Hi I'm new to Discus I have a few Question.

[snowflake311]

HI I'm new here and new to Discus. I have been keeping fish for 14 years and keeping many kinds of SA cichlids for 3 years. I have always wanted to try Discus but so many people say they are so hard to care for.

Well a few days ago I did what you should not do. I ran out to my LFS and bought the one healthy discus they had. I got there right as they were taking the fish out of the Boxes. This guy never was in the LFS tank. He was active in the dirty yellow water. Looked good so I got him for $20 he is about 2.5" and some kind of red Pigeon.

He is in a 20 gal bare bottom he eats well love frozen bloodworms and a beefheart brine shrimp mix. I do Daily WC 40% He is not shy at all and acts like my severums swimming around comes over when I look at him. I love this little guy he is way better then I thought he would be.


SO my questions.
1. He will be an only Discus for a little while because I need to find homes for my Urau to make room. I would LOVE to have 6 discus in my 100 gal with my True parrot. I read discus should not be kept with larg cichlids. But I also read in my research that True parrots are offten found with Discus in the wild. My True parrot is a good fish never starts fights is about 5" right now. SO would 6 Discus with one large peacful cichlid work in a 5' 100 gal? The other option is set up my 80 Gal as a Discus tank.

2. I have a 36gal that I was thinking of useing as a Grow out tank for discus. How many can I keep in ther and for how long if I get 2" discus?

3. My Pigeon does not have any paterns on his body but does on his fins. Do they get thoes markings as they grow? Or if he does not have it now he will never? How do they color up do they I will post photos tonight of him.

Thanks guys I'm sure I will have more question.

[Discus_1]

Hi snowflake! you might know me as balloons&KIllies in fishforums.net.

SO my questions.

1. He will be an only Discus for a little while because I need to find homes for my Urau to make room. I would LOVE to have 6 discus in my 100 gal with my True parrot. I read discus should not be kept with larg cichlids. But I also read in my research that True parrots are offten found with Discus in the wild. My True parrot is a good fish never starts fights is about 5" right now. SO would 6 Discus with one large peacful cichlid work in a 5' 100 gal? The other option is set up my 80 Gal as a Discus tank. Id probably just go with the 80g just in case of anything happening..

2. I have a 36gal that I was thinking of useing as a Grow out tank for discus. How many can I keep in ther and for how long if I get 2" discus?
You could probably have them in there for quite awhile, but they will grow and need room soon. or You could divide the 80g and put them in the smaller side and let them grow and expand it evertime the grow bigger.
3. My Pigeon does not have any paterns on his body but does on his fins. Do
they get thoes markings as they grow? Or if he does not have it now he will never? How do they color up do they I will post photos tonight of him. Well young discus dont get there color until hes grown abit.he'll get more color as hes grows.

Thanks guys I'm sure I will have more question.

[snowflake311]

Thanks is that your fish in your avatar? Do you have a true parrot too?

If you have one you know how they are. Really it would be my dream tank to have discus with my parrot. Or untill my parrot got too big. I saw a tank with the parrot and uaru fernandezyepezi. They are kind of like discus IMO. So really is my dream tank too crazy?

I would have a back up for the discus if the parrot was trouble.

Thanks.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj223/pepy311/P7093755.jpg

[j_li8]

welcome to Simply. To answer your questions.

1) i would recommend keeping them the 80 gallon tank by themselves first since you are new to discus. later on once you learn more about them then you could experiment if you choose to. the other advantage is if your fish get sick you can be sure it wasn't from another fish. it would be easier to get to the root of the problem if you encounter any too.

2) In a 36 gal i would grow out 6 2 inch discus in there but it wouldn't be for very long. by the time they get to about 3 inches they would need to be moved. keeping the number of fish on the low end in a tank that is on the smaller side will allow you more room for error and maintain better water quality. Dividing the 80 gallon into a smaller are and slowly increasing the amount of room as previously mentioned would be a better route to go.

3) yes it is normal for discus to not have much pattern at 2-2.5 inches. the other thing i noticed from your picture is it seems to have a slightly pinched forehead. it is not permanent however it does mean that it may not have been fed as much as it could have. feed as much as you can and keep up the water quality.

[Discus_1]

Thanks snowflake but thats not my parrot. wish it was though.. hows your doing though?



your discus is sooo cute!^.^ I Want it. is it store bought?

[Lillee]

Welcome to the discus hobby! Once bitten can never quite be cured ;)

An uncle of mine has kept several larger discus with a pair of parots successfully. Two of them actually paired off and have been successful parents many times.

If they are jevenile I would so as others have suggested and keep discus soley on their own until they've grown out.

If fed well and kept in clean water juveniles will balloon in size very quickly (6- 8 mths) and will need their own space. 10gal per adult fish is the usual recommendation and I feel that's very wise advice.

[snowflake311]

Thanks. It might be a little while till I find my uaru a new home. I don't want to get any more discus till I know I have room for them.

Yes this little guy is from a pet store. The other 2 that came in with him looked like death so I was suprised this guy looked well at all. I feed him 2 times a day 3 times on my days off. He eats only frozen food right now. I'm doing 50% wc every other day.

Since I'm not ready for more discus right now. Will it be ok to grow this guy out and have him for a few months alone like 5 or 6 months? Will a single discus take well to other discus when the time comes? He is not shy or scared at all as an only.

Oh and yeah my Parrot is doing great. She really has come out of her shell and coloring up really nice. I was not sure about her at first because she was so skitish but she was wild caught. Now she outgoing. Unless the stupid uaru freak. Because the uaru are so skitish she is a bit more jumpy.

[Discus_1]

Yeah he'll be fine for alittle while im pretty sure.And ya im pretty sure he be fine with new discus down the road. but id atleast get him like a playmate or something.just another discus his size so hes not so lonely

[jeff@zina.com]

Discus need lots of clean water. There are two ways to get this, a large tank or a small tank with more frequent water changes. You can crowd discus pretty well if the water is changed several times a day. The larger tank will ease up on your schedule and allow for more mistakes.

Personally, I like to grow out from smaller sizes, 2-3" is ideal. Then they can pair off on their own, etc. The 80 gallon would be fine for this.

Jeff

[hamfist]

SF, I think it depends a lot on the temperament of your Parrot. If he/she has a history of being gentle and accepting newcomers with no problems, then I'd say he would accept discus no problems. Go for it ! You have a good plan B with your 80 gallon if it doesn't work out so there is very little risk.
As you already know, from my posts on another forum, my uaru and my chocolate have accepted my discus no problem at all. In fact, there is great peace and tranquility in the tank. Your uaru seem rather more territorial (and also more skittish) than mine, so it really does seem to depend on the personality of the individual fish.
I'd say go for it ! Be a pioneer !