slow guys to death - I had a client mix Australian Rainbows with Orandas and do exactly that, not terribly long ago (though, that was a bad mix for like 2000 reasons). Their water parametres are similar, and they do very, very well together. Heck, I doubt he has barely more experience than Samuel and I combined. I mean, geez, not like the guy has ever seen the fish in the wild, or had any experience keeping them. Of course, Heiko might not know anything about fish or anything. are you ready for this? Nothing but Discus and Colombian Tetras. Just for the record, if you pick up the latest copy of the Discus Book from Heiko Bleher, he has a biotope done with. Humble is not a word used to describe me! :-D
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