work in a 36" by 18" by 16"?

[Moonstream]

I tried discus before, but I was young (12) and skipped a lot of corners, including using a too-small tank. in the time I had them, though, discus have soared to the top of my list of favorite fish. I now find myself with an empty 45g (40 breeder) with good filtration (was meant to be a goldfish tank; has a penguin 350 biowheel and a penguin 200 biowheel). currently, its setup bare bottom with two piece of driftwood, one of which is covered in java ferns.

my main question is, are discus even a possibility for this tank?

ideally, I would have 4-5 discus as the only inhabitants; the only plants besides the java fern would likely be a few large amazon swords and maybe a few anubias nanas. not sure if I'll stay BB and put the plants in pots, or add substrate.

my main question is, is a 40g breed large enough? I'm worried that the 16" height might be too short?

also- how sensitive are discus, really? I found the few I had to be fairly hardy until the sucumbed to a bacterial infection from some panda cories that I didnt QT.

I'm not sold one way or another on which way I want to go with the tank, I just know that there is nothing more stunning than a big group of discus in a planted tank.

ETA: my initial thought was that it wouldnt work, but it seems that in searching 'discus 40g breeder' a lot of people did do it.

[Moonstream]

23 veiws and no one had anything to add? anyways, just wanted to add that this WILL NOT be a grow out tank; this would be the long-term, permanent home of these fish. also, it's hard for me to gage how much work discus actually are and how delicate they really are because half the information is form people who just copy and paste the normal "they need soft water and die if you look at them the wrong way," which from what I can tell isnt really true?

I'm not looking for super delicate fish.

I would be able to do 10g water changes easily every week, possibly larger weekly changes of 15-20g's.

I can feed frozen foods if needed.

really I'm just looking to judge what I'd be getting myself in with if I go the discus route...

[Wes]

I would get 4 adults for the size of your tank and your avaialibity to do water changes. Adults are hardier and feeding them 3 times a day campared to 8 times for juviniles. Some good flake, frozen beefheart and some of Als freeze dried worms and your set. I clean and water change 150 gallons every 2 days between 4 tanks in less than an hour. A 20 gallon change every couple days will get to be old hat and routine. Discus are worth it, just do your home work and buy the best fish you can afford. I would get a air pump and a sponge filter, easy to clean. I also use aqua clear with just 2 sponges in it. A aqua clear 70 would fit with your setup. A nice jager 200 or 250 watt heater and the fish will be nice and warm.

[MightyEvil]

I think people post according to what they expect Discus to look like. So, when people post "they need soft water and die if you look at them the wrong way", it is because they are expecting 6-7" fish and as healthy as can get. They also expect to be able to see the same quality of the offspring, and for the offspring to survive and eventually be sold.

I definitely dont think that Discus need to be treated in that manner to keep them fairly healthy, BUT! I do think that you will sacrify some quality if not "providing" for the fish in an aggressive fashion. That being said, I am sure you would agree that the better the water quality, the better chance your fish has against disease. Sure, your fish may never get sick with minimum water changes but some people will not take the risk, being that these fish are pretty expensive, especially when purchased as adults.

In conclusion, I think that the amount of water you are proposing to exchange is the minimum, and I am talking about 20 gallons per week. You will need to monitor your nitrates and make sure they stay under AT LEAST 50ppm. Good luck and I hope to hear about your progress.

[strawberryblonde]

Hi there,

You can successfully keep 4-5 adult discus in a 40-45 gallon tank, but whether or not they remain healthy will all depend on how much work you are willing to put into them. A tank that small is going to require larger water changes than you've mentioned.

Would you have the option of moving them to a larger tank once they reach adulthood? If so, then definitely go with the 40g for raising them and for ease in learning about the care of discus, purchase 4" young discus from a reputable breeder to start off with. 4" sub-adults are much less sensitive than juvies and can tolerate a missed water change here and there.

If you can't switch to a larger tank once they are grown, then commit yourself to doing more 20g water changes per week so that they don't end up swimming in foul water. Discus are much more sensitive to bad water than most other fish. Bacterial diseases happen when water quality goes down. A healthy fish can handle the everyday pathogens that are always present in and on their bodies, but once their immune system is compromised (most often due to dirty water), they succumb to those pathogens and get sick.

The softness of your water or the pH, total hardness, etc, isn't nearly as important as the consistency of the water. Mine live very happily in high pH water and have never gotten sick from it.

Ohhhh, I should mention that I grew out five 4" discus in a tank not much larger than yours and had no problems at all. But I also made sure to do a large water change each day after their evening beefheart feeding. They are now living in a 115 gallon tank and I've added 4 more discus to them so there's a total of nine. The smallest of the first group is 6" and the largest is well over 8". They are VERY healthy and aren't even a year old yet!

I really do believe that the reason mine have done so well is that I took the advice of people on this forum as far as what to feed, how often to feed, how often to change the water (and how much to change) and where to buy my discus.

I grew out one discus many years ago in a community tank without knowing anything about discus and though he did well and lived to a nice old age, I now know that he would have done a whole lot better had I known about optimal temps, feeding schedules, etc. (Thank goodness I was a water changer even back then when everyone else was doing once a month changes... they all thought I was nuts for doing 90% weekly changes. lol)

So what are your plans at this point? Have you figured out where you plan to buy your discus and how large they'll be when you get them?

[Moonstream]

I think, for now, maybe discus aren't for me. If this were to be my only tank (its not; I have a 40g reef, 29g freshwater, 2 10g's and a 5.5g up currently) and I had the room to eventually go larger (my parents wont let me, and its their house), and I weren't going to college in two years, I would probably do it, but at this point I think it just makes more sense to go with fish who need less attention.

[walt3]

smart