Discus Tank?

[likescichlids]

how many discus could i put in my 55 gallon? and what do they need? I have soft water. Ph is 7.0

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I have posted this on a previous thread but oh well.

Space wise you need 50 litres per discus so you might just get away with 5, to keep them happy and really you want 5 or more to spread bullying which always happens. Also a good idea to make sure its at least 24" height as average Discus will reach around 8" diameter and any less depth would be like putting a tetra in 1" deep water.

Discus are not difficult fish at all, people think they are and get put off, if you do your research then you'll be fine. Discus are very easy so long as you don't mind hard work. Such as regular larger water changes, making sure uneaten food is hoovered up by either bottom feeders or by you with a syphon, hopefully by bottom feeders as the more you poke around in the tank the more stressed they will get.

Don't by any means buy any tank mates that suck to the side of the glass as Discus are covered in a tasty slime and they will latch to them, stress them and can die.

Tank mates are a great idea, ideally Cardinals or Rummy nose and a large shoal as they at as like an early warning system for Discus which puts them at ease.

Make sure you get your Discus from a decent breeder with similar water parameters as yours.

Oh and get a good test kit.

External filter is a good idea but then I kept Discus in a tank with a Fluval U4 internal for a while and they were fine.

Thats all I can think of right now lol.

Good luck................do your research and you wont need it.

 

[likescichlids]

I have posted this on a previous thread but oh well.

Space wise you need 50 litres per discus so you might just get away with 5, to keep them happy and really you want 5 or more to spread bullying which always happens. Also a good idea to make sure its at least 24" height as average Discus will reach around 8" diameter and any less depth would be like putting a tetra in 1" deep water.

Discus are not difficult fish at all, people think they are and get put off, if you do your research then you'll be fine. Discus are very easy so long as you don't mind hard work. Such as regular larger water changes, making sure uneaten food is hoovered up by either bottom feeders or by you with a syphon, hopefully by bottom feeders as the more you poke around in the tank the more stressed they will get.

Don't by any means buy any tank mates that suck to the side of the glass as Discus are covered in a tasty slime and they will latch to them, stress them and can die.

Tank mates are a great idea, ideally Cardinals or Rummy nose and a large shoal as they at as like an early warning system for Discus which puts them at ease.

Make sure you get your Discus from a decent breeder with similar water parameters as yours.

Oh and get a good test kit.

External filter is a good idea but then I kept Discus in a tank with a Fluval U4 internal for a while and they were fine.

Thats all I can think of right now lol.

Good luck................do your research and you wont need it.

ok thank i have a test kit and i have been doing research. my dad kept them a long time ago.

 

[kevinjames]

bristlenose plecs are fine with discus, i do and many others keep them togeter with no problems

 

[likescichlids]

bristlenose plecs are fine with discus, i do and many others keep them togeter with no problems

ok cool thanks

 

[likescichlids]

so can i put a pair of ram with them?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Yup

 

[likescichlids]

Yup

ok cool what about rainbow's?

 

[snowflake311]

Rainbow what? Rainbow cichlids or rainbow the Aussie schooling fish?

The schooling fish could be ok as longs as they do not take all the discus food. But some of those rainbows get kind of big like 3" and that will take tank space way from the number of discus you should have.

I would not keel the rainbow cichlids with discus .

You could keel 5 discus in a 55 gal but I would not put many other fish with them. Maybe a BN Pleco and a small school of little fish. You could get away with a ram in there too. Rams do make great tank mates for discus I have one with my 8 and he is a little punk at times but the discus don't take him seriously. Also the rams say on the bottom and the discus are top to middle so it works.

Discus are great fish once you have a few you want more. They are addictive.

 

[likescichlids]

Rainbow what? Rainbow cichlids or rainbow the Aussie schooling fish?

The schooling fish could be ok as longs as they do not take all the discus food. But some of those rainbows get kind of big like 3" and that will take tank space way from the number of discus you should have.

I would not keel the rainbow cichlids with discus .

You could keel 5 discus in a 55 gal but I would not put many other fish with them. Maybe a BN Pleco and a small school of little fish. You could get away with a ram in there too. Rams do make great tank mates for discus I have one with my 8 and he is a little punk at times but the discus don't take him seriously. Also the rams say on the bottom and the discus are top to middle so it works.

Discus are great fish once you have a few you want more. They are addictive.

i mean a schooling dwarf neon rainbow's..

 

[Ps3Steveo]

The dwarfs won't be ok as they're quite tiny and may end up lunch. You need to think about stock with Discus this way, you have the Discus sorted (top/middle) rams (bottom/middle with discus more bottom) so you could keep 5 discus, a pair of rams and maybe 15 tiny fish eg cardinals as they grow larger than neons, or rummynose, both are slightly larger than the discus will be willing to eat and shoal brilliantly. Remember the main attraction is the discus not their tank mates.

 

[likescichlids]

The dwarfs won't be ok as they're quite tiny and may end up lunch. You need to think about stock with Discus this way, you have the Discus sorted (top/middle) rams (bottom/middle with discus more bottom) so you could keep 5 discus, a pair of rams and maybe 15 tiny fish eg cardinals as they grow larger than neons, or rummynose, both are slightly larger than the discus will be willing to eat and shoal brilliantly. Remember the main attraction is the discus not their tank mates.

why not neon rainbow's the bigger then the neon tetra's...

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I've not seen them grow very large in my experience but you might be lucky. You talking about the tiny ones with yellow tips on the fins or the larger ones, if it's the latter then they're gonna overcroud your tank.

 

[likescichlids]

I've not seen them grow very large in my experience but you might be lucky. You talking about the tiny ones with yellow tips on the fins or the larger ones, if it's the latter then they're gonna overcroud your tank.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/89827-blueneon-rainbowfish/

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Ahhh I see, they'd be ok but max 10 with 5 Discus and a some bottom feeders. I wouldn't have Rams with them you may get a bit over stocked.