The pigeon blood discus is a cream to orange fish carrying fine black peppering, and one of the easiest strains to find. It is peaceful, though too demanding for a beginner.
Did you know
The pigeon blood discus is the building block behind most modern solid-colored discus. Red melon, marlboro red, checkerboard and the white strains all descend from it, which is why so many of them show pepper when stressed.
Caring for the pigeon blood discus
Give a group of pigeon blood discus a tall tank of at least 65 gal (245 L), with driftwood and gentle flow. A pale bottom and background helps keep the pepper down.
Run the water hot, at 79 to 90°F (26 to 32°C), and soft, at a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. These fish are demanding about water quality, so keep it very clean, with stable conditions and steady heat. Feed quality flake, pellet and frozen foods, often more than once a day.
Keep six or more, since lone fish get bullied and stressed. They are peaceful and safe with community fish. Like other cichlids they are devoted parents, and both parents take turns letting the newly hatched fry graze on slime from their bodies.
Peppering is the grading point, since buyers want clean fish and heavy pepper drops the price against a tidy sibling. Pepper rises when a fish is stressed or unwell, so one can look worse in a bare shop tank than it will at home.
Good to know
The pigeon blood discus carries a trait that suppresses normal melanin patterning, so the dark vertical bars and striations are largely erased. That lets the warm base color show through. What survives of the black turns up as scattered specks, the pepper, most often on the face and gill plate. Breeders treat pepper as the tell, and a discus with black freckles anywhere is usually of pigeon descent. The trait carries through crosses readily, which is how it spread so far.
In the wild
The pigeon blood discus came out of Thailand and is credited to breeder Kitti Phanaitthi. In 1989 the breeder crossed a striped turquoise male to a red turquoise female of Schmidt-Focke lineage. The line reached the wider hobby in 1991 at the Aquarama trade show. It went into Jack Wattley's US hatchery the same year. No wild discus carries the pigeon pattern.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
The pigeon blood discus is a peaceful, shoaling species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Is a pigeon blood discus a different species from the discus?
No. A pigeon blood discus is a variety of the discus, Symphysodon aequifasciatus, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.
What size tank does a pigeon blood discus need?
A pigeon blood discus needs at least 65 gal (245 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What does a pigeon blood discus eat?
A pigeon blood discus eats quality flake, pellet and frozen foods, often more than once a day.
How big does a pigeon blood discus get?
An adult pigeon blood discus reaches about 5.9 in (15 cm).
Does a pigeon blood discus need a group?
Yes. A pigeon blood discus is a shoaling species and should be kept in a group, not singly.
How does a pigeon blood discus breed?
Pigeon blood discus raise their young as devoted parents. The newly hatched fry graze on slime from the parents' bodies, and both parents take turns feeding them.
5.9 in (15 cm)65 gal (245 L)81–88°F (27–31°C)
7.1 in (18 cm)75 gal (284 L)82–88°F (28–31°C)
5.9 in (15 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
5.9 in (15 cm)37 gal (140 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
6.3 in (16 cm)26 gal (100 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
4.7 in (12 cm)53 gal (200 L)68–86°F (20–30°C)