Discus - Why So Many Conflicting Bits Of Advice?

[maca9]

Hi All

I know this is a common question however I can't seem to get any consistency when searching the forum.


It would be fantastic if a few of you Discus experts could let me know the following from your knowledge?


Tank Size for Discuss? (non breeding pairs only)

Best tank mates if any?

Temp?

PH?

Food for them?


Thanks

Maca

 

[PrettyDiscus]

I would say a minimum of 40g. You could safetly put 4 Discus in there although 5-6 Discus would be better. Depending on the water changes you could put six Discus although daily water changes of 50% would be needed.

 

[thegnu]

Hi All

I know this is a common question however I can't seem to get any consistency when searching the forum.


It would be fantastic if a few of you Discus experts could let me know the following from your knowledge?


Tank Size for Discuss? (non breeding pairs only)

Best tank mates if any?

Temp?

PH?

Food for them?


Thanks

Maca

hi maca9
i'm no discus expert but i do keep them so these are my views.

tank size.
i dont think you should keep just 2. at the very least there should be 4 in a tank to give them more security in numbers and there would be less bullying. adults can reach 6+ inches and i think they need 15 gallons per fish so thats a 60 gallon tank at least.

tankmates.
i keep mine with apistogrammas and blue rams but i dont think this is ideal because when they breed, the apisto's i mean, (which mine do every 20 odd days) it can be a bit hard on the discus. i also have otto's, rummynose tetra's, cardinal tetra's and harlequin rasbora's. another good fish to keep with them would be pencil fish.

temp.
the optimum temp seems to be 86F but i keep mine slightly lower at 84F on account of my other fish.

pH.
i'm from the "old school" on this. ive read that they can be kept at higher pH's than they use to be kept at and even in alkaline water
up to pH8. i keep mine at pH5.8 by using ro water filtered through peat.

food.
i feed mine a mixture of foods but every day i like them to have a little frozen bloodworm and tetra prima granuals. they also get frozen brine shrimp, frozen shrimp (a little bigger) a little shop bought beafheart about once every 2 weeks and live glassworms which they love and hunt them down all over the tank.

hope this helps, others will do it differently, it is up to the individual.

good luck

 

[Rhiannon]

I have been doing quite a bit of reading on them on here, and seen people say min 20gl.

There are conflicting answers everywhere.

 

[Halfsleeve]

I have been doing quite a bit of reading on them on here, and seen people say min 20gl.

There are conflicting answers everywhere.

I keep four in my Trigon 190, tank mates 3 rummynose tetras and 4 corys had them for about a year, I change 25ltrs of RO water a week, there are a lot of people who keep there discus with normal water just treated for chlorine, if there tank bred they tend to be a bit hardier, as long as your tank is big enough and you get the right temp and Ph your pretty much there, I would say stability is the key to succesful discus keeping.

 

[kev_kb]

You should have been able to find this by searching but here goes:

Discus should only be kept in pairs if they are breeding pair. In this case you can get away with a 20G if very well maintained. However if your a beginner you'll probably not want to spend the cash on a breeding pair and even if you did I would suggest a larger tank to avoid mistakes.

You cannot keep any two discus together in a small tank and expect them to pair up. You'll most likely end up with at least one dead discus and maybe both.

A group of 4 can work, but 5-6 would be better. You need to give each discus 10g of water and the tank needs to be 18" high. So your looking a min size of around 40g, but of course bigger is better.

I would buy fish around 3-4" as they settle a lot better and are generally easier to keep IMHO. I'd keep them in a bare bottom tank, and I would avoid buying fish smaller as they can be easily stunted. Only buy from a discus specialist, there are plenty of cheap and poor quality discus around in 'normal' lfs.

Temp and water parameters should be matched to your discus supplier. They are best kept in moderately soft water, and most people have very hard water coming out the tap so will need to soften it. The most popular and reliable way is by using RO water.

 

[johnelka]

I have kept discus for only 18 month now and have had so much conflicting advice . not listening to advice from experts would be silly but i would say you must from that advice develop your own ideas .Trust your gut felling about how your fish behave and just follow the basics testing for ammonia, ph around 7 ect . I started with a 4ft tank (45 gallon) a large external fillter and 5-6 small discus . good luck . john n

 

[johnelka]

ps iwould feed non poluting foods such as blood worm and flake / granuels
keep the ph around 7 at a temp of around 30 0c
and keep tetras , clown fish with them for a start.

 

[DarkEntity]

The main thing with Discus are their size. Be sensible, at a fully grown state they will be 6-10Inch across so 10-15 gall per fish is a must, pref 15. Discus are helped no end by dither fish in the tank. If they are happily shoaling then there are no preditors thus the Discus will be much more relaxed. Probably the main reason you see most Discus tanks with Neons or the like.

Discus require immaculate water its a simple as that, they are some what like Puffers in that respect.

 

[paul-discus]

15 to 20 gallons per discus is the reccomended ratio but you can stretch this a little with daily water changes but that must be kept up with. I always reccomend odd numbers of discus in an aquarium and would say several fish at least 3inches when purchased will give you the best chance. Tank mates can be cardinals, black neons, lemon tetras, serpae tetras, dwarf pencilfish,hatchetfish, spotted headstanders, checkerboard cichlids, and rams as these are all submissive and peaceful fish with the same requirements as that of the discus. Yes there are all different views on keeping discus but if you get the basics right then really you can't go wrong and of caurse cleanliness is an important factor and of caurse buy healthy specimens. You can look on the Internet for bonefida discus stockists and look locally too. I can reccomend some places and i have bought fish from miles away and they have arrrived in perfect condition but you must ask what water there fish are kept in and get yours the same.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Tank Size for Discuss? (non breeding pairs only)
I agree about the 15-20 gallon ratio per discus. BUT this does not mean you can keep one discus in a 20 gallon tank. Discus do better in groups. Being shy, nervous fish, they feel better in bigger numbers. Plus having a larger group, means less aggression.


Best tank mates if any?
I would have to think most peaceful community fish. Angel's are closely related to the discus and are more aggressive eaters, so depending on the eating habits of the discus, you may/may not be able to keep them in the same tank. I have discus and angels in my 125 gallon (473 liter) tank and luckily for me, my discus are as aggressive eaters as the angels. I have 5 clown loaches, L-018 Gold nugget pleco, L-260 Queen Arabesque pleco, 4 angelfish, 6 harlequin rasboras, 2 rainbows, and 7 various cories in my 125 gallon (473 liter) tank with my discus.

Temp?
Discus do better in warmer temps. I keep mine at 82°F (28°C), which the discus are doing fine with. I know most people prefer at much higher temps.

PH?
Tank bred discus have been bred/raised in varying pH levels. Mine are currently in a pH of 7.2

Food for them?
Best to give them a varied diet of frozen food. Although I know many breeders like to feed discus red wigglers, I like to stay clear of live foods, since there maybe a chance the discus could pick up some kind of internal parasite. I feed mine frozen blood worms, frozen mysis shrimp, beefheart mix, frozen brine shrimp, hikari sinking carnivore pellets, tetra bits, frozen peas (skinned). My discus will ONLY eat the frozen peas if I hand feed it to them, otherwise if I just drop it into the tank, they will not even look at it. I know, I spoil them too much.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

got no definate answers but a comment on the amount of conflicting info....

discus have long been considered one of the most sensitive and difficult fish to keep, however the advances in technology, science, fishkeeping practices and breeding stronger tank bred strains have meant it's considerably easier to keep them now that it used to be.

because of this you have the old school who will say everything must be perfect, temp, pH etc must be dead on and there's no room for variation, and you have the new school who are trying a whole range of different things with different levels of sucess. As such you'll get a massive amount of info from one extreme to the other and with everything in between.

I've not kept discus myself but if I was going to I would look at the strict old school methods, take a few calculated risks of things i could change, get a very reliable breeder to supply the fish then take it from there.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I like the "new school" methods. Just feed and perform water changes. The old school requires optimum temps, specific water chemistry, etc. to keep. Basically, it makes the hobby more work. My discus are doing well in my regular tap water with water changes every 4-6 days. 2 have even paired and laying eggs. I know a few long time breeders that used to use RO water for their discus and later changed to regular tap water with no ill effects. It was much cheaper for them to use regular tap water.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Hi All

I know this is a common question however I can't seem to get any consistency when searching the forum.


It would be fantastic if a few of you Discus experts could let me know the following from your knowledge?


Tank Size for Discuss? (non breeding pairs only)

Best tank mates if any?

Temp?

PH?

Food for them?


Thanks

Maca

I also am no Discus expert but heres my opionion:

1.Tank size can vary on the amount of Discus but I would say the minimum for keeping them in optimal health would be 5 in a 50-55g tank with no tank mates other then themselves. I also recommend keeping the tank about chest level as Discus do not like seeing forin objects about their head.

2. Tank mates can be hard especially with a fish so sensitive to stress. I will be setting up a Discus angelfish tank, but it is always a risk. I've heard rams are good, but you have to watch out with all Cichlids as the tempermente will vary. I have also heard peaceful tetras are good, as the Discus will see them acting normally and feel more secure in the surroundings.

3. Temperature should be constant. I recommend temperatures anywhere from 80-90F. Discus will have a higher chance of pairing up and breeding if kept in warmer waters, so it's up to you if you would like to go up to 90 and hope for a few babies.

4. Ph is very important. I recommend 6-6.8. But just as important is the hardness of the water. agian I recommend 3-15 dH, agian the lower the hardness the more of a chance for babies.

5. Food should be varied. Good flake foods, pellets, granulets, sinking waffers and frozen foods. Try to get a mixture of foods to optain an optimal amount of nutrition.

Good luck!

DL

 

[paulf]

I am currently writing an article on discus to be posted on this forum as I noticed there is not a lot of info on them either....

Just got to finish it and make sure its right so you lot dont rip it apart