Cards in Growout Tank?

[number1sixerfan]

Hi, I have been a lurker for a long time, love reading up on the info here. I have been keeping discus for around a year now.

I am getting ready to order some Red Leopard Discus and place them in my 55g bb tank. I will be growing them out for a while before they enter the 72g planted show tank.

I want the show tank to have cardinals and discus. However, I want to raise the discus around the cardinals so it helps prevent them from eating them. I am concerned that the cards will eat too much if placed in the bb tank since I will be feeding six times a day. How should ensure that they do not eat too much? Right now, I'm thinking I can't without hand feeding the discus.

Can anyone forsee any other problems of adding 20 cards to the growout tank?

[dwilder]

most fish imo you dont have to worry about them eating to much you just dont wont to over feed so that there is alot of food waste in the water.but in a discus tank you do lots of water changes to take care of that

[number1sixerfan]

Yea, I'm more worried about the cards eating too much resulting in something like bloat or the like.

[bs6749]

For what it's worth, I doubt that adding the cards to the growout tank now will help their safety in the future. If a fish is hungry it's going to eat what it wants. I saw grow out the discus for some time, and when you are ready to add them to the show tank, have the cardinals already in there. Are you planning on having a planted tank or lot of hiding spaces for the cards? I think that will probably be the biggest help to their survival.

[number1sixerfan]

It will be a planted tank. The reason I am doing this is because it worked for me in the past. I just didn't do it in a bare bottom tank and only fed three times a day. Still even then the cards got really fat, but never sick. I agree, I can't guarantee that the discus won't eat the cards. I just want to at least do what I can to minimize the risk.

I guess I'll just have to see what happens. Thanks.

[YSS]

By the time you add the discus to your show tank, the cards will be big enough that you won't have to worry about your discus eating them. So, get the cards now, put them in your show tank and grow them out while you are growing the discus out.

[Harriett]

I agree with dntx5b9--that's what do with mine and it works well.
Best regards
Harriett

[Darrell Ward]

Those little Cards seem to grow pretty fast. I bought 50 juvies because they were cheap. They doubled their size in no time in my grow out tank. I was still a little worried about putting such small fish in my planted tank, but they can swim pretty fast, stay mostly in a group, and my Discus ignore them. Best of all, they look great in there!

[number1sixerfan]

By the time you add the discus to your show tank, the cards will be big enough that you won't have to worry about your discus eating them. So, get the cards now, put them in your show tank and grow them out while you are growing the discus out.

That sounds like a good idea. The show tank should be up and running in one month. I'll just focus on the discus for right now.

Thanks

[Apistomaster]

I would also put the cardinal tetras in your grow out tank. Not only because they will get a chance to freely feed and grow but if you happen to feed beef heart blends, small fish like cardinals help make sure very little beef heart particles go uneaten and end up adding waste to your filters.
I think it is always a good idea to keep a few schools of Tetras and warm water dwarf Plecos in planted Discus tanks because the are very helpful at finding foods that discus miss among the plants. Corydoras are also an asset but they are as good at eating the meaty foods that discus miss. They are more omnivorous while the small carnivorous plecos will home in on the meat/high protein prepared foods by smell and they have larger mouths and guts. One 3-1/2 inch pleco can eat as much as 4 Corydoras. They are both compatible and complimentary bottom cleaners.