Discus Beginnings

[diamond_discus]

Rem :

It's always good to feed your fish different variety of food .. so that they won't be that picky. Flakes from AngelsPlus and Kensfish are both very good. For my personal experience, I found that beefheart mix is indeed the best food for fast growth .. not just big size .. but "thick" .. The problem is that beefheart will foul your water a lot and therefore you will have to do large daily WC. That's another good reason to go barebottom .. if you plan to feed beefheart.

I feed frozen blood worm, flakes, pellets, frozen brine shrimp, Mal's Freeze Dried Black Worm and beefheart mix.

Yeah, I know how you feed ... excited .. but yet .. scared .. Feel free to ask lots of questions .. There are many experts here who can help you with almost anything. I learned a lot from them here at Simply.

-Larry

[Darrell Ward]

Chad: Beautiful tank, and even more beautiful fish! I hope I can get as good as you!~

Diamond_Discus: I didn't plan on putting my guppies in the Discus tank, nor putting my Discus in the planted tank! It's much too small for them, as it's only a 20 gallon. The planted tank will remain alone, and I'll do a bare-bottom tank as you suggest, and move my way up. Thanks for the information, you've been a big help getting my head around this.

I've also changed my mind on the set-up. Seeing ashow I want my Discus displayed, my family and I have decided to use the 55 gallon tank in the living room as the Discus set-up. I'll keep it bare-bottom (for now), and get a couple of juvies to feed a ton of food to, and do lots of water changes for.

Again, a big thank you to everyone who's posted. I'm going through that "excited-but-scared" tingling stage right now about taking this plunge!

I'm hearing alot of good feedback about the AngelsPlus flake foods. I plan on feed lots of bloodworms, brine shrimp, beef heart, etc, but would the flake food be good to get them on while they're young? Especially if I have to give them the medicated flake later on in life?

-Rem

I would advise to get more than "a couple" of discus to start. Discus do better in groups. Spread out the aggression. Discus do pick on each other. Do a small group of 5 or 6 in that 55, and your fish will do a lot better.

[Remora]

Darrell Ward:
Mmhm, I planned on doing about five smaller Discus, a couple of corydora catfish, and a small shoal of neons (no more than six or seven). I never planned on getting any less than four or five Discus. Do you think this would be okay, or would it be overstocked? Should I only do four discus, to be able to have the neons and the corys?

[rickztahone]

Darrell Ward:
Mmhm, I planned on doing about five smaller Discus, a couple of corydora catfish, and a small shoal of neons (no more than six or seven). I never planned on getting any less than four or five Discus. Do you think this would be okay, or would it be overstocked? Should I only do four discus, to be able to have the neons and the corys?

if you are serious about changing water frequently, e.g., at least 4 times a week, then i would say to get 6 discus for a 55. it spreads out the aggression well and it keeps the battle for food more active in the group, IME. i have also kept 4, and it worked, but i think the 6 would be ideal. you have to keep something in mind though, you will most likely end up with some discus that will not grow out to their full potential, and you have to be prepared for such an outcome, hence the 6 which puts you a tad overstocked. again, WC's (water changes) are the key, followed with good quality food, angelplus being one of them WRT flakes. like mentioned prior, BH (beef heart) is one of the greatest foods to feed for fast growth, but you won't believe the mess it makes, and you have to be ready to clean after a BH feeding.

please feel free to ask more questions, there really are many experts here which will guide you in any, and i do mean ANY discus related situation.

[Remora]

I'm not necessarily as worried about how -quickly- they grow, as long as they're healthy and happy. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them get big quickly, but I wouldn't want a stunted discus. Water changes will be a big part of tank care, no doubt, and four times a week sounds about right. Will I have stunted discus if I only get five?

And thanks so much for the support! I try to do the best I can and gather all of the information I can before I even get the tank set up and running. Knowing that you guys are around to be able to help get me headed in the right direction really means alot.

[calihawker]

I think the only other good advice that hasn't been given here is where you get your discus from. I believe the quality that you can get from the various sponsors here are far superior to anything I've ever seen in a lfs.

Good luck!!

[Darrell Ward]

Darrell Ward:
Mmhm, I planned on doing about five smaller Discus, a couple of corydora catfish, and a small shoal of neons (no more than six or seven). I never planned on getting any less than four or five Discus. Do you think this would be okay, or would it be overstocked? Should I only do four discus, to be able to have the neons and the corys?

You can get away with 5 or 6 discus along with a few "little fish", as long as you keep up with water changes. Keep in mind neons sometimes die off one by one in higher temps., so do some varieties of cories. Cardinals are better choices. Honestly, if I were going to start off with juvie discus, I would keep them alone until they grew to at least 5". Things can go wrong with juvies, and you could find yourself medicating the tank, which could kill your other species.

[tcyiu]

Welcome. Lots of good advice here.

Here is one anecdote I would add. The juveniles that I grew in a barebottom tank are NOT acclimated to little fish. One time, I had to fix a leak with a bulkhead fitting on my main tank. SO I moved all the adult discus (who grew up in a community setting with little fish) and the cardinals and the cories to the grow out tank. The juvenile delinquents started chasing after the poor cardinals. Now I'm scared to move them over to the main tank not knowing what they'll do at night when the cardinals are sleeping.

The point being that as juveniles, acclimating them to school of cardinals might be a good idea.

Tim

[Eddie]

I think the only other good advice that hasn't been given here is where you get your discus from. I believe the quality that you can get from the various sponsors here are far superior to anything I've ever seen in a lfs.

Good luck!!

Ditto, go with a sponsor.

[dbfzurowski]

Hey,
dont forget to paint the bottom of your bb tank.

[Remora]

I think the only other good advice that hasn't been given here is where you get your discus from. I believe the quality that you can get from the various sponsors here are far superior to anything I've ever seen in a lfs.

Good luck!!

I actually toyed with the idea of buying from Ken, since he seems to be "The Discus Guy" around here. Lots of good feedback, and I hear nothing but praise about him. I'll probably do that, then. Thanks!

The local guy, as I mentioned before, is a very good guy. I've bought freshwater and saltwater fish from him, and never had any problems, so when I called and confirmed about Discus, I nearly jumped for joy, lol. Thing is, though, he gets his strains all sorts of mixed in, so there's no real telling what you're gonna get. I'm mostly looking for Manacapuras, Pidgeon Bloods, White BUtterflies, and the normal Blue/Red/Green Turquoise.

[diamond_discus]

I actually toyed with the idea of buying from Ken, since he seems to be "The Discus Guy" around here. Lots of good feedback, and I hear nothing but praise about him. I'll probably do that, then. Thanks!

The local guy, as I mentioned before, is a very good guy. I've bought freshwater and saltwater fish from him, and never had any problems, so when I called and confirmed about Discus, I nearly jumped for joy, lol. Thing is, though, he gets his strains all sorts of mixed in, so there's no real telling what you're gonna get. I'm mostly looking for Manacapuras, Pidgeon Bloods, White BUtterflies, and the normal Blue/Red/Green Turquoise.

You can't go wrong with Kenny.. He's indeed "The Discus Guy".
However, if you have good local source, I think it's good too. It's especially convenience that you don't have to pay for extra shipping and buy as little as one or two fishes at a time.

You should be able to find PB and Turquoise from local LFS .. However, if you are looking for other strains, you might need to contact one of our sponsors. Just do your homework, compare the pictures from our sponsors against your local LFS .. you should be able to tell the difference. Ever since I start buying discus from our sponsors, I never go to any local LFS anymore. I am one of the lucky guy to find Kevin (Lucky Tropical) to be local to me. Perhaps you can find a local sponsor too. Where are you at ?

[Remora]

You can't go wrong with Kenny.. He's indeed "The Discus Guy".
However, if you have good local source, I think it's good too. It's especially convenience that you don't have to pay for extra shipping and buy as little as one or two fishes at a time.

You should be able to find PB and Turquoise from local LFS .. However, if you are looking for other strains, you might need to contact one of our sponsors. Just do your homework, compare the pictures from our sponsors against your local LFS .. you should be able to tell the difference. Ever since I start buying discus from our sponsors, I never go to any local LFS anymore. I am one of the lucky guy to find Kevin (Lucky Tropical) to be local to me. Perhaps you can find a local sponsor too. Where are you at ?

I'm in Mount Rainier, Maryland, right on the MD/D.C line. PG County, if that helps. The place I go to is called Tropical Lagoon in Silver Springs.

[wesleydnunder]

Some great advice here, Rem. I got my first 50 cent-sized discus from a breeder in Tomball, Texas who kept, bred and raised discus in well water that was virtually liquid rock. Discus are tough fish and can adapt to a lot of different conditions. The discus were some of Schmidt-Focke's hi-fin brilliant greens. The adults were absolutely stunning chrome green color. Her advice to me when I confessed to being a discus newbie was, Keep 'em warm, keep 'em fed, keep 'em clean. I'm still followin' that advice.

[Remora]

Some great advice here, Rem. I got my first 50 cent-sized discus from a breeder in Tomball, Texas who kept, bred and raised discus in well water that was virtually liquid rock. Discus are tough fish and can adapt to a lot of different conditions. The discus were some of Schmidt-Focke's hi-fin brilliant greens. The adults were absolutely stunning chrome green color. Her advice to me when I confessed to being a discus newbie was, Keep 'em warm, keep 'em fed, keep 'em clean. I'm still followin' that advice.

I really do appreciate all of the help these guys are giving me, and will definitely do my best to keep these beautiful fish healthy and happy. I first came across these fish in a LFS about a year ago, and my eyes went about as big as they could go. I grabbed my dad's arm and went, "Omagosh... Daddy, what are THESE?" (I'm a big daddy's girl.) I've been admiring and researching on them ever since. Only now have I decided to take the plunge.