Low light in Discus Tank ?

[cityguy]

Keeping the light "low" in Discus Tanks, is it a myth or reality ? :?

[shannon]

In my opinion its i myth,I have discus in a 5 footer with twin t5, and it dose not seem to bother the 7 discus i have in the tank. :D :D

[TW]

Mine had to get used to bright light & it never seemed an issue.

[fish_r]

i had 2 x 80w T5's and 2 x 54w T5's in my 5ft discus tank and had no problems, but giving them some where to hide if they want to in the form of plants etc is a good idea imo.

[cityguy]

Thanks Pal.. (or should I say Pals :-))

Btw.. can someone refer me to a website that shows the various colors of Discus fish..

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,

this is Heiko Bleher and I just saw this thread and I must say, someone here does not know what he is saying.

If anyone wants to study and learn about discus, he can there are books, and not only mne.

Discus, if wild, NEED shady areas in the aquarium, as they NEVER live in nature under bright sunlight. Thye might swim through, but are happy when under shady areas, were they remain most iof the day. In my book I describe 250 different discus habitats into each detail, and every single one has shady bushes, driftwood, roots, trees or terrestrial plants submerged.

Poepl around the world are adopting more and more the typical biotope aquarium for discus. Yo can see some on my website:
www.aquapress-bleher.com - authentic ones with detailed description of the habitat and like this one below, who followed my advice and had a beautiful tank. Look at:
http://www.diskustop.de/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=777

Unless you want to have discus in a bare glass tank and breed them, try never to expose them, wild or tank breed ones, under bright light without a shady area were they can swim to.

From one who collects, breeds and maintained them for 40plus years...

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com
www.aqua-aquapress.com

[TW]

try never to expose them, wild or tank breed ones, under bright light without a shady area were they can swim to. Definitely provide shady areas - my planted tank has lots.
someone here does not know what he is saying Seems a harsh comment - no-one said not to provide shaded areas as well :D
Keeping the light "low" in Discus Tanks, is it a myth or reality ? My discus seem happy in both the shaded & well lit areas of the tank. They have the choice of both shady & light & utilise both areas. They don't appear to be jumpy or nervous, even when the light first switches on.

[rwel4809]

Discus, if wild, NEED shady areas in the aquarium, as they NEVER live in nature under bright sunlight. Thye might swim through, but are happy when under shady areas, were they remain most iof the day. In my book I describe 250 different discus habitats into each detail, and every single one has shady bushes, driftwood, roots, trees or terrestrial plants submerged.

I have very brightly lit planted tank (3.5 wpg), and yes the discus do seem to favour the shady areas... Surely the only reason to have bright lights is for lush plant growth that will not only look good but give the discus some sanctuary. So do you agree that bright lights for a densely planted tank can be compatible with the Discus' preferences as long as they have somewhere to hide??

Biotype tanks look fantastic too, If I ever keep wilds that is the way I'd go for sure.

Great to see you on the forum Heiko. I do hope you continue to join us and provide us with insights from your research..

I know there are a lot of wild discus enthusiasts on this forum who would be interested in tapping into your expert knowledge.

Robert

[Matt15]

WOW...!!! I very HUGE welcome to you Heiko. I hope you enjoy your visit here and spend some time sharing your experiences and wealth of knowledge with us.


I have 4x 54w T5's in my tank and find that after a few hours the discus will rest in the shaded parts of the tank. So I would agree that having a planted tank with shaded and non shaded areas would be ideal.

[TW]

Not only does the Biotype tank look fantastic - what about those wilds :shock: They are just gorgeous. Very envious.

I wish there was a translation on that website/forum. Bet there's heaps of great info - but I can't understand it :cry:

[AHC]

Sorry for hijacking for a second. How did you guys look at the biotype tank. I cant understand the writing? Do we have to sign up?

[cityguy]

I may sound stupid... but what "is" a "biotype" tank ??

[AHC]

Its a tank that portrays livestock, plants, etc from a particular environment or habitat. Eg. an Amazonian biotype and a South African river biotype has different settings, livestock and plants. Most 'community' tanks have fish, plants, rocks, wood etc from different environments.

HTH

[AHC]

PS, water perameters are also included in imitating biotype's.

[cityguy]

PS, water perameters are also included in imitating biotype's.

Got it Pal.. so what do I need to do if I want to convert my Discus tank to 100% biotype for Discus .. :roll:

[rwel4809]

Sorry for hijacking for a second. How did you guys look at the biotype tank. I cant understand the writing? Do we have to sign up?

Yes you have to sign up and then wait for their admin to give you the OK...

[cityguy]

Hi,

this is Heiko Bleher and I just saw this thread and I must say, someone here does not know what he is saying.

If anyone wants to study and learn about discus, he can there are books, and not only mne.

Discus, if wild, NEED shady areas in the aquarium, as they NEVER live in nature under bright sunlight. Thye might swim through, but are happy when under shady areas, were they remain most iof the day. In my book I describe 250 different discus habitats into each detail, and every single one has shady bushes, driftwood, roots, trees or terrestrial plants submerged.

Poepl around the world are adopting more and more the typical biotope aquarium for discus. Yo can see some on my website:
www.aquapress-bleher.com - authentic ones with detailed description of the habitat and like this one below, who followed my advice and had a beautiful tank. Look at:
http://www.diskustop.de/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=777

Unless you want to have discus in a bare glass tank and breed them, try never to expose them, wild or tank breed ones, under bright light without a shady area were they can swim to.

From one who collects, breeds and maintained them for 40plus years...

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com
www.aqua-aquapress.com

Hi Heiko, was wondering, how could I get one of your books on Discus..

[AHC]

[quote]"so what do I need to do if I want to convert my Discus tank to 100% biotype for Discus .. " [Quote]

Firstly, research, research, research. Get to know the amazon river as much as possible. What type of fish, plants, rocks, drift wood, substrates etc you want to use. i.e Anubias, swords, root system drift wood (ususally drift wood that simulate tree roots buttressing into the river but the layout can change depending!). What backing do you want (the shale and clay that line the river is usually brown's and grays). You can get laytex or you can just paint it one colour. As your doing this you can be thinking of the layout. Research pictures and readings on the amazon it self. Then plan your layout down on paper. Once you know what you want. Convert it to the tank. Match the water parameters to the fish and away you go.

HTH

[cityguy]

Thanks Pal..

[Merrilyn]

Welcome Heiko.

It is indeed an honour to have you join our forum.

:P

[cityguy]

All I am wondering if its really him ... !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merrilyn]

Yes, it's definately the gentleman himself.

Heiko very generously donates his valuable time to participate in a number of discus forums.

We are very honoured to have such an esteemed and experienced discus breeder on our forum.

[Proteus]

All I am wondering if its really him ... !!!!!!!!!!!!

It is 100% Heiko Bleher

As Merrilyn has pointed out, we are very honoured to have such a respected and esteemed person such as Heiko to share his experience and experiences.

On behalf of all the Admins and Advisors we welcome Heiko Bleher to our community.

[Matt15]

Yeh you often see one off posts on other discus forums so its really hard to tell if it is infact him. Fingers crossed that Merrilyn's right... :D

[cityguy]

If its really him, its a WOW, and we all probably have a lot to learn from him..

[Proteus]

Yeh you often see one off posts on other discus forums so its really hard to tell if it is infact him. Fingers crossed that Merrilyn's right... :D

Once again, it is 100% him. Aside from being able to see the IP address that his post was made from, I have been in contact with him offline due to some initial issues registering to the forum, and all communication went via Aquapress in Italy.

So no need to doubt if it is him or not.

[AHC]

Welcome Heiko :D

[Matt15]

Yeh you often see one off posts on other discus forums so its really hard to tell if it is infact him. Fingers crossed that Merrilyn's right... :D

Once again, it is 100% him. Aside from being able to see the IP address that his post was made from, I have been in contact with him offline due to some initial issues registering to the forum, and all communication went via Aquapress in Italy.

So no need to doubt if it is him or not.

Thats great news mate... :wink:

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi guys,

that is really overwelming, all of your nice comments. I am very honored. Thank you all.

Maybe you (or some of you) know that I have always dedicated my life so far to the fishes and plants for the aquarium hobby and the scientific community as well (I work with many ichthyologists around the world and publish for almost 15 years now 4-times-per-year a scientific journal called aqua). And this not only because I love all fishes, all nature (if untouched by man) and the most beautiful (and educational) hobby in world (which I try to keep going inspite of computer games, cell. phones, etc.), but also because it is for sure in my gen which I inherited from my mother, and she from her father, Adolf Kiel... (some of it you can read in my book, available on my website).

I have not written earlier, because I did again the bi-annual INTERZOO 2008 (for the 20th time - a celebration for me, as I helped to get it to become the largest petshow and international exhibition in the world for the trade, since 1968) . I just returned. There (in Nuernberg, Germany, were it is held since 1988) I had next to my stand again my beiotope-stand with 9 authentic biotopes from 4 continentes (9 different ones). have a look at a few photos Natasha placed already on our site:
http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

More pictures and detailed description will come next week. But you canb already see a little of my 2. aquarium decoration of Lake Cuipeuá (often mis-identied as Curipera). I had 50 adult discus, angelfishes, Geophagus and Loricariichthys as well as Mesonauta - all from that biotope .- and the decoration accordingly to rising water.

More than 38,000 visitors came and everyone appreciated my biotopes (and said it was the highlight...of the Interzoo).

Anyhow, I must go the next days to Krakow, to judge discus and hold lectures for the 3nd International Discus championships in Poland:
http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221&Itemid=1
The following I am holding 8 seminars on aquarium fishes and plants in Bukarest, were a 20-year-old-aquarist organized the first international Aquarist symposium in Romania and he said I am the only person who can hold it ... (and he printed 5000 posters placing them on each metro station, busses, trams, etc.) see:
http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=42

Such things make me very happy, as this helps the hobby, educates people and I am specially please to see that there are still some young guys coming up that appreciate nature and this beautiful hobby.

I hope to drop in as often as I can, if you make, like some other forums, a place with such a topic as:
"Ask Heiko Bleher":
and advice me of any question which may come up by e-mail, I could respond faster. Let me know.

With regards to this thread, I am happy also - next to all of your positive comments - that you provide shady areas for your discus.

Thank you,

always

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com
www.aqua-aquapress.com

PS: maybe one day we make such an Symposium as in Romania for you all...