Stocking Q - full grown vs juvies

[mickeyG]

I apologise in advance if this post is either inappropriate or unacceptable in any other way.

I have been holding back from converting my cichlid tank to a discus tank for several years. Mostly because I am physically disabled, don't have a very good long term prognosis, and am afraid that the maintenance regimen required for discus is more than I can muster. (on a lighter note my mbuna are very healthy, well cared for and breed all the time.) My tank always looks nice and only needs about 1 hour of work a week. Of course mbuna are not very demanding.

In that light, I still want to do this. My question is:

Would it be a little easier (work-load wise) if I got full grown 5+ inch discus rather than smaller ones. That is my guess ..... am I right?

Mike

[bennyblanco]

from what i hear thats the best thing to do cause young discus need more w/c...

[Greg Richardson]

Mike. In your situation for the results u want maintenance wise u are right on the money.

Not only the maintenance benefit is involved here though.
You also get the health benefit.
With Juvies you run more risk due to lack of immunity of them getting sick.
As u know this then creates more wc's along with attention along with stress. Those factors are definitely what u want to stay away from.

I think u are definitely on the right track.

PS. Just a thought here......... but is there any teenage kids around that would do wc's for u for cheap?
Might not hurt to ask.
Maybe call the local church near u if u don't know any.
Ask for the youth director. He should know who is responsible.

One more thing. Do yourself a huge favor.
Rent the movie Patch Adams.
After viewing it u will know why I asked u to watch it.

[Alight]

Definitely go with the adults. Get some nice 6 inch + adults that are less than a year old if you can. If you count up the food you have to feed Juvies to reach adulthood, you will spend about the same amount on the adults.

These will be beautiful fish immediately, with no uncertainty about how they will turn out. You eliminate so many problems, and make your maintenance so much easier. If you're tank is planted, you may be able to keep up the routine you now have and keep them quite healthy.

Good luck!

[billeagan]

Mike,

I would definitely go with adults. More money, but a bit heartier than the juvies.

I would recommend doing the following (minimum tank size is 75)
Increase your filtration to 10x (e.g. 75 gallon have filtration moving 750 gallons/hour). Watch to make sure you don't have too much current and at least two filters for redundancy.

Stock at about 1 tail per 15 gallons, get a nice school of cory's and a pleco or two and you'll be good to go with large weekly wc's of 40- 50%. Smaller daily water changes of 10% would be even better.


Bill