Discus fish

[petecrab]

I have a tropical set up already which ive done very well with, i have a new tank setup (Rekord 96), i was thinking of putting discus fish in it, how much harder are they to keep?

Thanks

Pete

 

[Francis]

When I kept Discus I found them Hard to keep. They are very susceptible to changes in the water so the water must be exact. We always had trouble getting the water down to the 6.5 pH needed, they are also easily infected with disease and disease spreads quickly. DO NOT keep plecs with discus as they can attaytch themselves to thre sides of the fish. We think a plec did that to one of our discus, the wound became infected the fish go diseased and the disease spread wiping all but one of the fish out, so we got rid of that last discus. How big is your tank? You can give it a go I want to re-try myself.

Francis.

 

[Fish_Mike]

Is that a 96L tank? If so, it's really not suitable for Discus, even Juveniles. When they're young they shoal, in small groups, and when they're adult, they can live in pairs, however, they get to about 8 inches tall. If your tank is not at least 18inches tall, the discus will not have much room!

Technically, Discus aren't hard to keep. As long as you are always on top of things, you should be fine. Discus are more susceptible to disease then other fish, but feed them properly and do everything you can to keep them from getting stressed to help build up a strong immune system. 85* is good for discus, however, not all of your fish will tolerate such water.

 

[petecrab]

Yeh it is a 96L tank, i was just planning on having a few discus in there, but as they are very expensive i dont want to risk them all dying, as it would be very pricey(plus it would be mean!)
Im not sure what else to put in the tank, something bigger and nice to look at, i really wanted discus but maybe i could try some angels...

 

[Fish_Mike]

Sorry, i don't mean to put you down but angels also need a tank of at least 18inches tall, as you know they are almost twice vertically what they are horizontally.

 

[The-Wolf]

your pretty much limited to dwarf gouramis for bigger than average fish for a rekord 96.
have you seen dwarf gouramis they are a stunning fish?.
you could also have festivums in that tank, seeing as you liked angels you may like them too.

 

[IMCL85]

Discus isnt hard but also isn't easy fish to keep. If you can maintain an healthy aquarium there visually no problem on keeping any fish. The main point about fish keeping isn't about the fish. Its just the water. Once the water is good(correct condition for the species u want to house he wouldn't die until he goes old). Ur tank looks like too small for any more then 2 baby discus. Any more will be stress from fighting and bio load. I suggest u buy a bigger tank before you go for any discus.