First Timer

[Gunn]

Hi everybody, my name is Davidson and I've finally decided to take the plunge into discus! Discus are the main reason I started my aquarium 2 years ago, so I'm very excited to finally get to this point :-)

I have a 55g aquarium that previously housed 60 or so loaches, I've sold everything besides 2x juvenile kookoo loaches, my breeding pair of albino bristlenose, 4x1/2 inch bristlenose, a medusa pleco and a leopard cactus pleco. I've spent the last 2 weeks doing deep substrate cleaning(sand) as my tank was quite over stocked. I've done 7 thorough cleanings and 7 75% water changes and my tank looks amazing.

My nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are all at 0 ppm, and my ph is stable at 7.4. Our Tap water comes out at 7.6. My temperature is 83 Fahrenheit.

I run a fluval 406 filter and i have a HOB UV filter(emergencies only). My canister houses bio max, activated carbon, peat granules, and the water polishing pads and foam that came with it.

2 days ago my variety of amazon swords, ruffled swords and anubias arrived. I have it all planted, and attached to it's permanent home with substrate fertilizer in place and am waiting for it all to root.

I'm purchasing 5x 4"+ discus for my tank in a few weeks when my plants have rotted and the ugly melting process has come to an end. But I still have many questions that need answering as I have heard some horror stories regarding first time discus owners. So i thought it was time to join the online community and soak up as much info and opinions as I can!

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum, Davidson.
Glad you decided to give discus a go - I'm sure you'll find it very satisfying.

The members here would be very happy to answer any questions you may have as your project develops.

We all hope you have been able to devote some time to researching discus-keeping well in advance of putting your plans into action. If not, may I suggest you have a good read through the Stickies in the Discus Basics for Beginners section.

As a caution, one thing you might seriously consider is that a 55 gal tank is about the minimum size recommended for keeping 5 large discus on their own - I see that you're planning on 4" fish - but it's not clear if you also plan to keep your remaining other fish in that same tank with the 5 discus. If so, and particularly since you have planted the tank, you would be unduly straining the bio-load limitations of the tank, and creating a non-conducive environment for maintaining your discus' health.
Here's wishing you all the best with your discus project.

[Gunn]

Ty for your reply! I've been reading and watching everything I can find on discus for about a month now. I'm very shocked to find so many differing opinions and am glad to get replies from actual discus owners. I am planning on keeping my bottom feeders, I read that 4 discus is the minimum number you should keep together, and the breeder said 5 would be a good number with water changes every other day. Would 4 do fine or would i be better off getting rid of 2 of the larger plecos? Keep in mind the biggest is only 3 inches. Appreciate the replies!

[discuspaul]

4 discus is not a good number to maintain trouble-free compatibility without potential pecking order issues. 5 is better, and 6 is preferable.
If you plan on keeping 5 discus in a planted 55 gal tank, I would suggest re-homing any other fish you might have been planning to keep with them, with the possible exception of your pair of BNP's. It would be best (safest) overall though, to get a few months of discus-keeping experience under your belt, before having any tank-mates in the planted tank with the discus.

[musicmarn1]

Ty for your reply! I've been reading and watching everything I can find on discus for about a month now. I'm very shocked to find so many differing opinions and am glad to get replies from actual discus owners. I am planning on keeping my bottom feeders, I read that 4 discus is the minimum number you should keep together, and the breeder said 5 would be a good number with water changes every other day. Would 4 do fine or would i be better off getting rid of 2 of the larger plecos? Keep in mind the biggest is only 3 inches. Appreciate the replies!

Welcome to the forum! i suggest finding other planted tank threads that you like the look of, and ask questions or pm the member that has a similar project to you. 55g is pretty small so lots and lots of water changes on your end ahead i think :p in that small of a space large pleco's will find it easy to snack on the sides of your discus so i would rehome those larger ones for sure. or get another bare tank and keep the discus in that for a while and get to know the fish before you add them, since QT is highly advised

(shipping and moving discus is stressful for them, if they came from a different environment they may take time to adapt to yours, stress makes discus vulnerable to disease or parasites that any healthy fish may be carriers for so your existing healthy stock may actually cros contaminate your new discus stock)

its important to have a good first experience because they are such an amazing fish ! so we will all help you as best as we can, some people may be pretty adamant about doing things a certain way, I suggest looking at a members profile and the pictures of THEIR OWN discus before taking advice from them make sure their own discus look like you want yours to look, the proof is in the pictures! ;)

cant wait to see pictures of your set up! best of luck a lot of good reading here especially in the beginners section

[Gunn]

Ty all for your replies! My maLe bristlenose is guarding the eggs now so maybe a brand new BB setup would be more ideal. Id rather not have the discus deal with the mess from breeding. My wife may need some talking to about another tank lol would I be able to house 6x 4"+ discus in a new BB?

[musicmarn1]

absolutely, with two large sponge filters (experts may chime in and change that I am just giving what i do here) and an airstone, the daily water changes are important but you dont NEED a cycled system, if you do daily water changes i promise, I learned from John Nicholson, a very succesfull breeder and discus keeper here, that I could just put new fish in a new system.

I checked for ammonia daily at first I honestly don't even do that anymore, the water changes are done enough to keep that to zero and ALSO using prime every 24 hours in the new water change, stops ammonia issues completely.

OR I ask the sponsor (don't know where you got your fish from but the sponsors here are all tried and tested and guaranteed to be high quality which you cannot find anywhere else as easily) to send a couple of the tank's sponges and just plop them on my sponge filter bases, and presto a fully cycled system correct for my bio load!

the sponge filters save you a lot of money, the water changes are best done with aged water in a large trash can or blue barrel and those you cannot skip in a new system.

hope that helps!

[Gunn]

Pmd for more information, ty!

[musicmarn1]

hope my answers help lol im not as good as many on here but your questions are easy for me to answer so any time just holler:o !!

[rickztahone]

Welcome to the forum Davidson

[kyleabc]

Hey Davidson, I personally also got a 55g and will be converting it to a discus tank as well :)

[Gunn]

Thanx for all the welcome messages! Looks like I'm purchasing either a 55 or 90 g for my discus that will be here before xmas. Still soaking up all the best info and the wide variety of opinions on here, so keep em comin!

[Miamiheat]

Make it 90 :) discus is too addictive you will need the extra space

[ericNH]

90 gallons! Go 90!

[musicmarn1]

lol Eric, i second that 90g go go go ! lol Gunn, we are all excited for you for your first foray into discus, cant wait to see what you might get !!