what strains of discus look best in a large discus aquarium

[ganesan]

I see that domestic discus fish are classified into solid colors and fine spotted strains and then the tuquoise colors.
In one very large bare bottom discus aquarium suppose I tend to keep different strains together purely for show type and not for breeding..what combinations of discus fish colors look best and pleasing to the eyes..
Say solids of blue,yellow,white albinos,red pigeons and super reds together with spotted snake skins and ring leopards and red,blue,brown turks..
There are so many good looking colored strains..I think it all depends on the tank size and all strains can be kept together..
My query is that if i keep one large adult discus fish of each strain say one solid blue,one solid red,one pigeon red,one white albino,one solid yellow followed like wise with just one discus fish strain from different snake skins and turks without pairs and will this cause stress to discus fish... are pairs really necessary in one big aquarium is my main question here..can fish without pairs live together happily in one aquarium
Finally bull dog strain has come lately in all strains and bull dog discus with its high dorsal fins and thick bodies are really appealing...can one keep bull dog strains with non bull dog strains in the same aquarium..
There will be a pecking order in a large single adult discus fish show type aquarium..how does one keep the pecking order to minimal if not eradicate it totally...can some minimal hiding places be kept in the aquarium like large ceramic pots with tall plants sitting on a bare bottom aquarium and some pieces of drift woods extending from the surface to the bottom help discus fish from infighting...
Any answers will be appreciated..
thanks

[rickztahone]

Discus do not care which strains the other discus are. You can get any strain you want and mix them. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. If you get yellow discus, or red discus, keep in mind that many times you sacrifice the color of one for the other. If you give yellow discus the same food you would give your other discus, it may turn orange. If you give your red discus only food that will not turn your yellow orange, it may look dull as well. Also, the other exception I can think of is keeping domestics and wilds separate. They require different water parameters and for this reason, we keep them separate.

outside of those 2 things, strains are a very personal choice. Personally I love single strain tanks. My goal was to only have a single strain in my current tank, but it turned in to 3 different strains, lol.

[Kyla]

i went with a mish mash of colours and collected discus like beanie babies, had to have one of each lol

although i love the fish i have i am envious of the single-strain tanks i see. they look more sophisticated and natural.

if i could do it again i would get either a single blue strain or wild-type tank, or if i mixed strains i would get similar-coloured strains that blended well. somewhere on here i saw a nice wild mix, and ive seen mixes of cobalts and blue diamonds i liked etc.

in the end go with what u like. u may even find ur taste evolves over time.

[jmf3460]

Personally I love single strain tanks.

I could not agree with Ricardo more here, single species tanks look way more professional and natural to me. Obviously its up to you OP but I think multiple species just look un thought out. I have seen tanks with all single species and one lone fish that is strikingly different, like an odd ball, and that looks kind of neat. Like all solid blues and then one red melon or something completely different.

Of course you cannot go wrong with a tank full of wilds, that is my ultimate suggestion.

[bamzam]

I am in the same boat. I have a mix of all different strains in various colors because there were so many strains that I liked. But when I look through pics from the forum, now I really like the tanks that stuck with one color or one strain. There was a member here who had a tank with all sorts of various red strains that looked really nice.

[ganesan]

Thank you all for your replies..I am now in an agreement that same strains look better together than mixed strains...also I see tanks with same strains of discus move in a shoal from one end of the aquarium to the other end which is really pleasing to watch..I finally think that red strains like red marbloros,super red melons,red melons etc can be housed in a single tank while yellow strains like crystal yellows,golden yellows or milleniums can be housed together and blues like blue diamond,cobalt blues,blue scorpions etc can be housed in one tank while turks can be mixed in one tank...

[Rodneyj]

I agree with the single strain. I'm currently setting up a tank that will house 50 Rummy Nose Tetras, 30 Bleeding Heart Tetras and 10 Penang Eruptions. I have all the Tetras in there already and they look great when shoaling. Can't wait to get the Discus in there.

[ksuyen]

I could not agree with Ricardo more here, single species tanks look way more professional and natural to me. Obviously its up to you OP but I think multiple species just look un thought out. I have seen tanks with all single species and one lone fish that is strikingly different, like an odd ball, and that looks kind of neat. Like all solid blues and then one red melon or something completely different.

Of course you cannot go wrong with a tank full of wilds, that is my ultimate suggestion.

Jacklyn, that's what happening to my tank :p I have all red melon (5 semi adults) and 1 eruption (fully adult). What an odd ball, that one is.

[ksuyen]

I agree with the single strain. I'm currently setting up a tank that will house 50 Rummy Nose Tetras, 30 Bleeding Heart Tetras and 10 Penang Eruptions. I have all the Tetras in there already and they look great when shoaling. Can't wait to get the Discus in there.

Rodney, are you in Sydney? Aquaristic has very beautiful Eruption now, they are all 12-15cm, slightly expensive, but very high quality.

[Phillydubs]

12-15 inch...? Ummmm... Typo?

[ksuyen]

12-15 inch...? Ummmm... Typo?

Ops, yes, definitely typo. I would love to see 15 inch discus. ;)

[discuspaul]

I really agree with single strain discus being the most desirable to keep - and that makes the best first impression.

Even though this little experiment for me was simply (not greatly attractive) Red Snake Skins, and only 3" juvies at that, it convinced me that single strain species was the way to go with discus - whether domestic or wild. It just grew on me, and I haven't changed my mind.
But as has been mentioned, I think some type of Reds make the most dramatic show of beautiful discus of the same color/pattern !

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg.html)

[ksuyen]

I really agree with single strain discus being the most desirable to keep - and that makes the best first impression.

Even though this little experiment for me was simply (not greatly attractive) Red Snake Skins, and only 3" juvies at that, it convinced me that single strain species was the way to go with discus - whether domestic or wild. It just grew on me, and I haven't changed my mind.
But as has been mentioned, I think some type of Reds make the most dramatic show of beautiful discus of the same color/pattern !

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg.html)

Exactly! I have the same idea for a long time before finally took a plunge to realise that dream.

97852

[nolefan]

I've done the single strain type before in a big tank imo kinda boring I like variety even when I had a wild community tank

[MendoMan]

Don't over look your lighting. The lighter colors and the reds (from pigeon blood) show up good in lower lighting while your darker blues and your reds ( from brown discus) need a stronger light of the correct spectrum to show their beauty.

[RDFISHGUY]

I have a mixed bag and I always wonder if it would look better if I was to separate the blue strains and the red strains. I like them together but if I had another tank I would separate them.
I would never keep one strain. To me its boring and too sterile.

[Ryan925]

I really agree with single strain discus being the most desirable to keep - and that makes the best first impression.

Even though this little experiment for me was simply (not greatly attractive) Red Snake Skins, and only 3" juvies at that, it convinced me that single strain species was the way to go with discus - whether domestic or wild. It just grew on me, and I haven't changed my mind.
But as has been mentioned, I think some type of Reds make the most dramatic show of beautiful discus of the same color/pattern !

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg.html)

Paul's tanks are beautiful. I have a rainbow of 7 different strains in my group. My next tank will sure be a single strain or half and half.

My idea is half blues (bd, neon sapphire or cobalt) and half white (snow white or white butterfly)

[two utes]

I really agree with single strain discus being the most desirable to keep - and that makes the best first impression.

Even though this little experiment for me was simply (not greatly attractive) Red Snake Skins, and only 3" juvies at that, it convinced me that single strain species was the way to go with discus - whether domestic or wild. It just grew on me, and I haven't changed my mind.
But as has been mentioned, I think some type of Reds make the most dramatic show of beautiful discus of the same color/pattern !

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/3RedSnakeSkins/RSSs3012-1.jpg.html)

Single strain all the way for me....and this is the reason. Simply beautiful. Nice work Paul

[discuspaul]

Many of you will have seen this photo before - but I'm posting it again to show another single strain that is somewhat more colorful than the red snake skins I posted earlier. I don't think they're boring, and hope you don't either.
They're juvie Royal Ruby Reds.



http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg.html)

[Dhavalsp]

Ha, paul are you confessing to the crime of growing juvies in planted tank?? :p


Many of you will have seen this photo before - but I'm posting it again to show another single strain that is somewhat more colorful than the red snake skins I posted earlier. I don't think they're boring, and hope you don't either.
They're juvie Royal Ruby Reds.



http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg.html)

[discuspaul]

Why yes, in fact I've done it many times, with varying degrees of success, and some not so successful, the latter particularly in my early discus-keeping days.

But I will dare say it can be done well, but admittedly not without a lot of work.

Depending on the size of the juvies (those above were approx. 3.5"), I'd religiously do 75% daily water changes, lightly plant the tanks and allow sufficient space around and behind all plantings to facilitate thorough daily vacuuming, and a rigorous tank cleansing routine with each wc, coupled with the 24/7 use of UV sterilization & Seachem Purigen, and frequently rinsed pre-filters on intakes from HOB filters only (no canister filtration).

If it means anything, I believe one can tell from the above photos that I purposefully maintained a squeaky clean environment in my planted juvie discus tanks.

IMHO, the measures above, with the water changes, is the only way to raise juvie discus in a planted environment without experiencing stunting, and under-average/mediocre developed growth to adulthood.
I can honestly say that there were many days (while retired of course) that I would put in 2-3 hours daily to maintain the cleanest environment that I could manage.
So I bear no shame in raising juvies in a planted environment.

P.S. Having said all the forgoing, I will hasten to add that I have always recommended that any newcomers to discus-keeping (translation: inexperienced) grow out young discus in nothing but a bare-bottom tank.

Even experienced discus-keepers should not do otherwise unless they also have some experience with planted tanks.

[Allwin]

Beautiful pic Paul, specially with the cardinals stealing the background show.

Hope u must be very busy maintaining/managing this tank :)


Many of you will have seen this photo before - but I'm posting it again to show another single strain that is somewhat more colorful than the red snake skins I posted earlier. I don't think they're boring, and hope you don't either.
They're juvie Royal Ruby Reds.



http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg (http://s1105.photobucket.com/user/discuspaul/media/redrubys/rubyreds010.jpg.html)

[pastry]

Personally, "near" single strain with a few accent pieces