newcomer to discus keeping

[dna_errors]

Greeting all,

I am new to discus keeping, and I am in the process of setting up a Discus aquarium.
I have a 55 G tank which will be planted (with CO2 system). I have 7 sterbai cory that are going to go into the 55 G.

I understand that if I want to buy Discus, I should buy them in a group of 5-6. However, 6 discus plus 7 sterbai cory (most of them are pretty small and I do believe they stay under 3 inches) sounds like pushing the stocking limit.

I have a Fluval 404, Aquaclear 200 for this tank and UV installed. So I do think the filteration is adequent. I set up a sump by using a 10 G tank, hoping the extra water will help keep water condition stable.

Can anyone offer me any suggestion? Should I get 4 discus to prevent overstocking, or go with 6 discus and work hard to keep the tank clean with water change? I love my sterbai and I won't/can't give them up. (they are currently in a 20 G along with 20 cardinals, I know I have a bad habit of overstocking but I work very hard to keep aquarium clean and in good condition). What do you think the condition of the tank will be in both scenarios?

Thanks in advance.

[RyanH]

Welcome to Simply!

Questions:

Are you planning on starting with adults or Juveniles?

What are your goals? That is, are you interested in breeding or just keeping them? If you are getting juveniles, how large do you want to grow them out?

What are your water parameters?

[dna_errors]

I just want to keep the discus for show. Although I have maintain aquarium (fresh and marine) for almost 8 years I have never breed any fish. It has always sounded difficult to me and I am not sure discus is a good starting point. I guess I just want to keep the fish and make sure they are happy. I don't particularly expect them to grow to certain size or have babies.

I plan to get juveniles around 2.5 inch I think.

Water paramter is way off out of the tap, about 8.4-8.5 pH, about 180 ppm hardness.
For my cardinals, I condition the water to 6.8 pH and 25 ppm by mixing with RO water.

P.S. $60 per 2.5 inch yellow diamond, is that reasonable? The same breeder sells 2.5 inch blue diamond for 25 each ...

[RyanH]

I think that you will find it is much easier to keep Discus in groups of 6 or more. They tend to form heirarchies and in smaller groups that usually means one or two can get beaten up pretty badly. I would probably lean more towards crowding them and changing more water than understocking if I had the choice.

IME, you should not expect to have adult Discus much larger than 4 inches if you grow them out in a show tank. While it is not impossible, it is still very difficult to keep the water clean enough. Particularly if you haven't kept them before.

My first Discus tank was a planted 75 with gravel, rocks, and driftwood. I used a Fluval 404 (actually the model the 404 replaced) and a power filter. I changed insane amounts of water and cleaned my tank constantly. Sadly, my fish were still small and sick. After that I got into the habit of growing out my babies in barebottom tanks and they grew faster, larger, and were much healthier and more outgoing.

hth!
-Ryan

[Carol_Roberts]

I agree with Ryan's comments regarding growing out juveniles in a graveled, planted tank with CO2.

In addition juvenile discus grow better in harder water. 180 ppm is fine. Soft water is for hatching eggs.