Discus Requirements

[markandhisfish]

I currently have two Discus in a 36g tank allot of people have labeled me as overstocked but allot of people have said the complete opposite. Your opinions?
What are the requirements for a Discus tank? I have been fed a lot of wrong info so please answers from personal experience only. - Thanks in advance

2 discus together is not a good number unless they are a proven breeding pair . and 36g is nowhere big enough . discus are by nature an intelligent social shoaling fish which are found in huge shoals . you should be keeping 6 MINIMUM in a 55g tank MINIMUM , ideally bigger if possible . as 55g doesnt really give much room for tankmates .

discus keeping is a minefield of myths and a lot of absolute rubbish is spouted but the info given above is a time proven tried ands tested method .

seshat if youd like to know what strains you have post some pics and people will be able to id them for you .

what temp/feeding/waterchange regime are you following?

 

[Seshat Odair]

I currently have two Discus in a 36g tank allot of people have labeled me as overstocked but allot of people have said the complete opposite. Your opinions?
What are the requirements for a Discus tank? I have been fed a lot of wrong info so please answers from personal experience only. - Thanks in advance

2 discus together is not a good number unless they are a proven breeding pair . and 36g is nowhere big enough . discus are by nature an intelligent social shoaling fish which are found in huge shoals . you should be keeping 6 MINIMUM in a 55g tank MINIMUM , ideally bigger if possible . as 55g doesnt really give much room for tankmates .

discus keeping is a minefield of myths and a lot of absolute rubbish is spouted but the info given above is a time proven tried ands tested method .

seshat if youd like to know what strains you have post some pics and people will be able to id them for you .

what temp/feeding/waterchange regime are you following?

I tried to post pics but i could't figure it out. How do i post pics from my computer instead of from a url?
temp.: 85 F
Feeding: Frozen Discus Cubes, Tropical fish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp for treat once maybe twice a week
Water change: roughly 25-30% once a week.

 

[ChilliPepper]

As markandhisfish has said, in the wild Discus stick close together in huge shoals, so it's all about trying to do your best to replicate nature for them. Ideally they'd want a 180g I think and maybe 15 or so Discus. Of course if you could go bigger then it's always better. However not everyone has the space/money/time/effort for such a tank, so if you want to keep this fish then a 55g is absolutely minimum for a small group.

To be honest maintenance on a bigger tank is 10x EASIER than on a smaller tank. You can do large water changes for them and not have to worry about upsetting the water parameters. In a small tank you are nearly always battling against one thing or t'other unless doing very frequent waterchanges. Discus are very delicate fish and need lots of water changes to keep them healthy. They are very high maintenance fish, more so than marine.

what ive found with most people on the forums is the ideal size of your tank is the size of your whole lounge or even your house .Not disrespecting the ones that know but anything smaller than your lounge you should only keep a small shoal of minnows .My discus are doing fine too and are now starting to spawn so who really can tell??

Well, seems like you're doing well with your stocking Unless you want people to keep reminding you that keeping the fish you do in the tank you are is unwise, then I'd refrain commenting.

 

[Seshat Odair]

Out of curiosity how do I know which types of discus i have, the man at the pet store didn't really say. I have tried identifying online but just about every site gave me different answers...

Um... i think the best and one of the only ways of finding out is if u put some pics on here, and there will be numerous people that can answer that question!!

How do i post pics from my computer and not from a url?

 

[markandhisfish]

the easiest way to post images is to sign up for a photobucket account , its 100% free . upload your images to there then just copy/paste the img code into your post

if youre only doing 1 waterchange a week i would up it to 50% . to get your discus to acheive their full potential , juveniles ideally want a w/c every day or every 2nd day . this can be reduced for adults

 

[kevinjames]

no offence to the original poster on this thread but what is up with people recently taking on discus without doing any research at all. they are not difficult to keep but need much more care and attention that 90% of other tropicals. their is a difference between a fish surviving in someones care and THRIVING in someones care.

going back on topic, unless they are a breeding pair i would say the size of tank and keeping only 2 discus are not allowing the fish to thrive. how big are the discus and how ofeten are you feeding and doing water changes. also how long have you had them

 

[Seshat Odair]

the easiest way to post images is to sign up for a photobucket account , its 100% free . upload your images to there then just copy/paste the img code into your post

if youre only doing 1 waterchange a week i would up it to 50% . to get your discus to acheive their full potential , juveniles ideally want a w/c every day or every 2nd day . this can be reduced for adults

Thanks! I should've guessed, that is something else the guy at the pet store told me.
I will make a photo bucket and post the pics so u guys can help id them.

 

[Seshat Odair]

<center>
<a href="http/s1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/?action=view&amp;current=photo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http/i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/photo1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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</center>

<center>
<a href="http/s1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/?action=view&amp;current=photo35.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http/i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/photo35.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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</center>

Try this, no idea if I did this right...
Tell if they don't work and I'll try something else.

<center>
<a href="http/s1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/?action=view&amp;current=photo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http/i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/photo1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<br/><br/>
</center>

<center>
<a href="http/s1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/?action=view&amp;current=photo35.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http/i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/Per_Ankh/photo35.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<br/><br/>
</center>

Try this, no idea if I did this right...
Tell if they don't work and I'll try something else.

Don't think those are right, try this.

a lot bigger than expected! here you go, can anyone id these?

 

[kevinjames]

Unsure of Id as they are still small. How big are they. Were they from a shop or a local breeder? 1st one look like some sort of turq possibly a red turq. Is the 2nd one quite blue? How long have you had them.

 

[markandhisfish]

agreed the 1st is either red turq or blue turq which of the 2 it is will become evident as it matures , i wouldnt like to hazard a guess on the 2nd 1 until its a bit older . its quite surprising just how much some strains can change in appearance from juvenile to adult

 

[Seshat Odair]

Here we go, I posted these earlier and then the next time I got on the site they were gone... Oh well here they are again.

I have done this serveral times but the posts just keep disapearing...

 

[hanny93]

They hadnt disappeared..

 

[Seshat Odair]

I have posted the codes from photo bucket three times. Obviously i have been unsuccessful... I post them and the next time I get on the site they are gone.
My snails are curled up on the bottom of the tank, they haven't been out or moved in 2 days. Since they are noe eating I have had algae build up. Is this normal for them?

They hadnt disappeared..

Now they are showing up, yesterday when Logged onto the site they weren't there... Oh well, can anyone id them for me?

Unsure of Id as they are still small. How big are they. Were they from a shop or a local breeder? 1st one look like some sort of turq possibly a red turq. Is the 2nd one quite blue? How long have you had them.

They came from LFS, not a breeder. They are no more than 3 inches.

Unsure of Id as they are still small. How big are they. Were they from a shop or a local breeder? 1st one look like some sort of turq possibly a red turq. Is the 2nd one quite blue? How long have you had them.

Ok I will wait a while and try to id them again later on after they have matured. Some times it has more blue than others. Usually has more blue than in this picture, as the camera scared them. it was difficult to get a good picture.

 

[interpet123]

I dont know whether they're at-all similar to my snakeskins??

???

 

[Seshat Odair]

I dont know whether they're at-all similar to my snakeskins??

???

No, they do not resemble yours at all. You have beautiful discus! I wish snake skins were available where I live, I would have to drive waaay out of state to get a hold of them. I love mine though