If you are thinking about starting to keep discus aquarium fish, it is important that you know how to find and choose healthy fish for your tank. Choosing the wrong fish, from the wrong person can be very frustrating to your hobby, because you will be confronted with treating diseases before your tank ever gets fully established. Therefore, you should seek out a good aquarium shop, or better still, an experienced discus breeder.
Here are some simple tips for selecting a discus aquarium fish when your are ready to buy:
- Take your time and inspect the discus fish for at least 15 minutes in the aquarium. Watch them swim and look for any erratic behavior that doesn’t look natural. Usually this means listless and sideways swimming.
- Note the sizes of the fishes available; an eight week old discus should be about 4 cm (1 1/2in) long; a one year old discus fish is about 16 cm (6 in.) long from head to tail.
- Healthy discus fish should have a circular body (hence the name). Long drawn out fish can be diseased or may be inbred. Other things to look for are fins that are too long in proportion to the body and extremely large eyes. Also note that, old discus fish tend to loose their circular form, so that can be another clue as to their age.
- Discus aquarium fish that have been sick for a while develop a very pointy and sharp back. They also have sunken eyes and a shallow color.
- Don’t buy fish that are shy, timid, or that display aggression or other antisocial with it’s tank mates.
- Ask the shop if they can feed the fish. A healthy fish should have a good appetite.
There you have it; six simple tips for selecting the best discus aquarium fish for your tank. Picking good stock from the beginning will ensure long term success with your hobby. I hope these tips help you to find healthy and happy discus fish.
