New discus in the tank

[discus_man]

Hello.
I'm new to discus, and i have 2 cobalt blue 3" discus in my tank.
I saw a 4" rainbow in my LFS and i want to buy it.
He looks very heathly.
Is it a must to move it to my hospital tank for a preventively metro threatment in case of hexamita or other internal parasites before move it to my main tank ?

Thank you.

[ecrew]

As everyone else here will tell you, you should ALWAYS QT any new arrivals for 4-6 weeks. Some will say to use meds even if you don't see any visible illness and some will say don't bother until you see problems. I guess the use of meds or not is up to you. But....you must QT any new fish. Don't just add new ones to your existing stock.

[Howie_W]

Hi discus man and welcome to Simply! :)

There are several things to consider.

1. Quarantine: When bringing home any new fish, always quarantine for a minimum of 6 weeks before placing them into an existing tank. This gives you time to observe the fish, make sure he is eating and digesting properly, and not suffering from any internal or external problems. This also allows the fish time to adjust to your water conditions.

2. Compatibility and behavior; Discus and rainbow fish have one primary thing in common; they are both schooling fish, and are best kept in groups. You might want to consider concentrating on one species at a time. You will find you have best results in terms of health and growth by keeping a group of 6 or more fish together.



Howie

[discus_man]

Thank you for your reply.



Compatibility and behavior; Discus and rainbow fish have one primary thing in common; they are both schooling fish, and are best kept in groups. You might want to consider concentrating on one species at a time. You will find you have best results in terms of health and growth by keeping a group of 6 or more fish together.
Howie

When i say "rainbow" i didn't mean "rainbow fish", but a kind of Discus named rainbow. It likes as a Royal Blue. In Greece "rainbow discus" is very common.
I don't know its name over other countries.

Someone told me that it is better to keep discus in odd number ( 3,5,7 and so on) in order to reduce aggressiveness between discuses.
Is this true ???

[Howie_W]

Thank you for your reply.



When i say "rainbow" i didn't mean "rainbow fish", but a kind of Discus named rainbow. It likes as a Royal Blue. In Greece "rainbow discus" is very common.
I don't know its name over other countries.

Someone told me that it is better to keep discus in odd number ( 3,5,7 and so on) in order to reduce aggressiveness between discuses.
Is this true ???

Funny...when you said "rainbow" I thought there might be a chance you were referring to Discus... :)

To answer your question; false. Even, or odd, makes no difference. What does make a difference is the number of fish you keep together at one time (especially when raising juveniles). With smaller numbers, aggression is much higher. The result; one or more fish do not get their share of the food, easily becoming stunted, and in some cases even become sick.

When starting out with Discus, it's helpful to begin with a minimum of 6-8 fish. Also a reminder; always quarantine any new fish for a minimum of 6 weeks before adding them to your existing set-up.



Howie

[discus_man]

Thank you. ;)