Volume for Discus

[Frozen]

Hello dear friends..
I have some questions for you..
1.How many grown-up discus i can keep in 500 liters with plants?
2.How many discus is possable to keep in 500 liters without plants?
I is very interesting to know what do you think about tank with plants and without them.
Withing all best,
Frozen.:confused:

[brewmaster15]

Hello Frozen,
Welcome to Simplydiscus.com:)

The answers to your questions are not really straightforeward I am afraid.. Much depends on what you expect to get from your discus, your experince levels with fish and plants, your tank set up and the foods you chose to feed.


My best advice is to talk to those in our planted tank section that have done this and get their input.. I would go thru the back posts there and PM members that have done what you have in mind.

Additionally if you are new to Discus review all the info on the fish itself and what is commonly used as filtration and feeding etc.

Some questions for you... what is your experience level here? Do you keep discus currently...How about planted tanks? Can you fill us in on your tank parameters, filters etc..or what you think they might be if not already running.

thanks,
al

[geekgeek]

For a 500L planted tank, I would say 4.

I have 2 in a 300L planted tank with cardinals and tetras, and I can get away with 25% water change per week. I vacuum the gravel each time and I find alot of pooh and waste in the gravel.

If you can do water changes daily, you can go with 12 assuming 40L per discus. If you miss a couple of changes or start to get lazy, then your discus may get sick or catch something nasty because of dirty water. It's not something that you want to go through.

I know I am lazy and can't afford the time. I don't have time to do water change every day so I opted for the easy way. Less fish, more water, and less cleanup. 150L per fish works for me (in a planted tank).

Plus my nitrate is very low because the plants can handle all the nitrate that the discus produce. When I do weekly test, my nitrate is very very low. I know it's not zero (a tint of colour), but it almost doesn't register.

[Frozen]

Hello dear friends,
I am very glad that you have answered so quickly..
I have tank wicth is 530L.
Light - 2 58 T-8
2 54 T-5
Filters - JBL 500 for 1200 L/hour.
Eheim 2217 for 900 L/hour.
C02
Wather KH-5
GH-8
PH-6,8
Fish - 6 grown-up discus Pigeon Blood
10 Neons,8 Ancitrus,7 Sae,1 shrimp-filtration.
http://n.foto.radikal.ru/0701/27a058bbaaa8.jpg

Question is:
How many liters is needed for 1 discus?
Can I have more fish and how many?
How many liters of wather is norm for 1 grown-up discus in tank with plants and wiyhout them?
Thank you for ansewering,
Wishing all best,
Liza.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Liza,
Your Tank and fish look very nice.. :) Can you tell me what you feed the fish, how many times a day you feed, and what kind of tank maintenance..water changes etc you normally do?

Thanks,
al

[OIF03VET]

I have a 250l tank with 6 adult (1+year) and 2 juvies (~6months). No live plants, tons of driftwood, fake plants. As for other fish I have 7 rummy nose, 4 rasboras, 8 cories, a verey small pleco and 1 ram. I keep the temp at 86f w/2 250w heaters and do one 50-75% water change per week. I am running a penguin 350 hob filter and a magnum 350 canister filter. I feed them fbw and fbh 2-3 times a day. The water stays nice and the fish are always happy.....unless I dont clean the tank on the 7th day. I have had the tank like this for over a year and the fish have only gotten sick once.

[FishLover888]

The rules people here use are 40 L per adult discus, I would say you can put 10 discus in that tank and leave some room for cleaner fish too.

[Timbo]

500 litres is about 135 gal. i think

you can put (with average water changes) about a dozen in there i'd say

[GrillMaster]

Hello dear friends,
I am very glad that you have answered so quickly..
I have tank wicth is 530L.
Light - 2 58 T-8
2 54 T-5
Filters - JBL 500 for 1200 L/hour.
Eheim 2217 for 900 L/hour.
C02
Wather KH-5
GH-8
PH-6,8
Fish - 6 grown-up discus Pigeon Blood
10 Neons,8 Ancitrus,7 Sae,1 shrimp-filtration.
http://n.foto.radikal.ru/0701/27a058bbaaa8.jpg

Question is:
How many liters is needed for 1 discus?
Can I have more fish and how many?
How many liters of wather is norm for 1 grown-up discus in tank with plants and wiyhout them?
Thank you for ansewering,
Wishing all best,
Liza.

Looks like ya know whats goin on for sure!! Very nice tank!:thumbsup:

U oughta be ashamed of yerself settin us up like that...;)

Now quit askin questions an start answering em!!: :D

[White Worm]

Rule of thumb is 38l per adult. 500l equals very close to 132g but if you minus substrate, tank mates, decor, plants, etc, you should be able to house 10 total safely. You do need to take into conideration your food type and feeding / water change schedule as previously asked.

[Frozen]

Hello dear friends,
In my country is not enought information about discus, so i decided write on your forum.
In shop seller convinced that 20-30 litres is norm in vegetative tank, including what plants cope with organic and with nitrates and with substitution of water of 30% every week.
But I doubt in it.
About my tank:
I feed my fish only with a frozen sea products or frozen worms 2 times a day.
Change wather 2 times a week for 30%.
I am not a beginner.But i write in this place becouse question "How many discus is possable to keep in 500 liters without plants and without them?"
is for beginners.
I want to be sure buy new discus or not?Not drown-ups. i want little 6-7 sm.
Sorry for my bad english,
Wishing all best,
Liza.

[Polar_Bear]

Liza,
If it were me I would stick to what you already have. Your tank appears to be doing wonderfully, and the fish and plants both look healthy. I would leave it as it is.

[wolfbane]

Liza, your tank is beautiful! The balance seems right, why mess with it? The fish look happy! The plants look gorgeous!

[Timbo]

I want to be sure buy new discus or not?Not drown-ups. i want little 6-7 sm.


sorry, just noticed this part :)

if you want to add more discus (and you have lots of room to add another 6 in a 135) i'd discourage getting ones that are much smaller than the ones you currently have. they will most likely get out-performed for available food and they will most likely get picked on too.

and dont forget to quarenteen the new arrivals for 4-6 weeks before adding them in to your current stock

[Frozen]

Hello my dear friends,
Thank you for answering.
After thinking I decided to leave all like it is now,but i want somethink new.
Better I shall by neons.
Thank you for answering in my topic,
Wishing all best,
Liza.

[White Worm]

go with cardinals, they handle the temps better and sometimes are too big to fit in a discus mouth. lol. ;)

[Alight]

I vote for large Cardinal Tetras, too. More likely to survive both the temperature and being eaten!

If you want something new, start a new smaller bare bottom tank and get 6 small Discus. Raise them up and then add them to your existing tank. However, if you do add that much new fish to your tank, you'll need to up your water changes quite a bit.

Adding 50 or so cardinal tetras, on the other hand, should be fine as you are now.

[GrillMaster]

Black neons will do good also.

[Frozen]

I want something blue.What do you advice?

[White Worm]

Blue Diamond or Cobalt.

[Frozen]

Sorry, i mean something from small fish(characidae).

[White Worm]

cardinals. They look just like neons but a little larger and the blue shows up very nice.

[White Worm]

Cardinals

21017

Should go nicely together with your current discus.

[Marinemom]

If you want blue then go with cardinals but if you are considering other fish I would think about rummynose tetras. They have a silver body with bright red noses and a black tail. They are really beautiful fish and seem to compliment the discus very well. They look really well togather and the rummynoses can handle the discus temps. Just something to consider.

Marinemom