Discus

[Noahs ark6]

Hi, would it be ok to house discus in a 260 litre, or is it too small, thanks

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Hi Noah.... I have been keeping and breeding Discus for a long time now, and hope I know these chaps pretty well. A 260 litre tank is perfectly fine, and in my opinion contrary to what you will very likely have read they don't need huge tanks. What Discus need is good quality water, not lots of it. People who have problems with them generally have them in poor water, and it makes on difference if they are in 1,000 gallons if the water is bad.

My show tank is only 350 litre and I have about 20 Discus in there and they are in tip top condition. My breeding tanks are actually quite small, around 100 litre.

Discus are not only beautiful fish, but have great characters too, and very rewarding.

If you want to have happy and pretty fish, then my first advise would be to test your tap water for compatibility. If it has values that fall in the following range and is nitrite and ammonia free then you are looking good:

pH 6.2 - 7.5
Gh 12 - 15
Kh 5 - 7

I wouldn't go spending a lot on test kits at this stage, as the 5 in 1 strips will give a good enough reading.

If the tap water is looking good, then you will make taking care of them a whole lot easier, as they do need regular water changes. I do 30% - 50% every other day. I also run a lot of filtration as they like to eat a lot

However, sometimes due to my work commitments I leave them alone for 3 weeks(everything automated, lights, feed, etc.) and have never had any problems.

Hope this is helpful, and let me know if you would like anymore hints.

Cheers, Phil

 

[Noahs ark6]

thanks alot for the advice, i'm glad i can keep discus as i think they are beutifull. My tap water is perfect for keeping discus , thanks again for the help

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

great stuff....... best of luck with them. I up loaded a video of my main tank on youtube today, and you can see they are happy without acres of water: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L0kgM583U

I hope you will enjoy keeping them as much as I have done.

 

[Delloy12]

What would you say is the minimum tank size to keep 4 discus'

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Brad, Again it is much more to do with water quality than tank size.....but 4 fish will be happy in 90 litres if the water is kept good. I currently live in Thailand(due to work) and have visited a discus farm here, and it was amazing to see how many fish are housed in their growing tanks. Looks like more fish than water! They feed the fish with brine shrimp 10 times a day, and get them nearly fully grown in 8 months, but they are changing 90% of the water everyday. I am not recommending a lot of fish in a tight space as that is just not fair on the fish, but what I am saying is that if you can give them good clean and quality water then they will be bright and happy.

They are not difficult to keep, so don't be worried about them. Mainly problems stem from the chemical filled tap water in parts of the UK. Of course you can get around it with RO filters, etc. but you need to be sure you are willing to go through the effort and expense. If you live in an area with hard calcium filled water then they are not the ideal fish to keep, but if you have soft and slightly acidic water then they are a good choice.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Guys, I see that it looks like you tried to send me a PM, but for some reason I can't open them

.....don't know why that is, sorry

 

[Delloy12]

Guys, I see that it looks like you tried to send me a PM, but for some reason I can't open them

.....don't know why that is, sorry

I think its cause your new

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Ah, ok....that'll be it then

 

[Vin Swords]

Hi phil, is it ok to mix wild and domesticated discus? My wild ones getting bullied by the top one.. But no problem in feeding and so and so.. But there is no bond.. If you know what I mean.. Is it normal?

 

[micko]

I was always under the assumption that discus needed to be in groups of 6+
I wouldn't like to see four fully grown discus in a 90ltr. Just my opinion.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Hi phil, is it ok to mix wild and domesticated discus? My wild ones getting bullied by the top one.. But no problem in feeding and so and so.. But there is no bond.. If you know what I mean.. Is it normal?

What wild strain do you have? Heckel Discus should never be mixed with anything other than Heckels........likewise with wild Green Discus. Browns and Blues can be mixed with domestic and hybrid strains. However, wild discus have different immune systems to domestic fish and some parasites that will seem harmless to domestic discus can prove fatal to wild ones. So do ensure a good quarantine period if you can before introducing new fish.

On the bullying issue. How many discus do you have, and what size are they? This behavior is very very common, but I often see it swings from fish to fish if they are all of similar size. So the dominant fish one month can become dominated by another the next. However as the fish mature it normally settles down(a bit like humans

). One tip is that if you are going to introduce new discus to your tank, then try and find 'slightly' larger ones as they should subdue the dominant one.

Cheers, Phil

 

[Vin Swords]

I have 5 of them. All full grown.. (8/9 inches) wild one (tefe green) being the smallest one. I did had hith problem with wilds . Lost one due to it.. But the other one recovered .. I have this set for two year or so..

Planing to get another fully grown one soon.. To make group of 6. But the usual worries.. I want large good quality discus.. Which is expansive .. And I am in the middle of doing up high tec flooded forest setup .. All the stress may be kill it..

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I have 5 of them. All full grown.. (8/9 inches) wild one (tefe green) being the smallest one. I did had hith problem with wilds . Lost one due to it.. But the other one recovered .. I have this set for two year or so..

Planing to get another fully grown one soon.. To make group of 6. But the usual worries.. I want large good quality discus.. Which is expansive .. And I am in the middle of doing up high tec flooded forest setup .. All the stress may be kill it..

Seeing that you have had them for 2 years already, then you already know what you are doing.


If they were both true wild strains then it is very common for them to not only become sick amid domestic breeds, but also to become shy. They may have small brains, but they do definitely have characters. I have one that has an obsession with pulling up plants, yet I never see this with any of the others

Don't quote me on this, but I suspect that if your newly added fish was a Rio Green and Royal Turquoise cross(one of the most common available) it may well act as a good peace maker. As Discus are not cheap, it is well worth spending 30+min watching them before you buy.......check their temperament so you can get the right one. You don't want a bully fish, and you don't want the shy one, best fish are those that can take it from the bully and are not phased by it.