29 Gallon Grow Out Tank?

[DutchAD]

So I've been doing 95% water changes daily (they freak a bit towards the end, and rather than have everyone show me how well they swim in a quarter inch of water, I start my pump there with aged water) and I've been seeing awesome growth out of these guys that I got right before Thanksgiving.

9 juveniles ~ 3 inches in size with a guppy breeder with an additional 8 inch sized discus I've been growing since dime size.... I've been contemplating starting up a 5 gallon for those guys as they've been growing well.

With aggressive and dedicated water changes (takes me about 15 minutes with my setup) nightly, and feeding flake/pellet before work, beefheart in the evenings before water changes, how long can I keep this up?

I have 2 sponge filters for filtration that I keep clean a few times a week.

My question is, how long can I get away with this before I have to move them to a 55 gallon tank? changing 95% of a 55 gallon will not be nearly as easy as the 29 gallon for sure.

I have a 165 gallon community tank, but from what I've read, I want to make sure they're at least 5/6 inches before I transition them to the big tank (I plan on using a feeding dish and strictly NLS pellets at that point).

Thanks in advance, please tell me I can get away with my current setup and good husbandry for another 1/2 inches!!

Pictures for your time when I get home tonight!

[darcy]

So you have 17 fish in a 29 gallon? I imagine you could get away with that for abit,if it was me I'd put them in a bigger tank.

[moon_knight1971]

If you were just doing the 9 3" juvies or just the 8 inch sized babies in the 29 gal, I would say 3 months for the 3" and up to 5 with the inch sized discus with your daily water changes but it sounds like you have all 17 of them in that one small tank which is not good if that's the case. It also sounds like your asking if it's ok to keep them in a 29 gal tank until they are 5 to 6 inches long before moving them to your tank which is a set up for failure imo. My thinking is that you're not set up to raise the babies correctly and would be better off using the 29 gal as a hospital tank and buying adult discus for your 165. Getting 5-6" discus isn't as easy as you might think, as most brightly colored discus (reds, yellow, whites) don't seem to normally reach those sizes.

[DutchAD]

I have the 8 inch discus in a guppy breeder for the time being, I'm seeing a sponge filter and I'm planning on moving them to a 5 gallon hex in the next week or so; The 9 3/3.5 inch juveniles have been doing great thus far in the 29 gallon with daily water changes over the past 6 weeks (picked up an inch and a half ++?)

How large can I get the 9 fish in the 29 gallon before moving them to my 55 gallon bare bottom?

I realize it's a lot of work, I have blue pigeon bloods, red turqs and a yellow strain that's name eludes me at the moment.... Would you keep them growing out until 5 inches and then call it time to try and move them to the community tank? I was thinking once the 9 juveniles made it to the 55 gallon, it would be a good time to transition the babies to the 29 gallon and start the process with the next generation...

Thanks for your time!

[Trier20]

If it was me the 9 would be in the 55 now.

[moon_knight1971]

The normal rule of thumb that's been used for years is 1 discus fish per 10 gallons of water. You can get away with double or triple for a few months, with lots of work on your part, or you could just get a bigger tank, work less and have more success with your fish investment.

[DutchAD]

Thanks all for the other feedback, I'm working my way up to transitioning to the 55 gallon tank now, but I have things I would like to do in the community tank eventually. I am a bit intimidated reading how everyone talks about these fish though. Don't want to have any issues with worms, parasites, or disease...

I wanted to take a BN pleco out of my community tank and add him to the 55 gallon. I'd also like to check stock compatibility at some point as well - I have angels that I would like to have in the same tank. I plan on taking 1 discus and 1 angel from each population to test for potential issues. But will a discus ever be able to be alone with just 1 other fish long enough to allow for general health compatibility?

My question is, I have 1 discus in with the BN now, tanks are next to each other(29 and 55 pane to pane), and I feel terrible, he's clearly a social fish, and these guys are doing so well in their tight nit community, he keeps looking at his buddies!

How do I test compatibility of populations for disease, etc in a QT? Should I block out sight from tank to tank? Must wait until after WC tonight, I'm not moving anything filled... The discus I have on his own in the 55 gallon tank is about 3.5 inches with some of the heavier peppering I have out of my group....