discus tank

[jdruff8]

hi, i posted ealier. My angels are only 2 days into the tank and harrassing my discus, although they are only 1/4 of the size of the discus. im taking them back and am going to try 3 clown loaches. THat'll leave me with 1 plecco, 5 discus, 3 clowns, 3 cories. Any suggestions or problems with that?

[RyanH]

If you are just starting out with Discus I would lose all other fish in the tank and just keep the Discus by themselves in a group of 6 or more until you get a feel for it. If you feel that you have to have a community tank then at least lose the plecco as well.

[jdruff8]

hi , actually im not starting out. The tank has had the discus for 4 months. What do you guys recommend doing, keeping in mind it's only a 55 gallon. THanks

[Carol_Roberts]

5 discus all by them selves is just perfect for a bare bottom 55 gallon tank!

[jdruff8]

hi, should the tank be bare bottom? it seems sortive boring like that, and i would like alittle variety and some ssort of clean up crew(plecco) am i messing up? lol i appreciate your help

[RyanH]

Yes, you want to go barebottom. Your fish will be much healthier and they will grow larger w/o substrate. Once they are full grown you can try adding a VERY thin layer of gravel or sand but you can expect much more time and effort to be spent in maintenance.

[jdruff8]

without a substarte , how do you hide the plant bottoms if they are fake and the slate on the pice of driftwood? won't it look funny? Will this be good if i have clowns and a plecco in there?

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, the plant bottoms and slate look very funny. that's why I don't put them in the tank ;) My tanks are full of big beautiful discus, a filter intake tube, a heater and water, period. Less is more ;D

[DiscusDawg]

I agree with you Carol. I am thinking about just emptying my 75 and putting a bunch of Discus. How many 2.5" Discus do you think I could put in there??
DD

[M0oN]

Leave the tanks empty and bare bottom until the discus grow out to full size, the only time I would suggest putting discus in a tank that isn't bare bottom is if it's heavily planted with co2 injection as this will keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low, if you do opt for a heavily planted tank you can work your way up to having other species in the tank as well...

Cory cats and dwarf cichlids make good tank mates as well as tetra (I like rummynose since they're good indicators of poor water conditions), keep in mind most tetra's are wild caught so a quarantine period is absolutely crucial, I would suggest at least 2 months. Other good tank mates would be dwarf gourami and various types of shrimp.

Don't buy black skirt tetra as they are fin nippers, try to stick with cardinal or rummynose.

Unfortunately discus are very shy fish and the introduction of any other fish, even the ones I listed could very well make them spend most of their day hiding from view. It's really best to keep them species specific with maybe some bottom feeders to help keep things stirred up...

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi DD:
12 makes a nice school. Cull down to 8 adults.