400 gallon pond discus compatibility

Hi, ive had fishes as small as bettas all the way to arowanas and even reptiles and always wanted discus for years now and finally got a reputable seller who would sell me for a very reasonable price (i live in Indonesia). I was planning on placing the discus in a 33 gallon tank that is empty at the moment but cycled but upon further research, found out that there needs to be at least 5 discus in a tank and minimum tank req is 50 gal. The tank is a boyu xf-80, filtration is a pump(960 litres/hour) that pumps water to a box right above the water and then it travels through gaps at the bottom of the box (not sure what kind of filtration that is). I currently have a cotton sheet, carbon active, bio ceramic rings and zeolite rocks for filtration. There will be a heater and/or extra aeration if neccesary and Im willing to do water changes everyday if it comes to that.

Apart from that tank, i was also thinking on placing them in a 400 gallon pond. It has heaters that is set to 27 degrees celsius though temperatures may drop 1 or 2 degrees celsius at night as the heaters are not strong enough, a 70 gallon external filter that contains sponges,uv lights,ceramic rings and activated carbons, a fountain in the middle and plants which are only water hyacinth and water lettuce(lots). Fishes that are currently inside are as stated:
1 12cm arowana
1 9cm oscar
5 7cm tinfoil barbs
3 10cm freshwater barracudas
2 15cm pleco
2 11cm polypterus
And probably 1 or 2 baby feeder guppies.

So far, any aggresion in the pond would either be the arowana or the oscar sort of zoning out the others (not biting or nipping) with their bodies whenever i feed them. Otherwise, i usually actually see the tinfoil barbs and the barracudas trailing behind the arowana swimming around while the bottom dwellers stay in their own hiding places. Only problem im worried about placing the discus in the pond is if maybe the tinfoil barbs would nip at the layer of mucus of the discus. I read that discus are more hardy than arowanas so i assume they would do fine in terms of water parameters.

Im sorry for the very long post. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I don't think adding discus to the current stock of fish would be a good idea. Those fish are pretty aggressive and are too big for a discus to handle. Of the above, I have only seen discus kept with arowana, plecos, and not with any of the other fish. Compared to those species, discus are pretty slow and peaceful. They definitely would get outcompeted for food by the faster tinfoil barbs and barracudas.

I would look into dividing the pond into two and placing the discus in their own dedicated segment of the pond. You'll still have more than enough space for the discus and can have them get their share of food. Good luck with your leap into discus keeping.

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Originally Posted by Johnny95132

I don't think adding discus to the current stock of fish would be a good idea. Those fish are pretty aggressive and are too big for a discus to handle. Of the above, I have only seen discus kept with arowana, plecos, and not with any of the other fish. Compared to those species, discus are pretty slow and peaceful. They definitely would get outcompeted for food by the faster tinfoil barbs and barracudas.

I would look into dividing the pond into two and placing the discus in their own dedicated segment of the pond. You'll still have more than enough space for the discus and can have them get their share of food. Good luck with your leap into discus keeping.

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^I completely agree with this .^

I would totally move the arowana, oscar, and Cudas for 9-11 months to see how cool it would be to see a mature group (or almost mature) would flourish and if any successful reproduction! Sorry, just nerding out... I'd love to see that though. If anything, the oscar for sure needs to go while the arowana and cudas are small right now and would be fine... just add a few good DW root balls (like mangroves), keep your cudas and arowana happy with guppy snacks, and 5"+ discus will be just fine (IMO)

Any pics of pond?

Apart from what has been mentioned already, the temperature will not suit discus. 27c = 80.5F which is already lower than recommended for discus. If it drops 1-2 degrees overnight it would prob be afternoon by the time your under powered heaters recovered to 27 again. That being the case, your discus are going to suffer badly due to the consistently low temps. If you intend to proceed with a view to success, you should increase the wattage on your heaters or at least add a 1000w to your current set-up and keep your temp 82+

One or two degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?

Elliot in the OP's original post he was talking celcius...

Dang it... I'd still like to see it though! Just in case he chooses to try :bandana: