Discus keeping

[Discus1985]

hi there! Ok so brought the son for Christmas a 150litre tank, he wants to keep discus fish, so we set up the tank,filter airator, plants and after a week or so have just put in one red/white small discus a clown loach and a bristlenose. For some reason the loach and the bristlenose have died! we have kept theee type of fish in other tanks for many years and never had any problems like this. Anyway apart from the mystery deaths....we have no experience with discus (who seems to be doing well although lonesome by itself at the moment) My main question is what type of fish does everyone keep with their discus? How many discus to a 150ltr tank and are there any feeding tips or general start up tips I should know about. We tried feeding the granuals to the discus but wasn't interested and instead has preferred fish food flakes. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Essjay]

The answer to how many discus in a 150 litre tank is none, I'm afraid. They need a tank that is at least 48″ x 18″ x 18″ (120cm x 45cm x 45cm). This is 255 litres, and is suitable for a few juveniles or a breeding pair of adults. For more adults, the tank needs to be bigger.

Discus need warmer water than most fish so tank mates need to be chosen with this in mind.
The two fish that died - clown loaches need to be in a group in a tank with a base at least 180 x 60 cm (72 x 24 inches) and bristlenoses won't like the temps that discus need.

 

[Seanthebusdriver]

+1 with essjay, your son's tank really isn't big enough.

Assuming that you son is a child I would also add that Discus are a tough fish to start the hobby (way of life) with. They require a 50% water change per week and have very specific water requirements with not a great deal of tolerance from those requirements.

I would recommended either getting a larger tank and doing a load of research before taking on more discus or rehome the discus your son has and start with fish that suit your local tap water supply.

In the meantime Discus are meat eaters, try frozen beef heart, blood worms etc.

Whatever you decide to do there is always lots of help here. Good luck.

 

[Mr. Bones]

I would have done a lot of research before jumping right into discus keeping

 

[cboatman]

As others have said, that isn't big enough for discus. In addition, your tank probably hasn't cycled yet (no beneficial bacteria to process ammonia and nitrate). Your two fish likely died because the ammonia was too high. The discus may also die if you don't keep up on water changes until the tank fully cycles.

Good luck!


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