Discus foods

5. Food and feeding discus fish 

 

Our tips for easy, all-in feed for discus fish 

Feed our STENDKER discus feed 3 x daily. It has been used successfully in discus breeding 

operations for 45 years and as an all-in feed contains everything discus fish need for healthy, 

balanced nourishment. 

 

Defrosting instructions 

Always defrost the frozen feed before feeding! 

Remove as much frozen feed as you need for two days (feeding 3 times daily). When thawed out, 

the feed can be kept for two days in the refrigerator. Use secateurs to divide up the blocks of 500 

grams. Place the frozen portions in a food storage container (with lid) and allow them to defrost 

slowly in the refrigerator. After c. 8 hours the feed will be thawed out ready for feeding to your 

discus fish. 

Do not defrost by placing in a sieve and holding under running water because vital vitamins 

and nutrients will be washed away. 

 

How much to feed 

Only feed as much as the fish can eat in five minutes. If any feed is left, remove it from the tank 

substrate using a net and reduce the amount for the next feed. 

 

Feeding: 

Feed your discus fish daily with our STENDKER discus feed. 

1 x in the morning (1 hour after switching on the light) 

1 x at midday (preferably always at the same time) 

1 x in the evening (2 hours before switching off the light) 

 

It is a good idea to feed at two or three points (e.g. small portions to the left, right and in the 

centre of the aquarium) to give the weaker fish a good chance of getting to the food. When 

defrosted, the feed can be easily divided up with a knife or spoon and fed to the fish. Our discus 

fish and other companion fish will eat our feed quickly and with enjoyment. 

 

  

"Food and feeding discus fish“ Page 2 of 2

 

 

Refusing food after transport 

Transport and adjusting to a new environment is a very stressful experience for the fish. They 

may refuse food for up to four weeks, especially larger fish. Smaller discus fish (up to 14 cm) are 

less sensitive, adjust more quickly to new surroundings and generally eat well the following day. 

Since our discus fish are generally well nourished, a refusal to eat by nearly full-grown discus fish 

for this length of time will not be a serious problem. In such cases we recommend raising the 

temperature of the water in the aquarium slowly to 33 °C for around two weeks (remember to put 

the plants in the quarantine tank beforehand). Raising the temperature will raise the metabolism 

and hence stimulate the appetite of the discus fish. If you use our STENDKER discus fish feed, 

the change to a new environment will be easier. 

 

 

 

Why our STENDKER discus feed is so good 

We have been breeding discus fish for more than 45 years and over this period we have 

developed a feed mix which is specially adapted for the needs of discus fish. Our own 

STENDKER discus feed is the only feed we use in our breeding operation. It contains 

everything discus fish need to be healthy and is an excellent all-in feed. STENDKER discus feed 

contains a mix of ox heart, vitamins, vegetables and a digestive aid for discus fish so they can 

absorb and digest animal protein more easily. 

When you see our fish you will notice immediately how healthy discus fish look when they are fed 

with our STENDKER discus feed. Make up your own mind by trying out our feed. Of course, the 

quality of the feed depends on careful production methods, the correct proportions of ingredients, 

the quality of ingredients, composition and gentle methods of preparation. You can rest assured 

that we have considered all these factors in our fish feed. 

You can have access to a high quality all-in feed which is easy to use by buying our STENDKER 

discus feed (a wholesome all-in fish feed) in pet shops. Our STENDKER discus frozen feed is 

available as 30 g sausages, 100 g blister packs and 500 g flat blocks. This excellent balanced 

feed mix is a major factor in the health, rich colouring, fertility and growth of discus fish. Ask in 

your pet store. 

By the way: Other fish love our feed and water plants in your aquarium normally will not need 

additional fertiliser. 

 

  

"Food and feeding discus fish“ Page 3 of 2

 

 

General information on discus fish feed 

Ox heart was wrongly criticised by the media, in our opinion, as a source of nourishment for 

discus fish ("there are no cattle in the Amazon basin“). Cattle are not treated with hormones; 

regular checks are performed by vets. Ox heart is animal protein which discus fish absorb in the 

wild by eating small shrimp, worms and insect larvae. Since some of these creatures are rarely 

found in these latitudes, are expensive and in some cases are heavily contaminated, ox heart is 

frequently used in this part of the world as a source of protein for discus fish. Ox heart as a single 

source of nourishment is not sufficient to feed discus fish, in our opinion. 

Nor do we recommend using red mosquito larvae and Tubifex as feed for your discus fish 

because both types of feed (which originate in highly contaminated water) often introduce 

microbial infections into the aquarium. 

We also do not recommend cyclops since they often carry tape worm larvae which develop into 

tape worms and can massively inhibit growth in discus fish. 

Dried food, irrespective of the brand, is not sufficiently adapted to the needs of discus fish in our 

opinion since the fish do not enjoy this feed and therefore do not absorb enough nutrients. In 

order to ensure good growth and robust health in the long term, feeding with dried food is not 

enough, in our view. However, if alternated with our discus food, dried food can be a welcome 

change for your discus fish. We consider other frozen foods, e.g. water fleas, artemia, mysis, 

white and black mosquito larvae to be good as supplements but should only be used as 

titbits. 

other food for Discus

How to Feed your Discus Fish

Discus eats all kinds of food and they like live food:

• Brine Shrimp – fry / baby discus
• Tubifex worm – young discus (1.5 in size)
• Bloodworm, Beef heart burger – young discus (2in size) to adult discus
• Dry food or pellets – young discus (2in size) to adult discus

When they are not eating ..

1. Do water changed and starve the fish for a few days
2. Then feed them with live food. Little bit at a time. Be patient
3. Repeat step 1 if they do not eat
4. If the fish still not eating, most properly you have to deworm (Deworming Deworming How to Deworm?) the fish
5. If they are always scared, hiding or easily frighten, they might not eat. Do provide them a comfortable environment and put the fish tank in suitable location (Suitable Tank Location)

Discus in their natural habitat, have very little to eat. If they do not eat for one or two weeks, they would not die of starvation. Do not feed them too much food. Over feeding is a bad practice. Left overs will pollute the water and the fish will have no appetite to eat. Do not feed brine shrimp to adult discus. It is too small for the adult fish to eat. Feed the amount they can eat. Over feeding can cause endless problems not because of live food or dry food, it is because of left over food that causes trouble.

Eating dry food

If you have been feeding them with red worms or beef heart, they would not like to eat flake, pellets or dry food. If you need to feed them with flake then you must train them to eat flake. Feed them when they are very hungry. Discus will eat pellets or dry food. You will have to train them. Starve them in the morning. Feed them in the afternoon. Little bit at a time. Be patient.

Deworming Discus

Deworming

Written by allan on August 18, 2005. Posted in Discus Fish Diseases, Health and Treatments

Can you guide me how to deworm the discus. Which medicine to be used and its proportion? I have three tanks size 36″x18″x18″ and two 24″x12″x12″.

Reply:
1. If the case is not too serious, you can apply antibiotic for five days.
2. Water changed and same treatment everyday for five days.

White Feces
1. When you see white feces are present in the tank, and the fish will not eat then use: Metronidazole B.P. Tablets / 200mg
Dosage: 2 tablets for 50 gallons water.
2. Change water and repeat the treatment everyday for 5 days.
3. When white feces disappeared and see black feces, internal parasites cleared.

Aquarium Lighting

Size and Wattage for different aquarium tank sizes:

Length of tank	Length of tube	Wattage
60 cm	45 cm	15 watts
90 cm	60 cm	20 watts
120 cm	90 cm	30 watts

 

Filter For Discus Tank

Discus Fish Tank Filters

Good biological filtration is absolutely required, with complete, but not overly brisk circulation, to ensure all the water and wastes are being swept up and passed through the filter. Discus are highly sensitive to ammonia and nitrites and the substantial accumulation of nitrates. Because of this, you need to be diligent about water testing, regular water changes, and caring for your biological filter media.

Before placing your discus into an aquarium, make sure the system has been thoroughly cycled. For best results, your tank should show no signs of nitrite and accumulated nitrates for two weeks or more before introduction of the fish.

Most aquarium filters can be used for your discus tank. However, they must be properly configured for your tank. The first step in this configuration is to understand the types of filters available. There are three types of filter categories and they are based on the filter's function.

Chemical Filters – Chemical filters use carbon, resins, or other chemicals. This is NOT a good filter for a discus tank because the chemicals hold impurities in the tank that water changes would otherwise eliminate. This could cause impurities to leach back into the water.

Mechanical Filters – Mechanical filtration collects debris that is removed at a later time. A pad is usually used to gather the debris and it can be rinsed periodically to clean it. This type of filter is rarely needed in a discus tank, however, because maintenance and regular water changes usually take care of removing debris.

Biological Filters – Biological filtration is the most important filtration method in any aquarium, especially the discus aquarium. For filtering a discus tank, a very porous biological filter media should be used. This type of media will allow plenty of good nitrifying bacteria to colonize it, which will make it very effective in removing toxins and impurities.

There are several styles of biological filters. The following paragraphs detail the types of filters and their basic usefulness in the discus aquarium.

• Sponge Filters
Sponge filters are really best for small tanks (20 gallons or less), but they can also be used in larger tanks, as long as you use multiple filters. They are simple filters--cheap and simply designed. They connect to an aquarium pump by a tube. The sponge is a breeding ground for bacteria, however, so have to be careful that smaller fish do not get caught underneath the sponge!
• Under Gravel Filter
For a long time the under-gravel filter (UGF) was the most popular type of filtration found in aquariums. This, however, this is not a good filter choice for a discus aquarium because the decomposing material builds up under the filter plates and it is not possible to properly clean the gravel without disrupting the nitrifying bacteria. If there are no filter plates under your gravel it is much easier to perform aggressive cleaning of the gravel, thereby removing more debris.
• Canister Filter, Fluidized Bed Filter
These types of filters create a closed system that increases the oxygen demand on the tank. These filters actually compete with the discus for oxygen! Also, if these filters fail, deadly toxins are created very quickly because of the closed system. If you decide to run a canister filter as your filtration method for your discus tank, you should have a strong aeration system to keep an adequate level of dissolved oxygen in the water.
• Hang On Power Filter
This type of filter is an excellent filter to use for your discus aquarium, if it is properly configured. The filter needs to be filled with biological media, but they usually come with a sponge or a plastic grid. The plastic grid is not ideal for filtering bacteria and some sponge material is too coarse for proper nitrifying bacterial growth. When you use this filter, make sure you use a good biological media.
• Wet Dry Filter (Trickly Filter)
Although these types of filters can be good filters for a discus aquarium, some caution needs to be used. They are excellent at degassing carbon dioxide and oxygenation, but to be effective for discus, the biological media should be placed in the webbed, submerged portion of the filter that is under the plastic bio balls. The media used should be porous and the best media is the type that is sold for canister filters.

Discus Tank

Discus need to have good height aquarium for grow best shape and size. best height for Discus Tank is 1.5 (18 inch) feet to 2 (24inch) feet . 1.5 feet and 3 feet length is best width 1.5 to 2 feet 

Aquarium heaters & water temperature control

Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm 75 Watt 10" Heater
Visi-Therm® automatic aquarium heater has a unique direct-reading temperature setting feature, which eliminates guess work and makes presetting temperatures very simple. The desired temperature is indicated on an easy-to-read thermometer-type scale and is accurately maintained by the precision thermostat. Visi-Therm® is completely waterproof and totally submersible. All these features make it the choice of experienced aquarium hobbyists.

Penn Plax Therma-Tech Heater
The Therma-Tech Heater features include: Easy-Turn Adjustment knob, double waterproof seal, precision aligned contacts, pilot light, magnetic arc suppressor, radio/computer static eliminator, and polarized plug.

Penn-Plax Therma-Flow PC Plus Heater
The Penn-Pax PC Plus 100W 8" Heater is a precision-made instrument designed to maintain accurate aquarium temperatures. It is provided for long-term, trouble-free service. Moisture-proof. For salt and fresh water aquariums.

Tetra Second Nature Acura Heater
This fully submersible heater is perfect for maintaining the proper temperature for your aquarium. 

Leaving your discus unattended while you are away for holidays or vacation

We wish discus hobbyist and all others a Happy Chinese New Year! May your discus grow healthy, beautiful and make you proud!

Discus FAQ :
When going for holidays ... how to leave them unattended?

You can leave your fish and go for holiday.
Check the following:

1. Change water with clean tank
2. No feeding as the water will get polluted after heavy feeding
3. The fish can go without food for one or two weeks provided the water quality is good
4. When you come back feed them lightly and slowly increase
5. Over feed them after long starving they will get shock and die

Go back to Discus Care main index

Find interesting links for this X'mas season that we have collected, providing various services and products. Please do visit these sites often and thank you for your support.

Facts about color enhancing hormones usage on discus fish

Effects of color enhancing

Color improvement
After enhancing you can see nice patterns and colors. It looks colorful and beautiful. When treated, discus will show their colors even when they are 1.5 inches to 2 inches in size.

Negative Effects

• Color fades when the effects of the hormones wear off. Their colors will be less vibrant.
• Growth rate will be stunted. Their size can no longer grow to the maximum size compare to untreated discus.
• Shape will be distorted. As they grow it will no longer be round as they used to be.
• Unable to breed. If exposed to overdose usage, their reproductive organ will be affected and will lead to inability to breed.

Usage of color enhancing hormones

Research and Strain Developments
Breeders would want to know the outcome of patterns and colors early before they mature. Otherwise they have to wait until they are 4 inches to 5 inches in size or 6 months to 12 months. With color enhancing, breeders can see the patterns and colors when they are 2 inches in size and will save on development time.

1. To know the result after crossing whether or not to continue the research and develop
2. To find out the qualities of the new strains after crossing.
3. To show or review colors and patterns early.

Commercial / Competitive reasons
Aquarium shops, importers and discus shops will request for enhanced discus to please their customers. They would be able to buy them at smaller sizes which will be cheaper and do not have to wait long before they can sell them. This will enable them to keep their cost down and have a higher sales turnover.

Uniformed hobbyist will usually choose treated discus as they can see their colors and patterns compare to an untreated one, which would be dull and uninteresting in comparison.

For example: Leopard snake of size 3 inches
A: untreated - Dull color, no pattern, round.
B: color enhanced - Colorful, nice pattern, round.
Which fish is good?
Mr. X will say that B is good.
Mr. Y will say that A is good.
Mr. X feels he is right because he sees the fish very colorful having nice patterns and round body. Mr. X is a hobbyist and he believes what he sees. However, he does not know what he sees is not true. The fish is still round as the enhancing is done short while ago. After a few weeks he sees the color fades and the fish not growing. The body is not as round as before.
Then he realizes he is wrong.
Mr. Y is right, as he is an experienced breeder. He can see the future of the fish in months later.

Thus the dealers will demand the breeders to do the enhancing, as the buyers are hobbyists. They are not breeders.

Do you agree on enhancing?

Anything against nature is not right or ethical and we do not agree on its commercial usage. We do hope that hobbyist will choose untreated discus and to put the effort to learn and care for them.

Be patient, you will see the genuine color and patterns later. Treat them with your tender, loving care, as a hobbyist should, they would grow to their maximum size with their natural colors.

Determine the sex of discus fish

To find out male or female in discus is not an easy task. For an Asian to tell whether a person is a Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malay or Korean is easy. However, for an Asian to tell whether a person a German, English, American, Italian, French or Spanish is not easy.

To find out male or female in discus depends on the different strains. In different strains, they have different specific characteristics to determine male or female.

A breeder who keeps or specialize in Brilliant or Cobalt, he can tell the sex, male or female easily. It would be difficult for him to determine male or female in other strains he does not keep.

Of course there are still basic ways to determine the sex.

By nature, male is tougher and bigger. It has thicker lips as a weapon to fight. He is more aggressive. But when they are young, it is not obvious to notice. The dorsal fin of a male is pointed. The female is round. When they are young both male and female dorsal fins are round. Only when the male is older, you can see the dorsal fin is pointed.

In between anus and the spine of the anal fin. Closer is female. (Near the anal fin). The anus of the female is boarder for the tube to deliver eggs.

Method to hasten discus breeding

Good food of high nutrition
Feed your fish with perfect food that consists of good nutrition.
They also consist of minerals and vitamins to hasten their growth.
In order to have the above minerals and vitamins you will have to prepare your own food - Discus Burger

Natural live foodWild discus in rivers take natural food. They grow well and breed.
However, discus breeders do not totally rely on the natural food to feed their fish. The main diet for their discus is not natural food but discus burgers instead.

Live food like worm, daphnia, larva or bloodworm is excellent for the discus but they do have endless problems. They carry bacteria and parasites that will kill your fish.

In cities, it is not possible to have this natural food constantly supplied daily. So, besides feeding your discus fish with burger as main diet, it is necessary to feed them with natural food as a
supplementary diet.

How to pair them up?Keep a few discus fish in a community tank, putting strains that you want to breed. Feed them heavily with live food. They should be fed at least twice a day. Change water after feeding.

Maturity (when they are ready to breed)
When they are at the age of eight to twelve months old, they are more or less mature. Observe them closely. They will start looking for their partner.

Hiding at the corner When you notice there is a pair of discus hiding at the corner, chasing others away and guarding their territory. This is the pair of fish that you are looking for.
If you notice them chasing one another, find out which two always stays together. They often keep themselves at one corner.

Guarding & cleaningThe pair will guard their territory and start cleaning the area to get ready for spawning.

Breeding tankPut the pair in the breeding tank. They prefer a place where it is not too bright, light traffic and activities. Use right pH to stimulate them. Adjust the water slightly soft and acidic. Soon they will spawn after they get use to the environment.

Eggs laid at the bottom of the tankIt is normal. Do not panic. There is nothing wrong. That is the location that they find suitable. Leave it as it is. It could be the sides of tank is full of algae. Anyway, they are laying the eggs, not you :)

Cover the eggs with an iron mesh. Iron mess is a tool that helps prevent the eggs from being eaten up. Cover the eggs then they are safe.

When eggs hatches .... Once they have laid the eggs, they will take turn to care for their eggs. They will fan their eggs with their fins.

What you have to do now is as follows:

1. Monitor the temperature around 28 to 30 degrees C
2. Apply Methylene Blue to protect the eggs from preventing fungus to spread
3. Keep the water clean. Water can be partial changed. ( ¼ )
4. From then onwards you can follow additional discus breeding info

Breeding Discus Fish

When your discus starts to pair up, it is probably a sign that they are ready to breed ...

1. You have put them in one tank. It is a right thing you have done, if it is a real mated pair.
2. In breeding, discus fish prefer acidic water.
3. They will choose a suitable location they prefer. They will start cleaning it. Leave them alone they will do the rest and spawn.
4. The normal way of spawning; The female will lay the eggs and the male follows behind and fertilize the eggs.
5. After spawning apply some Methylene Blue to protect the eggs from turning fungus.
6. Both will take turns to fan the eggs.
7. After 4 to 5 days, you see the eggs become darker. That is larva.
8. You see larva starts shaking.
9. When the larva drops, the parent will pick them up and place them back.
10. For another week, the larva will start swimming and stick to the parent's body.
11. The parents will nurse the babies.
12. The first food you give the babies is artemia (Brine shrimp)
13. Then follow by daphnia and worm.
14. When they are 1 month old, you can start feeding themfish burger.

Additional Info:

1. Laying eggs but not hatching
2. Could be both are female.
3. They will take turns to spawn.
4. Eggs are not fertilized. Definitely not hatch out.
5. Take one male, which you are sure he is. Pair them up temporally.
6. Then you will confirm their sex.
7. If it is a mated pair
8. Apply anti fungus solution after spawned.
9. Use wire mesh to cover the eggs.
10. If eggs turn white again, separate them. Let the male rest for some time.
11. Of course the temperature is important. Too cold, the chance of hatching is less.

Food timing for fry

1. From larva to fry free swimming, they do not eat.
2. Second day of free swimming the parents will take care of them. The babies get the food from their parents.
3. After one week or so, you will introduce first baby-food: Artemia or brine shrimp.
4. Then daphnia, worm, discus fish burger or Tetra-bit.

Treatment with OTC and Copper Sulphate

It is very effective combination for treating discus fish, covering quite a wide range of fish diseases, especially discus fish. It kills parasites and bacteria internally and externally.

The dosage and duration of treatment is important. Otherwise most of time you will be very disappointed. But it is very effective 100%

Preparation of copper solution:
6.5 grams /1 liter of still water.

Treatment: Tank of 100 liters of water.

• 1 gm of copper solution
• 1 small spoon of Otc. (KFC small spoon)

Must change water everyday. Repeat the treatment for at least 1 week. No feeding after water changed. Feed them before water changed, if you want to.

Prevention is better than cure

Fish keeping is an enjoyable hobby that you can have your leisure hours with family and friends. Common topic to chat about with friends around you and will feel satisfied when your small beauties showing off in front of you knocking at the glass. This is the reward in return for all the effort and care you have provided them.

However, most of the time, we receive emails from hobbyist that the fish is sick and they are going to die; I am sad; I do not want to lose them; what to do; how I can help them; how I can save them. Please help. To avoid all these unhappy events from happening, we must really know what to do and what not to do.

FISH LIVE IN WATER:

We must create a comfortable home with good, healthy and suitable environment for them. They will live happily in the present home. If you change their home with different quality of water, they will show stress and get sick. Any change of water quality should be done gradually. They can tolerate in most of the water quality but change slowly and provide time for them to adapt it.

Ideal home is for fish to live in but not a place to cultivate bacteria and parasite. Fish live in this condition, where there are no parasites and bacteria, there is no reason they will get sick.

What type of water do the bacteria and parasite like? And what type of water or place they do not like but your fish like it very much? A clean tank which is free from bacteria and parasites, your fish loves it.

The water quality varies in different cities in the world. This is not an issue as we know they can tolerate in most of the water, as long as the water quality changes gradually.

The water temperature maintains from 26 degree C to 30 degrees C is ideal.
The discus fish can tolerate until 33 degree C. Most of the parasites and bacteria will die at water temperature 32 Degree C.

Can you maintain the ideal condition without changing the water quality forever? Do not introduce any parasite or bacteria into the tanks. All food and equipments should be free of parasites and bacteria. They are the greatest killers.

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Routine work:

WATER:

Water change: If it is a community tank with plants and filter, is considered as balanced. It is not required to change water as often as a bare tank. You can change 20% of water once or twice in a week.
Check the Chlorine content in the coming water from the tap, if it contains Chlorine then Chlorine conditioner must be added.

If it is a growing tank which is bare, then water should be changed everyday after feeding, otherwise the water will be polluted. Water can be directly from the tap into the tank as long as you check the Chlorine content and take necessary action if requires.

FOOD:

If it is a show tank, it is good to feed them with dry food. It is handy, easy and safe. They will eat dry food provided you train them. You select the food which has a proper diet for discus fish with vitamins, high protein and minerals.

If it is for the purposes of force growing for commercial or raising breeding stock, then raw food is recommended such as beef heart or fish burger. Feed your discus fish with mixed garlic in the fish burger once a week so that to clean up the parasites in the intestine. The fish will be healthy and live happily.

EQUIPMENT:

Nets, pails and hose should be sterilized before use. Soak them in a tank or pail with very high content of rock salt over night. They are clean and free of bacteria and parasites.

PURCHASING FISH:

It is important to pick a healthy fish. It should be round body shape, clear fins, and bright, clear eyes. When you approach near them, they knock at the glass asking for food.
Do not pick the fish with black fins, cloudy eyes, rapid breathing and clamped fins.

QUARANTINE:

All new fish must be quarantined for at least a few weeks before introducing them into the main tank. You must observe your new fish very closely whether they are okay. They will take time to adapt to their new environment.

Observe their behavior carefully. If they swim abnormally, like darting or rubbing any hard objects, they properly attacked by parasites which irritate them.

Before introducing them to the main tank, get a fish from the main tank and put her into the quarantine tank. Observe them for few days. If both from the main and quarantine tank are okay then they are ready to introduce into the main tank.

MEDICATION:

The following are used to treat parasites and bacteria:
- Formalin
- Malachite Green
- Methylene Blue
- Salt
- Metronidazole

If we can observe the steps not to introduce the parasites and bacteria to our tank we do not need the above medications at all. We can prevent all the unnecessary problems from happening. Hobbyists who carefully follow the rules will enjoy seeing their healthy little babies. They are the happy discus fish hobbyists. They will face fewer problems in their discus fish hobby.

Note: If you would like to comment on this article or to correct any mistakes, grammar, spelling or info given, we would like to hear from you, do let us know here!

Black disease or discus plague

What is black disease? What is discus plague?

Black disease also referred to as Discus Plague.
It is a disease caused by virus. Discus fish will die when the virus attacks them. If it happens in a discus farm, it will kill all if no proper action taken to prevent it to spread.

How does it look like? What are the symptoms?

The fish stay in a corner of the tank with body full of slime. They stay just under the surface of water and breathe heavily. They turn dark in color, fin clamping, scratching against objects.

They will turn black with abundant of body mucus secretion and its fins folded. They will flock together or hide at a corner. The epidemic goes from one tank to another and spread rapidly.

Can we save the fish?

Certainly, you can save your fish. What will happen if this epidemic spread rapidly and is incurable? All the fish in the rivers, in the ponds and in the sea will die. Then the fish will be extinct. There will be no more fish in the world. Do not worry as you can overcome this disease. If you monitor it properly and patiently, you can save all your fish.

When the disease strikes:

Those who have experienced it, often talk about the panic and helplessness feeling. They consult experts, experienced discus keepers and friends. Before they can start to do anything, the fish start dying one after another. The experience is painful to farms owners as they start losing their fish and years of their work.

The disease spread within days, possibly an airborne infection and contagious.
Discus will turned black and emit an awful smell. They lie still at the bottom of the tanks and if disturbed, they would dart and jump everywhere (early stage). At a later stage, whitish mucus will cover the whole body. Their fins and tails will rot and eventually they die. You will collect the dead fish by pail loads. This is the result after the black disease attacked.

Is it curable? How?

Oh! Yes, you can save your fish. You will help your fish to fight the virus.
Nothing you can do to the virus but the fish can. They will fight them. You must help your fish while they are fighting the virus. What you can help your fish is to stop the secondary infections from attacking the fish such as parasites and bacteria. Parasites and bacteria attack discus infected with black disease.

The slime or mucus is best for cultivating the bacteria. You must help the fish to get rid of these to reduce the growth of bacteria. Stop multiplying the bacteria. Allow your fish to concentrate on dealing with the virus and you help to kill and drive away the bacteria.

Anything that can kill parasites and bacteria can be use, provided the fish can tolerate. Medications found useful are Potassium permanganate, tetracycline, Formalin, Oxytetracycline and many others. Proper application and dosages of the medication above is crucial to achieve successful treatment. Most common mistake that fish keepers make is the poor decisions on medication and dosages

It will take 5 to 10 days for the battle between fish and virus. When your fish has overcome the virus problem, he will now divert his target to bacteria and parasites. You will apply more antibiotic for your fish. Once recovered, they will have antibody and immunity to this virus. They will grow; have no fear to this virus - called Black Disease.

Discus worm

Symptoms of internal parasites in Discus

a) not eating
b) not growing
c) dull color

Why discus fish refuse to eat?
Healthy discus fish eat anything you give, when they are hungry. If they do not eat, there must be something wrong the fish and not the food. They have no appetite to eat because of internal parasites - WORM

Why discus fish eat but they do not grow?
All the nutrition intended for the discus is taken up by the worms.
Discus free from worms will turn the food into nutrition for them to grow.

Color of discus fish look very dull
The color of the discus does not look attractive. Even when using natural enhancer, it does not show improvement as all the vitamins and nutrition is taken by the worms. 

Discus should be treated for worms. We must de worm them once every month. Especially if they are fed live food, tubifex worm and bloodworm, as these do bring internal parasite to the discus.

Treat them and get rid of worms every month. Your discus will eat, grow and they will look attractive.

Types of Internal Parasites
Hexamita, Roundworms, Capillaria, Threadworms
Tape Worm, Metacercaria, Sanguinicola

For the treatment of flagellates (most common ailment of discus):
When you see white feces are present in the tank, and the fish will not eat then use:

• Metronidazole B.P. Tablets - 200mg
• Dosage: 2 tablets for 50 gallons water

Change water and repeat the treatment everyday for 5 days.
When white feces disappeared and see black feces, internal parasites cleared.

Treatment for Chlorine poisoning

When you change water you should use the chlorine tester to find out whether the water contains chlorine. If so, use chlorine neutralizer to get rid of chlorine - (hypo).

After changing water, if the content of chlorine is high, it will kill the fish in a very short period of time. You will then know the chlorine in the water causes the death of the fish.

If the content of chlorine is low, it will not kill the fish immediately. The chlorine will get into the body through the gill and kill the fish slowly day after day. Always periodically test for small amounts chlorine presence in water.

Treating chlorine poisoning

1. Prepare another tank with water no chlorine
2. Transfer the fish to the new tank carefully. (Minimize the stress)
3. Apply very small dosage of antibiotic plus salt
4. Change water and repeat the same treatment every day for at least 5 days.

Treatment for discus stress related conditions

Treatment for Discus Stress

1. Prepare Potassium Permanganate solution. (Purple in color)
2. Apply the solution to the tank for all fish.
3. Dosage: the color of water like light purple.
   After one or two hours, change the water.
4. Apply Acriflavine solution plus salt over night.
5. Repeat the above continuously for three days.
6. No feeding while they are under medical treatment.

Treatment for discus white spot infection

White Spot

1. The white spot will not be cleared in one or two days.
2. Apply Methylene Blue solution plus salt.
3. Raise temperature to 30 C
4. Carry on the treatment at least for one week.
5. Suggestion is to do it for ten days.
6. Though you killed the parasite in 7 days, the remaining eggs will hatch out and continue.
7. To treat white spot you must have patience.
8. Methylene Blue is the best and safe.
9. Salt - 100 liters of water add 1 tablespoonful.
10. The color of water should be blue in color.
11. NO FEEDING: You are going to kill the fish if you do that because you are feeding and producing the white spot as well.
12. Do not change water, as you will stress the fish.
13. If water is dirty, you can siphon the dirt out. Only ¼.

Receiving your discus shipment

Question:
When you first get a shipment of fish, Discus were a little stressed when they came in, clapped fins, and swimming fast...what can I do to help them out?

Answer:

1. The temperatures inside the plastic bag and your tank
   is different. Splash or wash the outside of the plastic bag with clean tap water.
2. Leave the plastic in the tank which you intend to put in the fish for about 30 minutes.
3. Take out the plastic bag then use a clean net to net the fish out into the tank.

Treatment:

1. Acriflavine + Salt
2. Methylene Blue + Salt

Apply either one solution above, then ..

1. Tank water level preferably about 8 inches height.
2. Change the water everyday and apply the solution.
3. Repeat the treatment for 3 days.