A pair of Discus in a 40 gallons breeder?

[Bao]

Hello everyone,

I am interested in keeping a pair of Discus in a 40 gallons breeder with the dimension of 36"L x 18"W x 16"H.
The filtration will be a Aquaclear 110 (with Carbon). From what I have read, I am supposed to change water for them 30% daily or once every two days when they are small and once a week when they are older. I know that discus are social fish, they like to be in a group but my tank is small, can I just keep two of them? What happen if I buy two of them and they happen to be both males or females? Will they fight to the death or they will just pick on each other a bit and still be able to live with each other?

As for water change, I just leave a bucket of water out for couple days and use that water to change? Do I need to add any other chemical or anything else?

Thanks,
Bao

[discusnick]

I know a little about breeding discus, I recommend you use R/O water and add R/O right from kent marine to that to make the water soft, breeding discus requires the water to be very warm I believe around 85-90 degrees, Don't recommend carbon as it may give them hole in head and there are other reasons for not having carbon but from every discus forum they say carbon isn't good. if you are going to breed them you need a sponge filteration not a hang on filter and you need to do 75% water changes every other day. you will also need some clay pots so they can spawn on those. Discus will pair up with each other so its hard to find ones to pair up but you should put atleast 4-6 in there and you will maybe get 2 pairs out of it also make sure all the discus are the same size. Don't use gravel in the tank and also if you set up a R/O system use a food grade trash can have the water go into that, use a heater in the water so its same temperature as your water in your tank, put a pump in the trash can with the water to keep the water moving and aerate the water. I recommend a lot more research though before getting into breeding them its not easy to do as these fish are soooo sensitive to every little thing and constantly check your water, if your ammonia or nitrate is a little high your fish will stress out and die. I hope this helps you some what

[Bao]

Thanks for replying to my questions.
However, I don't want to breed them at all. I simply want to keep a two of them for fun. I used to breed freshwater fishes from Swordtail, guppies, Angelfishes, Betta, Paradise Groumis and many other types. At one point, I had 7 tanks in my house. I shut them down couple years ago. I didn't know that carbon is bad for discus. Thanks for letting me know that.

Bao

[Discus Origins]

You have two options here, the tank is big enough to keep 4-5 juveniles or a pair of mated adults. With a pair of adults you get what you want, 2 fish that will get along most of the time but is also the more expensive way. You will qlso be able to get by with less water changes Two juvies will not do well, need to spread out the aggression with at least 4 of them. But that also will require daily water changes to keep their water quality high. Two fish are not going to fight to the death but you will end up with one nice fish and one not so nice.

[TURQ64]

As for the carbon, I believe you'll find with enough research, that the HTH connection is another Discus myth..Carbon isn't harmful, it's unnecessary due to the amt. of WC's...If it were harmful, we'd all be screwed that use RO/ since the middle processes are various forms of carbon filtration.....

[Larry Bugg]

You also may have no need for RO at all. It all depends on what the water is like where you are located. In Atlanta we have great water for discus and I don't use RO for Breeders or growouts. Also Breeding discus do not require a water temp of 85 to 90. Some people keep juvies in warmer water of around 86 but definitely 90 and a breeding pair would normally be around 82.

[strawberryblonde]

Hello everyone,

I am interested in keeping a pair of Discus in a 40 gallons breeder with the dimension of 36"L x 18"W x 16"H.
The filtration will be a Aquaclear 110 (with Carbon). From what I have read, I am supposed to change water for them 30% daily or once every two days when they are small and once a week when they are older. I know that discus are social fish, they like to be in a group but my tank is small, can I just keep two of them? What happen if I buy two of them and they happen to be both males or females? Will they fight to the death or they will just pick on each other a bit and still be able to live with each other?

As for water change, I just leave a bucket of water out for couple days and use that water to change? Do I need to add any other chemical or anything else?

Thanks,
Bao

Ok, gonna try to organize my reply so that I answer each of your questions. =)

1. For a 40 gallon tank you have 2 options. You can put in a mated adult pair (expensive and they will breed and then you'll need a tank for the fry) or 4-5 juvie (under 3") or sub-adult (3" - 4") discus.
2. Since it's a small tank, water changes will have to be frequent for juvies or sub-adults since they eat often and have a lot of wastes that accumulate.
3. If it was me I'd do 60-70% water changes daily for the younger discus and 30 - 40% daily for a mated pair.
4. Juvies will need to eat several times a day and it will need to be high quality foods. Same for sub-adults but you can get away with a large feeding in the morning and several smaller ones at night.
5. Adult pairs will need to eat twice a day.
6. Discus never fight to the death, they are much "nicer" than african cichlids, but if one is harassed constantly by the other it may become sick and die of illnesses.
7. For water changes putting water in a bucket is a GREAT idea, just be sure to add a heater and air stone to it so that it matches the temps of your tank.
8. Some people don't add a dechlorinator to aged water, but others do. I prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to my expensive little babies, so Prime (or Safe) is a daily thing during my water changes.
9. If you are 100% sure you don't have any chloramine in your tap water you can get away with not using a dechlorinator, just be very sure, or add that Prime and sleep soundly. =)
10. The carbon isn't necessary if when you're doing large water changes, but it won't kill the discus either.
11. If you want to grow out some less expensive discus I'd recommend sub-adults to start with. They are more forgiving than juvies for us newbies. =)
12. Be sure to purchase your discus from a reputable dealer. We have a list of excellent sponsors on the forums who can sell you beautiful healthy discus and their prices are very reasonable!
13. Temps for discus should be between 82 and 86. Each individual chooses a temp that suits them best within that range. The higher temps speed metabolism and increase appetite.
14. Your filtration system is fine for a 40 gallon, but you might want to consider buying a seeded sponge filter from your breeder. They aerate the water, are cheap and easy to clean and work really well with discus.

Ok, I think I managed to get to all the questions and even added in some of the stuff I've learned along the way. I was a total newbie to keeping a tank full of discus back in February of this year and these forums gave me all the info I needed in order to grow out my sub-adults (purchased from a sponsor here) to gorgeous HUGE discus in just 5 months!

Other tidbits you might find useful:
I started out with the idea of raising my sub-adults in a planted tank with a couple of pieces of driftwood since it's in my family room and I wanted it to look nice. I managed to grow them out for 2 months in that tank, but the nightly cleaning routine was a pain in the neck and I spent a LOT of time making sure every bit of leftover food and poop was siphoned out of the gravel. I slowly kept removing bits and pieces from the tank to make it easier to clean and once the gravel/sand was out I was shocked at how fast and easy my water changes became.

Sooo, you can raise discus in a fully planted tank, but if you have a busy schedule and not a lot of time to clean your tank at night you might want to consider doing a barebottom tank to start out. You can put a couple of plants in pots and add a hunk of driftwood for decor. The tank will still look nice, but will be less of a headache and the substrate and heavy plants can be added later on when you feel ready for them.

Discus love a variety of foods. Buy small amounts of several items and then figure out which ones your discus like best. Mine love discus flakes, frozen beefheart cubes, homemade seafood mix and Al's FDBW (freeze dried blackworms) Other people have good luck with Tetra ColorBits and some of the discus pellet foods. Mine won't touch them. LOL

[ZX10R]

Ok, gonna try to organize my reply so that I answer each of your questions. =)

1. For a 40 gallon tank you have 2 options. You can put in a mated adult pair (expensive and they will breed and then you'll need a tank for the fry) or 4-5 juvie (under 3") or sub-adult (3" - 4") discus.
2. Since it's a small tank, water changes will have to be frequent for juvies or sub-adults since they eat often and have a lot of wastes that accumulate.
3. If it was me I'd do 60-70% water changes daily for the younger discus and 30 - 40% daily for a mated pair.
4. Juvies will need to eat several times a day and it will need to be high quality foods. Same for sub-adults but you can get away with a large feeding in the morning and several smaller ones at night.
5. Adult pairs will need to eat twice a day.
6. Discus never fight to the death, they are much "nicer" than african cichlids, but if one is harassed constantly by the other it may become sick and die of illnesses.
7. For water changes putting water in a bucket is a GREAT idea, just be sure to add a heater and air stone to it so that it matches the temps of your tank.
8. Some people don't add a dechlorinator to aged water, but others do. I prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to my expensive little babies, so Prime (or Safe) is a daily thing during my water changes.
9. If you are 100% sure you don't have any chloramine in your tap water you can get away with not using a dechlorinator, just be very sure, or add that Prime and sleep soundly. =)
10. The carbon isn't necessary if when you're doing large water changes, but it won't kill the discus either.
11. If you want to grow out some less expensive discus I'd recommend sub-adults to start with. They are more forgiving than juvies for us newbies. =)
12. Be sure to purchase your discus from a reputable dealer. We have a list of excellent sponsors on the forums who can sell you beautiful healthy discus and their prices are very reasonable!
13. Temps for discus should be between 82 and 86. Each individual chooses a temp that suits them best within that range. The higher temps speed metabolism and increase appetite.
14. Your filtration system is fine for a 40 gallon, but you might want to consider buying a seeded sponge filter from your breeder. They aerate the water, are cheap and easy to clean and work really well with discus.

Ok, I think I managed to get to all the questions and even added in some of the stuff I've learned along the way. I was a total newbie to keeping a tank full of discus back in February of this year and these forums gave me all the info I needed in order to grow out my sub-adults (purchased from a sponsor here) to gorgeous HUGE discus in just 5 months!

Other tidbits you might find useful:
I started out with the idea of raising my sub-adults in a planted tank with a couple of pieces of driftwood since it's in my family room and I wanted it to look nice. I managed to grow them out for 2 months in that tank, but the nightly cleaning routine was a pain in the neck and I spent a LOT of time making sure every bit of leftover food and poop was siphoned out of the gravel. I slowly kept removing bits and pieces from the tank to make it easier to clean and once the gravel/sand was out I was shocked at how fast and easy my water changes became.

Sooo, you can raise discus in a fully planted tank, but if you have a busy schedule and not a lot of time to clean your tank at night you might want to consider doing a barebottom tank to start out. You can put a couple of plants in pots and add a hunk of driftwood for decor. The tank will still look nice, but will be less of a headache and the substrate and heavy plants can be added later on when you feel ready for them.

Discus love a variety of foods. Buy small amounts of several items and then figure out which ones your discus like best. Mine love discus flakes, frozen beefheart cubes, homemade seafood mix and Al's FDBW (freeze dried blackworms) Other people have good luck with Tetra ColorBits and some of the discus pellet foods. Mine won't touch them. LOL

WOW!!! Toni you are long winded ;)

[strawberryblonde]

LOL, why yes, yes I am! =)