need advice.

[honorer]

hi guys, im from jakarta,
this is the first time im keeping discus fish, today i have bought 5 discus size 3-3,5", plan to add more fish later.
question is, can i keep it together with arowana fish and stingray ?
tank size is 2,75 meter x 1,5 meter x 0,5 meter, sump filtration with 6000lph water pump. medium strong water current on the tank.

am i need to move it to the just a discus on it, or leave it like that setup guys.

here is the video

[Kyla]

ive known arowana to grab and kill fish that couldnt fit in their mouths... id be wary about keeping discus with them because of this possibility. thats a massive tank and i feel that the little group of discus would feel calmer in a smaller space. i know ive seen pics of discus and aros in the same tank but its just not something i would personally try.

[William1]

I don't think you are going to find many, in fact any, people on this forum who think plunking a handful of discus into that tank is a good idea. But, I could be wrong. It's a free world. My opinion is just a whisper in the wind of cyberspace. Discus are just fish. Kind of pricey, but there will always be more. If you choose to make them a food source for other fish, or fertilizer for your mums, who can stop you? That said, I would make another plan.

[atlantadiscus]

Only thing missing from that tank is a school of red belly Piranha!

[Ryan925]

only thing missing from that tank is a school of red belly piranha!

lmao!

[LizStreithorst]

The theory is that that the Arawona inhabit the the top of the water, the Rays are mostly on the bottom, and the Discus hang out in the middle. I don't think that there is enough room in the middle for the Discus. Also, there a lot of Arawona in there. It would be way cool if you could make this work. All the fish need the same water parameters. I know you must have paid a bundle for that tank. IMO it's not tall enough to give the Discus a space to feel comfortable in the middle with those predators swimming right on top of them.

Let us know how it works out for you.

[Filip]

Hi honorer . You got a nice swimingpool for fish going on there .
Im very curious about how do you filter this pool , how do you wipe it , how much water do you change and are WCs automated etc. ?

As for discus with arowana and stringrays . I dont have any experience my self , but from what i have seen and read about from the net , people ussualy keep a big batch of discus fish with only one arowana or a stringray.
The reasoning behind is that such a big and hectic fish as Aros can make discus feel insecure and jumpy and keeping only one Aro along with many discus sort of lower this Discus insecure feeling .

Anyway you have an interesting tank and fish combo. and i would like to follow this experience of yours if you open a journal thread in our section for introducing tanks .

[atlantadiscus]

Yes,please tell us about your filter-that is some awesome current flying across the top layer of water.

[Filip]

Yes,please tell us about your filter-that is some awesome current flying across the top layer of water.

This is kind of awkward since OP stated his flow is only 1500 GPH for a 500 gallon tank .Thats only 3 turnovers per hour.
Pretty poor circulation IMO and yet the water surface on the video splashes more than on the reef tanks .

[honorer]

ok thanks for the comment all,

this tank filtration consist of..maybe more closed to wet and dry system i think,
sump tank size is 1,2meter x 0,6 meter x 0,5 meter, just only 2 chamber.. water input from the tank throught 3 layers fine spoon into the first chamber that contain bioball and spoon on dry area, and japmat, 1 kg K1, momotaro bio house on wet area.
return pump with 1 aquasyncro 6000lpm, the output pipe is on water surface so water flow is created inside the tank. if i using 2 pump for return, water flow inside the tank is too strong, so to overcome low circulation turnover im doing 2 times wc per week, 50% every wednesday and 80% every sunday,

problem is, discus fish cant make it because the flow, most of the time they swim heavily against water flow, and they are to slow to scramble eat against aros and rays.
i think need to modified the output pipe to reduce water flow inside right so they can swim comfortable.

[Filip]

You can just use a spraybar on your output to distribute the flow more evenly through the tank .
I got 500 gpg canister with a spraybar + 300 gph power head = 800 gph alltogether ,almost same as yours on my 65 gallon tank and my water is still not too turbulent for discus to swim in it.

[honorer]

You can just use a spraybar on your output to distribute the flow more evenly through the tank .
I got 500 gpg canister with a spraybar + 300 gph power head = 800 gph alltogether ,almost same as yours on my 65 gallon tank and my water is still not too turbulent for discus to swim in it.

i did.. has been trying to change the output with 45 deg elbow, and therenot much water current anymore,
tomorrow i add pvc pipe to move the pump output to the other tank side.

now im thinking about it food, what is the best for given condition,
i need food that aros and ray dont like it but acceptable for discus to growth
my only option about pellet is

1. New Life Spectrum Spectrumax Finicky Fish Formula
2. Tetra bit
3. medi aqua fish food
4. saki hikari grow / Konishi

i dont know if possible or not discus fish feeded with pellet for koi fish forget it about BF because i cant make it..

here is the update after 24 hours on my tank.

[Filip]

I would put Tetra discus bits from your above mentioned alternatives.
I would feed them heavily for discus to eat enough on every meal and would turn the filters off while feeding for discus to feel more confident in catching food .
Koi pellets? They might be possible but not sure they are recomended . If they were for discus they wouldnt have been named "Koi pellets" , thats just my personal oppinion .i wouldnt use them as a staple diet , thats for sure .

[honorer]

i think is impossible to keep discus on this tank without make them stunted, they dont want to eat tetrabits, only accept freeze blood worm, an they are too slow to compete with aros for food.

so im making the new tank just for discus,
only 1m x 0,6m x 0,5m size,

IMG_20161012_204926.jpg

[Fishes]

If you know who The King of DIY is, you can check out his old videos where he basically had one Asian Arowana, 2 BD Stingrays, and maybe like 6-10 discus all in a 4 ft x 4 ft tank that worked pretty well.