New Discus

[adrian's fish]

Hi guys , I been keeping fish for 3 years now and i'm planing to start a discus tank and i need some advice. after doing my research i decided to get the fish from Hans i heart great things about him and i m planing to call him in a few weeks to order the fish, i decided to go with 12 discus all around 3 inches . My question is regarding the tank , i have a 50 gallon and a 120 gallon > Should i put them in the 50 gallon until they grow bigger and than move them into the 120 gallon or should i just put them in the 120 gallon from the start? It s a lot easier to do water changes in the 50 gallon vs the 120 gallon so that's why i'm so undecided . Thanks for your help.

[Akili]

I would go with 120 gallon right off the back because the 50 gallon will too small for them within a month or six weeks at the most.I agree it is a lot of work but it would be well worth the effort.

[Disucs15]

Yes if you going to get small discus keep them in the 50g feed them 3-4 times aday and do w/c daly I grow mine out to 4" and then put them in the big tank I have a 125 and do 50/70% w/c weekly now in my Discus tank I still feed 3x a day and they are doing good I got my Discus from Hans. He has some very nice Discus I'm only 45min from his place.

[Phillydubs]

You could also use the bigger tank and not fill it all the way. It allows you to utilize that tank but do quicker water changes. Then as they grow you add more water and don't have to deal with the switch over.

[Akili]

You could also use the bigger tank and not fill it all the way. It allows you to utilize that tank but do quicker water changes. Then as they grow you add more water and don't have to deal with the switch over.Excellent idea.

[Las Vegas]

My .02 cent advise. If water changes are to much for you, use the 50 gal. Water changes are the life blood of the discus. If you can't keep up with the water changes, the discus will just become sick and die. So if you go big and buy 12 discus and don't change the water, you will just waste your time, money and the discus will just get sick and die. Start small, just get 6 small discus. See if you can care for them. Keep it simple, bare bottom. Stay on the water changes. Once they grow and you've decided that you do like raising discus fish and you can stay on the water changes then move up to the larger tank. Raising discus is really not hard ONCE YOU LEARN how to care for them. But if water changes are really your problem, and you don't do them, you will fail and you can kiss all your efforts goodbye. Goodluck.

[ExReefer]

My .02 cent advise. If water changes are to much for you, use the 50 gal. Water changes are the life blood of the discus. If you can't keep up with the water changes, the discus will just become sick and die. So if you go big and buy 12 discus and don't change the water, you will just waste your time, money and the discus will just get sick and die. Start small, just get 6 small discus. See if you can care for them. Keep it simple, bare bottom. Stay on the water changes. Once they grow and you've decided that you do like raising discus fish and you can stay on the water changes then move up to the larger tank. Raising discus is really not hard ONCE YOU LEARN how to care for them. But if water changes are really your problem, and you don't do them, you will fail and you can kiss all your efforts goodbye. Goodluck.

This is also solid advice. After a few weeks of daily water changes you will truly know if you want to continue. You could also just skip the discus for a few weeks and perform daily water changes on a bare tank. If you decide you don't like the maintenance then all you will have wasted is water and a small amount of money.