90 gallon tank advice

[Joeejojo]

I have a newly cycled 90 gallon tank and I would like to fill it with discus. Right now there is gravel and some driftwood (which will be staying in). I know it is a little harder to clean, but I will do the water changes. I have an Eheim 2213 and 2217 filter on the tank. Should I add an airstone (I have an extra laying around)? I found a breeder right near my house (5 miles away), so I am going to pick the breeder's mind about the water parameters. I checked out the fish on the website and I will be taking a trip to the hatchery before I decide to buy anything. The breeder has a few different types and most are 2.5"-3". I was wondering how many I should get for my size tank? If I am getting a bunch should I buy them in groups? If it is easier if I just do a Discus tank or should there be tankmates or at least a few bottomfish (corydoras, etc.)?

Thanks in advance.

[Dood Lee]

If you are using the spraybars with your eheims, then there is no need for an airstone. The surface agitation from the spraybars should be all u need to aerate your tank.

[KIWI13]

Hello Joeejojo, first off a big welcome to Simply Discus.... :D :D

Ok the rule of thumb is 10 gallons per fish in which case 9 juvis is a great number to have. Plus I would put in some corydoras cause they are great little fish that clean up the scraps.
Blue Rams are also great fish to have with discus. You can put in a pleco too but I find that the ancistrus and pleco's tend to cause more mess than they clean up.
Like dood said your spray bar should be ample.

HTH

and welcome again

jason

[ppv1951]

welcome to simplyD. discus like quiet water, so you might want to leave out the airstone. a good rule of thumb on how many per tank is 1 adult per 10 gallons. cory's and plec's go well with discus. be careful and find out before you add other fish to your tank whether they are suitable tankmates for your discus.

pat.

[Joeejojo]

would 9 all at onced be a little too much or should i buy them in groups of 3 a week?

[DarkDiscus]

You should buy all 9 fish at once, in my opinion. 3 discus is tough because there is an increased chance of aggression and stress. I would actually buy 10-12 discus (adults or near adults if possible - the heavy feeding schedule you need to grow the juvies up would be tough in a tank w/ gravel, though if you do massive w/c, you could do it with juvies) and let them all become acclimated to the tank together.

If you do choose to buy your fish in increments, please remember to quarrantine new arrivals for 3-6 weeks.

John

[Carol_Roberts]

If you cycled your filter with feeder fish pull them out and add enough clear ammonia to make 3 ppm on your test kit. This will grow a bigger bacteria bed so you can safely add a larger group of discus. Do a 99% water change 24 hours before adding discus. Juveniles do best in barebottom with 3 -6 feeding per day.