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Basic Care Tips for Discus Fish

It’s high time the facts were separated from the fiction, about Discus. Beliefs passed through the hobby may not be necessary, beneficial or even accurate – as you’ll discover:
It’s said they need RO water
All Discus will live in water prepared by a reverse osmosis filter – but do they all need it?
Much will depend on the water your fish have spent their lives in prior to reaching your tank.
Wild Discus will require soft, slightly acidic water and generally the only way to achieve this is to use a reverse osmosis filter. Some areas of the UK have soft water on tap, but, even then, it would be wise to run it through carbon.
Asian Discus are also raised in soft water, so will appreciate the same water preparation for wild Discus. Some aquarists acclimatise their Asian Discus to UK tap water, but top breeders such as Jeffrey Tan advise soft water.
European-bred Discus, however, are quite happy and will even breed in harder water – the reason being they have now been tank-bred over several generations and have adapted to it.
Your best course of action is to seek the advice of your chosen Discus supplier, but an increasing number of keepers are considering an RO filter a product very much of the past.