Discus

[Superspecs]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of setting up my first tropical fish tank in the not too distant future, maybe in a year or so when I have moved house and have more room. I have lofty ambitions of a reasonably sized planted tank (150-200 litres?) with discus and possibly some pearl gourami if I have room left. I thought I should start reading up on the basics as soon as possible to give myself the best chance.

Obviously I am not going to chuck some discus in there straight the way, I would build to it over the course of a year once I have a healthy tank. Maybe build up my stock gradually then swap it out for discus?

I did used to keep tropical fish with my dad when I was alot younger but I am pretty much a newbie. What are my chances?

 

[arobinson1984]

I think your chances are good if everything is done correctly as discus are ideally for experienced fishkeepers due to their needs and demands.

You would need a bigger tank than 200 litres though for discus.

Hopefully somebody will come along who keep discus and will be able to give you more experienced advice

Andy

 

[Superspecs]

I think your chances are good if everything is done correctly as discus are ideally for experienced fishkeepers due to their needs and demands.

You would need a bigger tank than 200 litres though for discus.

Hopefully somebody will come along who keep discus and will be able to give you more experienced advice

Andy

Ok, How big a tank would I need if wanted to keep discus sucessfully? If I need much bigger I will have to fight it out with the misses..... again.

 

[arobinson1984]

It depends on how many you want, many of the profile websites state that discus require a minimum of 30 gallons and prefer a deep tank meaning a 150 - 200 litre would be fine. I'm sure many members on here would advise against this and say you need even bigger.

Be aware that discus are rated as moderate to difficult in terms of how difficult they are to look after as they will require frequent partial water changes, provbably every 1-2 days as they require pristine water conditions.

Have a read here: Discus Profile

Andy

 

[Davo86]

Discus need keeping in numbers no less than 5,(unless you have an established pair) and require a bare minimum of a 55USG (208L). Juvis are fairly hard to look after and require multiple daily feeds and multiple weekly water changes in order to prevent them from becoming stunted.

Discus need to be the 'center of attention' in the tank and in most cases Pearl Gouramis may not be the best tankmates for them, Also the high temperatures that Discus require may be a stumbling block for most other general community species

Something like the roma or rio 240 would be ideal for 5 Discus and a few dithers.

 

[waterdrop]

Davo's advice in these things is very valuable!

Its really good to have lofty goals! I'd keep the goals and keep building up your knowledge about discus tanks. In the meantime perhaps you should consider keeping a smaller, more traditional tropical community tank to help your return to the hobby and to share with your wife. A really big discus tank is a large and expensive undertaking and you're going to feel a lot more confident about it if you've had a year or two to really get the basics down with hands on experience in another tank.

Not only that but the "planted" aspect can be quite a bit of learning too and more time to be doing some things hands-on and to be reading and interacting will really strengthen your background and approach.

Angels share some characteristics with discus, so perhaps a taller type tank (then need a minimum of 17 or 18 inches of height, as with many 29g, 30g size configurations) might be a starting point to consider. If you get through the fishless cycle in the first couple months and then introduce some hardy species, you could follow with a school of neons at 6 months and if those were established then angels that were introduced later would probably not consider them to be food. Meanwhile you could be actively absorbing all the reading.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i think your chances of keeping discus sucessfully are excellent providing you accept a few things as fact at the start and follow them through

1 - you cannot have them straight away in a brand new tank, the tank will need to be matured with a good complement of fish in for at least 6 months before you even consider them

2 - you need to do a lot of research

3 - you'll probably have to spend a bit more money

1 is no problem, not only will the tank mature but it gives tonnes of time for you to read up and also gives you time to hone your skills as a fishkeeper so you've got the everyday stuff like water changes totally off pat which is crucial for keeping discus.

3 is a little debatable, however it's commonly agreed that using RO water (which means buying an RO filter) will make it easier to keep discus and improve your chances of sucess. Some people keep them sucessfully in relatively standard set up's however a lot of people really struggle if they try to do this without the knowledge or experience to back it up.

but take your time, do your research and open up your wallet and you'll be fine.

 

[rabbut]

Hum, I beg to differ. Using RO often leads to more problems than using tap water, even with Discus. lots of people rant on about how then need a pH of 6.5 or less, increadibly soft water and like constant waterchanges of 50% daily. Rubbish IME. Most Discus are Asian bred in the UK, and have never seen a pH below 7.5 in their life. Higher pH (well KH actually, but if pH is high, so usually is KH and visa versa) actually boosts growth rates, so the breeders only lower pH (actually KH) for spawning so the eggs can be fertilised, then ratch it up for growth rates before they hatch 3 days later Adding Asian bred stock to a low pH tank will hammer them to a point where they usually go down with disease

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Don't use R/O. Your local tap water should be fine, just get some readings to make sure.



A planted tank will be fine, but 200 liters is the minimum size. Personally, I would go a tad bigger if it is planted. If you can't go any bigger then 200 liters, then that is fine.

Normally you should grow juvenile Discus out (4-4.5 inches or smaller) in a bare bottom tank with loads of water changes (at least 20% daily) and loads of feedings (depending on the size of water change 4-6 feedings a day.) It is much harder to clean a planted tank, so that is normally why you need to grow them out with nothing in it. So start with adult Discus. You may be able to get away with a weekly water change, but if you can do twice weekly it would be more ideal. Minimum of three feeds a day. Discus should be fine to go in after a few months, I have never waited that long putting my Discus into a tank, normally I get impatient of waiting and throw em in after the cycle! LOL

 

[San O Fisher]

I found keeping my plants healthy at first is harder than keeping the discuss...make sure to start off with a quality light source. I agree with non using RO water...i switched over and I think I lost a discuss because of it and the rest of my fish didn't appear to adapt too well. Once I slowly switched back everyone returned to normality. As far as discuss go, i noticed that when i introduced them in stages they did not get along as well than if I bought them all at once. I dont know how many other people have had that problem.

 

[Superspecs]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I will try and take tham all into acount. I will definatly not bee jumping for discus straight the way and keep it on the back burner until my tank has established itslef. Im not sure if I could practically manage daily water changes as I work long hours but I have heard that weekly 50% changes are adequate in some cases.

Here I am making all these plans and I havent even got a tank yet! *Sigh*

 

[rabbut]

50% weekly would be OK, with fully mature adults and only a moderate stocking this will mean a cost of about £100 a fish though, with a minimum required group of 5 unless you happen to get a proven breeding pair, and then it will be just them in the tank (they'll batter tank mates when the spawn in most cases. Great if you like fish and chips, not quite so if you like healthy Discus and dither fish... )

All the best
Rabbut