Wanting new Challenge

[fishermn7]

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend is dying for discus. I have a 47 gal bowfront that is more than likely going to be home to some discus I think two is about all it will handle, if im wrong please correct me. I hhave been doing more homework on this species that I did in high school, if anyone could give me list of dos and donts it would be greatly appreciated, i dont want to go into this challenge blind. thanks all Great site

Casey

[Joshcat]

A general rule of thumb is one adult discus per 10 gallons of water. If you do regular water changes, you could house 5 without any problems. They do best in groups of 5 or more.

Cathy

[Darren's Discus]

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend is dying for discus. I have a 47 gal bowfront that is more than likely going to be home to some discus I think two is about all it will handle, if im wrong please correct me. I hhave been doing more homework on this species that I did in high school, if anyone could give me list of dos and donts it would be greatly appreciated, i dont want to go into this challenge blind. thanks all Great site

Casey

Casey,
Read as much as you can on this site before rushing out and buying the first Discus you see,It's better to be prepared than run into trouble after ! welcome to simply.



cheers

[Eddie]

Hey Casey, welcome to simply!

First off, you are in big trouble if you AND your girlfriend are both into discus. If my wife was into discus, we would be flat broke! LOL

Anyways, 47 gallon....I'd push the limits of the tank and 5-6 at most.

Best advice you will ever get in your life....start off with quality discus, preferably from one of the sponsors. The local pet stores are crawling with issues and you will just be bringing them home.

Good luck and hope you learn alot,

Eddie

[Don Trinko]

I try to buy all the discus for 1 tank at the same time from the same dealers tank. This eliminates QT.
Many of the sponsers here sell quality discus at a reasonable price. I would try to find one in your area. Discus can be shipped but I think it is alot easier on them if they take a short heated car trip in your car than to get bounced around FEDX or UPS for 24 hours plus. This also enables you to see exactly what you are getting. Don T.

[Peachtree Discus]

plan your water change procedure. you will need to do water changes on a regular basis and that challenge seems to be one of the main things to make people lose interest (or maybe that's jus me). how can you 1) get dirty water and gunk out of the water with minimal effort. how can you 2) get clean, heated water into the tank with minimal effort.

IMO - the answer should not be buckets. 1 - 46g may not be that bad using buckets, but it will eventually be a source of frustration, especially when you get the "discus bug". that being.... :bounce2: more discus. :bounce: more tanks

[fishermn7]

Thanks for all the helpful info. This is exactly what I have been looking for. AT first i wasnt really into getting discus, Im a piranha large cichlid guy, but the more she talked the more I started to appreciate the beauty of the discus. Now im hooked and want them as bad as she does. Im the only thing slowing it down because I want to make sure everything is in place. So five sounds like the number I may shoot for. I was originally thinking four. Now one big question, I dont have any problem with changing water I do it weekly with my other fish already, is daily WC absolutely necessary, could twice or three times a week suffice? The reason I say this is due to my work schedule. Thanks all for the great information, I have been reading alot of good things from this site for the last week or so I love it very informative ,

Thanks Casey

[kenhappen2u]

Thanks for all the helpful info. This is exactly what I have been looking for. AT first i wasnt really into getting discus, Im a piranha large cichlid guy, but the more she talked the more I started to appreciate the beauty of the discus. Now im hooked and want them as bad as she does. Im the only thing slowing it down because I want to make sure everything is in place. So five sounds like the number I may shoot for. I was originally thinking four. Now one big question, I dont have any problem with changing water I do it weekly with my other fish already, is daily WC absolutely necessary, could twice or three times a week suffice? The reason I say this is due to my work schedule. Thanks all for the great information, I have been reading alot of good things from this site for the last week or so I love it very informative ,

Thanks Casey

YES...u can get away with fewer WC's if you do larger changes at the time , so if your changing the water 2 times (not avised)you'll
need to do larger % (like 75-95% ) if you do 3 times a week you can get away with 60-75% each .or daily 50% if not more.
i would not do any less then 3 times a week if you can . and use a good water treatment product like prime ....

one of the reasons you need to do so many WC"s is because of the amount of food being introduced into the tank on a daily basis , juvi's are usually fed 4-8 times a day and with that kind of load in your water the quality goes down very quickly..... the answer to some may be just to feed them less... but this is not advised . if you want them to grow and be happy and healthy you will need to feed them lots and have very clean water ..through water changes,

hope this helps ....Ken

[mikel]

If you get larger, older fish that have already done most of their growing, then you can do less water changes as you dont need to feed them as intensely. If you go the cheaper route and get younger juvie fish, then you need to feed them well so that they can grow to the kind of discus that you see here and fell in love with. So, if you want less work, then pay more for older discus. Dont get young discus and skimp on water change. In the end, you will not be happy, and your discus will suffer. If that is likely the case, then you are better off getting another kind of fish. mike:)

[Don Trinko]

WC (water change ) is a contraversial subject. You will hear anywhere from 100% twice a day to 20% a month. I had a very well know disus expert tell me that for near adults 20% a week was fine.
I change 50% twice a week for what I consider a normal bioload. ( 1 discus per 10g of water) right or wrong I try to change enough water to keep the nitrates near 5. I started with 25% and as the fish grew it took more to stay near nitrates of 5.
I realize that there are other bad things in the water besides nitrates.
With all adult fish and less feeding it will take a smaller wc than it does when you have young fish and feed 5 or 6 times a day. The key is clean water. You also need steady water paramenters and good food.
Changing water in larger percentages and more often is fine as long as the water parameters are OK. Don T.

[salth20]

All of these tips are valid, based on the posters experience. I agree, good healthy livestock from a reputable breeder is essential. I agree that water changes are a necessary evil, and should be easy. Amount changed and frequency is something you will have to determine for yourself and the health of the fish in your fish box. I think 5 the max you could have in a tank that small. Once you throw gravel and plants (plastic or real) you could be looking at 40 or so gallons of water. No one has asked you what filtration you will run, so I will. Canister? HOB? Maybe a trickle, wet/dry, or bio wheel? Your choice of filtration will have a bearing on your ability to keep these guys also. How will you cycle your tank? Natural with dither fish, instant with Discus and maybe Bio-Spira, or fishless with ammonia and maybe Stability? You have several decisions to make, and my advice, FWIW, is to contact the breeder you are going to get your fish from for his recommendation. I have 40 plus years of fishkeeping under my belt. I've had everything from goldfish to exotic soft corals. I've pitched or sold off more fish hardware than I can count, and built or bought it all back again 10 times over. I still learned an enormous amount about the species, what they require, and what they needed in a 30 minute conversation with the breeder I chose. The result: a fishless cycle so no livestock was harmed. A major PH adjustment in the beginning for me to match my tank to the breeders water specs, and a couple of small mods to my trickle system to make it more suitable for these guys. Today: A beautiful tank, and great pets. All of my original discus are alive and beautiful a year later, as well as my bristlenose, and a school of tetras. Two of the discus paired off at Thanksgiving. They have bred numerous times, and I am raising fry. In my years of keeping wet pets I have found one thing to ring true. If things just don't seem to be going well, you are not meeting the requirements of the animals you want to keep. Study up a bit on their natural habitat and try to get close to it. That includes PH, TDS, nitrate levels, temperature. Keep those variables as constant as possible and let nature take care of herself. But, again, I'd start with the breeder for advice. That, and have a filter big enough to take care of NewYork city....:D