Thinking about starting with discus, what do i need?

[aquariumnotfishtank]

Hello! I have been keeping fish all the way from dwarf shrimp to large tiger oscars since i was about 6. Im getting slightly sick of my tiger oscar and im looking to start with discus. Once i get rid of my oscar i will have. A 55 gallon tank, with a fluval fx5 filter, finnex planted +light fixture, ehime heater. I am looking to do a somewhat heavily planted tank with a few discus. What are some things that i will need to run this operation smoothly?

[rickztahone]

Hello! I have been keeping fish all the way from dwarf shrimp to large tiger oscars since i was about 6. Im getting slightly sick of my tiger oscar and im looking to start with discus. Once i get rid of my oscar i will have. A 55 gallon tank, with a fluval fx5 filter, finnex planted +light fixture, ehime heater. I am looking to do a somewhat heavily planted tank with a few discus. What are some things that i will need to run this operation smoothly?

Many here (me included) will tell you that a 55g is the absolute minimum to keeping a small group of discus, and that is with a fully bare 55g tank. If you introduce substrate, wood, and plants (heavily), you really cut down the volume of the total water and have less swimming room for the discus. In my humble opinion, I would advise you to get a larger tank, 75g minimum for what you are proposing to do with the tank. You will want to keep a group of at least 5 or 6, but if fully planted, lean more towards 5 than 6 to keep a relatively lighter bio load. Not sure that is what you wanted to hear, but that is my take.


P.S. welcome to SimplyDiscus