Coming back to Discus after a few years break

[Svalbard]

Hi all,


I took a few years off from Discus after losing an entire tank of Kenny's Discus to a mishap from my well maintenance company not telling me they bleached my system prior to a water change. It broke my heart then, and now it's even more devastating after reading the thread of Kenny's passing.

I took that time and went back to the basics of fish care of fancy goldfish. I love my goofy fatties (they are huge) but it's time to come back to the fish that caught my heart. The real question for me is this - to go wild discus or go tank bred with all of the eye catching colors? It was something I was entertaining before I lost my tank but I love both and I know they have their pros and cons.

Tank will be a restored 80 gallon acrylic with corries, rummy nose tetras, and - MAYBE- Geophagus brasilienese (Pearl Eartheaters).

What are people's thoughts and experience with wilds in a mixed community? Does one strain prosper better than another? I don't recall the specifics of my water parameters, but I can say it tends to hard but all fish have always thrived and excelled in it - until bleach is freaking added to the equation.

For those that will ask - yes. Communication has improved with my service provider and they leave me hand written notes at every service and include them in the invoice from billing so I know what to expect before cleaning my tanks and water changes.

TIA

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Svalbard, I have kept wilds for many years and I will suggest either wild blues or greens. There are also wild Heckels which are more particular about their water conditions. If you decided to go with wilds I would suggest no more then seven or so in an 80 gallon tank. I personally do not like to crowd wilds, I just feel they need the extra room to act behave naturally.

I would not add any eartheaters to the tank. They get large and might compete with the wilds for food etc. Cories and rummy nose are fine.

Sorry to hear about the loss of Kenny's fish. I think most here on the forum still feel the sting of Kenny's loss. There are two sponsors who are importing Forrest's fish if that is any interest to you.

Welcome to the forum
Pat

[Second Hand Pat]

A good read on Geophagus http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...or-discus-tank.
Pat

[Svalbard]

Thanks Pat. That was a good read and helpful. Much appreciated.

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,


I took a few years off from Discus after losing an entire tank of Kenny's Discus to a mishap from my well maintenance company not telling me they bleached my system prior to a water change. It broke my heart then, and now it's even more devastating after reading the thread of Kenny's passing.

I took that time and went back to the basics of fish care of fancy goldfish. I love my goofy fatties (they are huge) but it's time to come back to the fish that caught my heart. The real question for me is this - to go wild discus or go tank bred with all of the eye catching colors? It was something I was entertaining before I lost my tank but I love both and I know they have their pros and cons.

Tank will be a restored 80 gallon acrylic with corries, rummy nose tetras, and - MAYBE- Geophagus brasilienese (Pearl Eartheaters).

What are people's thoughts and experience with wilds in a mixed community? Does one strain prosper better than another? I don't recall the specifics of my water parameters, but I can say it tends to hard but all fish have always thrived and excelled in it - until bleach is freaking added to the equation.

For those that will ask - yes. Communication has improved with my service provider and they leave me hand written notes at every service and include them in the invoice from billing so I know what to expect before cleaning my tanks and water changes.

TIA

Welcome Back to the Hobby. Thats a shame about your fish but we have had other members lose them in a similar fashion. Its a frustrating thing. If you have any old pics we would love to see them prior to the loss. AS for your question.

You can do wilds in a mixed community tank, but just be mindful of tank mates and decide upfront if this is Biotope tank with the focus on Biotope and housing fish from the same general area, or if its a Discus Tank , focused on Discus, with a few other fish for variety for you viewing enjoyment.. These are really different things. The other thing to keep in mind is even if they are found together in the same general area, it doesn't mean that they would necessarily make good tank mates. There is alot of difference between an ecosystem and mashing down an ecosystem into a small glass box. What you want to look for are smaller docile fish. Stay away from anything thats overly aggressive at feeding time in particular or during Breeding.. also stay away from anything that overly active. You can put just about any fish together in the short term, long term though takes a bit of planning and research. I would also highly advise that you quarantine all fish that you will house together no matter the source or species. Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with a Disease in your tank and knowing you could have avoided it.

hth,
al