Juvenile Discus and Water Chage ..

[cityguy]

A friend of mine is interested in Discus for some time now.. he has a 50 gallon established tank, and plans to keep 6-7 numbers of 2inch Discus in it. Is the number ok or can he put in some more..?

I have suggested him to put 5 x 3inch Discus in the tank, or 5 x 4inch.. or a mix of 2, 3 and 4 inch..

He also plans to do 10% water change every day, while I suggested him 25-30% per week, so as to not stress the fishes every day with water change formalities..

Experts advice please..

[Elite Aquaria]

What was used to establish the tank? I personally would PP the tank before I put any Discus in the tank. A 50 gallon tank with good filtration could house up to 5-6 adult discus. I would do the daily water changes of at least 50% unless he has killer filtration.

[cityguy]

What was used to establish the tank? I personally would PP the tank before I put any Discus in the tank. A 50 gallon tank with good filtration could house up to 5-6 adult discus. I would do the daily water changes of at least 50% unless he has killer filtration.

The tank is cycled, no doubt.. what I am worried is, that probably less than 10-12 juvenile discus in a 50 gallon won't be good, because fewer fishes would initially be scared and being small, they would be lost in the tank..

[Elite Aquaria]

Yes that is a good point but as they started to grow to about the 4 - 4.5 inch range you would need to either sell half or do like I do buy another tank...:D

Unless the tank was cycled as a fishless cycle I would sterilize the tank with Potassium Permanganate.

[ShinShin]

Daily water changes at 10% would not stress the discus at any age. In fact, that is the recommended minimum to change. I currently am changing ~85% daily on 12 juveniles in a 100gal., where they've been since the were 2.5- 3.0"

Mat

[kaceyo]

I agree with Dan and Mat. 50% daily wc's would be a minimum and bigger would be better.
As for the number of discus to start with I'd say seven or eight 4" or a few more of the smaller sizes. Sell the less desirable as they grow, assuming they are good fish, just not the nicest, so you end up with 6 nice adults.

Kacey

[CliffsDiscus]

At a 10 percent waterchange this is only replacing the water evaporation. Try to do large waterchanges to the max, if possible, this could be 25 to 95 percent depending on how compatible the new water is to you fish.

Cliff

[orthofish]

[ so as to not stress the fishes every day with water change formalities..

Experts advice please.. [/COLOR]

I have 11 growing out in a 75G. At least a 50% W/C every other day. Also, every morning and evening I syphon any uneaten food and poop from the tank, which usually removes about 5G of water each time, which a replace. I clean my pre filters daily.

I have to move my fish out of the way when I'm doing my 2x daily syphons. Probably because they know they are about to get fed:) They get used to your hands and arms being in the tank. At least mine have.

BTW. I am by no means an expert:)

[GrillMaster]

Nice house keeping Liz!! :)

Keeping 6-8 grow outs can be done with no probs with regular WC's. I got 10 3" fish to grow out in a 55G. The tank was to small in a couple months. I sold 4 of them an left me with a great grow out regime for the remaining 6 fish. :)