How many discus to have?

[thewarning]

Hi,

Whats the minumum and maximum amount of discus you should keep in a 55g tank?

[Tropical Haven]

Hi welcome to the site, what I would do first is read a lot of the different topics that is on this site. A ton of your questions will be answered just like the one you just asked. But to answer your question the ideal amount of discus for your tank is 1 discus per 10 gallons.

[thewarning]

Is it okay to have an odd number of discus?

[Elcid]

Not less than 4, the max depends on how often you change water :) 8 adults is pretty much the optimum in my opinion!

HTH,
Sandeep

[ShinShin]

It depends largely upon your experience, willingness to devote time and energy into your discus tank, and of course, your goals as a discus keeper. There is no doubt about it, the higher your water volume per discus, the healthier your discus will be. There is also no doubt about it, the higher volume water changes, the healthier your discus will be. And, there's no doubt about it, that the more frequent these water changes occur, the healthier your discus will be. So, for healthy discus: high water volume to low discus count, with large, frequent water changes will produce the healthiest discus. Yes, nutrition also plays a role in all of this, but I will assume you are feeding quality pellet and frozen foods to your discus, and not feeding CBW's.

As mentioned, 10gal per discus is the standard accepted water to discus ratio among experienced discus keepers. This can be tinkered with if one is willing to devote more time into water changes. I have routinely raised 10-12 discus to adulthood in a full 55gal tank, and 20-24 in a 100gal tank without too many complications. This required 90% daily or twice daily 60% water changes. The major drawbacks here are: 1) because of the close quaters, if gill flukes appear, they run rampant. 2) slip up on the water changes and the discus will turn dark and have health issues for sure, and sometimes never really fully recover, becoming ill again at the slightest stressers.

If you just want a tank of nice discus to look at, my experience tells me to suggest to you to buy 5 nice discus juvies (most 55gal tanks on the market today are not full 55's), keep the tank barebottomed, do a minimum 15-20% water change daily (40% would be great), feed a high quality pellet and frozen food (Hikari is my recommedation), and stay away from CBW's.

Mat

[thewarning]

Thanks for all the good advice!

[alxjss]

and not feeding CBW's.

and stay away from CBW's.

Mat

OK, whats wrong w/cbw's? I have been feeding them religiously and my babies love them. Why do some people think feeding cbw's is bad? Please tell me?
thanks

[mmorris]

OK, whats wrong w/cbw's? I have been feeding them religiously and my babies love them. Why do some people think feeding cbw's is bad? Please tell me?
thanks

Well, this is off track (sorry, thewarning). I've always loved feeding cbw because the discus love them and they are relatively non-polluting. However, my discus stopped eating other things and held out for the cbw. They ate very little fbw, very little red wrigglers, etc. Also, I was feeding my baby juvies cbw because I thought it would put size on them fast and I could leave them with non-decomposing food while I was at work. They love them, just like the parents. They got sick several times because, as I understand it, the cbw are difficult for little ones to digest. At least one died as a result. I finally stopped feeding cbw. I hated to, because I like giving my discus a treat that they love so much. Also, of course, cbw may or may not harbor nasties. Lots of people here swear by them and have had no problems with them. Martha

[divingne1]

Sorry but could someone tell me what cbw are? California blackworms?

[mmorris]

Sorry Div, that's right. Martha