Discus in a community tank?

[TheSpacemouse]

I know the advice here for keeping discus for first time keepers is to use bare bottom tanks with only discus in them. But I also know that some discus keepers keep their discus in community tanks.

What I was hoping to do was start a community aquarium with a few tetras and dwarf cories, and add about 5-6 discus once the aquarium is established. Is that not possible? If it is possilbe, how big of an aquarium would I need to do that?

[Iminit]

I’d say a 75g. Dwarf corys may not do good in the warm water. Regular corys do fine. Many use tetras and corys in there bare bottom tanks.

[LizStreithorst]

You can make a very beautiful community tank with a bare bottom and a nice piece of driftwood with Java Fern or one of the other plants that can be superglued to driftwood

Sterbai Corys like the heat of a Discus tank and will sometimes breed in it. There are several types of Tetra that are good with Discus. Think twice about adding Cardinals. Until they get some size on them Discus consider them to be live food.

I agree that a 75 is a perfect size.

[Moreetta]

75 would be really perfect. You have to take a lot of care of them until they reach that size.

[TheSpacemouse]

Thanks, everyone, this is really helpful.

After reading more around the forum, I wonder if I would be better off buying adult discus rather than trying to grow out juvies.

[AquaticNerd]

For a first timer, fully grown adults are going to be a lot more forgiving when it comes to issues arising from water quality, disease, etc so I would definitely recommend adults.

One thing that you will want to be aware of is bio-load. 5-6 adults will put a huge strain on your biological filtration if you add them all at once, especially considering that you are planning on adding community fish first (tetras, cories) and then the discus. My opinion would be that you cycle the aquarium using the fishless method and adding your adult discus first. Once you've ironed out all the "quirks" of keeping discus (WCs, feeding, etc) as well as confident in the biological filtration, then I would consider adding the community fish because they will have less of an impact on the BB. Make sure to follow QT procedures, hero fish, etc to ensure no cross contamination of disease between the discus and community fish.

[TheSpacemouse]

You raise a really good point. I wasn't thinking of the difference in bioload when adding adults. You might be right that I should do fishless cycling and start with the discus!

[LizStreithorst]

You'll be OK if you can change 95% of the water daily until the filters catch up.

[TheSpacemouse]

LizStreithorst, how long would it likely take for the filters to catch up? How would I know when I could stop the daily water changes?

[LizStreithorst]

When I QT's 7 adults in a 30 gallon it only took 2 weeks. The smart thing would be to test your water every time you drop your WC's a bit. I'm a Discus oldie so I was able to just watch the fish and know if the water wasn't right.

Another, easier option would be to see if the seller (if they're a sponsor here) would give or sell you a cycled sponge.

[number1sixerfan]

Definitely echo others on the adults. That's the only discus I'd put in a community tank. Also, as long as you have sufficient filtration, bio load won't be a problem. I'd probably have two canisters or two hang on the backs with well established media. And as mentioned, absolutely QT the fish coming in, whether that's the community fish first or vice versa.

I ran my planted tank for about 4 months before adding my lot of discus; you really want to ensure they're going into a well established tank to avoid issues.

[TheSpacemouse]

. I'd probably have two canisters or two hang on the backs with well established media. .

I was thinking of a canister and a large sponge filter. I'd have the sponge connected to an airpump with a battery, so that if the power went off, the sponge filter would keep working. But maybe that's not enough power for a community aquarium?

[Iminit]

For a 75 I’d use 2 hobs that move around 350g each. For me new discus are getting a month for daily water changes. So with a fish in cycle the filter should cycle in the month. Next you’ll go every other day for a few weeks or so to see how filtration is keeping up. Then work your way to your weekly water change goal.