Critique my first discus setup

[sinibotia]

So, i think I've done a good job here, but I wanted some thoughts from the "pros".

55 gallon tank

200 watt heater, tank set to 82 degrees (house is kept at 74 degrees). 82 degrees as a happy medium for all of the fish. The heater has had no issues maintaining the temperature.

Two Penguin 350 Biowheel filters- 700 gph

1" play sand substrate with hardy plants- bacopa, vals, java moss, java fern (root tabs in the substrate)

Stocking plan:
5 discus
6 zebra loaches
1 zig zag yellowtail eel

Twice weekly 50% water changes.

Also, is it possible to get quality discus for a low price?

[John_Nicholson]

While I have never owned zebra loaches, loaches in general do not work well. If you are putting 5 discus in that setup with those limited water changes you need to make sure you get adults. Trying to raise out young fish in that setup will not work well. I do not know anything about the eel so I will let others advise on that.

-john

[sinibotia]

While I have never owned zebra loaches, loaches in general do not work well. If you are putting 5 discus in that setup with those limited water changes you need to make sure you get adults. Trying to raise out young fish in that setup will not work well. I do not know anything about the eel so I will let others advise on that.

-john

I'm a bit of a loach fanatic. Zebra loaches in my experience are quite calm compared to others so I would expect it to work. That said, I know loaches, not discus. Thanks for the advice!

[John_Nicholson]

How active are they at night? Discus like to sleep at night.

-john

[sinibotia]

They're more active at night, but not crazy. Comparable to the corydoras I've had in nocturnal activity.

[John_Nicholson]

If they are active at night they can be a problem. I would recommend not mixing the two.

-john

[navarro1950]

The 55 gai tank bare bottom is all you can have. You would to change to change the water every day to make it work. I don't know about the filter at all. The heater should be able to adjust to 90 degrees or above and you will need 2 of them , one as a back up. You should do more then 50% WC and once a day not twice weekly especially if you are going to start out with just 3" fish. You might be able to maybe 3 times a week if you buy larger fish 4.5 - 5". Think about it, read all you can in the beginners section and you'll get all the info you need.

[sinibotia]

Thanks for the advice. I've gotten a lot of conflicting info about water changes. I think I may just try something different besides discus; with pairs of angelfish and ram cichlids, and school, I don't think I can do that much additional work.

[Hart24601]

Thanks for the advice. I've gotten a lot of conflicting info about water changes. I think I may just try something different besides discus; with pairs of angelfish and ram cichlids, and school, I don't think I can do that much additional work.

Sounds like a good plan. Keeping discus like the forum members here is pretty intimidating and I am still not sure if it was the right choice for me, lol!

[Filip]

Sounds like a good plan. Keeping discus like the forum members here is pretty intimidating and I am still not sure if it was the right choice for me, lol!

Money,solves this problem :).
Buy yourself 5 fullgrown 7 inchers and you can get away with usual weekly maintenance.

[strawberryblonde]

Thanks for the advice. I've gotten a lot of conflicting info about water changes. I think I may just try something different besides discus; with pairs of angelfish and ram cichlids, and school, I don't think I can do that much additional work.

That's probably a better plan, but if you go with rams you'll still need to be more diligent with water changes. I've bred them, raised them and kept them as adults and they can be more sensitive to bad water quality than discus a lot of the time. If you try them and they die off fairly quickly then you'll know that your water quality isn't good enough. Oh and they need to have lots of space and hiding places if you have more than a mated pair in a 55 or they will fight... a lot.

[sinibotia]

That's probably a better plan, but if you go with rams you'll still need to be more diligent with water changes. I've bred them, raised them and kept them as adults and they can be more sensitive to bad water quality than discus a lot of the time. If you try them and they die off fairly quickly then you'll know that your water quality isn't good enough. Oh and they need to have lots of space and hiding places if you have more than a mated pair in a 55 or they will fight... a lot.

I meant that I already have pairs of both angels and rams. My pair of rams is doing phenomenally in a planted 10 gallon tank by themselves, and same for the pair of angels in a 29. Haven't raised the fry but have had successfully hatched eggs. I figured if I could keep rams I could keep discus. But I think I'm just gonna do another pair of angelfish, in a heavily planted/driftwood-ed tank where the loaches can hide from spawning rage.

[strawberryblonde]

Ahhh, so long as it's just a pair of rams then you won't have any fighting issues. =)

[DISCUS STU]

Zig zag yellowtail eel? I have no idea if this is compatible with Discus. From what I've seen on the internet they look to grow fairly large and may not be, especially in a minimally sized 55g. A 55 is basically the smallest size for a decent Discus setup. The loaches as well aren't ideal. See the tank mates section of this forum. Catfish, some but not all Plecos, Rams, and a few other fish are good with Discus.

Unfortunately the tank has to be built around the needs and the requirements of the Discus, they aren't especially "community" fish.

Five Discus in a planted aquarium will most likely need to be adults as juvies will probably get bacterial infections and become stunted/runted.