Considering Discus

[Bluetangclan]

I am getting ready to move and currently have a 55gal planted tank. Having alot of experience with reef tanks and a successful if not great planted tank I am considering this as a new challenge. I plan on removing most of the current fish, which consist of koi angels(yes I know about the disease thing), leopard ctemopomas(zipperumperzoos), a veiled pleco, some harlequin razzies, and a few others. I will prolly keep the pleco and harlies. An emperor powerfilter is the current filtration.
Now questions after having done some reading in a variety of places. I have read that discus are no longer the super difficult fish to keep they once were and are much more tolerant of water quality. Does this imply that massive bi-daily water changes are no longer the norm? Would once or twice a week be sufficient? How well do discus ship? Besides Jack Wattley and his ridiculously expensive tiny fish, what are good sources online?
My other option was to use the tank and breed african cichlids which in my experience is extremely easy and I hate to use an entire 55gal for one species lol.

[White Worm]

water changes depend on stocking density, tank size, substrate, size of discus, feeding amount, type of foods, water you are using and many other variables etc, etc, etc. Go with bare bottom tank and start with 1 fish per 10g around 2-3 inch discus and change things from there after you get the hang of keeping discus. Start with 30-50% wc's every day or every 2 days for best results(your discus will let you know rather quickly if you need to do more or less). Some do more and some do less, you will have to decide what works best for your individual situation. Difficult to keep? If you dont do your research and understand the care required, YES! If you do your research and take the advice of some experts on this site, NO!If you want some good quality shipped fish, look in the sponsor section here on simply. There are some quality breeders. Discus will ship well depending on the shipper and how fish are prepared and packaged.

[lhforbes12]

Blue,
Yes discus can get away with a wc regimen such as you suggest, but it is really only suggested for adults. Young discus do need daily wc's IMO. Water parameters aren't too terribly important, within reason of course, but water quality is still *extremely* important. You can keep other species with discus, my 125 has Cardinal Tetras, Clown Loaches, Common Plecos, Corys (C. julii) Barriancistrus (Gold Nugget Plecos L-018) and a few others. There are actually many different species that are fine with discus, the main criteria being that they can take the high temps discus need.

[AADiscus]

Blue, you have already received some good infomation. I'll just add this:

Discus are not as hard as some people make it out to be. If you take the proper care of them then you have no problems. When you don't take the proper care then that is when you run into problems and get discourage with them. Do as much reading as you can and them and there care. Always post any questions you have. There is wonderful people here at Simply always willing to help and answer any questions you might have. Good luck and keep us posted on what you end up doing with your tank and the fish you get.:D

[Dissident]

only thing not mentioned:
Start with healthy fish adult/juvi from a local breeder. Avoid the LFS if possible, most ppl do not have luck with them.


You can always convert the 55 to a BB and grow out some juvies, then in 6months you can go the planted route with it.

[LizStreithorst]

The only thing I have to add, and Ihforbes touched on it, is that I think you might be confusing water quality with water parameters. It used to be thought that Disucs needed low pH soft water. This has been found not to be true. Water quality ie. clean water is very important to Discus.

IMO adults could get by with twice a week WC. Growing Discus need WC daily.