How many discus?

[JL15219]

Okay I am just curious about what is the bare minimum number of discus you should have...I have read and heard different answers...so wanted to set up a poll to see what you guys think.....Thanks in advanced

Javier

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

I say 5, but I have had tanks that work out pretty well with just 4...the agression gets spread out a bit better with atleast 5 tho.

[JL15219]

I say 5, but I have had tanks that work out pretty well with just 4...the agression gets spread out a bit better with atleast 5 tho.

Oh really I currently have 4 and one chase all of them around but seems to pick on one more than the others and he hides a lot.....the one that gets picked on the most is actually a little bigger than the others :confused: Do you think it will eventually calm down I have had them since Christmas

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

it may calm down, it may get worse. really hard to call it. I think it could be just fine tho...its normal for discus to be bullies, and be bullied...just part of living in a pack. lol. lots of factors to consider...a good rule of thumb tho, "the more the merrier!" :D

take care.

[JL15219]

Anything I can do to cut down the aggression?

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

not really. the one you have thats doing all the bullying is the leader of the pack...may be the alpha male. the only thing you could do would be to add more discus, just keep in mind your gonna want to QT any new discus for atleast a month before you mix them with ur current stock.

I think you could wait it out a bit and see how it goes. but you may wanna pick up another small group and get them in a QT tank in the mean time. if the aggression is just TOO much for ur discus to handle.

what size tank you workin with??

[rickztahone]

the way the poll is set up right now no one can really give you a correct answer unless you specify how many gallons you are going to be putting them in. if you say 5 is the perfect number, you wouldn't be able to do 5 3" discus in a 10g. if you have a 500g, 5 is not enough. see what i mean? the better poll question would be "what is a good number of discus in a 55g tank?"...

[JL15219]

It is a 60 gal....

[Wahter]

6 is a good number, because statistically, you'll have either at least 1 male or at least 1 female in the group. :) And it spreads the aggression around.



Walter

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

also keep in mind, how often you water change has alot to do with how many Discus you can fit in your 60 gal. if you did 80-90% WCs daily, Im sure you could do 8-9 discus no problem. just figured I'd throw that in there. if your only gonna WC once a week, try not to stock it that heavy.

good luck! :D

[JL15219]

Right now I am doing 60% WC everyday....does that sound good or should I increase it?

[rickztahone]

Right now I am doing 60% WC everyday....does that sound good or should I increase it?

60% daily is fine for around 6-8 3-4" discus IMO. as they get older you might sell off a couple to stay with 6 only. your WC regimen is fine though

[JL15219]

I have another question for some reason sometimes when I do a water change it gets kind of cloudy...but not always just sometimes.....I am thinking it may be a bacteria bloom...maybe I am taking too much water out and the bacteria need to be replaced....any thoughts?

[Scribbles]

I have another question for some reason sometimes when I do a water change it gets kind of cloudy...but not always just sometimes.....I am thinking it may be a bacteria bloom...maybe I am taking too much water out and the bacteria need to be replaced....any thoughts?

It doesn't matter how much water you remove. Your nitrifying bacteria are in your filter. Of course the bacteria are on everything in your tank but the main colony will be in your filter. You may be seeing CO2 from the water that you add.

As far as the poll goes, I voted for 6. Then if you lose 1 you still have enough left to spread out the aggression. You could also have just 2 if they were a mated pair.

Chris

[Jhhnn]

Not that this will work for JL15219, but I've done extremely well wrt aggression buying 2 batches of 8 hatchmates from Kenny. Even though each of the groups came from a bigger school, they seem to have a lot of dominance issues worked out before they came to me, having lived their whole lives together. They live in separate tanks, making the initial quarantine largely a non-issue.

Maybe somebody can use that for future reference. Dunno if it'll hold true all the time...

My confirmed female blue scorp has always been the most aggressive of that group, even though her mate is easily the largest and dominates when he feels the need... not very often, he's pretty amiable.

[JL15219]

It doesn't matter how much water you remove. Your nitrifying bacteria are in your filter. Of course the bacteria are on everything in your tank but the main colony will be in your filter. You may be seeing CO2 from the water that you add.

As far as the poll goes, I voted for 6. Then if you lose 1 you still have enough left to spread out the aggression. You could also have just 2 if they were a mated pair.

Chris

True the bacteria does live on everything.....I actually did an ammonia test and it was ammonia....so I did another water change and got it back to zero.....I think I might be feeding too much...it is kind of hard to see if they actually eat everything because it is a planted tank.....