60 Gallon Cube

[Bubba12]

Hi all, I have two 60 gallon cube tanks, one for each kids room. Planning to do bare bottom with maybe a piece of driftwood in each. Are these tanks suitable for a group of five or so, or should I go with a pair in each? Thanks

[rickztahone]

Hi all, I have two 60 gallon cube tanks, one for each kids room. Planning to do bare bottom with maybe a piece of driftwood in each. Are these tanks suitable for a group of five or so, or should I go with a pair in each? Thanks

A cubed tank wouldn't be my first choice for a discus tank to be honest. What are the exact dimensions?

[Bubba12]

24x24x24, not ideal but good height and perfect size for kids bedrooms, can't exactly throw a six foot tank in their room

[rickztahone]

24x24x24, not ideal but good height and perfect size for kids bedrooms, can't exactly throw a six foot tank in their room

I'd have to say to pass on discus with this type of tank. Discus like the width to move around and the added benefit of extra surface area is very beneficial to them as well. I had a 36"x 18"x 20" tank and the aggression was pretty bad with 5 discus. I can only imagine what a 24" tank would be like as far as aggression when the discus can not really get away in any area of the tank.

[Discuschill]

Hi all, I have two 60 gallon cube tanks, one for each kids room. Planning to do bare bottom with maybe a piece of driftwood in each. Are these tanks suitable for a group of five or so, or should I go with a pair in each? Thanks

I would worry about the fish being stressed by not having enough to hide behind.

My husband and I had a 110 gallon half cylinder tank for many years. We tried salt water fish in it, and discus too. Nothing worked. Recently we had a pair of blue discus in it, and all one did was hide behind a piece of wood. My husband thought it was light that bothered it. We put a room divider by the nearby glass sliding door. Then we draped a covering over part of the glass. My husband wanted to try anything.

We found out that half cylinders are not comfortable tanks for fish, because they magnify anything that the fish might see. What a thing to find out after ten years!!

If I were you I would try to have something for the discus to hide behind or feel safe. It was hugely distressing to see them always running to hide from us. Not a good feeling. Good luck--

[Bubba12]

Thanks for the advice guys I guess I need another plan, obviously I am just very partial to discus. My kids would be happy with anything

[Md. Shafiqual Alam]

Hi,
I had a cubic tank 30x30x30in earlier and surely this is not good for a display tank but as per my experience cubic tanks are best place to rise juvenile discus to adult. In a cubic tank they grow very fast, obviously daily wc and frequently good food should be there.

At this moment, I m using that cubic tank to reserve ro water. Hope one day my discuses will have baby's and grow in that tank where parents were grown :) .....

[jennaveere]

I have been working on a fish-less cycle on my 93 gallon cube (30x30x24) since 7/25. When I did my research before purchasing my cube tank, I found nothing about cube tanks being bad for a show tank. I am really disappointed as I have spent a lot of time and money on this set up. Sounds like you all have first hand experience. Any suggestions will help. I really don't want to hear that I need a different tank :( I have a few pieces of manzanita and 2 small plants in mason jars.

[Tshethar]

Well, I am only at the same stage of preparation as you are in terms of discus, so what do I know, but I don't think you're SOL, so to speak. There may be some extra things to keep in mind unique to discus, but I think you're in a little bit better situation than the OP with 93 gallons of water to work with.

Seems to me that with good filtration you can support a larger group with that water volume, and while I don't know if 9 adults would live comfortably in those tank dimensions for the duration, you can at least grow out that many fish and diffuse aggression that way. Maybe you could also strategically use your manzanita to divide the space in some way, maybe diagonally or something, to create a sight break so that any weaker fish could have somewhere to go--the other side of the wood--to stay out of harms way when more dominant fish start trying to do their thing.

I think you can definitely work with fish in that setup and as you learn about them you will probably find out what you want next... if things go well, I imagine it will be more tanks! ;)

[jennaveere]

I already want more tanks!! Haha I'm going to put like 6 or 7 in there. I don't want to overdo it. I have a really good canister filter. I'm going to keep doing what in doing and try them in there. If they show signs that they are unhappy, I'll just get a bigger tank and use that as a grow out. Thanks for the encouraging words!!

[Tshethar]

Also, I noticed that the OP raised the possibility of going with a pair in each 60 cube. If he acquired them as such, is there any reason experienced folks would recommend against keeping them in what amounts to a couple of 29s stuck together?

[Tshethar]

jennaveere, I was originally planning to do 6 fish in 90 gallons of water as well (though very different footprint), but since your filter likely has good bio-capacity (or you could add media to accomplish that), and you'll be changing a lot of water anyway, you might be better off "crowding" your fish than leaving room for an alpha to try to take over the tank. It may depend on what size you're starting with, but when I made phone calls to a couple leading sponsors here thinking about fish around 3", they each recommended going with a group of 10 (or more). (And these are great, highly regarded folks who both emphasized that it didn't matter if I bought from them or not.) So, there may be a little risk in terms of added bioload, but I would rather have good group dynamics and the problem of having to give a couple of fish away or move them in a year or so than deal with too much aggression, uneven growth/illness, and the possible need of mixing in more fish later (which would involve lengthy QT). So, something to think about. But, I dunno what people who actually have these fish would say... :o

[jennaveere]

jennaveere, I was originally planning to do 6 fish in 90 gallons of water as well (though very different footprint), but since your filter likely has good bio-capacity (or you could add media to accomplish that), and you'll be changing a lot of water anyway, you might be better off "crowding" your fish than leaving room for an alpha to try to take over the tank. It may depend on what size you're starting with, but when I made phone calls to a couple leading sponsors here thinking about fish around 3", they each recommended going with a group of 10 (or more). (And these are great, highly regarded folks who both emphasized that it didn't matter if I bought from them or not.) So, there may be a little risk in terms of added bioload, but I would rather have good group dynamics and the problem of having to give a couple of fish away or move them in a year or so than deal with too much aggression, uneven growth/illness, and the possible need of mixing in more fish later (which would involve lengthy QT). So, something to think about. But, I dunno what people who actually have these fish would say... :o

I never thought of that. I was wondering if it was better to get smaller ones and grow them out or just get the bigger ones and be done. I guess from your advice, it sounds like getting more and growing them out is the way to go. Then I'll have to get another tank ;-)

[Tshethar]

Personally, I always love the "get another tank" solution. :) My wife, not so much... :argue:

But seriously, my decision may be a little contrary to advice, insofar as most newbies like us are generally encouraged to start with the largest fish they/we can afford. (In my case, the tank should probably stay empty. ;)) Given the budget (or lack thereof), I started looking at smaller fish and began to get excited about the prospect of growing them out. We'll see if it works out for me (and the fish) or not, as it's probably a bit riskier... hoping the BB tank and the heightened interest and anxiety in the first couple of months will allow me to get away with it. If your budget permits, you could consider your options... best of luck!

[jennaveere]

Thank you! I am also doing a BB. I have another thread with my fishless cycle issues. :)