How many discus for a 55 gallon?

[Coreyg89]

As of now I have 4 juvenile (3") discus in my 55 gallon heavily planted tank. Would like to add a few more to reduce the aggression but don't know my max. Also have some Cardinal tetras in there as well. How fast to these guys grow btw? Could I get away with overstocking my 55 temporarily with plans to get a 150 later once they outgrow the 55?

[alron2]

John Nicholson posted this once:

When they are small they should add about 1 inch a month. That slows as they age. Your fish under 3 inches of size should be growing very fast. I have posted on this in the past and the number may be slightly different but here are some approximate numbers.

3 months 3 inches
6 months 4 - 5 inches
9 months 5 - 6 inches
12 months 5 -7 inches.

-john

To answer the other part I would say you are at your limit; most would say 5 adult discus in a bare botton 55 gallon tank with no other fish would be close to the limit. Of course if you are doing 90% water changes daily I would say you could add a few more.
Ron

[navarro1950]

Remember your tank is planted ,as mine is so you don't have 55 gals of water. If your tank was bare bottom you could possibly have 5. What kind of filtration are you using? Think about it lets say you have a sump that holds anther 50 gals of water then you may be able to get away with a few more. That is just my opinion, but I may be corrected.

[monching]

I have 9 in my 75 gal. size range between 4"-5.5"
4 in my 30 gal. size 3"-3.5"
They're all doing great, healthy and happy.
both BB
WC 80% daily.
Will convert my 75 gal. into a show tank once they are all grown up.
Target date will be December as they will all be more than a year old by then.
Got them last Dec. 6