Can I keep rocks in my Discus fish aquarium? Yes, rocks are fine to keep in your discus fish aquaria. Avoid keeping calcareous rocks, such as limestone or coral. These types of rocks will leach minerals into the Discus aquaria, making the water more alkaline in pH and increase the waters hardness. If you are not sure if the rocks you have chosen for your discus tank are calcareous, drop a few drops of acetic acid on the chosen rock and if it fizzes it is lime based ... don't use. Also keep in mind not to keep overly sharp or abrasive rocks in the Discus tank as the fish may injure themselves on them. Drifttwood is among the top choice for adding structure to the discus tank. Not only does it make a good visual addition, it adds benifical humic and tanic acids. These natural acids help maintain an acidic pH, which the discus prefer (6.0-7.0). Driftwood also colonizes huge numbers of benifical bacteria to help maintain the aquariaums nitrate cycle. Aquatic plants are also another great addition to the Discus tank. They provide territorial markers for the fish, hiding spots and also do a great job filtering the water and maintaining a stable pH. Their are many species of aquatic plants that do great in a Discus environment, that don't need CO2 or high light levels... just let us know and we can set you up with species that are easy to maintain in your Discus tank.
