How many? - Confused!

[Tiffi]

Hey guys,

I know some of you told me before that 5 or 6 discus would be a good number to start with. I have been researching and researching on the internet here lately about discus and got very confused :confused: :confused: .

Discus Page Holland for example states that you should start out with at least three, better 6 juvys. You will be always pulling the weakest ones and end up with two only anyway they stated there. So what about the other four, are they worthless? Do all of you guys end up with only a few out of the many that you've bought?

How about purchasing two young adults? Could you buy a male and a female and have them together in a community setup? Or is it that they might/will be too aggressive to each other?

If I was to buy six juvis and only one or two of them would turn out to be females later, would I get trouble with the boys fighting over the females?

Thanx a lot for your replys!
Vanessa

[Carol_Roberts]

Buy 6-8 juveniles. You will probably only get one or two pairs. There will be less fighting with a group. It is hard to sex adult discus. Unless you are buying a confirmed pair you could end up with two males or two females and they may not get along. Two adults that have already paired off should get along fine.

[1977]

Yup, what Carol said, get them from the same source. I assume you have a big enough tank, keep up the wc

[Tiffi]

So, what I am understanding is that a confirmed pair would be ok (expensive) or 5-6 young discus.
Will the 5-6 young ones be able to stay together though or will I have to pull one after the other. That's what it sounds like when you say I will probably end up with one or two pairs.

[AmberC]

Tiffi, No you do not have to start "pulling out the weakest ones" You would buy your group and keep all of them. The only thing I can think of with whatever article you read is that they were doing that to try to get a pair for breeding purposes. That I know of.. People do not do that.

HTH!
Amber

[AADiscus]

You do not have to cull any of the fish you get. I think some of what you might be reading is maybe for breeding or for show fish. The only time you might cull one is if it gets sick and you can not bring it back around. If you buy 6-8 fish, you will almost always have a weak one. This is the one that everyone in the tank picks on, last to eat, etc. You could buy a pair that is mated but then you are looking at older fish. It's really depends on what you want in your tank. If you able to go and pick out your own then I would recommend that.

[Adam Robinson]

If you have a good arrangement with your local fish shop or breeeder likely they will order you in a bunch of fish and you can go pick the ones you want out of the group.... I often grow fish out for my local shop then turn around and trade them back in one adult discuss for 4 juvi's or so depending upon the fish.....this way you can keep the "best" fish for yourself and get a show tank setup going. I also did this with my chilid tank and currently trying this with a Frontosa Setup.....I can be hard to get a shop or dealer to agree to this practice but if he/she does your in business.

My 2 cents

[White Worm]

Just because you get some that pair out of the 6-8, doesnt mean you have to remove any of the others. You can keep them together as long as you want. You would just seperate them if you were interested in breeding. If not, remove any eggs so a pair doesnt get too aggressive. Two adults might not work and even if they are a pair and have been sexed, that still doesnt mean they will always get along. Go with the juveniles...thats my vote.

[Mats]

Hi there !

This is my first posting here on this board, I have read this thread with great interest and I THINK that you are talking in different directions, what you say Tiffi is that out of group of 5-6 juvy´s ,2-3", you will only get maybe 2 to 3 that grows up too adult size. That is what they write on the discus page that you are reffering to in your initial post if I read it right. The group of juvys in my experience is picking on the weakest and with that they are decimating the group into only 2 or 3 strong individs, in other terms they will stress the other weaker animals into getting thin and attach sickness and later on to be so weak that they will ultimatley die. So with consideration to tank size always get a rather large group of juvys, just to spread out the pressure in the group, that if you want to get a solid group of adults and strong and healthy discus.

Correct me if Im wrong but this is my experience .....


Greetings from Sweden

[steve.ryall]

Welcome Mats,

I guess at the end of the day, if Tiffi buys a group of fish that she likes the look of then that is that. Yes initially buy this group and wait and see, some WILL be stronger than others, but that is just nature. What Tiffi will probably end up with is a mix of males and females which could, when mature pair up. I started off with about six small LFS discus, three have done very well, one I am showing this year in the UK, the three others have since died, but I kept them with the other bigger fish as I liked them all anyway, these ones just didn't grow...

Sometimes I think people stress too much about starting off and wanting a pair right from the start, I just wanted to grow on some discus and wait to see what happened, that is the best way to learn, just my opinion, buying an expensive pair and killing them because of lack of experience (not saying that you lack any Tiffi) must be a painfull experience for anyone, and might turn them away from discus for good.

Not sure if I have explained how I meant this to sound, but I am sure you know what I mean :)

Steve

[Tiffi]

Thank you all very much. I understand it now. BUT the question that comes up now is that if I had 2 or three pair later, would they start to fight over time, when the time to mate comes?


All I really want is to have a nice showtank with some beautyful discus. I don't intend to breed them or get more tanks, to be able to distribute them in there if they fight with each other.

[AmberC]

Yes if they pair and spawn there will most likely be fighting, but that is the case with ALL cichlids. And if that happens, there are other things you can do... Dont worry about it too much hun :) It will be fine. Just get your group and let things go and if a problem arises.. post away and there will be so many here to help you!

Amber

[Tiffi]

Thank you, Amber!

[AmberC]

Thank you, Amber!

Not a problem :D

Amber