Wanting discus

[Adam_Parker]

Hey everyone. I'm new to the site, not be too keeping fish. I've always dreamed of having discus and now that my wife and I have settled and bought a house, I have my 55g up and going.

I have 2 penguin bio wheel 350 filters and a coralife 48 " cfl with 2x 65 Watt 10,000k bulbs. Plants are Java Moss, Java fern, Amazon sword, and wisteria.

Fish stock is 4 juvenile angels, 6 polka dot loaches, 6 julii Cory cats, and 22 neon tetras.

I'd love to have discus in this tank. I'd be willing to rehome 3, probably all 4 angels. One is so pretty is hate to get rid of it, but discus would definitely be better.

Is there any way I can take the angels out and have discus in this tank?

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[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Adam and welcome to Simply. I would suggest reading some of the stickies in the beginner section and suggest starting with this one http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86009-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Getting-Started-with-Discus. After a bit of reading and if you still want to try discus I would suggest a larger tank, like a 75 without plants starting out. It is best to get a handle on keeping discus and plants separate until you have a handle on both as the balance between the two can be tricky and needs a but if experience and knowledge to be successful at both in the same tank.

If you rather keep the discus in the 55 then best to only have discus without any dither fish simply due to the bio-load in the tank. We recommend 10 gallon per discus. Here is a stickie on setting up a 55 for discus http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?28937-How-do-I-set-up-my-first-discus-tank. Please holler back with more questions and enjoy the site.
Pat

[HeidinJohn]

Also if your "angles" are really devils like ones we have in another tank, they may not be good tank mates. Our angles liked to pluck the eyes out of some blue rams, corey cats, tetras & even a fish we call One Eye Jack! (at least he still has 1)

Another issue with the planted tank (depending on substrate & other factors) could be high phosphates depending on several factors, even after a 90% WC they can be very high.

[Dneitzelt]

I am starting a discus tank, after reading looks like I will start a bare bottom sadly. due to maintance issues and balances till I understand them better.