Size Requirement

[christian1971]

If my tank is 55 gallons, will my 6 adult discus (if they grow to their max size potential) have ample room? I don't plan to use any plants or decor or gravel.

[ericatdallas]

Yep should be fine...

[christian1971]

What a relief! That will make it easier doing water changes.

[Jhhnn]

You'd be slightly past the recommended maximum of 1 adult/ 10gals of water. That's not a big deal if you find and maintain a robust cleaning and water changing regimen. OTOH, if you don't already have the tank, think about stepping up to a 75 or 90gal. Both are excellent for discus, and would provide a suitable cushion against degraded water quality for a group of 6. For a given number of fish and amount of food, water quality will deteriorate more slowly in a larger tank.

[ericatdallas]

You'd be slightly past the recommended maximum of 1 adult/ 10gals of water. That's not a big deal if you find and maintain a robust cleaning and water changing regimen. OTOH, if you don't already have the tank, think about stepping up to a 75 or 90gal. Both are excellent for discus, and would provide a suitable cushion against degraded water quality for a group of 6. For a given number of fish and amount of food, water quality will deteriorate more slowly in a larger tank.

I agree with that... the main thing though is he's better off than most people with 55G (and some with 75G) b/c he's doing bare tank. That right away takes away 5-8 gallons of water plus buildups toxins.

Plus he'll see any buildup right away and be able to respond accordingly.

But with all things being equal, the more volume is almost always better...

so +1, if you can afford it and don't already have the tank already, go with a 75/90/110 (same footprint).

[Skip]

I jus love my 75g! So do my fish! The deeper tanks are better at 18" then the 12"... Gives them more freedim.. I had 5 young adults in my 55.. And I added some of my growouts..

[target]

18" deep tank is awesome. I love my 90 for the same reason, more room for them to move front to back as well as side to side.

[ericatdallas]

LOL, just go with a 110G High :)

Heck, screw that, go with a 96" tank, it'll appreciate the 300G... can't go wrong with 50G per fish ;)

[christian1971]

Thanks for the advice. At this point I have not purchased any equipment including tank. This may sound dumb, but I am giving thought whether I will be dedicated enough. Yes these are gorgeous fish, but I don't want to make a mistake. Jumping in to this is the last thing I wan to do.

[ericatdallas]

Thanks for the advice. At this point I have not purchased any equipment including tank. This may sound dumb, but I am giving thought whether I will be dedicated enough. Yes these are gorgeous fish, but I don't want to make a mistake. Jumping in to this is the last thing I wan to do.

Good idea... the plan might be to research the WC procedure... that's where the headache is... but if you do what some members here do and that's flip a few switches for your WC then it's hard to get tired of it.

If I owned this house I would easily start drilling holes all over the place and running pipes through the walls.

[Jhhnn]

Thanks for the advice. At this point I have not purchased any equipment including tank. This may sound dumb, but I am giving thought whether I will be dedicated enough. Yes these are gorgeous fish, but I don't want to make a mistake. Jumping in to this is the last thing I wan to do.

Very smart. It's a lot easier to be diligent if you've invested the time, effort, money and ingenuity in establishing a water changing system appropriate to your circumstances.

It all starts with your water. If you already have aquaria, then you likely have a fair understanding of what you need to do to make it fish friendly. Some water must be treated, heated, aged & aerated before putting it in the tank because of high concentrations of dissolved CO2. Out of the tap, the PH is much lower than after it reaches equilibrium in the environment, so adding it directly to the tank causes rapid PH swing. Some tap water has very high levels of gases in general, particularly in the winter, and acts a lot like soda when the pressure is relieved. Because of the rapid transfer of molecules across fish membranes, gas bubbles can form inside your fish, which can be lethal.

Some people are entirely successful adding makeup water directly from the tap, or seem to be, but aging water is never a bad idea. Using a water conditioner like Prime rather than just dechlorinator is also smart, as more municipalities switch to chloramines all the time, usually w/o much fanfare. Normal water consumers never know the difference, but lots of aquarium fish end up dead because of it.

Water changing should be a consideration wrt tank placement, as well. There's a lot to consider, particularly because of relatively high initial expense and the need for ongoing dedication. Aquarists also need to develop a much deeper knowledge base than most pet owners, because there's not much help available compared to other pets. Cats are a lot cheaper and easier, for example, and veterinarians know how to deal with them, unlike fish...