How to Keep A Discus Fish - 6 Factors to Consider

Learning how to keep a discus is a vital step in having one as a pet. However, there are things you need to consider in learning how to keep one and these include:

How to Keep a Discus Fish: Health

The discus fish's well being - Be sure that the fish looks healthy at first glance. Staying near the surface, having bloated gills and just breathing out of a side are signs that the fish isn't healthy. Keep your distance from tanks that have a Do Not Sell, or DNS, tag on them as these fish are likely to have gotten sick before

How to Keep a Discus Fish : Alertness

To know how to keep a discus fish is to know how alert the fish is, watch it as it eats. The pet store staff should feed it once you've asked them. Unhealthy discus fish won't show interest in the food. If it won't eat, it should acknowledge that there is food, at least. If ever the pet store staff refuses to feed their discus, then you should move on to the next pet store.

How to Keep a Discus Fish : Adult or Juvenile

Adults and juveniles are the best fish forms to buy when you are still learning how to take care of a discus. A mature discus fish is easier to take care of and is going to handle water condition adjustments better.

How to Keep a Discus: Quarantine

Dealer quarantine - One thing about how to keep a discus is the quarantine period. This refers to the specific period of time before a vendor decides to sell the fish. You could ask the supplier how long the quarantine period of the discus lasted. In a lot of case, a good guideline is to keep a fish in quarantine for at least a week in order to prevent them from spreading any disease. You could also ask if the fish has been de-wormed or has it been given any medication. These are just some of the simple things that will make you know a discus fish background as well as some of its history.

How to Keep a Discus Fish : It's Not All about the Looks

Not stopping at the way the discus looks - Discus fish pass waste on a frequent basis, so you should check the bottom of your aquarium to make sure you do see waste and that the waste is colored black. Pay attention to feces that look white as this could indicate that the discus has a problem in its insides, probably pointing to intestinal worms. Books on how to keep a discus state that you should just let the fish be and look for more healthy fish.

How to Keep a Discus Fish: Chemisty

An aquarium's chemistry is one of the factors to consider when you want to learn how to keep a discus. Ask breeders or fish owners the current water circumstances are of the discus you want reserved. Make sure to keep an acceptable tolerance between your aquarium and the pet store's tank. You might want to check out other stores in case the owner's tank has off-beat chemistry as this is often a sign that they don't know much when it comes to discus fish. Acclimatizing a discus could be tricky since water conditions change. You could ask the breeder how they acclimatize their discus to make sure that a stress-free transfer is done.

Knowing these factors on how to keep a discus is the key to prolonging their life.

Tom Rollins a Discus Fish expert. If you want to learn more about how to keep a discus fish, visit http://www.discusfishpro.com/