The Beginner's Discus Page

.....This is the place for you!!

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After studying many Discus pages on the web, piles of books and my own fish, I decided it was time someone put a page out here for "beginners". It's not as hard to keep Discus as some would have you believe. However, lots of time, money (and fish) can be lost trying to learn the basics from the "experts". One breeder told me, "...read the books, then throw them out and go with what works for you!" Good advice, but as you may have found already, sometimes it's not so easy to find "what works"!

Actually, there aren't many fish who are as forgiving of their keepers' mistakes or oversights as Discus are. You will find here that the needs of the "King of Freshwater" are not as extremely demanding or precise as you may have heard. The desire to care for them, some common sense, patience and a few minutes attention each day are all that is required.

I'm not an expert, but have learned a lot (without losing many fish) and wish I could have known many of the things I've put here for the beginner. Direct, accurate advice from Discus "experts" is hard to come by. Every pet store clerk, book, Discus keeper and web site will tell you something different on almost every subject concerning Discus. Some of what's here "works for me" and some of it is "what works for others". I've tried to include the basics, as well as many individual alternatives you may wish to consider. You may want to join the Discus-L mailing list. It's a great service, maintained by Dave Hardy at MIT, where you can read (and respond to) Discus keepers' questions/problems with over 600 Discus-L list members all over the world.

Some species are a little less hearty than others, so it is generally recommended that starting with the common (and usually available) "Red Turquoise" is a good idea. If you're just starting out, don't buy very large or very small fish. 2-3" Discus seem to acclimate themselves with less problems than extremely small ones or adults.

If you see any glaring errors on this page, especially ones that may put someone's fish in peril, I would certainly appreciate your input! If you have further choices or ideas you think would benefit the beginner, let me know. Also, If you have a Discus link you would like added to the list below, I'll be happy to add it.

To those of you who are Discus-L subscribers.... Please send me any constructive criticism you may have, as well as any ideas you may have that would benefit beginners. Please keep in mind that I don't intend this to be the "Discus know-it-all page". The intent is to be able to get more people into this great hobby with less trouble. Any additional alternatives you feel could be added to the individual sections would certainly be welcome!

We've been on line for over 3 years now and have had no negative responses to this page, so assume we've killed no Discus with bad advice! At least 6 commercial breeders have read this page (responded) and are supportive of the information offered here. Anyone with suggestions to offer are encouraged to contribute to this project!....My E-mail address is further down this page.

Hope you enjoy your Discus and don't lose too much sleep over them!!!

Before Buying Discus	Tank Mates for Discus
Filtration Requirements	Acclimation and Quarantine
Water Changes	Lighting and Plants
PH / Hardness	Diseases
Feeding	General Tips for Discus Keeping

Other Informative Discus Articles

Starting Out with Discus by A. Olszewski with Marc Weiss

Moving with your Discus by Steve Eslinger

Discus growth and size by Mary Ellen Sweeney

Discus Breeders and other useful links...in no particular order

Jack Wattley's Discus -Jack Wattley (Florida)

Discus Connection -Stan Glazewski (New Jersey)

Bing Seto's Discus World (California)

Gwynbrook Farms (Maryland)

RainWater Discus (South Carolina)

Rocky Mountain Discus (Colorado)

Piscine Products (South Carolina)

Discus Holland Walter Soestbergen (Netherlands)

Schlingmann Discus Dirk Schlingmann (Germany)

Team Discus Bill and Brenda Norris (California)

Idiscus.com Nice large order/wholesale breeder site

General Discus Info....

Discus Breeder's Web Site "A great International site in Italy." Considered by many as the definitive world Discus link.

Discus As a Hobby - Great European Aquaria Page. Pictures of nearly every strain of Discus are available here!

Discus As a Hobby/Discus Links - Fons van der Hart's Discus Link Page. Over 125 links to Discus related pages! The best link page we've seen!!

Discus Resource Page Great resource link

Stu's Discus Pages

You might also want to check out "Pet Warehouse - Aquatic Outfitters". They offer most items as much as 50% off your local pet stores' prices!! They also have a convenient, secure Internet ordering connection. I've saved lots of money with them!

Breeding Cones for sale Custom Pottery by Evan Rosenthal

Following are Links to some nice "Personal" Discus Pages

Walter's Discus Page Great page! Good for Beginners too.. Also has lengthy list of Discus related links....

Bud's Discus Page (Keith Segura)

Max Strandberg's Aqua_Max

Discus Hans - Photo Gallery (Click on the British Flag, then pictures)

Feb. '97 - Sept. '98 yielded 28000+ hits on this page (at the "old" server location), for an average of over 400 per week. The counter could not be transferred to the new AOL site, so was reset to "0" late Sept '98. We of course use it to track continuing interest in the page, which, in turn guides our update efforts.