Does tank size for discus really matter?

[mopedsteve]

I mean they don't move around a lot, they don't really need much space, so why do they need such a large tank?
I thought everyone was wrong, and they are
I have been keeping a 5 gallon (five) tank with 2 discus in it now for a number of months and they live just fine
one is about a year old pigeon blood, he has been in the tank for nearly 6 months
the 2nd is a 6 month old cobalt blue, he has been in the tank for 3 months
the larger, veteran of the tank bullied the small blue discus for the first 2 weeks and he still survived
they both eat earthworm flake and bloodworms, they are fed 2-4 times per day, they poop normal
water changes are done daily (25%)
the pump is cleaned every other day and the filter is cleaned weekly

I don't think discus fish need a large tank. they do fine as long as the water is clean

also the discus tank mates include a full grown molly, 2 wisker shrimp, 3 cory cats ,and 2 otto cats (mostly for cleanup)
opinions people?
8529585296

[mopedsteve]

85297
also when I got the little blue guy I acclimated him by sticking my hand in the bag, grabbing him, and literally throwing him into his 5 gallon home. that was not a joke at all, I HONESTLY don't understand why so many people think they are "fragile" and hard to keep. or why they need such large homes. 5-10 gallons is more than enough for a happy discus.

[nc0gnet0]

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWOOx7ktik7N8kU0CXv4-Gj3nC0nVIYszIxO8T4oLvCXz_PqGVcA

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRyUd0vt83Z8QNT8scIxDKa-LUX9LM0VYzUfTkpshg0qsHgk_Dmwg

[mopedsteve]

I'm being serious, my fish are happy, they acknowledge me when I walk in the room, they are great eaters, their poop is always healthy. why must you have a 55gallon tank or larger to keep discus? im convinced all you need is good water conditions, size doesn't matter

[William Palumbo]

LOL...This wouldn't even fit in a 5g tank. They need the room, trust me!...Bill

[Driftwood Mike]

At a loss here, not sure if this is a joke or not, it's like living in a closet. Btw those discus are stunted!

[DonMD]

LOL...This wouldn't even fit in a 5g tank. They need the room, trust me!...Bill

Bill, is that a Flachen?

[mopedsteve]

well they have been alive for months, like I said they eat and poop normally. it is not a joke. I really have been keeping 2 discus in a 5 gallon, one is about baseball sized and the other is about half dollar sized

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Steve, tank size does matter if you want your discus to thrive. By thrive I am talking about growing up to four or five inches in their first six months of life and a later growing to six or better inches by a year old. Your guys are about three inches best guess and if you are happy with this then ok. But the goals of most here are much higher. Here's a couple of mine at a year old.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7379/16368550950_7e21cb66a0.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qWr6VG)DSC_7554 (https://flic.kr/p/qWr6VG) by plh (https://www.flickr.com/people/129594174@N08/), on Flickr

[mopedsteve]

ill be sure to film myself feeding them so you can see how well they eat! and i'm going to keep this experiment going as long as I can, ill keep this forum posted as too when they die or outgrow their home.

[Second Hand Pat]

Steve, this should be your goal.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7375/16370050487_470e9a72c1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qWyMFM)DSC_7533 (https://flic.kr/p/qWyMFM) by plh (https://www.flickr.com/people/129594174@N08/), on Flickr

[William Palumbo]

Hi Don, It's a Blue Knight I grew out from Dexter/Tara. Thats my male. Took the pic today as I was moving some fish around...Bill

[Second Hand Pat]

LOL...This wouldn't even fit in a 5g tank. They need the room, trust me!...Bill

That's a heck of a fish Bill :D:D
Pat

[mopedsteve]

im sorry my only goal was to keep discus without spending a ton of money and I feel i've accomplished that. I wasn't looking for show quality or the biggest or anything like that. I just wanted a small discus tank as a nightlight beside my bed, if I wanted large pretty discus I would put some effort into this and bought a larger tank. my point was simple, people always freak about keeping discus in smaller tanks, and for me it works perfectly fine. anyone out their who wants to put a small discus in a 10 gallon, it can be done.

[FishFanMan]

Discus are such a beautiful fish, why doyou keep them in such a messy tank? Yeah, its too small but man that tank is just ugly!

[FishFanMan]

This isn't the worst I've seen. My local Pet Store named the Dog Patch has 4 discus in a 2.5 gallon tank!!!

[Tankster]

im sorry my only goal was to keep discus without spending a ton of money and I feel i've accomplished that. I wasn't looking for show quality or the biggest or anything like that. I just wanted a small discus tank as a nightlight beside my bed, if I wanted large pretty discus I would put some effort into this and bought a larger tank. my point was simple, people always freak about keeping discus in smaller tanks, and for me it works perfectly fine. anyone out their who wants to put a small discus in a 10 gallon, it can be done.

Steve, what you are doing is the same as taking a baby elephant and sticking him in a 10x10 room for its entire life. Will it live? Sure, it will... for awhile. In my opinion, you are being cruel and selfish by doing what you are doing...

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: I guess if your point is to prove to all the experts that it CAN be done then bravo. The real question is SHOULD it be done & I'm afraid the answer is no. Your discus are not in an optimal situation to THRIVE. Yes SURVIVAL is an accomplishment but not a real feather in the cap. I'm sure you too would survive & possibly even grow a little if fed & confined to a room oh lets say 5'x5' but you'd never reach your full potential. Your normal life span would be considerably shortened & you'd be far from happy. Think about it friend. "T"
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb95/tonytheboss1/010b632fe30f36036dda2ccce343c19715862e2bc5.jpg (http://s210.photobucket.com/user/tonytheboss1/media/010b632fe30f36036dda2ccce343c19715862e2bc5.jpg.htm l)

[jmf3460]

how many lengths (of its own body) can your fish swim, I would say 4 body lengths and your fish has reached the other side. This is essentially like you walking 4 paces and turning back around, walking 4 more paces and that's the size of your house. would you be happy only walking 4 paces back and forth every day. Is this a serious thread? To address your LFS having 4 discus in a 2.5 gallon tank. I think most of the members of this forum would turn around and leave if they walked in a LFS and saw this...

[DiscusRob]

+1 Tony, I was going to post basically the same thing you did.

[Solid]

I am pretty impressed with the discus that can survive in such terrible conditions. Sadly they don't look very happy. One reason people say you need a larger tank is Discus are much happier and less stressed in groups of 5 or more. They are a social fish and feel more comfortable in a school.

I guess if you enjoy that tank, then good for you. But I wouldn't recommend keeping them like that. I would love to see an update on your tank after 8-12 months.

[Lilly]

I mean they don't move around a lot, they don't really need much space, so why do they need such a large tank?
I thought everyone was wrong, and they are
I have been keeping a 5 gallon (five) tank with 2 discus in it now for a number of months and they live just fine
one is about a year old pigeon blood, he has been in the tank for nearly 6 months
the 2nd is a 6 month old cobalt blue, he has been in the tank for 3 months
the larger, veteran of the tank bullied the small blue discus for the first 2 weeks and he still survived
they both eat earthworm flake and bloodworms, they are fed 2-4 times per day, they poop normal
water changes are done daily (25%)
the pump is cleaned every other day and the filter is cleaned weekly

I don't think discus fish need a large tank. they do fine as long as the water is clean

also the discus tank mates include a full grown molly, 2 wisker shrimp, 3 cory cats ,and 2 otto cats (mostly for cleanup)
opinions people?
8529585296

Steve,
Do you see the bars on both of your discus? They are STRESS bars...your 5 gal tank is dirty...see all that algae...it comes from having to many phosphates in your water column ....dirty water...the PB is peppered from stress....and the color on the blue fish is poor....you are being cruel subjecting the discus or any fish for that matter to these kind of conditions. You should do what is best for these fish and re home them to someone willing to meet their needs .

[mopedsteve]

yeah they are fish sooo..im gona leave them and see what happens. and the bars on the pigeon blood are peppered their from the green tank. their not from stress and the little one gets dark when the big one gets too close too him but he eats plenty and gets a very light shiny blue when he swims alone. and I havnt cleaned it in like 2 years. that's why its like that, everything lives so I figure why bother

[Len]

Wow. Where to begin? The environment you are providing for these fish is far from acceptable. The general consensus from others is accurate. While they may LIVE they are not being well cared for and I'd go so far as to say they are neglected. Many animals and people are living in conditions in which they survive, but that doesn't make it acceptable. To add to that by saying that you haven't cleaned the tank in two years is nothing less than appalling.

[Kirbs]

I saw this 1st thing this morning before anybody responded & thought those fish were stunted, dark & not doing well at all! Thought I'd leave it up to the more knowledgeable members to give their input 1st to make sure I wasn't wrong but I was spot on! You should move them to better environment and take better care of them!

[ericNH]

mopedsteve, I call you out on your joke. you just can't be serious. i think you are trolling.

[Fishquake]

Definitely a troll.

[DiscusRob]

yeah they are fish sooo..im gona leave them and see what happens. and the bars on the pigeon blood are peppered their from the green tank. their not from stress and the little one gets dark when the big one gets too close too him but he eats plenty and gets a very light shiny blue when he swims alone. and I havnt cleaned it in like 2 years. that's why its like that, everything lives so I figure why bother

In addition to being a troll, he's just a straight up tool

[AngryBird]

yeah they are fish sooo..im gona leave them and see what happens. and the bars on the pigeon blood are peppered their from the green tank. their not from stress and the little one gets dark when the big one gets too close too him but he eats plenty and gets a very light shiny blue when he swims alone. and I havnt cleaned it in like 2 years. that's why its like that, everything lives so I figure why bother

If you did not clean this tank for last two years, please dont touch the water for your own safety.

[jmf3460]

+1 for trolling

[YSS]

Trolling or not, most people keep their fish including discus in tanks that are too small for the fish. What is the right size? Who knows? But as Greg stated in his post, putting discus in a 5G is like putting an elephant in a 10x10 room. So, if we put discus in a 55G, is it like putting an elephant in 100 X100 room? Still too small. Watching my fish in a 4 foot tank vs. 6 foot tank vs. 7 foot tank, I feel discus need to be in 6 foot tanks. I currently have African cichlids in a 4 foot 90G tank, and tank is absolutely too small for them. I felt the same way when I had my discus in the 90G.

[tonytheboss1]

Quote Originally Posted by mopedsteve View Post

yeah they are fish sooo..im gona leave them and see what happens. and the bars on the pigeon blood are peppered their from the green tank. their not from stress and the little one gets dark when the big one gets too close too him but he eats plenty and gets a very light shiny blue when he swims alone. and I havnt cleaned it in like 2 years. that's why its like that, everything lives so I figure why bother


:bandana: You folks could be right about trolling. It's really hard to accept that someone could be that hell bent to prove a point. It's one thing to challenge conventional wisdom but to defy logic, refuse sound advise & flaunt your misgivings is down right criminal in my opinion. Yes, they're 'just fish' but they deserve better than he's apparently prepared to give. Steve, do us & them a favor. JUST SAY NO!!!! "T"

[DISCUS STU]

Small runted fish like this may be able to survive but not thrive in this type of sub par environment. I suspect that they aren't as healthy as you may suppose as Pigeon Bloods, the fish on the lower right, almost neve display stress bars unless there's something very wrong.

Sorry but you seem to lack the fundamental understanding of what keeping Discus is really about and obviously there's no point in discussing this much further as your mind seems to be firmly decided that what your showing in these pictures is acceptable. If it is, then enjoy.

The tank could also use a thorough cleaning. The hair algae is almost overwhelming.

[pgrhodes1]

Troll or no troll, that is DISCUSSING!! Fish look awful!! Even as a beginner I knew better than to keep 2 Discus in a 5 gal. Looks like the only one happy is the troll keeping them there.

[nc0gnet0]

I have been keeping a 5 gallon (five) tank with 2 discus in it now for a number of months and they live just fine

Is that the last time you changed your sheets as well?

Shower much?

[DISCUS STU]

This HAS to be a joke. Don't people have better things to do?

[Tankster]

This HAS to be a joke. Don't people have better things to do?

The pictures would seem to support the OP's statements and indicate he is not joking but really thinks this way. Based on what I have seen, this is a young teenager... he changed his name in the details section from ButtPoop (or something like it) to Steve as some point (not kidding).

[brewmaster15]

Ive locked this thread..troll or ignorant hobbyist....makes no difference to me. THIS IS NOT HOW TO KEEP DISCUS...PERIOD.

AL