Introduction to Discus

Discus. The name alone inspires images of vivid colors and majestic grace. A fish of amazing beauty, the Discus has few rivals in the freshwater hobby today, and has captured the imagination of hobbyists at all levels, beginner and professional alike. While it can be certainly argued that Discus are the "coolest" fish in the world, it is also one of the most misunderstood. I personally know a petshop owner that tells me he doesn't want to stock Discus because they are far too difficult to keep, and yet this same dealer sells very elaborate and complex reef systems, and then will tell you how easy a reef tank is to maintain if you follow some basic guidelines! Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not knocking the reef hobby, far from it. I love reef tanks, in fact my boys want me to set up a shark tank for them!

The truth is that the same applies to Discus...... They are easy to keep if you follow some basic guidlines.

The Discus, is a member of the family Cichlidae, genus Symphysodon, and was originally described by Dr. Johann Jacob Heckel of Vienna Austria in 1840. The first specimens of Discus were classified as Symphysodon Discus Heckel, and were described for the first time in volume 2 of the "Annals of the Vienna Museum". For almost a century the Discus remained virtually unknown until it become available to the aquarium hobby in the early 1930's where it was given the common name of Pompadour fish.

Back in those early days, the hobbyist had little information and virtually no reference to the requirements for keeping their Discus. Unfortunately the loss rate was quite high, and many disappointed hobbyists suffered expensive losses in livestock, and certainly failed to successfully breed these magnificent new specimens. The lack of reference information and resources that we often take for granted today certainly contributed to the early failure rate of Discus keeping. Can you imagine trying to keep Discus with no idea what foods they needed to survive, water temperature, Ph, or water hardness is required? Try to imagine having no Internet access for rapid information when you get into trouble! We take much of this for granted now but back then...

During the 70's the Discus was somewhat of an "elite" fish, primarily kept by the more advanced or professional hobbyists. It was during the middle 70's that I purchased my first Discus hybrid strains, the Powder Blues, and the Royal Blues. These specimens ran 25.00 each for a fish barely bigger than a thumbnail, and were quite attractive for early hybrids. Other strains that were available around this time were the early Turquoise strains from Jack Wattley. (which I also bought several dozens of!). During this time wild strains were fairly common with the experienced hobbyists, and it was not uncommon to find Peruvian Greens and Brown Discus populating the tanks of the fish club guru's, as well as the occasional Heckel. But rarely any fry.

The 1980's was a boom period for Discus popularity, largely due to the wide availability of tank raised colorful strains by breeders like Jack Wattley, Edward Schmidt-Focke and countless breeders from Germany and Asia. Their contributions to the Discus market paved the way for hobbyists of all skill levels to afford and breed Discus. Unfortunately, this also gave rise to "fast buck scam artists" that sold volumes of low quality, often hormoned discus, to unsuspecting hobbyists. Often these fish were parasite ridden due to the way they were raised, or like in 1986, many had a rapidly spreading disease often just refered to as the Discus Plague. Many hopeful breeders lost thousands of dollars worth of investment when their own tanks became infected.

Many hobbyists who had bought heavily into Discus hoping to breed these magnificent fish ended up frustrated. But the Discus situation wasn't all bad, you just had to be very careful who you trusted. There were many good and reliable breeders in the market, and with a little research, the hobbyist was as likely to find great deals on high quality Discus if they knew where to look. I personally saw too many people willing to take the cheapest deal over the best quality deal, and they usually paid for it in the end.

In my own pursuit of the perfect Discus, I purchased samples from dozens of breeders. Sadly, many of the specimens I bought ended up in the toilet, but quite a few went on to win trophies at fish club shows as well as producing good quantities of high quality fry to sell.

Unfortunately, the Discus marketplace is still in somewhat of a dark age where retailers are concerned. The same caveats that were true in the 80's hold true today. You MUST be careful when you purchase Discus, do your research. Discus like other large cichlids are not hard to keep at all if properly cared for and you can follow simple guidlines. In over 20 years of Discus keeping, it has been my experience that it takes a lot of severe mis-management to kill off a Discus. I have survived massive temperature drops due to heating system failure, filtration system failure while I was in Las Vegas, no electricity during earthquakes, you name it. And the Discus have been no worse for wear, and have always proved to be as hearty as any other fish in my collection.

Discus can be an incredibly rewarding adventure, make the most of it!