Can I Keep Discus?

[TheGodfather]

I really love discus and am just not sure if i have the right conditions to keep them. Ammonia=0 nitrate=0 nitrite=0 PH=6.5. I keep the tank at a temperature of 26 degrees but could easily increase this. At the moment i have some panda corys and tetras, the tank is 180l so plenty of space. I don't want to have RO water and anyway my GH is 8, surely this is soft enough. I do a weekly third to two thirds water change and don't want to do much more. What are my options???

Would appreciate any help, Ollie

 

[DiscusAngel]

i would say yes. i keep mine with pandas have 6 discus that are at the size of 3-4" its better to get them small and u may find tetras could intimerdate the discus or may get on well with them my old tetras (now rehommed) scared the liviing daylights out of my discus. so they went ! lol any more info needed just ask

 

[TheGodfather]

i would say yes. i keep mine with pandas have 6 discus that are at the size of 3-4" its better to get them small and u may find tetras could intimerdate the discus or may get on well with them my old tetras (now rehommed) scared the liviing daylights out of my discus. so they went ! lol any more info needed just ask

Discus Angel, thanks for the info. You think it will be allright without RO water and large weekly water changes? I will be so happy if you are sure!!!!!!! Should i get tank bred ones or does it really make a difference (where should i buy from)? What should i start feeding them with??

Ollie

 

[DiscusAngel]

i would say yes. i keep mine with pandas have 6 discus that are at the size of 3-4" its better to get them small and u may find tetras could intimerdate the discus or may get on well with them my old tetras (now rehommed) scared the liviing daylights out of my discus. so they went ! lol any more info needed just ask

Discus Angel, thanks for the info. You think it will be allright without RO water and large weekly water changes? I will be so happy if you are sure!!!!!!! Should i get tank bred ones or does it really make a difference (where should i buy from)? What should i start feeding them with??

Ollie

Whats the term for RO i dont use shortend terms !!, yes 30% vaccum water changes weekly fine, if u have a well known good Lfs not many dead fish good quality fish nice quality discus etc... you could get them from there like i did mine. but if you know discus breeders then yes get from there. i feed mine "Tetra Prima" brings out colours and doesnt float as discus cant really eat floating food. i feed mine Tetra prima frozen/live bloodworm and frozen discus food which is made of brine shrimp bloodworm everything! o yeah tell me what RO means in the non shortened form. Ty

 

[TheGodfather]

Reverse Osmosis. Kind a like pure water?? Anyways, how many should i keep in a 180l tank...

ollie

 

[KimA]

Anyways, how many should i keep in a 180l tank...

Would love to know this too, as I didn't think it was realistically possible (I have a 180L tank and would LOVE to have Discus, but didn't think it was viable) - thanks

 

[DiscusAngel]

Reverse Osmosis. Kind a like pure water?? Anyways, how many should i keep in a 180l tank...

ollie

o right nope i use tap water put tap safe into the water and put it in discus love swimming through the water when i poor it in lol. and yes you can i would keep 5 discus and get them at 3-4" dont rush into buying all at once as you will find diff colours like red oranges other than normal brown ones

 

[KimA]

TheGodfather - really hope you don't mind me coming in on your post as we have a common interest

but would just like to ask about filtration too with Discus - my tank has an Eheim 2026 external filter which is oversized for the tank (but I wanted the extra filtration when I bought it) - the water comes out of the spray bar at the top of the tank and is a pretty strong flow, is this okay for Discus?

Thanks again

 

[DiscusAngel]

TheGodfather - really hope you don't mind me coming in on your post as we have a common interest

but would just like to ask about filtration too with Discus - my tank has an Eheim 2026 external filter which is oversized for the tank (but I wanted the extra filtration when I bought it) - the water comes out of the spray bar at the top of the tank and is a pretty strong flow, is this okay for Discus?

Thanks again

sometimes but they do get anoyed and will hide. if you try covering the hole a little or have the sray bar towards the glass or something to slow it down would be better but if its a medium current they like that no current they dont like and to much they dont like very much.

o yeah, looking at your profile "KimA" u have parrots and sevs ? discus can live with angels not parrots and sevs. u must have more angels than sevs and it might be worth having sevs with parrots and the angels with discus ?

 

[mlawson]

Discus prefer temperatures of 30C degrees, which the pandas
wouldn't appreciate, although they should be fine if you keep them
at about 28C degrees.

 

[Rhiannon]

How many could you fit in a 215lt? This is what we are thinking of getting and are really wanting discus.

 

[KimA]

o yeah, looking at your profile "KimA" u have parrots and sevs ? discus can live with angels not parrots and sevs. u must have more angels than sevs and it might be worth having sevs with parrots and the angels with discus ?

The Parrots have their own tank which they share with 2 large Angels - that won't be changing. But I've been thinking about rehoming the Sevs as they've really not been getting on with each other and have also started to pick on the Angels (did try some time ago with the Sevs and Parrots together, but the Parrots are a firm pair and weren't happy with the Sevs in the tank at all, so that's a big no no), so the tank would be a Discus and Corydora tank - don't know if Discus would be happy with the Blue Rainbowfish either?

Only major concern is if the tank is big enough to house Discus when they're fully grown as an upgrade is out of the question.

 

[thegnu]

I really love discus and am just not sure if i have the right conditions to keep them. Ammonia=0 nitrate=0 nitrite=0 PH=6.5. I keep the tank at a temperature of 26 degrees but could easily increase this. At the moment i have some panda corys and tetras, the tank is 180l so plenty of space. I don't want to have RO water and anyway my GH is 8, surely this is soft enough. I do a weekly third to two thirds water change and don't want to do much more. What are my options???

Would appreciate any help, Ollie

discus like the company of their own kind and i think your tank would just about support 4 and your water would be very good for them so what are you waiting for. no seriously you are very lucky to have such good water for discus on tap. i would take a good look around at as many breeder/importers as i could, ask questions and you don't have to buy the biggest ones you can find, when i got mine they where slightly bigger than the size of a British 50p. i don't think they are that difficult to keep, not if you feed them a good and varied diet and keep up with water changes

 

[paulf]

Only major concern is if the tank is big enough to house Discus when they're fully grown as an upgrade is out of the question.

I did a few months research before I kept discus, I would suggest a LOT of research first. Your tank is too small, they need at least 240L for a group of them and panda corys do not like 28c any more than they like 30c
And buy the biggest you can as the chances of buying one that will turn out as a runt will be reduced, I woulnt but one less that 4"

 

[Rhiannon]

Wow, 240lt when full grown, I think they might be out of the question for me now.