DISCUS

Discus Keeping For Beginners

Aquarium dimension for discus: This plays a vital role for discus keeping. If you choose proper dimension then half of your job is already done. We know that discus is a round or disc shaped fish. So due to this body shape this fish moves more vertically than horizontally. More they move more they grow fast. Generally discus is a mid-level moving fish. Choose a 18 inch to 24 inch high tank. Discus loves to live in a group. Buy at least 4-6 discus for the first time. So they can eventually form a group. Ideal tank length: at least 3 feet. A 3 feet tank is ideal for those 6 , with a height of 18-24 inch Aquarium type: There are few types of discus aquarium can be done->

1. Bare bottom tank 2. Sandy tank (Tank with sand as substrate) 3. Graveled tank (Tank with gravel as substrate) 4. Planted tank
1. Keeping Discus in a sandy tank :if you are a first time discus keeper, then you may not like a bare bottom tank. Though many discus keepers love to keep discus in a BB tank, they can be kept in a gravel tank or sandy substrate also. i) Different types of discus in a sandy tank: Ok, you choose sand as a substrate. Then I suggest that make a black background for this tank. Keep those discus which show no peepering or generally will not turn blackish. So what are those strains!! They are turquoise (blue,red,tiger), leopard, snakeskin, leopard snakeskin, blue diamond, snow white, alenquer, san merah, tefe green ii) Fish size youll choose for this type of tank: So for the first time you keep discus and you keep in a sandy tank. So your fish size will be at least 2.5-3 inch at least. Now question comes. Why do you choose this size? I say that this is the perfect size for any discus to grow. Many discus experts say that this size of discus grows fastest than any other size. Also this size of discus is also easy to keep!!! Because with little care with in few days youll be amazed to see that your discus grows 3.5 -4 inch! So keep 2.5-3 inch size discus. After few days you may take challenge to keep 1.5-2 inch discus.

1)Water Change schedule and filters: You can do 20% water change in every alternate day. Yes just 20% to raise 2.5-3 inch discus. External canister filter will be the best filter for any kind of set up. Now you may say that canister filter is too costly. Ok, no problem. Still you can manage this with a top filter and 1 power filter. On the chamber of top filter keep good amount of zeolite and inside power filter keep maximum amount of sponge!! Here one question may be asked. Power filter for discus tank? Yes why not, make sure that the outlet of power filter is towards back glass of your tank or you can use a spray bar with it. 2)Water that you use for your aquarium: : The water should be dechlorinated. Use of chloramine can be disastrous. So use a test kit to determine the presence and concentration of this Chlorine or Chloramine. Make sure that discus can be healthy and can grow well if you provide them right water condition, which is obviously chlorine free. It will be good if you store water for 24 hours in a bucket and treat it with HYPO. Its a very good chlorine remover. iv)Food and feeding schedule in this sandy tank: Since you keep discus for the first time, you may dare to make BHM/GHM. Ok, dont worry, still you have a large variety of fo ods which are suitable for discus and also for this set up. In this set up you can feed them hikari discus bio gold, tetra bits(easier to identify those than hikari on sand), frozen dried bloodworms,ants egg. Yes ants egg! This is one of the best live food for discus, as this contains no external or internal parasites. Assume that you buy 2.5-3 inch discus. So you feed them 4-5 times daily. After feeding them you can siphon their wastes and uneaten food. It will take maximum 2-3 minutes. v)Tank mates : Though for best practice discus can be kept alone but you can keep some bottom feeders in this tank. You can keep corydoras sp., clown loach, bristlenose pleco etc. They can eat uneaten foods that youll provide to your fishes. vi)Other decorations for this type of tank: 1. You can use driftwoods in this tank. Adding this not only your tank looks good bit also it will provide them some hiding place when they are first introduced and stressed. 2. Let us assume that you keep either canister or top and power filter, so there is no direct channel for aeration. Hence you have to use airstone for more aeration. 3. You can also use some hardy plants like echinodorous sp., vallisneria sp.anubias sp. In this type of set up.

2. Keeping discus in a gravelled tank :i) Gravel that you will use: There are different types of gravel is available in the market. One has fine grain and other has comparatively larger grain. If you choose fine grain gravels then it will be a tough job for you to clean your tank, Where as if you use larger grain it will be easier to clean. So I suggest using larger gravel. ii) Different types of discus that you can keep in a gravelled tank: Yes you can also keep discus in a gravelled tank. If you wish to keep discus in a gravelled tank then I suggest to make a blue (whatever dark or light blue, but light blue is preferable) background. This is different with sandy discus tank. A sandy discus tank should look more blackish or kind of normal nature, where as gravelled discus tank is more spontaneous. Thats why you can ch oose blue background. In a gravelled discus tank you will astonish to hear that you can keep more variety of discus that you can keep in a sandy discus tank!!! Yes it is. Apart from those turquoise strain, leopard, blue diamond etc. you can also keep all melon sp., red and white, Marlboro, yellow checkerboard!!! And yes you can successfully keep those without any peepering on their bodies. Here you can see a picture of sunshine orange of mine. This was my first ever discus and I kept that more than 3 years. It grew up to 7 inch!!! iii) Fish size youll choose for this type of tank: My general suggestion is to keep 2.5-3 inch juvenile discus if you keep discus for first time. bigger will be better. But since you use a gravelled tank and hope you have a good filtration and good amount of water change schedule you can show fascination Of keeping 2 inch discus also!!! From my previous post you know that discus will live better in a group. So keeping 6-8 discus of 2 inch will be no problem for you. iv)Maintaining part of this tank: 1)Water Change schedule: Maintaining a gravelled discus tank is little bit different from that of a sandy one. You are already aware that in a gravelled tank you can have the fascination to keep even 1.5-2 inch discus. Therefore, water change and siphoning properly will play a big role here. If you dont water change daily still it will not be a problem, but you have to siphon it thoroughly. Otherwise the uneaten food and fish wastes can create a big problem in your tank. So I suggest you to siphon tank water after heavy feeding (Ill discuss about f ood habit of your discus in a gravelled tank later) to make sure that there will be no(/less) uneaten food and fish ****. Now come to the water change schedule. If you keep adult or big size discus(4 inch plus) then your WC schedule can be twice per week about 30-40%. And if you keep a school of juveniles you can do 20% water change in every alternate day.

3. Keeping discus in a planted tank :Without any doubt planted tank is one the beautiful looking of any kind of tanks. Many of us love to keep planted tank. i) Different types of discus that you can keep in a planted tank: You have to be choosy enough for different strain of discus in a planted tank. You cant choose all types of discus in a plan ted tank. Let me assume that you have a beautiful planted set up. But you keep some peepering prone or such type of discus. I see many planted experts keeping discus in their tanks but they keep juvenile and peepering discus. I feel very sad to see this. So to avoid this you can keep all turquoise strain, leopard, snakeskin, san merah, blue diamond etc. You know planted tank can be classified of 2 different types. One is low-tech set up with DIY CO2, DIY substrate, low-medium light etc. keeping discus in this type of set up is comparatively easier.one can keep adult discus in this low-tech set up after 4-5 months of set up. Once the tank is settled well and tends to mature then you can keep them. Other type of set up is high-tech planted tank with pressurised CO2 system, branded substrate, high light, proper dosing etc. keeping discus in this type of set up is little tricky. A branded substrate can cause problem for discus. In addition, due to high light, dosing, CO2 your discus can be stressed. So to avoid this whats the option? The only option is to keep adult discus settling in this typ e of environment. I know many planted discus keepers who keep adult discus in a temporary planted set up and if a discus is settled enough then only they can transfer that discus to the main planted tank. But in your case I like to say that keep 4-4.5 inch+ (at least) discus. As you know adult discus is having more resistance power, so it will not be too much problem. Also one thing that I like to suggest you, In case of hi-tech planted set up please keep discus once tank is fully matured. During set up time there can be some fluctuation of water parameters which is hazardous to discus. ii) Fish size youll choose for this type of tank: Keeping discus in a planted aquarium is not like keeping discus in other types of tank. In other type of tanks you can easily keep and successfully raise 2-.25 inch discus. But for planted tank I suggest you to keep adult discus. As we all know adult discus can adapt more than juveniles. So keeping 4 inch plus discus is a very option for a planted tank. Since you use pressurised CO2 (for high-tech set up), well often find juveniles are stressed or often goes top level of water. Discus demands more oxygen and in case of juveniles they need more than adult. Thats one of the reasons to choose adult discus in a planted tank. From my previous post you know that disc us will live better in a group. So keeping a batch of 4 inch size discus will be no problem for you.

iv)Food and feeding schedule in this sandy tank: Food habit and feeding schedule can be a little tricky in this type of tank. Since you keep them in a planted tank you cant feed any sinking food or BHM/GHM. So you have to feed them flake food or slow sinking food. use so you can feed them flake foods, tetra crisps, frozen dried bloodworms (occasionally. Benefit is this type of food will not go to gravel bed and your discus can eat it. Now come to feeding schedule. Now come to feeding schedule. Since you keep adult discus so feeding 2-3 times will not be a problem to them. You can feed them heavy food in morning and late night (10-10:30pm). A good feeding schedule for adult discus in a planted tank is : 7 am: flake food (heavy) 4-5 pm: flake food 10-10:30 pm: flake food (heavy) v)Tank mates : Though for best practice discus can be kept alone but you can keep some bottom feeders in this tank. You can keep denisonii or matured neons, cardinals,rummy nose or harlequins in this tank.

How to prevent ich or white spot disease of discus: Ich or white spot disease of Discus is one of the major factors of discus fish keeping. This can happen due to bad water parameters, fluctuation of ph, temperature etc. So you need a quarantine tank which protects your fish from disease and allow to regain optimum health before they are shifted your main tank. Here I describe my own method of how to fight with ich of discus Day 1: start the quarantine process with Oxytetracycline 500mg tablets. Dosage is 5 tablets per 100 liter of water. Also raise temperature at 32 degree Celsius during this course. Most of the parasites will kill in that temperature. Use heavy aeration and dont switch on any kind of filters. Day2,3 : keep it as it is. Day 4: do full water change after 3 days. Use same dosage with same process with heavy aeration and no filters. Day 5,6: keep it as it is. Day 7: continue the step that was followed on day 4. Day 8,9: keep it as it is Day 10: continue the step that was followed on day 4. Day 11,12: continue the step that was followed on day 8,9. Dont feed them during this course. After 12 days of treatment check whether ich is gone or not. during this process you may find that color of discus is gone. Theres no need to worry about this. Color will come back again. Then start feeding in small qu antity. Observe them keeping in hospital tank for further 4,5 days. If everything is going on well keep them in your main tank.

Sex In juvenile fish, determining sex is almost impossible. It is only when they begin to pair off that an opportunity arises to help in the determination of sex. Juvenile fish, both male and female, have a rounded dorsal fin, and it is not until they begin to mature that a difference Can be detected. The male discus will have thicker lips to aid him in his fight to protect the female, and male discus can become more aggressive. The male will be larger than the female, his forehead is thicker, and we have observed that if the discus is a bit shy, the male will have a tendency to stay between the female and the observer. Moreover, we can distinguish the male and female discus by laying tube and the spine of the anal fin. Closer is female. The laying tube of the female is boarder for the tube to deliver eggs. Male discus fish tend to have less intense colour but have more pattern while the female tends to be more colourful but with lesser pattern. Sexing Discus is the most difficult. The easiest way to do so is to raise a group of at least six to eight discuses, so that they can form community and allow them to pair off when ready. It is a beautiful sight to see. Also during laying time (no matter it will fertilise or not, when a female discus will mature and have eggs to her belly she will lay) you can find a small laying tube is developed. To see this laying tube one can surely say that this is a female discus. Spawning The best and primary way to breed discus is to keep breeding pair of discus. Raise discus from juvenile age and then finally get a breeding pair is obviously a time taking factor. Hence you can buy adult discus. You can get a breeding pair of discus in various ways. First you can buy discus of same strain and then you can get a breeding pair. I think if you buy 4 discus of same strain so that you can get 1 pair. Otherwise you have to buy a confirm breeding pair of discus. But this will obviously have high budget issue. Most discus breeder keeps the bare bottom tank to breed discus. The female lays her eggs (up to 200) on a vertical support (PVC pipe, plant pot, aquarium glass), with hatching following in about three days; the fry remain attached by their heads and only start swimming two or three days later, under the supervision of the parent fish. But I think to remember, once you find your discus start moving together and the female discus starts trial run for laying eggs, you have to shift them in a breeding tank. In the breeding tank there will be 1 sponge filter. Other type of aquarium, which is used to breed discus, is the planted tank. Planted tank means an aquarium is full of natural plants. But it is very important to note that in discus aquarium only a few types of plants can survive. Those plants are echinodorous sp. and Anubias sp. Most discus can lay eggs on the echinodorous sp. plants. The large leaves of these plants are very attractive to them. For a breeding pair of discus the selection of food is also very important. As I described earlier, you can feed them BHM, GHM, hikari discus bio gold, ants eggs, frozen dried bloodworms (occasionally), tetra bits etc.

How To Protect Your Discus Fish With The Proper Water Chemistry
Setting up a healthy discus tank is not an easy job. For a discus aquarium, water chemistry plays a very important part of all. The nitrite and ammonia level of your tank must be zero. Regular water change is the most important routine needed towards maintaining a healthy discus community aquarium. Buildup of waste will eventually cause ammonia fluctuation, which is toxic to the fish. To remove wastes from fishes and from uneaten food any hobbyist use filter, although you have a good filtering system like biological or under-gravel filter but solid waste are yet to be removed. As you know that discus is very sensible with any little change in water chemistry so do regular partial water change is a must if you intend to ensure that your fish stays healthy. If you add discus in completely new aquarium then you should be more careful. First, you have to wait until the nitrogen cycle is performed in your tank. The nitrogen cycle is very important for discus aquarium. You have to wait up to 1 month until all toxic parameters reduce to zero level. Replacing the evaporated water is not sufficient to overcome water chemistry changes. This is because the dissolved chemical remains inside and thus; you are merely adding fresh water to dilute it. Therefore, correct way of aquarium maintenance is to remove waste water first before you add in fresh one. For discus community tank from my experience, I suggest you to perform 40% of water change in every 5 days and replace with fresh water back to the same level. However, there are some more factors, which may alter the frequency and amount of water to take out. Here I discuss some of these factors: 1.Stocking capacity: You should be very careful for selecting the number of discus you keep and the amount of plants you provide in your tank. More you planted more number of discus fish you keep harder will be to maintain proper water chemistry. Then you have to perform partial water change more frequently and should be alert on any water parameter changing.

2. Aquarium you select new or old: Water changes in order to maintain balanced state. This is because; it takes time to establish the colony of beneficial aquarium bacteria that breaks down ammonia waste. Therefore, check thoroughly the water parameters like ph, ammonia and dissolved oxygen during this critical period. 3. Chlorine free water: The primary condition of water is it should be dechlorinated. If you want to keep discus then first you must give attention the water you provide in your discus tank. Now a days in any pet shop you can get dechlorinated medicine that helps you to lower chlorine of your tank. Use that thing and dissolve it as that medicine say. You should buy dechlorine medicine which helps you to lower chlorine of your tank. This Chlorine is routinely added to the water supply in many parts of the world to make the water germfree. But this Chlorine is not good for discus fish and the use of chloramine can be disastrous. So use a test kit to determine the presence and concentration of this Chlorine or Chloramine. Make sure that discus can be healthy and can grow well if you provide them right water condition, which is obviously chlorine free. 4. Hardness of water: If the hardness and alkalinity are not correct for your discus, they may be adjusted. It is easier to increase hardness and alkalinity upwards rater than downwards, but lowering these values is by no means impossible, it just requires an extra water conditioning step. 5. PH level: One of the most common problems encountered by the aquarist is maintaining a constant pH level. Many hobbyists fail to understand the importance pH plays in the aquarium and what factors influence the pH reading. The Discus is a very sensitive fish. You should be very careful about fluctuating ph in your discus tank. I have a personal experience I lost my few discus due to fluctuated ph level in my early days in this hobby. You can fix it at 7. You may use a ph meter to measure it. When considering pH, you should have a goal of stability. Although 7.0 may be the standard pH level for a discus fish, the same fish will likely thrive at a constant level anywhere between 6.6 and 7.4. It may even survive at constant levels between 6.2 and 7.8. Our goal as aquarists should be to establish a very consistent pH level, even if that level is slightly outside the ideal pH re ading for a given species. In other words, a constant pH of 6.6 is better than a pH value which fluctuates between 6.6 and 7.0, even for a fish which prefers a 7.0 reading.

This has been a brief overview of water chemistry as it relates to discus care. This only covers the high-level basics. There are many more points where I dont give spotlight here. These conditions can be changed when you have a breeding pair of discus. Hence by these points you know that how to obtain a fixed water chemistry level in your aquarium. Now the main challenging matter comes -> how to maintain it. When your aquarium is comparatively new then you have no chemical or biological wastes in your tank but when you add discus or any other fish and feeding them then chemical and biological processes comes into play and degrade water quality over time. These processes include the production of acid by the nitrifying bacteria in the gravel and filter, which means that over time the pH of aquarium water, will always tend to drop. Others are the constant formation of nitrate by these same bacteria and inputs of dissolved organic compounds from fish waste and uneaten food. The way to combat these changes and keep the water chemistry stable is to have an efficient, well-maintained filter system. SOLUTIONS FROM IMPROPER WATER CHEMISTRY Therefore, you have to know about the solutions by which you can get rid of this improper water chemistry. To do this, you have to test our aquarium water to maintain a stable environment for discus fish. Unless you test your water, you cannot understand if the water is stable for discus or not. Water testing is important, and you need to do it, but from my experience, I suggest you that you should not go behind those numbers that are said by the experienced hobbyists. Some aquarists read that the pH should be X and hardness needs to be Y, and continually add chemicals and buffers to the water to alter the pH and hardness, resulting in wild swings in water chemistry. AVOID THIS! Most fishes and even your discus can tolerate up to a certain range of water chemistry, but they do not tolerate rapid changes. Maintaining stable water chemistry, and keeping it at the optimal levels for your particular fish, is difficult. Many of the parameters are interdependent, so that if you change one, the other changes as well. Being able to manage and manipulate water chemistry to provide a stable, healthy environment is the challenge facing any aquarist. The Nitrogen Cycle (Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate) Three of the most important water chemistry parameters are ammonia/ ammonium (NH3/NH4+), nitrite (NO2-), and nitrate (NO3-). These three chemicals are important because ammonia and nitrite are both very toxic to aquatic life, even at low concentrations. Incidentally, neither one is great for us either. Nitrate, while much less toxic than either ammonia or nitrite, is toxic at high concentrations. More importantly, it is a great plant nutrient and thus causes algal blooms. Now a days, many products are available in the market which that claim to detoxify ammonia and nitrite. These preparations are acceptable to use in case of an emergency, you have to stock these products too. Like when a dead discus fish causes a huge ammonia spike, but they are not a substitute for good filtration and husbandry. These things do not actually remove any nitrogenous waste from the system; they simply bind to ammonia and render it less toxic to fish. All the nitrogen is still in the system feeding other bacterial and algal populations. There is still no substitute for biological filtration and good, old-fashioned water changes. In my aquarium, I have this biological filtering system for the discus fish with great success.

Discus Classification by Carol Roberts

All colors and types of discus will interbreed and produce fertile fry. Some types like Pigeon Blood and Blue Diamonds are easily recognized. Discus are either classed as wilds, which means they were born in the Amazon region of South America, or as tank-bred domestics. Lets start with wilds. All wilds have vertical bars overlaid with varying amount of pattern or striations. Wilds are traditionally broken down into four classes. Class 1 Heckle (Symphysodon heckel) Heckles are different from other Discus in that three of the nine vertical bars are more prominent - the one through the eye, the fifth or middle bar and the caudal or tail bar.

Class 2 Brown (Symphysodon aequifasciata axelrodi)

Class 3 Blue (Symphysodon aequifasciata haraldi)

Class 4 Green (Symphysodon aequifasciata aequifasciata)

Wild Red Spotted Greens have a greenish-tan base color. The red spots are highly prized. Collectors look for discus with spotting over a large percentage of the body. Domestic Red Spotted Green Discus Wild Red Spotted Green discus have been selectively bred with domestic strains to produce spotted fish like this one.

Domestic discus are classified by physical appearance such as color and markings. Class 5 Thick Line The first domestic discus were similar in appearance to wild discus. They had vertical stress bars with an overlay of horizontal striations. Striations can be classed as thick line or thin line. Turquoise Discus are one of many discus varieties with straight, thick striations.

Class 6 Thin Line Snakeskin discus have a fine pattern of lines or striations. Most have 14 vertical bars. These discus have a distinctive pattern of fine lines and dots on their gill plates.

Class 7 Pattern This class would include Discus with complicated striations such as this Ring Leopard. Checkerboard and pearl are other common discus patterns

Class 8 Spotted

Discus with spots such as Red Leopards, domestic Red Spotted Greens and leopard spotted snakeskin would fit in this category.

Class 9 Open Pattern

(Any pattern such as Albino Spotted, Albino Snakeskin, Golden Leopard Snakeskin etc.)

Another way to divide domestic discus is by color. Discus are commonly divided into color classes at shows.

Class 10 Blue (Blue Diamond, Cobalt, etc.) Class 11 Red (any red discus) Class 12 Yellow (Pigeon Blood, Golden, Yellow Crystal, Golden Spotted) Class 13 White (Any white discus) Snow White Class 14 Open (Yellow White, Red White, Calico, Ghost)

The discus pictured below are easy to distinguish and are popular in the hobby.
Turquoise Discus have vertical stress bars and a pattern of thick striations. The striations may be red or blue on a tan background. This is one of the oldest strains of domestic discus and can be found most anywhere discus are sold.

Snake Skins have vertical stress bars and a pattern of thin striations. The striations may be red or blue on a tan background. If you look closely you will notice a pattern of fine lines and dots on the gill plates that is unique to this variety of discus. Snakeskins have been successfully used in many crosses. You can find Leopard Snakeskins, Pigeon Snakeskins. Blue Diamond Snakeskins and even Red Spotted Golden Leopard Snakeskins.

Red Leopard and Red Leopard Snake Skins have vertical stress bars and a pattern of thin or thick striations that are broken into small spots. The spots are red on a blue or tan background. Leopard Snake Skins will have a pattern of fine lines and dots on the gill plates.

Pigeon bloods lack vertical stress bars and range in color from nearly solid white through yellow, orange, to a deep orangey red. They can be almost solid in color, striated with thick lines, thin lines, pearled or anything in between. Many are being bred with an overlay of red spots on the body. Pepper is a characteristic shared by all pigeon based discus. These small, black specks of pigment usually appear on the nose and face and are more prominent when the discus is stressed or ill. The newer strains of pigeons are being bred with less pepper. The pigeon blood gene is dominant. A Pure pigeon bred to any other discus will produce all pigeon fry. If the breeding is to a discus with vertical stress bars the fry may be heavily peppered. Pigeon based discus are sold under many names such as Marlboro, Melon, Tangerine, White Butterfly, Blue Panda and Golden.

Blue Diamonds lack vertical stress bars and are solid blue in color. There should be no striations on the face or fins. Red eyes are desirable. The Blue Diamond gene is recessive. Two blue diamonds bred together will produce all blue diamond fry.

White Discus such as Snow Whites lack vertical stress bars and are solid white in color. The face may be more yellowish-white and the fins may show iridescent blue. There should be no striations on the face or fins. They have distinctive white eyes.

Emerald Green Discus

Candy Apple Red Discus

Asian Turquoise Discus

HB Great Blue Discus

Diamond Blue Discus

Red Spot Green Discus

Royal Blue Discus

Tangerine Dream Discus

Neon Turquoise Discus

Hi Fin Cobalt Discus

Scribbled Red Discus

Mandarin Flame Discus

White Dragon Discus

Solid Powder Blue Discus

Golden Red Discus

Red Rio Purus Discus

Golden Crown Ghost Discus

Solid Cobalt Discus

Rainbow Pigeon Discus

Tef Green Discus

Solid Maroon Red Discus

Golden Dragon Discus

HB Great Turquoise Discus

Solid Pastel Green Discus

Alencer Red Spotted Discus

Snake Skin

Gold Diamond Discus

Marlboro Red Discus

Ocean Green Discus

Red Ribbon Pigeon Discus

Blue Diamond Discus

Emperor Red Discus

Red Spotted Green Discus F-2

Line Master Yellow Discus

Red Spotted Diamond Discus

Red Leopard Discus

Blood Red Spider Web Discus

Ruby Spotted Snake Skin Discus

King Cobra Discus

Yellow Red Ribbon Discus

Super Red Scorpion Discus

Red Leopard Snake Skin

First of the Universe Discus F-1

Super San Merah Discus

Solid Thai Yellow Discus

Green Leopard Discus

Bold Red Universe Discus F-2

Red Spotted Saffron Discus

White Diamond Discus

Calico Discus

Red Leopard Discus

Royal Pigeon Discus

Red Melon Discus

Red and White Phoenix

Gold Crystal Discus

White Butterfly Discus

Red Tiger Discus

Electric Dream Discus

Red Ruby Discus

Golden Albino Discus

Ring Leopard Discus

Red Leopard Eruption Discus

Snow Leopard Discus

Red Checkerboard Pigeonblood Discus Fish

Super Eruption Discus

Panda (Ghost) Discus

Rainbow Panda

Siam Gold

Leopard

Blue Turquoise

Blue Turquoise Stripe

Brown Discus

Pigeon Gold

Pigeon Pearl

Red Spotted Green

Albino White Butterfly

Albino White Yellow

Star Trek

Star War

Albino Blue Diamond

Albino Golden

Albino Leopard Snake Skin

Albino Snake Skin

Albino Turquoise

Calico

Nebula

White Tiger

Checkerboard blood

Red Turquoise

http://www.pydiscusfarm.com/

Fire Red

Tangerine Discus
The tangerine discus is a type of pigeon blood discus. It has a beautiful orange tangerine color in the body of the fish. The body of the tangerine discus is usually solid in color with very little peppering. The head, face and fins can have a little bit of mother and pearl color striations. The body edges are usually a darker, reddish orange color. These discus look great in an aquarium with live aquatic plants.

Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond discus fish have solid blue bodies with no black markings on their fins or tails. Watching a shoal of blue diamond discus school around in an aquarium is totally mesmerizing. blue diamond discus is a cultivated discus that results from a recessive trait of the blue variety of turquoise discus. Whereas blue turquoise discus normally have striations throughout their bodies, those showing the recessive trait have transparent bodies without any markings. These turquoise discus with the recessive trait have been specially bred together to produce the blue diamond discus. The red leopard snake skin discus is one of the most interestingly patterned discus available. It is a cultivated discus, particularly the result of cross breeding a leopard discus with a snakeskin discus, which gives the red leopard snake skin discus its unusual appearance. As with all cultivated discus, it has been bred to enhance the vivid color and interesting markings. The leopard discus has been bred to produce a spotted appearance, and snake skin discus has thin striations that resemble the skin of a snake. When bred together, the leopard and snake skin discus create a beautiful, striking pattern that combines the better of the two for a truly spectacular combination. The round body of the red leopard snake skin discus is a tan to gold color, or occasionally pale blue, and it is covered with red spots of assorted sizes. Its head is tan, gold, or blue with thin, white striations, and its large fins have white and red striations of varying sizes.

Red Leopard Snake Skin

Red Checkerboard Pigeonblood

This is one of the most stunningly beautiful cultivated discus, and it will make an excellent addition to your tropical fish collection. The breeders of this beauty have eliminated all trace of the vertical stress bars found in wild discus. The colors have been enhanced, and a striking pattern has been produced in the red checkerboard pigeonblood discus. The head is a tan to gold color, and it has white striations on it. The rest of its body is a vibrant reddish orange color, and it is marked with white striations. The striations are irregularly shaped spots, and they are clustered in a close pattern in the center of its body. Closer to the fins, the striations are longer and more loosely patterned. Both the dorsal and pectoral fins of the red checkerboard pigeonblood discus also have white striations that vary in length and width. The tail fin of the red checkerboard pigeonblood discus is opaque and free of markings. The red checkerboard pigeonblood discus grows to about 8 in length, and it is nearly as tall as it is wide. Its flat and round shape is enhanced by its full, rounded pectoral and dorsal fins.

Red Leopard

The red leopard discus is a brilliant display of color and spotting that will make a true splash in your tropical aquarium. This cultivated beauty is free of vertical stress bars, and it has been bred to create its unique spotting and vibrant colors. The head of the red leopard discus is gold, and the center part of its body will also sometimes display the gold color. The red leopard discus has a body that is white covered with an attractive pattern of red leopard spots. The tail fin of the red leopard discus is gold with a small amount of spotting close to its body. The dorsal and pectoral fins of the red leopard discus are white, and they have finely lined red striations. The head of the red leopard discus also has fine white striations on it. The red leopard discus is a large fish, and its shape is as engaging as its spots. At its full size, the red leopard discus reaches a length of 8. It is almost as tall as it is wide, which gives it an attractive rounded appearance. Both the pectoral and dorsal fins of the red leopard discus are full and extend the entire length of its body, contributing to its round shape.

Rainbow Pigeon

The rainbow pigeon discus is a vividly colored fish that will make a big splash of color in your freshwater tropical aquarium. It has been bred to produce rich, bold colors and an engaging pattern of markings. The head and the body of the rainbow pigeon discus are light colored, although its head is often more colorful than the base color of its body. The rainbow pigeon discus has an allover pattern of striations that form intricately connected patterns. The striations vary in color from fish to fish, but they are typically dark orange, brownish red, or a vibrant red. The head of the rainbow pigeon discus has white striations. The pectoral and dorsal fins of the rainbow pigeon discus are covered in striations that appear as lines, and close to the tail fin the striations appear as spots. The half of the tail fin closest to its body also exhibits spotted striations. Some rainbow pigeon discus will have a sprinkling of black speckles on its body and head. The rainbow pigeon discus is a large, vibrantly colored fish, and its shape makes it unique among tropical fish. Collectors love the roundness of the discus fish. The rainbow pigeon discus grows to about 8 in length, and it will be nearly as tall as it is wide. Its flat, round shape is enhanced by its full, rounded pectoral and dorsal fins.

Red Melon
The red melon discus is a vibrantly colored discus that will make a great addition to your tropical aquarium. This is one of the most boldly colored cultivated discus. It has been cultivated to eliminate the vertical stress bars found in wild discus and to enhance its beautiful coloring. The red melon discus has a gold face and body that is overlaid with a beautiful red-orange color. The head and the body of the red melon discus are free from any vertical stress bars, striations, and spots. The dorsal and pectoral fins of the red melon discus are typically a shade somewhere between the gold of its head and the reddish orange of its body. The dorsal and pectoral fins have very light striations on them, and the tail fin of the red melon discus is opaque and free from markings. The red melon discus is a large and pleasantly shaped fish, which is part of the appeal of discus to tropical fish collectors. At its full size, the red melon discus reaches a length of 8.. It is almost as tall as it is wide, which gives it a rounded appearance. The pectoral and dorsal fins of the red melon discus are full and extend the full length of its body, contributing to its roundness.

Snake Skin
The snake skin discus has a beautiful pattern as a result of crossbreeding multiple varieties of discus. In the snake skin discus, the vertical stress bars common to discus found in the wild have been completely eliminated. Colors of snake skin discus vary widely according to the color of the fish used in breeding, but they are usually a solid color rather than multiple shadings. Snake skin discus can be blue, red, green, tan, or gold. Their bodies are covered in a pattern of striations that are fine lines, most of which run horizontally. Close to the fins, the striations become more broken and dot like. The head of the snake skin discus also has striations on it. The dorsal and pectoral fins are covered with a series of thinly lined striations as well.

Red Tiger

The red tiger discus is a standout even among the wide variety of vividly colored and patterned cultivated discus. It is a beautiful blend of spots, striations, and stress bars that creates a discus that will be the star of your tropical aquarium. The red tiger discus has a tan to gold colored body that is covered with an engaging pattern of red spots and striations. It has the stress bars of a classic, wild discus, but the color of the bars on the body is faint. The exception is the head of the red tiger discus, which has a very dark stress bar running through its eyes. The pectoral and dorsal fins of the red tiger discus have red striations and thin stripes on them. The tail fin of this discus is a pale gold or tan color. The red tiger discus has a round, flat body. At maturity, it can reach a length of 8. The red tiger discus is round due to the fact that it is almost as tall as it is wide. In addition, the full dorsal and pectoral fins also contribute to its delightfully round shape.

Ring Leopard
This stunning fish is a must have for any discus collector. The ring leopard discus is a beautiful fish that has been produced by careful crossbreeding of several varieties of cultivated discus. The body of the ring leopard discus is usually a pale tan or gold, but it can be almost white as well. In some varieties of ring leopard discus, the body has a faint turquoise hue. The center of the body of the ring leopard discus is covered in leopard like red spots that form a tight cluster. As you get closer to the fins, the spots disperse and form short lines and striations; rings often form in these areas as well, hence the name ring leopard. The dorsal and pectoral fins of the ring leopard discus have red striations on them. The tail fin, unlike the completely opaque, spotless tail fins of many discus, has a pattern of striations that cover up to half of it.

Royal Pigeon

The royal pigeon discus is a unique blend of color and striations, and it is a great addition to your freshwater, tropical aquarium. The stress bars have been completely bred out of this discus, and its colors have been enhanced. The royal pigeon discus has a gold face that is lightly marked by white striations. Its body is white, and it is covered with red striations, some of which form lines while others are broken. Some royal pigeon discus will have a sprinkling of black specks, called peppering, on their bodies or faces. The dorsal and pectoral fins of the royal pigeon discus also have a pattern of striations on them; as the fins approach the back of the fishs body, the striations are smaller and spot like. The tail fin of the royal pigeon discus is spotted close to its body, and a fine pattern of stripes appears on the remainder of the tail fin.

Scribbled Red

This stunning discus is a blend of both natural and cultivated discus varieties, and the result is a vividly colored fish that makes an attractive addition to a tropical aquarium. The color of the body and head of the scribbled red discus varies to some degree. It has a series of vertical stress bars on its body, and its head displays the thicker stress bar of the naturally occurring discus. Some are a pale golden color, while others are a vibrant orange. The head of the scribbled red discus has a pattern of white striations on it. The center of its body is covered with dark red, irregular striations that are close together. The striations are longer and spaced further apart on the outer parts of the scribbled red discuss body. The dorsal and pectoral fins are a dark red color covered with white striations. The tail fin of the scribbled red discus is dark but opaque.

Snake Skin
The snake skin discus has a beautiful pattern as a result of crossbreeding multiple varieties of discus. In the snake skin discus, the vertical stress bars common to discus found in the wild have been completely eliminated. Colors of snake skin discus vary widely according to the color of the fish used in breeding, but they are usually a solid color rather than multiple shadings. Snake skin discus can be blue, red, green, tan, or gold. Their bodies are covered in a pattern of striations that are fine lines, most of which run horizontally. Close to the fins, the striations become more broken and dot like. The head of the snake skin discus also has striations on it. The dorsal and pectoral fins are covered with a series of thinly lined striations as well.

Snow Leopard

This delightful discus is an excellent show fish for your tropical aquarium. Careful crossbreeding of various cultivated discus have produced this stunning discus. All of the vertical stress bars have been bred out of this particular variety of cultivated discus, creating a white to pale pink body. The head of the snow leopard discus is free from markings. The body, however, is covered with a stunning spray of closely clustered red leopard spots. The spotting also occurs on the dorsal, pectoral, and tail fins. The dorsal and pectoral fins also have a pattern of striations on them.

Solid Cobalt

This discus will make an interesting addition to your tropical aquarium due to the extensive change in coloring it undergoes. The solid cobalt discus has been crossbred to produce a solid colored body devoid of markings, but the markings are visible in a juvenile. When first born, the fry of the solid cobalt discus is an almost translucent blue color. The color deepens, and the young solid cobalt discus will display stress bars and striations of its naturally occurring ancestors. After three or four years, all of the markings from its body will have disappeared, leaving just the vivid blue coloring. The face of the solid cobalt discuss will retain its darker colored striations. The pectoral and dorsal fins will also continue to have a pattern of dark striations, but its tail fin will be free of markings.

Solid Maroon Red

As the name suggests, the solid maroon red discus has a distinct maroon color with a striking dark black line that runs through its eyes. The dorsal fin has unique white markings resembling spots while the pectoral fin is quite dark maroon in color. The face of the solid maroon red discus has a hint of yellow that runs through it. The tail has an opaque coloring to it and at first glance this fish may seem as it does not have one. The color of this discus is solid maroon red and distinct as suggested in the name and will stand out in your aquarium amongst the other fish. The solid maroon discus will grow to about 8 long and because of this large size they are very easy and pleasing to moving around when they are put in small numbers in your aquarium.

Super Red Scorpion

The super red scorpion is one of the most beautiful and vibrant discus for your aquarium. Not only does it have bright, bold colors but has a striking pattern which runs across its entire body. The body starts off with a yellow shade on its face, followed by a dark reddish color in the mid region leading to a dark brown color towards the tail region. It has distinct striations that run across its entire body and resembles a zebra print. The dorsal and pectoral fins of this discus are a dark brown color which contrasts the patterned body. The super red scorpion discus has a tail that is a dark shade but becomes opaque towards the end. They grow to about 8 and have the same length as the height. As this discus has both bold colors and patterns, it is a vibrant eye catcher for an aquarium.

Tangerine Dream

The tangerine dream discus is a stunning and vibrant discus that would be beautiful in any aquarium. It is a bright yellow-orange colored discus that has a pattern resembling spots on its mid region and striations that run across its fins. The facial region is yellow and this turns into a yellow red/orange color. The body is also a vibrant yellow but the outline of the spots is redorange. Towards the tail end of the discus, the spot pattern disappears with the tail fin found in a reddish color. The dorsal and pectoral fins have striations but the fins leading towards the tail has spot patterns, as if they are cluttered together. In some places of the fins, like underneath the stomach or the edges of the tail, it is evident that there is a dark shade of brown running through the yellow background of the discus. These bold colors and patterns make this an eye catching discus among other types of fish.

White Butterfly
The white butterfly discus is a beautiful fish that is pink with distinct red patterns on its body. The entire body is a light pink and the facial region has red patches around its eye. The dorsal fin has a dark reddish shade when reaching the tail end and it resembles white spots on a red background. In the pectoral fin, there are slight striations that are red under the stomach but towards the tail end, has a similar pattern as the dorsal fin. The tail region is a dark brown color with no distinct pattern evident. Since the body is pink, the pattern of the body stands out when observing this discus from far away. The eye of the white butterfly discus also stands out because of its orange iris against the black pupil.

White Diamond
As the name implies, this discus is bright white in color. There are no patterns and it is a solid color all over the body. The dorsal fin and the pectoral fin of this discus are white to opaque and from far away resemble spikes. The tail region is opaque and it seems as if this discus has no tail when observed from a distance. On closer examination, the facial region is a dark cream color which stands out against the white eye of this discus. This is a beautiful addition to your aquarium because of its color and the spiky resemblance of the fins makes it a rare looking discus unlike some other fish that are available.

White Dragon
The white dragon discus has been cultivated to give it its unusual and striking appearance. Like all cultivated discus, the white dragon discus is a result of careful crossbreeding of select discus chosen for their color and markings to create a unique new variety. The pearly white body of the white dragon discus gives it a luster that makes it shine, and it is not an opaque white as are many fish. Cultivation has also eliminated the vertical bars that are typical of natural discus, although the white dragon discus has retained the fin striations that are common to most discus.