What amount of discus do good together

[Luke S.]

In my 90 gallon tank I have 6 discus juveniles in a tank with auto water changes in the bb tank with a lot of filtration at 12x turn over an hour. Would it be ok to add 3 more discus?

[discuspaul]

If you have no other fish in the tank besides the 6 discus, yes you can add 3 more discus to your 90 gal - but please do so only after an appropriate quarantine to ensure there is no cross-contamination.

[Solid]

As for water quality, if this is the tank you are doing "water recycling" on, it will be tough for anyone to tell you what will/won't work as no one I know here has tried this before. As for space constraints 9 discus in a 90 gallon tank could work in my opiniob, but will be pretty tight. 9 would be much better in a 6 foot tank.

[Luke S.]

Well... The pecking order isn't perfectly established yet so how could I fix it other than adding more discus or rearranging the tank. I think this is since the two discus are large and the others are smaller.

[XAnhLe]

It'll be fine. I don't know what auto water change you are talking about though, but you'll need to change out your water more often if you are going to add more fish. Most I have had in my 90G tank is 12 adult discus, 9 EBRs, and 4 Dantum Angels, and I do 80-100% twice or three times a week.

[Luke S.]

doesn't that amount of water change harm the biologics in the filter, and how do you age your water?

[DiscusRob]

Water changes due not affect the biological filter, the beneficial bacteria is located in/on the filter itself, not in the water column, most age their water in a barrel with a heater and an airstone or small powerhead for circulation for at least 24 hours.

[DISCUS STU]

9 should be workable, I have a similar setup with a lot of heavy filtration and a UV sterilizer. Don't forget the water changes. There's no substitute to keep your fish healthy.

[DiscusRob]

As for water quality, if this is the tank you are doing "water recycling" on, it will be tough for anyone to tell you what will/won't work as no one I know here has tried this before. As for space constraints 9 discus in a 90 gallon tank could work in my opiniob, but will be pretty tight. 9 would be much better in a 6 foot tank.

agreed, with not knowing how the recycling is going to work out, I'm not sure I'd add anything till I figured that out.

[Luke S.]

I guys i'm not worrying about cycling because my friend has done this before and i'm not worried at all on the recycling of the water. My discus are seeming to do better and Andy the small one is getting picked on a little bit every once in a while but I'd still like to get some discus in. By the way my orps have climbed from 160 to 180 by maintaining and are now at 203 so that's doing well and there still isn't any nitrates. Also, the only discus that is getting picked on is feeding at the surface with the others.

[Solid]

Having a little bit of aggression is completely normal, I wouldn't worry about that. Having zero nitrates is not normal. I wish I knew how you do that.

[pancakeswim]

As a total novice, I can tell you that I purchased 6, 3" fish from Hans for my 70 gallon tank. Over a few months I had a few fish thrive while others simply did ok. Though I witnessed very little bullying, my fish were not coming to me for food as a group. I added three more fish, and the dynamics changed instantly. All of my fish eat as a group and eagerly. Hans actually said when I bought the first six that I would be back for a few more. I am glad that I did!

[Luke S.]

Thx for the advice guys and lately they haven't been fighting much, at all so I think the small ones that are 1.5 inches should be fine with the larger 3-5 inche discus.

[JohnniG]

i have 8 in a 50 gal atm. They are juveniles ant not fully colored though. Once a pair is made, ill remove the others.