Project Description

Ghost Discus

Ghost is maybe one of the most important strains of discus for discus breeders and at the same time it can be one of the least favourite for discus lovers who just care about discus appearance and color. Ghost is having no stress bars, no spots and is considered solid although his body parts can be slightly different in color, white eyes and white-grey color body. ghost has an important role in discus genetic and breeding industry.
  • QUICK LOOK:
  • Recommended for: experienced or higher
  • Price Range: or higher
  • Growth Speed:
  • Strength: but extremely sensitive to hard water
  • Family Group: Hybrids
  • Design: solid
  • Best Food: Not limited, the color doesn’t change.
  • Water Condition: TDS less than 150, PH: 6.5 – 7.5

Care and Breeding Information

General care for Ghost Discus

Ghost is was once a discus where not really popular outside asia, and that’s why the price for this strain was not really expensive. it’s a fairly sensetive fish and they are at high risk of extreme black pigmentations in hard water and that’s why it’s not really recommended to be kept by most beginners and discus lovers. They’ll live up to 8 to 9 years in aquariums.
Best food:
You are not really limited in choosing the right food for ghost discus like some other strains because there ain’t gonna change color because of the food. You can feed them with palets, homemade mixed, beef heart and dried foods. Like most other strains It’s best to use an appropriate discus feeding plan for your discus as it helps you not only to have a growing and healthier discus but also a cleaner tank as well.
Suitable water and tank condition:
Conditioning water is always an important factor for every aquarium and it seems to be even more important when it comes to Discus. Ghost discus needs the water not to be higher than 150 in TDS and the water temperature of 29.5 -30.5 °C in order to showcase it’s the best coloration, expanded fins, eating habits and in general to show you how a happy discus look like. to learn more about how to maintain well-conditioned water for discus click here.
The best tank condition for ghost like most other strains of discus can be tanks with brighter backgrounds which results in brighter color in the fish. Woods and plants can be used if you are not a fan of bare bottom tanks but it’s better to avoid high-density planting as it makes it difficult to clean the tank up to its cleanest. You can always use pots or plant on woods if you love having plants but a clean tank at the same time. to learn more about the best tank conditions for discus click here.
A healthy Ghost should look like:
I can’t stress it enough, Buying healthy discus and from a reliable source is like the MOST IMPORTANT step of every discus lover which will save you a lot of headache and money. There are common signs of a healthy and quality discus, you’ll need to pay attention to their skin, open fins, and the gills need to look normal. looking at their poop tells a lot, never take fish from a tank with white poop, the size of their eyes should be in good ratio, In addition, the dorsal fin and anal fin needs to look symmetrical.  click here to learn more about how to buy a quality discus!
Ghost Discus is often confused with:
Calico Discus!

General Breeding information

Ghost was first bred by mutating brilliant discus by Mr.Chiang, in Malaysia and (penang) in 1988. at first it looked unusual.  It’s great to know that many of the famous and popular strains of discus were crossed by ghost strain of discus  such as golden cap and nebula!
breeding ghost is not difficult, as they can pair up quite well with each other and they are not seasonal in breeding. Their babies will show up their real coloration almost when they get to 2 inches as they are considered in the solid group.
Pairs Preparations For Breeding Discus
If you want quality eggs, you’ll need a healthy pair. So one thing I found vital in successful breeding is to prepare the pair for breeding at least 15 days before laying the eggs you are planning to work on. using Chloramine-T on Flubendazole every 5 days and for 3 cycles. click on here to learn how to use chloramine-T or Flubendazole!
Water Condition for Breeding Ghost Discus
The water you put in the breeding tank first is usually the water of the bigger tank where your pair fell in love! Remember, your matured discus could be stronger in some various water conditions but that might not be the case for their eggs. If you want a high rate of discus eggs hatching, apart from using methylene blue you’ll need soft water, TDS from 30 to 70 is fine and my favorite number is 50. You just take care of this number and the rest of the parameters will simply adjust to it’s best (Such as the PH and etc).
Tank and filtration system for Breeding Discus
To explain it briefly and based on my experience, I think The best size for a breeding tank is 50cm * 50cm * 50cm Which ends up holding 125 Liters of water. It is best to choose a similar size for the Lenght, width, and height of the breeding tank. but none of them should be less than 40 cm while holding 125 Liters of water.
Then for filtration set up, you’ll need a simple, and easy to use a sponge filter.  We’ll want to remove the sponge filter when the eggs are hatched and to replace it back after the fry are better swimmers. read more here!
Next is the heater, for such tank, you’ll need a 150W or 200W to maintain a temperature of 28°C – 28.5°C. Here is a trick I use all the time, as 30% to 50% water change is recommended daily and it helps to soften the water. I purposely choose to add enough water of 25°C until I can decrease the tank temperature by 1°C or 1.5°C suddenly, and the heater works to bring it back to the beginning temperature of 28°C or 28.5°C. This happens to lead the pairs into temptation and desire for sex.
lastly, we’ll need to have a breeding cone or anything else like ceramics, Pvc pipes to provide a surface for laying the eggs although they might still decide to lay their eggs anywhere else they like!
Ghost Discus pairs up well with:
Ghost, Virgin red, Golden & etc

Other types of Discus you can learn about: