Discus Newb

[Iminit]

I would move the red guy into qt tank and raise the temp to 88 and see if it starts eating. Also add salt at 1 tbs pre 10g. Hopefully it starts eating.

[number1sixerfan]

That is a nice looking tank. That's what I would like in my new tank for the Discus.

But, and I mean no disrespect, that is considered a low demanding planted tank. No CO2, no high PAR lighting, and low fertilizer dosed. Right?

Here is a vid of my tank. Densely planted, 30ppm CO2 injected, high PAR lights. I really feel that this would be a difficult balancing act between the plants and Discus and one of them will suffer. The frequency of water changes alone would unbalance the NPK in the water column. I feel it would be too much work for me. The wife hasn't said "no" yet so I m hoping to get another 55g started up.



peewee,
Thanks. I am seeing the same thing, no one seems to notice the little one. I thought for sure she would be picked on. Also it seemed like she was eating well but now that the 4 larger ones are in the tank she is eating much more aggressively. I wonder if its the comfort of the other fish? She was in the tank for a month with no other Discus.

Just did a 50%WC and I am also upping my WC to 2x 50%/week until the new tank gets ramped up. I am also going to add another 30g clean water barrel so I can do more WC as well.

The new Discus after ~4days in the tank. They seem calmer and showing interest in food but not eating yet. I am trying FDBW, frozen bloodworms, frozen Hikari Discus cubes, flake, VibraBites.

Yes, for sure, with a heavily planted tank that has a lot of medium or high tech plants it will absolutely be a challenge. That is just my honest opinion, having done so a few times. But it can be very much worth it, just a ton of work (had a high tech tank with CO2 and discus a long time ago, great to look at, but a ton of work finding the right balance). What I would say is that in no circumstance would I have smaller discus in a high tech planted tank. 4.5inch or more. Adult discus are the way to go here.. and even then it's still tricky, especially if you really care about the plants lol

I think the best bet is to prioritize the fish and do the best you can with the plants. 3x water changes a week would be the least I'd be comfortable with and then dose as needed to compensate. Once the tank is established and rolling, then it's much much easier. It's mainly hard in the beginning.. again that's with demanding plants--if you go low tech there's far less to worry about and honestly is the route I'd mainly go, with maybe one or two more demanding plants. The good thing is your planted tank looks healthy and really well established, only issue you'd have really is with smaller fish and trying to maximize growth.

[Onpots]

This is my 70g planted tank. Very few water changes, CO2,... You name it, everything I shouldn't do I did. I even went away for a month I they were perfectly ok...
IMG_20210419_191916~2.jpg
They are about 5 inches, I bought them more than a year ago and they have always been in this planted tank. Sure they will not get to be the biggest discus, but they look happy and healthy to me.
IMG_20210419_195506~2.jpg
There is one hiding on the right taking care of a spawn. They even got to keep fry alive for a couple of weeks, because I did not have more room for fry, until I rescued the few left which are now growing in the breading tank.
IMG_20210327_224759~2.jpg
My point is, just go for a planted tank if that is what you think you are going to enjoy the most. There are true experts here willing to help you through your (our) learning curve.
Good luck!

[Syris71]

I would move the red guy into qt tank and raise the temp to 88 and see if it starts eating. Also add salt at 1 tbs pre 10g. Hopefully it starts eating.

Thank you for the suggestion but I have been in contact with the breeder (Wattley) and have been following his advice. The red melon finally showed interest in food on Sunday 4/18 and actually ate a little FDBW last night (4/19) The remaining 4 all have been eating and are still eating.


number1sixerfan,
Thx, It's nice to see so many others having success in a planted tank with Discus. I agree I'm not trying to raise any young Discus in the planted tank. All 5 of my current Discus are larger 4"-5" range. The little one ended up passing ( I think from cross contamination)


Onpots,
Great looking tank and Discus. Love the little fry pics. I have "throttled" down my planted tank, removed high light demanding plants to my other tank, removed 1 LED strip to reduce PAR, and turned the CO2 bubble count now.(estimated 20ppm) to hopefully allow Discus to have less stress. They (and I) were so stressed in the beginning.

I love planted tanks and I am loving Discus. I am seeing more and more great examples and it is encouraging. I plan to move mine to a new 55g I am starting up, but once I have more experience with them I may try some in a medium demand planted tank.

[Iminit]

Just an update on my planted tank. Had a cross contamination problem and had to add salt. Saved most plants into another tank but this is it now as the fish recover.D8813D18-FF29-4E8D-BAD1-F58755FC2D2F.jpg. Got to think of this if going planted.