7 Tips How Do I Make My Discus Grow Faster


To make your Discus grow faster, do the following:

  • Do a 30% water change daily.
  • Feed Discus with healthy foods like brine shrimps and artemia.
  • Use smaller tank.
  • Let Discus school comprise of 10 or more Discus to prevent feed pecking order.
  • Tank water must be kept at a warm temperature.

Table of Contents

Why Is My Discus Not Growing Faster?

These are some reasons why your Discus is not growing faster:

  • Discus may be stunted, even if they grow, they won’t grow fully.
  • Tank water may not be warm.
  • Poor nutrition. Discus feed must be rich in protein.
  • Tank size. Discus fishes grow faster in smaller tanks than bigger ones.
  • Tank water is not changed daily.
NOTE: Do not overcrowd your tank if you want your Discus to grow faster.

7 Tips On How To Make My Discus Grow Faster & Bigger?

At some point, new Discus breeders ask themselves, ‘Why isn’t my Discus growing?’ When you start keeping Discus, and you notice that they are not growing, it means that you are doing something or a whole lot of things wrong. We can help you do better. If you are wondering how to grow Discus fry fast, these tips will be very helpful:

[1] – Do A 30% Water Change Daily

About 30 percent of the tank water in which Discus is kept should be changed daily. If changing the water every day is not possible, you should do 50 percent Discus water changes over a couple of days.

NOTE: The reason why the Discus tank water should be changed daily is to keep the water as clean as possible. When there are bacteria or toxins in the water, these can make the environment uncomfortable for Discus and prevent their growth.

The availability of ammonia in the tank water is dangerous to the health of Discus fishes. When your Discus fries are exposed to such a stressful environment, not only they will not grow, they could end up being vulnerable to diseases that will ultimately kill them.

Furthermore, when you do Discus tank water changes frequently, your Discus can eat more food, which means that they would be getting much-needed nutrients.

NOTE: Ammonia is usually produced when Discus fishes metabolize the proteins they eat and from excess foods that end up decaying in the tank when they are not eaten.

In conclusion, when you ensure that the environment of Discus is healthy and conducive, they will surprise you with how much they grow.

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to change your tank water

Daily Discus water change is essential to how to grow Discus fry fast. When you find yourself asking, ‘why isn’t my Discus growing?’ Your answer may lie in the fact that you are not changing the tank water, however,

NOTE: In general Discus require a regular weekly water change to be healthy.

[2] – Feed Discus With Healthy Foods

What to feed Discus is also important to note when keeping Discus fishes, for instance, to grow Discus fry fast also boils down to their nutrition. Feeding baby Discus with healthy foods high in protein will help them grow faster. Even flakes must be rich in protein.

NOTE: Live foods are more recommended than flakes.

Some kinds of food that Discus enjoys are artemia, also known as brine shrimp, and frozen bloodworms. Another kind of food that makes a healthy diet for Discus is beef heart. High protein and flake foods are what to feed Discus to help them grow faster.

Also important as ‘what to feed Discus’ is how to feed them, and it is largely dependent on their size. Feeding baby Discus fishes is more tasking than the adult ones.

NOTE: We recommended that young Discus fishes must be fed every 120 minutes. For Discus fishes about 4 or 5 inches in size, it is okay to feed them just twice daily. However, when Discus fishes grow beyond 5 inches, they should be fed only three times a week.

One thing must be noted; it is not advisable to feed Discus with frozen or cold foods. Even after purchasing frozen brine shrimps and/or bloodworms (which I do not recommend), the feed must first be boiled before being fed to Discus. After boiling the feed, scatter them around the various areas in the Discus tank to prevent any struggle for food between the fishes.

Discus fries that are less than 1 inch in size particularly enjoy feeding on artemia, and they grow faster when they eat it. However, when they have grown bigger than 1 inch, they don’t usually eat artemia anymore as the feed becomes too small for them to eat.

NOTE: Feeding baby Discus as much as possible is extremely important to juvenile Discus care.
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[3] – Keep Discus In Smaller Tanks

One might wonder, how do Discus fish grow faster in a smaller aquarium? Well, they are not better off in a larger tank? Proper juvenile Discus care demands that Discus fries be kept in a small tank.

When Discus fries are kept in a small tank, they will not have to burn their energy by swimming too much – much of their energy will be reserved, and they can grow faster. Furthermore, if the tank is large, there could be an establishment of the pecking order with one Discus trying to exert dominance on the others.

NOTE: The quantity of water required for each Discus tank depends on the size of the Discus.

In a smaller tank, it will take around 3 to 4 months to grow Discus fries of 2&1/2 inches to get them to be 4 inches. In a bigger tank, it will take longer than that, even up to a year.

How many gallons does Discus need to grow faster?

  • 20 gallons would be better for a school of Discus fishes, around 2 inches.
  • You can use 30 gallons for a larger school.
  • A 50-gallon tank can be used for a school with Discus fishes 4 inches and above in size.
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[4] – Keep Discus In A School Of 10 Or More

To grow Discus faster, Discus should be kept in a group of 10 or more to prevent establishing a pecking order at their young age.

NOTE: Pecking order is created when one or more Discus in the tank begins to exert dominance over the others such that when food is put in the tank, the most domineering Discus gets to eat first, and the others follow in order of strongest to weakest.

The problem with a pecking order is that it keeps the Discus from growing uniformly, and after some time, some of the fries tend to grow bigger than the others; some even end up being stunted. When Discus fishes become stunted, they are also likely to reproduce stunted Discus as well.

When there is no pecking order in the tank, each Discus gets a fair share of the food put into the Discus tank.

NOTE: Preventing a pecking order is important in juvenile Discus care.

[5] – Tank Water Must Be Warm And Clean

The water in the Discus tank must be warm (around 300 Celsius). When tank water is cold, Discus will not grow fast.

[6] – Water pH Should Be Conductive

The pH of the tank water should range between acidic and neutral (between 6.8 and 7.5). If the water pH is alkaline, Discus will not grow fast.

NOTE: The pH of the water must be conducive for Discus.

[7] – Clean Discus Tank

Keeping the Discus tank water clean is also important, as it can help the Discus fries grow faster.

The build-up of ammonia can not only hinder the growth of your Discus but also cause them an enormous amount of stress, leaving them vulnerable to diseases. This is why the 30 percent daily water change is recommended if you want to grow your Discus fries faster.

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Healthy Discus

How Big Do Discus Fish Get?

Discus can grow to seven or even 9 inches in diameter when properly cared for and taken care of. The warm Discus tank water helps keep their body metabolism up, the fishes are more active, their colors come out better, and they grow up faster.

Are Discus Slow-Growing?

Usually, young Discus fishes tend to grow at a very fast rate when they are younger. However, by the time they have grown to about 4 or 5 inches, their growth slows down. When they have gotten to about 6 or 7 inches, their growth rate becomes even slower.

How To Grow Discus Fry Fast?

Daily 30 percent Discus water changes and feeding the fishes as much as possible will help Discus grow faster. Discus tank water must be kept clean at a warm temperature, and food must be high in protein (live food is better than flakes)

Conclusion

When you ask yourself, how can I make my Discus grow faster? You need to keep in mind the major things that daily Discus water changes and what to feed Discus. Feeding baby Discus with high protein foods and frequent water changes will provide the solution to how to grow Discus fry fast.

firassameer

This is me Firas Sameer, the founder of DiscusRescue.com, I am an aquarist guy with a passion and love for Discus fishes, I am learning every day with my hobby at home and sharing the things I am learning from my experience with you.

3 thoughts on “7 Tips How Do I Make My Discus Grow Faster

  1. Thanx for info, you didn’t tell about how many discus ( coin size) to be kept in how big tank ( by volume or dimensions) .

    1. those are fry discus, those discus will grow up fast and you will see a difference in several months, so better to follow the rule of 10 Gallons of water to every single discus when calculating the space for the tank, however, if you are planning to spread them out or selling them out so it doesn’t matter since this process should take a while.

  2. Will Discus stop growing if they reach a certain age? Some are big eyes with small bodies. (They eat well).

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