tank conditions

[fishkid26]

what are the best conditions(PH,Temperature, etc.) for a duscus to live in? Can discus be kept with gouramis, angelfish or livebearers?

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi Fishkid26 :wave:

Welcome to the board! you've come to the right place for advice. I am sure if you hang around abit you will find out more than you need to get going with Discus.

Are you thinking of buying discus or already have discus? Yes disus "can" live with gouramis and livebearers but Angels (in my opinion) are a no no. See angels can carry diseases that don't effect themselves much but are deadly with other fish, esp discus, it simply isn't worth the risk in my opinion.

If you want a sure fire way to keep discus happy and healthy then I would suggest a bare bottom 3ft to 4ft tank, with a simple air driven sponge filter or combination of them and other filters, temperatures around the 84-86 deg F and ph that are not too extreme but they prefer soft, acidic waters like ph 6.5. I recommend daily 30% water change and a healthy varied diet.

The biggest drawcard of discus keeping is keeping water parameters stable. It doesn't really matter that your tank conditions don't exactly match their preferred waters, close enough is good enough, but the most important thing is that you can keep the PH, GH (General Hardness) and temp stable and contant. No matter what you decide to do to your water to get it to suitable conditions (Chemicals, Reverse Osmosis (RO)), make sure that you can repeat the opperation time and again so that things stay the same. That's why it is a good idea to keep things as simple as possible so that even bumbling fools (like me!) can get it right every time, time and time again.

Tell me what your plans are? maybe I can suggest a few things if you want to get started. But I am warning you now, keeping and raising discus is addictive!!! Once you are in, there is no turning back! they are a very special fish! :thumbsup:

Good luck!
Chong

[fishkid26]

I plan on buying a small discus for a 55 gallon tank. What is the best food to feed them? i will move my angels to a 29 gallon tank when i can sell my blue gourami fry. If my ph is around 7.0 will this be ok for a discus?

[BlueTurquoise]

Perfect! great plan! that is a very good plan as 55 gal is perfect.

OK so here's the nitty gritty. Ph7 i more than fine. my tank is PH 7. In fact sydney water is higher, perhaps PH 8 after aging the water over time. The point is so long as you acclimitize them slowly to whatever your conditions are, they should be more than fine.

Firstly if your 55gal contained Angels and other fish, i would seriously consider fully cleaning it out as parasites and other dieseases can still harbour in gravel, ornaments and esp filters. When yo are ready, I would seriously consider moving everything that was associated with the angels to the other 29 gal and keep your hoses, buckets, pumps, filters, ornaments and practically everything separate as contamination is a very scary possibility.

If you are planning to keep only discus in the 55gal then probably the best thing to do is buy 6 - 8 fish to start off with (depending on your budget). A single solitary fish won't do very well at all... Discus do heaps better in schools becuase of competition for food, they are less stressed becuase they feel safer, and also if there is a dominant fish, it will even out the bullying amongst the other tank mates. If you are planning to buy juvenile discus (3-4inch or less) then I would consider going totally bare bottom so that you can keep things sparkling clean so you can grow them out in the cleanest conditions possible. If you currently heave gravel then you will be surprised how much gunk gathers there when you remove it! :o it is hard enough to keep my bare bottom clean let alone a gravelled tank :-\ . Bare bottom will also mean you will be able to feed the new little tikes very often (4-5 times a day) as it is alot easier to keep clean.

Feeding them, it depends on what you can get a hold of. You can feed them live cultured black worms (Liek californian black worms which I can't get in Australia), Frozen bloodworms (i feed them Hikari brand), frozen brine shrimp, prawn and beefheart mix that you can learn to easily make yourself, and pelleted foods like Discus Colour Bits. Basically you'll want to feed them high protien foods that will help them grow fast and healthy and you will want to feed them as often as possible, 3-5 times a day. Small amounts often is better than big amount seldom.

Personally this is a good time to start figuring out how you are going to do daily water cahnges. With juveniles I think it is very important that water gets changed everyday as you will be feeding them lots and they will be "processing" lots of poop! You should think about water storage to age and stabilize PH in your water by airating and heating it overnight before doign your waterchange the next day. This is the best way to create PH stable water every time.

Where abouts do you live? Maybe I and others can help you with advice on where to get your fish stuff cheap and the best breeders to buy discus from.

As you can see, alot of discus keeping about you taking care of their environment and if you get it right, they will thank you with bright vibrant colours, unique behaviour and perhaps reproduction for many years to come! :thumbsup: But you have definately done the right thing by researching first! :thumbsup:

How long have you had the Angels for? Gourami Fry? you mean you got them to spawn? wow! cool!

Chong

[fishkid26]

I live in maryland and get my fish from aquarium center. I got my angels the 26th of december and my blue gourami fry are about 1 week old. Do i need 6-8 or can i get 2 and see how they do?

Fishkid, Save up the fun tickets and purchase only when you are ready. As B T has iterated, 6-8 is best . Discus are a shoaling fish when young. The other consideration is aggression. In smaller groups there is either an uneasiness or bullying--neither is conducive to success.
Do it right and your fish will thank you! ;) Joe

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi,

see that's the thing, yes you can get however many yo can afford, the problem is that the likelyhood of success is less when they are in smaller groups of anything under 4.

You see they do alot better in groups becuase they will feed much more agressively with competition, they will be braver in groups and they feel more secure. Basically you increase your chances of success immensely by having at least 4-6 (6 is best, 4 is pushing it). I understand that they are expensive fish, but it would be more expensive to buy them and they don't do well, get my drift?

Perhaps I can recommend you some breeders that can do you a better deal on 6 fish? check out the breeders and suppliers section of our the forum and perhaps there is someone down the road from you or nearby that can cut you a good deal? If they don't send em to me! ;).

At the end of the day it is up to you, you may get lucky and do well with 2 fish but I and others will recommend you buy 6 to start with as it is ideal. They will be happier and healthier. If you get 2 you may be very dissapointed as discus can be quite timid and hide in the corner of the tank for quite sometime, or worste...

Anyway you have some time to research and ask more questions before you sell your gourami fry (if that's what you decide) so I would not rush into anything just yet. You have already taken a huge step in the right direction by researching first so well done. Discus are acceptional fish and require alot of patience and commitment and I am sure you will do well. Please feel free to ask more questions as you can never know everything about discus. Something new turns up every day.
Chong

by the way, Merryland USA or what?