begginer with questions.

[vin impz]

hi

what is the smallest tanksize you can put discus in? how many gallons of water does each discus need?
could i put 1 or 2 in a 29 with some juvenile angels?
can someone tell me evrything i need to now about discus or give me a website to look at?

thanks.

[jeep]

You already found the web site ;)

Most say 10g per fish and you would want probably a 6 fish minimum. Forget the angels for now and learn discus.

If you start out small now you'll only wish you have invested in a larger tank later, which you'll eventually do anyway.

As far as learning, search the archives. If you have a specific question, ask. Everyone here will do their best to answer.

There's many hours of reading here.

Good luck!

[vin impz]

whats the best temp, ph, and hardness for discus.

the only reason i would take 1 or 2 is because thats what my local pet store has. and the discus are in a 10 gallon.
i dont know about u but i would rather have 2 discus in a clean nice 29 instead of a 10 thats overcrowded and dirty. in the 10 is tetras and about 7 catfishes and 4 or 5 plecos.

Discus are more adaptable than you would think. They have been kept in pH from 4.0-8.5 temps from high 60's to over 100 and almost no hardness to very hard water. As far as what most people recommend, it's ph 6.0-7.5, temp 84-86, and hardness of 50 ppm for breeders, 100 ppm for young adults, and 150 ppm for juvenile fish.

Brad

[roger]

A 29gallon tank is actually a good tank to start out with. One of things that you will hear over and over is to put your new fish in quarantine. The 29 will easily hold 6 3-4" fish if your doing regular water changes. It can also double as a breeding tank if your fish ever get the urge.

I used the 29 to start with but only long enough to get a 55 up and running. Once the 6week quarentine was over all the fish went into that. I use the 29 for a pair of fish that are trying to breed.

My water here has a pH of 8.4 out of the tap and a gH of 14 and kH of 4. Which translates into very hard water but the fish dont seem to mind it considering they keep laying eggs. If you can keep the water conditions constant the fish will tolerate most anything. That is true for most fish, I forgot to mention that wild caught fish may not be so forgiving.

The temp on most of my tanks is 82-84 but I have run it as high as 88 without any problems. Most people here prefer to keep the tanks a little on the warm side 84-86, especially with younger fish. Warmer temps I believe help them grow faster.

Peace,
Roger

[vin impz]

roger i was looking at someguys website and he said that he kept 8 discus in a 30. i dont think im looking to breed them yet. im just looking to get them out of the petstore near me. i would have 3 discuc at the most for my 29.

[Carol_Roberts]

3 is a really bad number for juvenile discus. They like to pick on each other. 4 is about the bare minimum for young fish. Perhaps there is a hobbiest near you with discus for sale - a couple of adults would be perfect for a 29 gallon.

Carol :heart1:

[vin impz]

well i just found out today that the onlybreeder near me who lived about 7 blocks away is moving to florida.l didnt now he was there

[Carol_Roberts]

Which state do you live in?
Carol :heart1:

[vin impz]

i live in new york city

[Carol_Roberts]

You should be able to find lots of hobbiests near you. Boxerdad (John Apzuza) will be having fry for sale again soon. I think he's on Long Island.
Carol :heart1:

[roger]

You should be able to find someone in that town or that area that you can drive to for some fish. A 3 hour drive isnt to bad to pick up a bunch of fish.

If your pocket can handle it try from 5 small fish in the 2.5" range. Whith more fish the picking tends to go in a circle so no one fish takes the brunt of all the abuse. I saw a big change when I went from 4 fish in my 55 to 10 fish. I was waiting for fish to get out of quarantine which is the only reason I ended up with 4 in a tank.

My 20gal qt even has 6 fish in it and they all look to be happy.

As for breeding, I wasnt planning on it either. Im actually just getting eggs but the extra tank helps keep some peace in my 55g tank. Of course another set of fish has setup shop in the 55 now as well.