Discus Fish Scientific Name
Symphysodon aequifasciatus (Green Discus)
Symphysodon discus (Heckel Discus)
Synphysodon haraldi (Blue/Brown/Common Discus)

Discus Fish Family
They belong to the family of Cichlid Freshwater fishes in the genus Symphysodon

Discus Fish Origin
These fish are native to South America in the Amazon.

Discus Fish Overview
The discus has been nicknamed the "King of Aquarium" by some enthusiasts. They have a compressed body shape with a more rounded shape viewed from the side. The sides are often patterned in shades of green, brown, red and blue. Mostly, they have striped patterns either running horizontally or vertically in their body or in the fins.

Discus Fish Adult Size
These fish can grow to be 6 inches – 10 inches long.

Discus Fish Life Span
The lifespan of these fish are from 10 to 18 years.

Discus Fish Compatible Tankmates
Discus Fish are generally peaceful. They should be kept with other peaceful fishes of the same species or fishes with similar requirements. They do well with Corydoras catfish, peaceful medium-sized tetras, dwarf cichlids, rasboras and pencil fish, although there may be some complications when they get territorial.

Social: Community Vs. semi-aggressive Vs. Aggressive
These fish are not aggressive but they are best when they are a group of 6-8 individual fish of the same species where they will develop a hierarchy. They become territorial when it is time to pair off and breed.

Discus Fish Breeding: Egglayer vs. Livebearer
These fish are egglayers. They lay their eggs on a pre-cleaned spawning site where eggs and fry are protected by both parents. The eggs hatch within 48 to 72 hours and the fry will become free swimming in another 48 hours or more. The parents secrete body mucus to feed the fry when they first hatch for up to two weeks.

Discus Fish Care
These fish are really easy to care for as long as there is efficient filtration and good water quality is maintained. They can be susceptible to parasitic infections, so care should be taken with feeding them live foods.

Discus Fish Diet
They are omnivorous and will eat live and frozen foods, flakes, brine shrimp, blood worms and granular foods.

Discus Fish Tank Size
You will need a large and fairly deep tank of 10-15 gallons for small discus.

Discus Fish pH
pH level should be 5 to 6.5

Discus Fish Water Hardness
The water hardness should be 2 to 8 dGH.

Discus Fish Water Temperature
The temperature should be 79 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 to 30 degrees Celsius.