minimum size tank a discus will hit its potential and size?

[Dreamcatcher]

Any help will be nice :).

[Skip]

what size are you planning to start with??.. .if you get older fish.. somebody will have put in the MONTHS and the CULLS it takes to Grow out 1 discus..

[Dreamcatcher]

I plan on getting 2-3" inches. maybe just 3-5 discus only.

[Elite Aquaria]

I would not go smaller than a 40 breeder. That is 36x18x18 approx 47 gallons.

[Dreamcatcher]

Sounds good i have a few 40b's laying around. Will having 5 discus in the 40b be a good idea until they hit there max size or? 3 is best?

[PAR23]

Sounds good i have a few 40b's laying around. Will having 5 discus in the 40b be a good idea until they hit there max size or? 3 is best?

I suggest you start out with at least 6 juvies, 8 is better so that the pecking order when established will lead to equal distribution of aggression.

[Skip]

DreamCatch.. if you are new i would say get the largest fish you can get.. i have been growing out fry/juvies.. and it is alot of work!! and not all the fish will grow the same rate or same size.. i have fish from batch.. and some of them are almost 4 times at large as siblings.. about of group of 10.. get fish over 3 in.. they still have room to grow.. but they won't runts or stunted.. i only tell you what i have learned.. for potential size. you need to feed 5-8 times day.. WC daily if not 2 times up to 100%.. every newbie thinks buying small and cheap is best way... but it is hardest way.. but it is your fish/tank.. so read up as much as you can.. use the search function.. and make an educated choice.. GOOD LUCK! and welcome to SD!

[Dreamcatcher]

Sounds good. I do have plans to do alot of WC's alright. :) Also feeding too.

[Jennie]

Skip, if you had to do it all over?

[jimg]

DreamCatch.. if you are new i would say get the largest fish you can get.. i have been growing out fry/juvies.. and it is alot of work!! and not all the fish will grow the same rate or same size.. i have fish from batch.. and some of them are almost 4 times at large as siblings.. about of group of 10.. get fish over 3 in.. they still have room to grow.. but they won't runts or stunted.. i only tell you what i have learned.. for potential size. you need to feed 5-8 times day.. WC daily if not 2 times up to 100%.. every newbie thinks buying small and cheap is best way... but it is hardest way.. but it is your fish/tank.. so read up as much as you can.. use the search function.. and make an educated choice.. GOOD LUCK! and welcome to SD!

+1

[SNap0283]

Building off of what Warlock said, If you only want to keep 1 tank, and want to end up with 3-5 adult fish... well youd have to start with 3-5 adult fish in 1 tank lol. Growing out from 2-3-4 inches if you start with 10 fish, in a couple of months youll need to remove the 3-4 biggest ones to a new tank. If not the ones that are falling behind likely wont reach their full potential and become stunted.

If you start with 10 juvies id say have 2 40 breeder or 55gal tanks for growing out. Expect 3-4 to be top notch, 3-4 to be pretty nice fish and 2-3 to be stunnted and never amount to much. Now if your goal was just to have the 3-5 adult fish its likely cheeper to buy them as adults than buying the 10-12 juvies itll take to get you the 3-5 adults as nice as what you could have bought. Time and money saved the adults are by far less expensive. But if you, like i do, enjoy growing out the fish you own from juvie stage then youll need to have the space to seperate them and start off with more than you expect to have when all is said and done!!

Welcome to Simply, enjoy the ride!

[Jhhnn]

I haven't tried growing out juvies in smaller tanks. My most recent efforts involved eight 4" youngsters from Kenny that I grew out in a 75gal reef tank w wet/dry filter. They're big, honestly big, approaching 7"...

Rather than feeding small portions several times per day, they got fed large portions 3-4 times per day, enough that everybody got full bellies in 15 minutes or so with maybe a little laying around for snacking. I achieved very uniform size. One was slightly smaller, and still is, but there's not 1/2" difference between them...

[Skip]

Skip, if you had to do it all over?

i don't think i will buying grow outs again... don't get me wrong.. i have learned alot growing them out.. but i can see the time/patience/luck it takes to get one fish to be 4+ in.. but i don't want to have to keep setting up more tanks.. i will grow out what i have.. and see how they turn out.. :))

i just try to tell the newbies.. some things i went thru with the hopes of helping them out . just like ya'll tried to do with me :))

[Dreamcatcher]

Very good infos. Thanks

[uberdave]

yeah, never ever ever keep discus that is less than 6. they get really skittish really easily and it takes them forever to get used to. 10 is a good number and from my experience, a 40g is good enough and any bigger need a higher number else they get into that skittish mood.

[West1]

Nice

[rosyrobyn]

Yesterday 08:50 PMuberdave

40g is good enough and any bigger need a higher number else they get into that skittish mood.

I was planning on using a BB 75g as a grow out tank for 10 discus juvies before they are moved to a 125g planted tank. The 75g is too big for a grow out tank? I don't want to have skittish fish...

[Jhhnn]

I was planning on using a BB 75g as a grow out tank for 10 discus juvies before they are moved to a 125g planted tank. The 75g is too big for a grow out tank? I don't want to have skittish fish...

I'm not sure that whole concept is sound, at all. 20 years ago, I raised a group of 6 schmidt-focke red turquoise in a 55. They weren't any bigger than 50 cent pieces when they came to me, and never were skittish at all.

I'll agree that they seem to find solace in numbers, even as adults, but I don't think skittishness has a lot to do with tank size. I think it has a whole lot to do with how well socialized they are. They need to be in a place where they become accustomed to human presence, not shut away except for feeding time.

I had an interesting conversation with Kenny Cheung a long while back, in which he told me about Forrest's operation. He said that Forrest's people were constantly interacting with the fish- feeding, changing water, siphoning and so forth. He told me that the discus were exceedingly tame as a result- "friendly" was the word he used, and that's part of the whole set of reasons he chose Forrest as his supplier... I think that part of the reason my own fish are quite tame is that they're in my study, where I spend a lot of time, even when I'm not paying attention to them. Human comings and goings merely pique their interest, because they think they might get fed. They get a little jumpy on occasion, for reasons I've never figured out, and they don't hide, anyway, because I don't give 'em places to hide, at all...

[rosyrobyn]

Socializing makes sense. All cichlids that I've ever had seemed to be very social with me, because I'm the one they see the most. Strangers on the other hand - 'Are you sure you have fish in there??'

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Dreamcatcher. I was just curious that if there's such a thing as being too small, perhaps there's such a thing as being too big.

[Dreamcatcher]

very good info's guys. i'm trying to read and learn as much as i can :) np rosyrobyn :)

[Brevcom]

DreamCatch.. if you are new i would say get the largest fish you can get.. i have been growing out fry/juvies.. and it is alot of work!! and not all the fish will grow the same rate or same size.. i have fish from batch.. and some of them are almost 4 times at large as siblings.. about of group of 10.. get fish over 3 in.. they still have room to grow.. but they won't runts or stunted.. i only tell you what i have learned.. for potential size. you need to feed 5-8 times day.. WC daily if not 2 times up to 100%.. every newbie thinks buying small and cheap is best way... but it is hardest way.. but it is your fish/tank.. so read up as much as you can.. use the search function.. and make an educated choice.. GOOD LUCK! and welcome to SD!

Good info, I prefer to stock with the largest fish possible.

[Skip]

Brevcom.. for reals.. !! you will be MUCH HAPPIER!!! in the short/long term!!