first discus tank

[tapa769]

hi all i have been keping aquariums for the past 3 years and i am just seting up my first discus tank. the tank is 6 x 2 x 2 foot how many discus could i have in this tank? i was thinking of seting it up as a discus display tank. i was wondering if how long in advance the tank should be set up to alow to cycle, at the moment it has oscars in it. should i take the oscars out and let the tank cycle with nothing in it and then put the plants and other things in followed by the discus???


thanks for your help.

tapa

[henryD]

Tapa,

Welcome to Simply....

That is a very very nice 180gallon tank. I am jealous.

Oscars are very nice fish. I would consider them to be quite hardy and low maintance. They can pretty much handle whatever you throw at them.


First of all...setting it up for a display tank. Please elaborate...Are you going to add live plants? Or have decorations? What about gravel?
Do you have experience with a planted tank?

Either way, I would remove the oscars. (I imagine they are quite large since they have been in the 180 for 3 years). They are also aggressive and would not do well with discus. Give the tank a fresh cleaning. Restart the cycle with using the fishless method. This way you are sure that the tank does not have any nasties left over. Now there is a number of products on the market that claims to cycle tanks quickly. From all the ones I used through the years, it is more hype than substance.

Then as far as the tank is concern. It really depends on the type of person you are. Are you ready for a challenge? You can take the jump in full force approach and do a planted discus. Knowing that you will have a learning curve for taking care of plants and for taking care of discus.

If you are not that type, then I would consider doing a planted tank. Get a good feel for that and then add discus. Or do a discus then add plants.
Just depends on how much time you want to dedicate to it. And as always research all you can before you decide.

Henry

[Carol_Roberts]

If you are going to buy juvenile discus I would start a group of 10 - 12 in a 55 gallon bare bottom tank. Read my article on how to set a a first discus tank stickied at the top of this section. Read through the beginner index for other great tips - like fishless cycling. Juveniles would feel overwhelmed in your 180 gallon. It would also be difficult for you to feed them correctly for proper growth.

[tapa769]

thanks, would it be bad to add 10 juvenile discus in this tank. i thought it would be better for them as they would have more room to grow. (it is the only tank i have at the moment.) i was also going to have the planted discus display tank. i was going to add the discus and then after i have looked after them i was going to slowly add some plants.

[Howie_W]

Hi tapa,

You have a number of options to consider, and should base them upon your longterm goals.

It sounds to me like you eventually want to make your existing tank become a Discus show tank. To begin I would start by by setting up a smaller size bare bottom grow-out tank...55 gallons or larger. A 55 gal. can house 10-12 juveniles without a problem.

While you are growing out the juveniles, you can begin planning out and setting-up your show tank. By doing this, you can concentrate on growing out your Discus, while taking the time to slowly establish the show tank. When it's time to transfer the fish, you can then breakdown the other tank.

If you want to use your big tank to grow out juveniles, you could do this by inserting a divider into the center of the tank. Keep in mind that it's much easier to grow-out fish in a bare tank. You will still need to have another tank to place the fish in if you plan on introducing substrate and plants.

HTH



Howie