I want to know why it is so hard to keep discus? I know the most important thing to do is water change frequently. what else is important?

disscuss is not not that hard!!! beside clean water, you have to keep the ph and temp stable, i would invest in a ph monitor, they lke it @ 6.5

the reason most people say they are so hard to keep is that they like soft water,most peoples tap water is hard,and its easier to make soft water hard then it is to make hard water soft,somtimes adding treatment and stuff to make your hard water softer is more stressfull for the fish then the og water,also disscus like wamer water its also best to keep in groups of 5 to 6 or more if you got the space and when buying them try to get them around the same size some times the youger ones cant compete for food with the larger ones,just use half ro water half tap water keep um warm and do once a week water changes of at least 25%and you shouldnt have any probs also choose tankmaes for disscvus accordingly,ask your local fish store,they wont do well with any fish thats more rambunctious. hope this helps follow these rules with disscus and you wont have trouble.

how do i know if my tap water is soft or hard? What i do when I change my other fish tanks is that I use half purified drinking water and tap water. I do water changes around once a week sometimes twice a week. How many discus can i put in a 40 gallon tank? Are angelfish good tankmates?

sum people use angels as tank mates but ive heard that angels carry sickness that disscus catch easy,test your ph,iff it7.0 or above you've got hard water if its 7.0 or below its soft and lastly the only 40 gallon i've ever seen was a breeder tank and it wasnt very tall,a 55 would really be best to start out with

7.0 sounds more like a Ph reading than a water hardness reading. 7.0 is neutral. Anything below is acidic. Anything above is alkaline.

isnt it that if the ph is above 7.0 the water would be considered hard,and below 7.0 is soft water,I thought it was the minerals in the water that made the ph go up?????just talking about hard and soft water,does the ph have nothing to do with that?

Nope, PH and hardness have nothing to do with each other.
They're totally different measurements and readings.

I have kept discus successfully and currently own one huge wild green. He is about 7 inches tall and growing. I have found that they love planted tanks where they can nibble on the vegetation (rarely but it does happen) and they love the cover large plants provide. Planted tanks keep the water cleaner and more stable along with your frequent water changes which I conduct once a week. It is impossible to keep just two together as one will ultimately own the other and not leave him a minutes peace. Its best to go with at least three the bare minimum, and preferably 4 or more (of course tank space allowing). I keep the temperature at a constant 85 degrees. Anything cooler and they become sickly. They are not hard to maintain at all. You just have to be adamant about keeping up with their maintainance routine and you will find a fish that is long lived, and very stately. I wouldnt mix them with angel fish unless you are absolutely sure they are not carrying any type of parasitic worms that can infect the discus. Some angelfish have been found to harbor trematode worms that can infest the intestinal tract of discus and eventually kill them. Most of these angelfish that have these worms are bred on fish farms where the water is dirty and polluted and unkempt. You can keep them with discus (although it is recommended you keep a discus tank as a species tank), and I keep three with mine, just make sure the angels are quarantined and are healthy before you add them to your tank. I have also found angelfish (at least the ones I bought) to be mean towards their tankmates. I actually have one that I had to put in a seperate tank because I couldnt keep her with an another angel without letting an all out attack. Its best to start with smaller dime sized angels and you can usually weed out the bad apples as they get older. I made the mistake of buying larger older ones, that were given up for obvious reasons. I'm not saying all angels are bad tempered, but dont be fooled by the "angels are peaceful community fish syndrome"...I have found that they are not in my experience. They are after all cichlids. Good luck.

So the key to discus keeping is to keep up with the maintence and watch out for the water conditions right? If i dont have live plants, will fake plants work too?

You can use fake plants, thats no problem, I just prefer live plants..it gives it a more natural setting, and helps keep the water on the up and up, sort of like a natural filtration in the tank. Yes, keep up with the maintainance on the tank and the fish should be fine. They are not hard to keep at all, the key is just keeping them healthy. Feed them a varied diet with bloodworms, mysis shrimp, and a vitamin packed flake food. Mine will even eat some krill. Dont feed live blackworms or tubifex (even freeze dried), these foods contain contaminants that can make your fish sick, and live blackworms can harbor parasites that can infest the gills.

Agreed. I have seen many, many discus for sale in local fish stores (ones I would not recommend to anyone), with some ready to kick any minute and some that could be saved, provided they were immediately placed in medicated tanks and watched carefully. I buy most of my fish from a store not far from here, that provides neccessary quaratine, and takes care of any illness the fish may have upon arrival before being put out on the sales floor. I commend them for that. I find that discus dont ship well (especially large ones) and its a crap shoot to get healthy ones. Most places just toss them in the display tank where they come down with all kinds of stress related diseases, as discus have a tendency to be very timid fish when introduced to new surroundings. Like bilbo said, check them over and make sure they are healthy looking. Most fish can come back if taken care of properly after getting them home, but discus are not cheap, and there is no reason to spend money on a fish that is sick.

yeah!

pssst....its my secret double life as a CIA agent ))))`

Bilbo u changed ur picture. nice. I think I'm going to keep my flowerhorns and not move on to the discus hobby. too much attention given towards their care. and i dont want to see my $100+ go down the drain. maybe when i'm more experienced.

Three things to keep them healthy and growing: warm water, frequent water changes, and wide range of feed.
Forget about ph, hardness, and all that other crap that people want you to buy. Your fish will get use to your local water if you do frequent water changes.
Water hardness is only important for breeding because the eggs won't hatch in hard water.
But young fish do great in harder mineral rich water.

When I had discus, I use to do anywhere between 20-50% straight tap chlorinated water changes every other day depending on tank population. But lucky for me, my city water is very soft for breeding too.
I keep frys and juvies at 90F, adults at 86F, and breeders at 82F.

But like Bilbo said, you got to have healthy fish to start out with.
The best discus to buy is from local breeders or US bred fish.
Imports are great as long as they are fully QT and healthy.

thats the kind of boldness i wanted to hear. that was very old school man. very gutsy too. I like! Like I said, might get a go at discus when i'm more experienced and have bigger tanks. it sucks when ur just a kid trying to keep fish.

Haha,
But I am not bold at all; I'm more of a chicken .
Seriously, it's more laziness and learning about the fish.
Discus are tough fish if you know what they want and need.
So when it is time for you to get them remember to get them at the same size and in quantity of 5 or more and make sure you have at least an 80gal for around 5 fish.

As for me I got into the FH and love them more than discus.
FH have more character and much easier on the "working man".

I can install water filters so it would be alot easier to change your water. If you have a water filter already, I can tap into that. My customers keep discus and they tell me all the time about how they use to lose color and there discus dying but when i install a filter for them. I have seen their water greatly improved along with the colors of their discus. Please read my other post for more info or pm me.

Haha. I'm just a 14 year old trying to make it in the flowerhorn hobby. Most of my fish stuff came free. My fish and tanks were free too. I have to focus on my school too as well as my fish. I'll try other fish when I can get my own space and have enough money to buy bigger tanks. As for now, I'll just stick with the two Flowerhorns I have.

your older than 28