New to Discus - Questions!

[AzFishKid]

Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forum. :) Thought i'd start off by introducing myself:

My name is Philip and i'm 14 (almost 15) years old. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I have an 85 gallon, fully-planted aquarium that has been set up for almost a year. It currently has 2 angelfish, 4 skunk cory catfish, 6 emerald green cory catfish, 3 ottos, 1 florida flagfish, and 1 bristlenose pleco. I've been in the aquarium hobby for about 7 years, and I switched to planted aquariums about 3 years ago. I'm an active member of The Planted Tank Forum. I've had the 2 angelfish for almost 6 years, and I decided i'd like to keep discus for a change.

Questions:
1. How many discus can i have in my 85 gallon? I've been searching around the forum looking for an answer, but everyone seems to have a different opinion.
2. Are tetras compatible with discus? I'd really like to get some cardinal tetras and rummynose tetras in the future.
3. Is the layout of my aquarium suitable for discus? The only reason i'm asking is because i was told that my layout could lead to territorial issues between discus. Is there enough room? Anything i should change? (I took out the large amazon sword on the right side, by the way) A picture of my aquarium can be found below.
4. I really like frenchie100's discus, found here (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=74187). In the first post, she says that 5 of them are from Kenny's shipment. Can someone direct me to this "Kenny"? :D


Thank you in advance for your time. I'm eager to learn as much as i can about discus!

-Philip

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6373/dscn2987.jpg

[zamboniMan]

Nice tank!

1. Rule of thumb with discus is widely considered to be 10 gallons per discus. Personally I don't follow this rule and I have great success withe my discus (*knock on wood*). I know that the Stendker brothers in germany don't follow this rule either and well that should say a lot(I think they have 1-2 fish per gallon in most of their tanks).
2. Yes tetras are compatible with discus. The only thing on the list of fish you have that i'm not sure is compatible is the Flag fish all the other fish listed are compatible.
3. I don't see why you would have any issues with your layout. Discus like most animals, fish, etc. will establish a pecking order after the first couple weeks. All you have to do to make sure each fish gets to eat is drop food in at multiple spots in the tank.
4. I'm not sure who he was refering too. My advice is to find a reputable discus hatchery within driving distance. Or else to order from one of the sponsors on the forum. I personally like Discus Hans and his stendker discus but that just my preference.



Good Luck,
Josh

[Jason K.]

welcome azfishkid,
your tank looks great. well maintained, nice arrangement. before jumping in make sure water perameters are up to par, and be ready for some major water changing. read as much as possible, the people here are more than willing to go out of their way to help. kenny is a sponsor here some just look him up in the sponsor link. enjoy.

[scottishbloke]

Hi Philip!

Very nice planted tank you have there; mine is now a barebottom with a few big potted plants and some driftwood...I do miss all my other plants still. As you have a planted tank and sandy bottom, I would advise saving up your $ and buy adult or near-adult fish from Kenny or another of the site sponsors, as the huge amounts of food required to grow out juvenile fish (you don't want stunted discus) and the corresponding large rise in waste and organic material dissolved in the water will quickly cause problems in such a setup. I know others have successfully grown up fish in planted tanks, but this is my personal opinion, even keeping a barebottom tank clean is hard enough. By the way, "Kenny" is Kenny Cheung, based in CA, and he is in the sponsors section; I just received my new fish from him and they are absolutely spectacular, plus he has awesome customer service and very reasonable prices too.

Just my 2 cents,

Colin

[AzFishKid]

Nice tank!

1. Rule of thumb with discus is widely considered to be 10 gallons per discus. Personally I don't follow this rule and I have great success withe my discus (*knock on wood*). I know that the Stendker brothers in germany don't follow this rule either and well that should say a lot(I think they have 1-2 fish per gallon in most of their tanks).
2. Yes tetras are compatible with discus. The only thing on the list of fish you have that i'm not sure is compatible is the Flag fish all the other fish listed are compatible.
3. I don't see why you would have any issues with your layout. Discus like most animals, fish, etc. will establish a pecking order after the first couple weeks. All you have to do to make sure each fish gets to eat is drop food in at multiple spots in the tank.
4. I'm not sure who he was refering too. My advice is to find a reputable discus hatchery within driving distance. Or else to order from one of the sponsors on the forum. I personally like Discus Hans and his stendker discus but that just my preference.



Good Luck,
Josh

Thanks for the help!

Here's my planned stock (is it too much?):
- 4 or 5 discus
- 30 cardinal tetras
- 12 rummynose tetras
- 4 skunk cory catfish
- 6 sterbai cory catfish
- 3 ottos
- 2 german blue rams
- 2 or 3 bristlenose plecos

Few more questions that i thought of:
1. I read that it is ideal to do water changes daily in a tank with discus. Is this really necessary if there is good filtration? I don't think i would be able to do a water change every day.
2. I read that discus are sensitive to water parameters. Honestly, i never test my water unless a fish dies or there is something seriously wrong. Would i need to get in to the habit of testing the water constantly?

Thank you again, i appreciate it.

[hedut]

Hi Welcome to SD,very nice set up:). How many discus you plan to add and what size you want to add? cause size is important too;). here Kenny link http://www.forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=74251.
try to call him ASAP cause usually his shipment will not less long :).

[AzFishKid]

Hi Welcome to SD,very nice set up:). How many discus you plan to add and what size you want to add? cause size is important too;). here Kenny link http://www.forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=74251.
try to call him ASAP cause usually his shipment will not less long :).

Thanks for the compliment. :)

I don't want juveniles, but i don't want huge ones either. Maybe in the 5" - 6" range?

[White Worm]

8-10 discus.
tetras are good
water changes are not needed daily but maybe every 3 days at 50% or more. Checking water chemistry all the time is just stress. As long as you have a cycled tank, you should be fine. People sometimes worry too much about chasing a number or certain color on a test strip. Clean, cycled and well filtered is the key. With discus, they can be a little more finicky and they will certainly let you know by their behavior or looks if things are not right and then its time to check some things. Kenny's discus is a good place to start as quality stock in the beginning in #1 consideration.

[AzFishKid]

8-10 discus.
tetras are good
water changes are not needed daily but maybe every 3 days at 50% or more. Checking water chemistry all the time is just stress. As long as you have a cycled tank, you should be fine. People sometimes worry too much about chasing a number or certain color on a test strip. Clean, cycled and well filtered is the key. With discus, they can be a little more finicky and they will certainly let you know by their behavior or looks if things are not right and then its time to check some things. Kenny's discus is a good place to start as quality stock in the beginning in #1 consideration.

8-10 discus? Isn't that a little much for an 85 gallon? I was thinking 6 at the most. Would my stock list above be fine? :confused: (5-6 discus, 42 tetras, 10 corys, few plecos, 3 ottos, 2 german blue rams)

I think i would be able to do a 50% water change twice a week.

[Discus-n00b]

Few more questions that i thought of:
1. I read that it is ideal to do water changes daily in a tank with discus. Is this really necessary if there is good filtration? I don't think i would be able to do a water change every day.
2. I read that discus are sensitive to water parameters. Honestly, i never test my water unless a fish dies or there is something seriously wrong. Would i need to get in to the habit of testing the water constantly?

Thank you again, i appreciate it.

Hey Philip, welcome to Simply Discus! You've come to the right place. Very nice tank. I'd agree with just about everything posted so far.

You could do a few less then 8. 8 is looking like your top end number. We as discus keepers just love discus so much we want every gallon packed with them! ;)

1. Depends on your feeding regime too. More food = more wastes (poo and leftovers) = dirty water = more water changes. So judge it by that. Most people feed their discus a high protein diet made of meats, so they tend to break down fast in water and foul it. Thus the constant water changes. Discus will take a wide variety of foods though.

2. I'd recommend it at first, maybe for the first month that they are out of QT and in the tank, just to get some base numbers down and see how the react to WCs/etc. Honestly though, you will find that many people DON'T test their water on this site. Discus are remarkable fish and will tell you when there is something wrong. Its easy to see.

I can't give enough praise to Kenny. I've bought from him before, and will continue to buy from him. One of the best in the business hands down, he's all about helping you out. He brings in a large variety of strains (as well as sizes and prices to match!) each month, someone posted the link above for his section. Also his stock goes very fast. If you want to start with healthy, beautiful fish...this is the place to go.

[rickztahone]

welcome to SD AzFishKid! so far you have received great advise IMO but i would definitely not do 8 discus total. i would do 6 at the absolute most. ideally IMO i would do 5 due to the other fish you plan on putting in their as well. word of caution however, if you do decide to get a large number of discus it will seriously impact your nitrifying bacteria. your bio-load will not be able to handle the added fish. you will need to stay on top of that and might have to do frequent WC's. if you do plan on getting adult discus then you can definitely feed less which does mean less waste, which can ultimately mean less WC's. Kenny is a great man to deal with and highly recommended. give him a call if you do plan to go with him and maybe he can bring something in for you in September because i believe he was pretty much sold out of the Oct. shipment. anyway, let us know what you plan on doing and keep us updated.

p.s. Frenchie100 is a woman

[AzFishKid]

Hey Philip, welcome to Simply Discus! You've come to the right place. Very nice tank. I'd agree with just about everything posted so far.

You could do a few less then 8. 8 is looking like your top end number. We as discus keepers just love discus so much we want every gallon packed with them! ;)

1. Depends on your feeding regime too. More food = more wastes (poo and leftovers) = dirty water = more water changes. So judge it by that. Most people feed their discus a high protein diet made of meats, so they tend to break down fast in water and foul it. Thus the constant water changes. Discus will take a wide variety of foods though.

2. I'd recommend it at first, maybe for the first month that they are out of QT and in the tank, just to get some base numbers down and see how the react to WCs/etc. Honestly though, you will find that many people DON'T test their water on this site. Discus are remarkable fish and will tell you when there is something wrong. Its easy to see.

I can't give enough praise to Kenny. I've bought from him before, and will continue to buy from him. One of the best in the business hands down, he's all about helping you out. He brings in a large variety of strains (as well as sizes and prices to match!) each month, someone posted the link above for his section. Also his stock goes very fast. If you want to start with healthy, beautiful fish...this is the place to go.

I was planning on 5 discus, maybe 6, but no more. I would like to have a bunch of tetras so 5 would probably be ideal for my tank.

I'm glad to hear that i won't have to be testing the water constantly, lol. :p

Currently i'm broke, but my birthday is in mid november (woo!) and my parents always give me some cash as a present; so i think i will be spending that on discus this year! Can't wait! In the mean time, i'll keep researching and asking questions to make sure i will be prepared.


welcome to SD AzFishKid! so far you have received great advise IMO but i would definitely not do 8 discus total. i would do 6 at the absolute most. ideally IMO i would do 5 due to the other fish you plan on putting in their as well. word of caution however, if you do decide to get a large number of discus it will seriously impact your nitrifying bacteria. your bio-load will not be able to handle the added fish. you will need to stay on top of that and might have to do frequent WC's. if you do plan on getting adult discus then you can definitely feed less which does mean less waste, which can ultimately mean less WC's. Kenny is a great man to deal with and highly recommended. give him a call if you do plan to go with him and maybe he can bring something in for you in September because i believe he was pretty much sold out of the Oct. shipment. anyway, let us know what you plan on doing and keep us updated.

p.s. Frenchie100 is a woman

At what size is a discus considered to be an adult? I am planning to get adult discus, since it sounds like it would be best for my tank. I would like to keep WC's down as much as possible, so i'll probably go with 5 discus.

[White Worm]

8-10 may be a little too much. 6 would probably be ideal with the rest of the group to be safe. Discus are usually considered adults around 1 year old.

[rickztahone]

I was planning on 5 discus, maybe 6, but no more. I would like to have a bunch of tetras so 5 would probably be ideal for my tank.

I'm glad to hear that i won't have to be testing the water constantly, lol. :p

Currently i'm broke, but my birthday is in mid november (woo!) and my parents always give me some cash as a present; so i think i will be spending that on discus this year! Can't wait! In the mean time, i'll keep researching and asking questions to make sure i will be prepared.



At what size is a discus considered to be an adult? I am planning to get adult discus, since it sounds like it would be best for my tank. I would like to keep WC's down as much as possible, so i'll probably go with 5 discus.


8-10 may be a little too much. 6 would probably be ideal with the rest of the group to be safe. Discus are usually considered adults around 1 year old.

IMHO i would consider 1 1/2 yrs old adult. it's difficult to tell them from the semi-adult to adult stage.

[AzFishKid]

IMHO i would consider 1 1/2 yrs old adult. it's difficult to tell them from the semi-adult to adult stage.

But i mean size wise? Is a 5" discus an adult?

[White Worm]

Cant really judge the age of a discus from its size. Some are smaller at adult age and some are much larger. You could have a discus that is an adult at 4in or 8 in.

[AzFishKid]

Another question that i thought of: When i do WC's, i drain the water out through a hose, then pump hose water back in to refill. Once it's full again, i put in water conditioner. This has always been OK for my fish, because they're pretty hardy species. Will i not be able to do this with discus? Would i have to have dechlorinated water prepared a day before the WC?

[rickztahone]

Another question that i thought of: When i do WC's, i drain the water out through a hose, then pump hose water back in to refill. Once it's full again, i put in water conditioner. This has always been OK for my fish, because they're pretty hardy species. Will i not be able to do this with discus? Would i have to have dechlorinated water prepared a day before the WC?


put the conditioner into the tank after you have removed the dirty water but before putting the new water in. i just use prime in my large water container and pre-mix before it hits the tank

[AzFishKid]

put the conditioner into the tank after you have removed the dirty water but before putting the new water in. i just use prime in my large water container and pre-mix before it hits the tank

Is it necessary to pre-mix it though?
Where do you keep your large water container?

[hedut]

I just do direct from tap, but like Ricardo said put prime first and new water;)

[Discus-n00b]

I use direct tap as well, and add the conditioner as it fills or at the end. Never had any problems. This might be where you need to test the water though and make sure the tap and tank are fairly close in params. Some of us need to age water, some don't, some just prefer to.

[Discus-Hans]

Nice planted tank, I would put some wood in the middle as kind of teritorium divider and nice for them to spawn on.

http://www.manzanita.com/aqwood.htm

Can all your plants handle the 84 to 86F ????

Do you have one big heater in there (on the left) ?? if so, replace it with 2 smaller ones so you never make "Discus soup"

Hans
Discus Hans USA

[Todaydiscus]

Hi,
The important is not the water volume, compare to volume, space (Width and Deep) is more important. A 6ft(Width) x 2ft (Deep) x 14inc (High) tank better than a 6ft(Width) x 1ft(Deep) x 2.5ft(High) tank. A bigger space can keep more discus than other if they are same volume.

I do keep cardinal tetras together with discus without problem, but sometime if you do not feed enough to the discus than they maybe become a food source. But the other way they also help to clear off the leftover food for you when discus unable to finish.

Many plants grow well under 20c – 28c but discus will prefer 27c-30c. You need to seek for plants able to stay with discus.

I keep 12 – 18pcs adult discus in a 135L tank with daily water change (But surface is 3ft x 2ft), for your case 10-12pcs should not be a problem. For smaller 1” baby I keep 50 – 80pcs in a 3ft x 2ft tank.

Remember if your discus is sick you may having problem in the treatment if they are in a planted tank environment. The bio-bacterial and plant may kill by the medication treatment. If you bring the discus out for treatment, the disease and bacterial may still stay in the planted tank waiting for your discus.


P/s: In Asia we do water change is due to feeding of high protein food. The water had to change daily in order maintain the water environment.

If you keep some adult discus with bits food and go for a good bio-system than should not be a problem without daily water change.

[AzFishKid]

I just do direct from tap, but like Ricardo said put prime first and new water

I use direct tap as well, and add the conditioner as it fills or at the end. Never had any problems. This might be where you need to test the water though and make sure the tap and tank are fairly close in params. Some of us need to age water, some don't, some just prefer to.

OK cool - i just wondered if that would harm the discus, since they're more on the sensitive side.


Nice planted tank, I would put some wood in the middle as kind of teritorium divider and nice for them to spawn on.

http://www.manzanita.com/aqwood.htm

Can all your plants handle the 84 to 86F ????

Do you have one big heater in there (on the left) ?? if so, replace it with 2 smaller ones so you never make "Discus soup"

Hans
Discus Hans USA

I actually don't have any heaters in the tank at all. The thing on the left that looks like a heater is actually a surface skimmer attached to a powerhead. There is also a powerhead on the right side of the tank, without the skimmer.

I was actually thinking about putting a tree stump-looking piece of wood in the middle (going from the bottom all the way to the surface of the water), and maybe attach some moss. It sounds like having some wood in the middle would be good for them?

The tank is usually at 82 degrees without a heater. We keep our house temperature at around 80 degrees, so i guess with the intense light overhead it adds a few extra degrees. Should i pick up 2 heaters to put on each side, to raise the temp a bit?

I believe all my plants can handle those temps. They've been doing fine in 82-84 degrees. Pretty hardy plants.


Hi,
The important is not the water volume, compare to volume, space (Width and Deep) is more important. A 6ft(Width) x 2ft (Deep) x 14inc (High) tank better than a 6ft(Width) x 1ft(Deep) x 2.5ft(High) tank. A bigger space can keep more discus than other if they are same volume.

I do keep cardinal tetras together with discus without problem, but sometime if you do not feed enough to the discus than they maybe become a food source. But the other way they also help to clear off the leftover food for you when discus unable to finish.

Many plants grow well under 20c – 28c but discus will prefer 27c-30c. You need to seek for plants able to stay with discus.

I keep 12 – 18pcs adult discus in a 135L tank with daily water change (But surface is 3ft x 2ft), for your case 10-12pcs should not be a problem. For smaller 1” baby I keep 50 – 80pcs in a 3ft x 2ft tank.

Remember if your discus is sick you may having problem in the treatment if they are in a planted tank environment. The bio-bacterial and plant may kill by the medication treatment. If you bring the discus out for treatment, the disease and bacterial may still stay in the planted tank waiting for your discus.


P/s: In Asia we do water change is due to feeding of high protein food. The water had to change daily in order maintain the water environment.

If you keep some adult discus with bits food and go for a good bio-system than should not be a problem without daily water change.

My aquarium is 72" wide, 13" deep, and 17" high.

I will make sure to feed them enough - i wouldn't want the tetras to be a snack! :P

[AzFishKid]

Can anyone tell me what kind of discus this is? (the one with the stripes)

[Discus-n00b]

They both look like wilds to me. Not sure what type of wilds, but wilds.

[AzFishKid]

Question: Why do some of my posts have to be accepted by an admin before they are posted? I wrote a bunch of stuff in response to the people who answered my questions, but it said it had to be accepted by an admin first.

[erikc]

Can anyone tell me what kind of discus this is? (the one with the stripes)

Welcome to Simply.Nice setup you have there, I really like it a lot.

Okay, those are two wilds there, probably Brown Tucurui, very nice fish. IMO I wouldn't start with wilds straight away, it will probably put you off discus keeping for ever. Save that for when you have some more experience, but when you are ready to take the plunge don't hesitate to ask here !

[AzFishKid]

Welcome to Simply.Nice setup you have there, I really like it a lot.

Okay, those are two wilds there, probably Brown Tucurui, very nice fish. IMO I wouldn't start with wilds straight away, it will probably put you off discus keeping for ever. Save that for when you have some more experience, but when you are ready to take the plunge don't hesitate to ask here !

Thanks for the I.D./Info!

I really like that striped one because it almost looks like a saltwater fish in a way... haha.

Are wild species harder to care for?

[Harriett]

Hi, Phillip
Welcome to SD! First off, my compliments on your tank--very nice layout, plants look good an healthy. I am assuming that you have read the postings in the beginners section--clearly you know your way around a planted tank, but you need to know your way around discus before combining the 2 hobbies for the best possible success. In particular, it would be wise to read up on quarantining [QT] new fish--a MUST, no matter who the seller is--the best breeders will agree you need to QT their fish. Some things that can pop up in new fish may not show for several weeks. A thorough QT is done in a bare bottom [BB] tank for about 6-8 weeks. Patience now means success later--rush things and eventually you will get bit in the butt, trust me.
OK. Size wise: if you are starting with smaller discus--called juveniles: they are cheaper to buy, require a BB tank and most of a year to grow out, require heavy feeding, a good filter, and a VERY clean tank. You would be looking at 4-6 feedings daily and water changes of >50% a day in the grow out tank. THere are lots of ideas about what to feed discus but most agree that to grow out juvies you need a good meaty diet [more research or another post]. Tank will get dirty quick. This translates to higher nitrates in the water and more bacteria, which can cause infections in your discus. Adult discus need about 10 g/fish but juveniles can be in smaller digs. Depends on the # of discus, etc. With discus, it's ALL ABOUT THE WATER. Clean water and they are strong hearty fish--poor water quality and they get infections which are expensive to treat and heartbreaking when they nail your babies! It is alot of fun and a good challenge to start with 3" discus and grow them out.
OK, starting with adult or semi adult discus: you avoid the grow out costs for all that great food, all the daily water changes, you can QT them for 6-8 weeks in a BB tank and then plunk them into your planted tank. High quality discus is a larger initial financial investment but crappy quality discus look bad and may not have robust health....so in the long run, high quality fish are a better investment.
Cost? 3" can be anywhere for $15-20 to $100 a pop, adults anywhere from about $50 to hundreds of dollars a piece. If you are sure you want to start with adults, you might be able to get a reasonable deal buying from a hobbiest who is thinning stock or getting out--there are deals around--you need someone to help mentor you a bit if you are looking to do that approach....judgement grows with the hobby.
Now, let's say you either grew out your babies to a good 4.5-5" size [usually subadults] or bought grown fish. They have been properly QTed and you want to put them into your fine planted tank. Again, bear in mind there are lots of techniques and different ways to do things and be successful, so this is my experience. I think your idea of 5-6 discus max is a good plan. I always stock my planted tanks more lightly--the plants take up swim room, I have other fish in the tank [similar to what you have and are thinking of adding], and because there is a larger bacteria issue with a substrate, I over filter and clean very thoroughly once a week with a python. I do one 75-80% water change a week and that's it, in a well stocked planted tank. In a BB tank, I do daily water changes with juvies and every other day changes with adults. Adult discus I feed only once or twice a day--once with a frozen meaty type food and once with a high quality pellet food.
Well, this is getting long but hopefully will point you in a good direction. There are some experienced PHeonix discus folks around, maybe you can hook up and get some help if you want a local discus buddy! THe sponsors on this forum that sell discus are generally a sure bet for quality and for back up if there are problems--great people selling great fish. You can get in some real trouble and waste money and wreak havoc in established tanks by bringing in sick discus. I agree with thepost about not starting with wilds--their care is more specific and they are a bigger challenge--begin with some strong domestic strain[s]. Folks often do so because there is a learning curve to this hobby and you may want to learn your chops on less expensive and strong strained discus that tend to do well. I killed a fair number of discus when I started keeping them and most others mirror that curve!
Best regards,
Harriett

[D!NGO]

Well said, Harriett. Well said.

[AzFishKid]

Thanks for all the information, Harriett. I have never quarantined any of my fish, and they seem to be fine. If quarantining is absolutely necessary, what size tank would i have to set up to hold 5-6 discus in for 6-8 weeks? I'm not sure how my parents would feel about setting up a second tank... lol.

After asking all these questions, i'm wondering if it's worth having discus in a planted tank. It sounds pretty challenging.

[Harriett]

Hi again.
Depends on the size of the fish, remember? If you have 3" juvies, you could QT 5-6 in a 29g for 8 weeks easily with daily water changes. If you get 5" fish, I would be looking at at least a 40g and a 55g would be better. I use aquaclear filters for QT or juvies because I like to clean the media about every day or 2, so a canister isn't practical for that application.

It's the discus that are challenging...a planted tank is no harder, in my opinion, than a BB and frankly, easier! Only 1 x week BIG water change, vacuum thoroughly and trim to clean up plants, I am done!

Discus ARE one of the most challenging and also rewarding freshwater fish available, I think. THey are more interesting, smarter, and very beautiful. THey also require more solid commitment and maintenance than any fish I ever raised. You are wise to think it out carefully before you start this sort of project--if you decide to go ahead, there is plenty of help available here!
Let us know what you decide.....maybe you ought to start by doing a lot of reading on the forum, especially in the beginners section, to get a more specific idea that might help? It is important to be very realistic before you begin because you can get carried away by how cool discus are and an emotional decision can be pretty one sided!
For me, the learning curve took a couple of years.
Best regards,
Harriett

[AzFishKid]

Talked to my parents yesterday - setting up another aquarium for QT, regardless of size, is out of the picture. If i can find some healthy discus that someone has had for a while, is there still a need for QT?

[philip69285]

I would say QT if you had an old stock of discus to not add a new disease they havent had. But since you have none and the other fish you have rarely will get any disease from the discus... most common with discus is internal parasite. i would say your fine and if you buy from Kenny even better :). But Im not an expert on that but have never had problems adding discus to an established tank from a good stock of discus to start with. Nice to meet another Philip out there :).

[tcyiu]

I would say QT if you had an old stock of discus to not add a new disease they havent had. But since you have none and the other fish you have rarely will get any disease from the discus... most common with discus is internal parasite. i would say your fine and if you buy from Kenny even better :). But Im not an expert on that but have never had problems adding discus to an established tank from a good stock of discus to start with. Nice to meet another Philip out there :).

I agree with Philip. In your particular instance, quarantine is not warranted. However, you really should get a hospital tank because you will eventually need it so you won't have to medicate the main tank.

BTW, I am pro quarantine. But it is not needed in cases like this.

Tim

[Discus-Hans]

If they are your first Discus, no need to Q because there is nothing to protect or to protect them against, your main tank will be your Q tank lol

Hans

[AzFishKid]

Thanks for all the replies.

Maybe i could set up a 20g long in the stand... would that be large enough for a hospital tank?

And hi Philip! It's rare to find Philip's with one L. Haha :)

[tcyiu]

Thanks for all the replies.

Maybe i could set up a 20g long in the stand... would that be large enough for a hospital tank?

20L is good. 20 tall is not good. It's a question of surface area.

Personally, I prefer 10gal as hospital tank. Normally, you would be treating 1 fish, maybe 2. 3 sick fish would indicate something more systemic, and you would need to check your main tank parameters, and perhaps treat the whole tank.

Therefore, 10gal is a good size from a use of medicine standpoint. Also, I like keeping the water level low so the sick fish do not need to expend much energy getting to the surface for more oxygen.

Also, with a measly 10 gal, you can more easily convince your folks that your hobby is not taking over the house :-)

Tim

[AzFishKid]

10 gallon is even better. :)

I have an eheim 2217 on the 85 gallon, but i don't think it's filtering the water enough (and i just replaced some of the filter pads a few weeks ago, too). Would it be wise to get a second 2217? I was planning on getting a fluval fx5 and ditching the eheim, but the fx5 won't fit in the stand or anywhere around it.

[DiscusFreakaZoid]

Thanks for the I.D./Info!

I really like that striped one because it almost looks like a saltwater fish in a way... haha.

Are wild species harder to care for?


There will be plenty of color variations and patterns that rival saltwater fish for you to choose from. Thats the main reason why i went for discus to. Its the closest to getting saltwater fishes brilliant colors. For your age tho your on the right path to becoming a breeder someday. when i was 14 i had goldfish from a mayfair :antlers: you got fishkeepin skills little man to have a nice planted tank like that. two thumbs up on the aquascape:balloon::bandana:

go to this site below and check out his sold fish to get an idea of what colors are out there and u can check sponsor threads to see there stocks.


http://sunrisetropicals.com/index.html

[Jhhnn]

Might want to check in w/ George Garcia (DiscusGeo). He's local to you, and seems amenable to visitors, at least if they're potential customers. He breeds some Discus and imports others. Seemed like a good guy when we corresponded via email last spring. I strongly considered buying from him at the time, and may yet somewhere in the future.

[AzFishKid]

Thanks for the recommendation - i sent him an email.