Example of this colorful Fish - Public Domain Photo Discus fish are native to the Amazon River. They are one of the three freshwater cichlid species found in this river and make great aquarium fish. These fish have a flat compressed body shape, which gave them their name of Discus. They come in different colors of red, blue, green and brown.

Discus fish do a good job of caring for their young. Both parents are involved in caring for them and they feed their young by a secretion that comes through their skin. The young can live off of this for the first few days to a couple of weeks. After that they probably eat what their parents eat. It is fun to have a family of these fish in the aquarium and watch the young fly following their parents around in the nursery and being cared for by them.

On this page you will find them for sale plus fish food for them and books on their care. There is information for breeders, breeding and care.

On a side note:
I used to raise guppies. With these fish you had to take measures to prevent the mother fish from eating her young. I had to buy a special holding container that you float at the top of your tank to hold the mother. The container is full of tiny holes letting the babies swim out as soon as they are born.
Many times I would see the young shoot out of the mother like a tiny ball. The ball would quickly unwind and the baby would quickly swim away. They knew that they had to hide right away to save their lives. Once all the young fly were born, I usually gave them 24 hours I would remove the mother back to her own tank. The babies were then free to grow up in the safety of their own aquarium.

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Susan Dietel
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