Preparing for your discus arrival
You will need to prepare water suitable for your discus before they arrive. We use tap water which has been conditioned to be chlorine free in our farm. You can prepare the water by ageing them in a large water container (ensure water is sufficient enough for the number of discus arriving) for a week before arrival date. Just fill the water directly from tap and cover them for a week before use. Use an air pump to aerate the water with air bubbles. Plan where to put your discus, preferably, one of each strain. You can use containers (e.g. pail or buckets) if you do not have enough spare tanks.
What you should not do?
Do not mix newly arrival discus with into your existing fish tank immediately. You will need to keep them separate at least 7 days to 14 days. During the next 7 days to 14 days, your discus must show no sign of sickness and eagerly looking for food before you can introducing them to your existing fish tank. Do not share the same aeration pump, equipment or any action that will cause water contamination between your existing fishes and your newly arrived discus.
What to do when your discus arrives?
You have prepared containers with clean water well aerated with separated air bubbles. Your next step is to ensure water chemistry in the container is suitable for fish habitat. Check Ph, Temperature to match parameters below:
Water Parameters
Now you can start the acclimation process (match the bag water temperature with your container water temperature).
You have two options to do the acclimation process:
Option 1:
Remove the bags and clean the outside of the bag with running tap water. Put the bag inside the container. Let it float in the container for 30 minutes or more until you feel that the water temperature inside bag is the same as the container (28° to 30°). Slowly net the fish out from the bag and release it into the container. Do not pour the water in the bag into the container. Throw the bag with the water carefully into a garbage bin.
Option 2:
Remove the bags and clean the outside of the bag with running tap water. Open the bag and slowly add ½ cup or so of water that you have prepared to the bag that they are in every 10 minutes. Do this until the volume of water in the bag has at least doubled. This should take about 30 minutes to an hour. Slowly net the fish out from the bag and release it into the container. Do not pour the water in the bag into the container. Throw the bag with the water carefully into a garbage bin.
Your fish may lie down on the bottom disoriented for several hours. This is normal and do not be alarmed. Cover the container and put it in a dark quiet place with no vibrations or disturbance. Keep the aeration at full power, maintain temperature, dim the lights and let them rest.
Do not feed the discus on the 1st day. The food will only contaminate the water and promote virus or bacteria growth which will attack the fish. This will also stress them when water is polluted.
After a day or two, if you feel they are asking for food, you can feed them very lightly and slowly increase. You can do this before doing water change.
Once you feel they have fully recovered, you can introduce them to your main tank!
