My first two discus (and can I put them in my established freshwater tank)

[BenDiscus107]

Dear All,

I finally decided to purchase some discus. I currently have two 2.5 inch juveniles in my 20 gallon Q tank. I also have a 75 gallon tank with 2 blue ram pairs, 3 cory cats, 5 black mollies, 3 swordtails, 5 guppies, 2 bushy nose plecos, 2 clown loaches and 5 tetras. I now am wondering if I can put my discus in the larger tank in about 1-2 weeks without any problems. What do you think?

Ben

[ericNH]

Well, QT is the right thing to do. But in my limited experience I'd say you have a few other things to think about. 2 discus, unless they pair up, will have a tendency to fight each other alot. Larger groups are recommended. Anotherr is the variety of other fish in the tank. Community tank with discus in them generally have the discus, a clean-up crew, and maybe one or two other species; in yours at the very least the clowns could pose a problem. They can be aggressive feeders and make the discus skittish. I have some first-hand experience with that, and ended up re-homing my clowns.

There is a third thing I should mention - it's your wc regimen. Growing out juveniles in that community tank will require plenty of clean water daily. If you haven't already, I'd make sure you get a system set-up where you can change 50% of your water daily until they grow out. And if your community tank has decoration or live plants, which i am guessing it does, vacuuming up the waste will be problematic, another thing I have first-hand experience with.

Clean water for your fish daily will get you very far along the way, and you do have some other things to modify beofre you go ahead and add your discus. But anyways, good luck and gratz on your new additions.

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: Not the best environment for successful growth. Grow them out to at least sub-adult w/ 3 or 4 more in a dedicated 55/75g before trying community move. Quite a few in your community setup will not be compatible. (Clowns, cories rams) Understand that Discus in general are peaceful, slow moving (unless startled), grazing fish. You don't want to toss them in w/ just anybody & hope they survive. "T"