Where do I begin?

[CajunAg]

Hello everyone! I am a relative newb when it comes to fishkeeping, I've had small tanks, <10gals, when I was younger but never anything elaborate. I'd like to get into the hobby again, and discus have caught my eye. I dream of a nice big 100+ gal setup, but I currently live in an apartment (planning to be a homeowner in 2-3 years), funds are a little tight, and I'm just plain worried I don't have the skills. To develop some skill, I was thinking of getting a small tank, say a 29 gallon w/ a canister filter, and stocking it with fish that have similar requirements as discus, minus the tank size. Examples are rams, rummy nose, apistos, etc. If I can keep such a setup going (water quality/feeding/illness/cleaning/good habits) while I save money for a house (and a dream tank!), that would seem like a good path to future discus ownership, right?

I appreciate any input or suggestions, thank you in advance!

[Northwoods Discus]

That is a perfect idea for getting your feet wet, or your hands anyway. I have rams and have had them for years. They are a great tank mate and a lovely interesting fish to watch. I have bred the rams in college and again recently. I have been keeping discus for about 2 years now and have a batch of 2.5-3 inch blue juveniles from a pair that formed. It is a fun hobby that expands rapidly in your home. Read everything you can on this site there is a wealth of information that you can not easily put together from other sources. Good luck in your quest. I think starting small with the type of fish you mentioned is wise. When your ready for discus get good stock from a sponsor here.

[dbfzurowski]

I would go straight for a 55 or 75 gal and get some discus.

[ericatdallas]

I would go straight for a 55 or 75 gal and get some discus.

LOL, that's what I did. Make sure to read a lot first though. If I could go back, I would setup my 75G, throw some tankmates (i.e. BNs, corys, etc) and sit on it for 6-8 weeks and read as much as I can before putting the discus in. You should probably do that anyway to cycle the tank...

[CajunAg]

I would go straight for a 55 or 75 gal and get some discus.

I'd like to do that, but living in an apartment limits my tank sizes b/c of floorspace, I'm also worried about the weight of the 500+ pounds of the tank and contents (I live on the second floor). If discus could be kept in a group of 2-3, I'd do it, but I know they are happiest in groups of 6 or more, meaning I would need at least a 60gal tank. Thus, I am willing to forgo discus for now, but "get my hands wet" taking care of something a little smaller, a little cheaper, but with the same concerns for water quality.

Thanks for the replies everyone, keep them coming!

[mench]

I think that you are doing the smart thing by going slow....to many people have gone into discus keeping with both feet,large tank,to many tanks etc...then when things go bad the first thing we hear is "discus are hard to keep" which is not true...if you use the KISS method..Keep It Simple Stupid.....I don't know if you have kept fish or not but the very first thing I would do is read every thing ya can get your hands on about the care of discus...with the Internet the info out there is awesome...use the search function on this board to find info on our silly flat fish....that should keep ya busy for days....if I had to do it over I would start a log to write down helpful hints and also questions to ask.....after all that,then you can start thinking about setting up your discus tank....I would do a bare bottom tank to start...find a place to get my fish,again do your homework about where to get them....start with lower cost fish,lots easier to lose a $25 fish than lose one that is $100....add some tank mates,maybe a rock,wood etc...then sit back and enjoy watching your fish doing their thing....I haven't gone into things like sickness,water parameters,feeding ...you can get all that by reading....also very important...don't be afraid to ask questions,there is no stupid questions.
I hope I have given you a start on your quest to keep discus
good luck and have fun

mench

[joshua 74]

i started with a gold fish in a 10l tank dude went strait from that to discus. it was a big shock of requirements 1 discus in a 80L tank the poor blue diamond i named dory surfed. i say defiantly do your home work and do it well and starting small with rams nd stuff is a great idea.

[John_Nicholson]

One 55 gallon tank and 6 small discus is how most people start. It is not hard to keep discus. Just buy healthy stock, change water daily, and feed a quality food. You do that and you can't go wrong.

-john

[ericatdallas]

I actually was avoiding discus at first when I re-started in the hobby because I didn't want the expense, didn't want to deal with the headache of keeping discus but then I ended up dumping all the fish I got and bought discus anyway :P (By dump, I mean, I gave it to the LFS I bought it from but for ZERO credit ... )

After only 6 months I'm now up to 3 tanks and will probably get a fourth :P

You might try asking your apartments if you can keep a large fish tank. Five hundred pounds really isn't that much over ~ 7 sq ft.

[wendy9722]

The only thing that I find is a real challenge is breeding. Otherwise watch your water levels and learn about them and what the effects are. Make sure that the water is clean and make them fat and happy. You can read on here for months. Stuff that does apply to what you have going on and not. The part that sucks is when you remember reading somthing to a new situation and you can remember all that you read about it or cant find it again.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

When I was a young lad I started with a 55 gallon discus tank on a second floor apt. The weight should be fine as it is only 90lbs (estimated) per sq ft. So if you have the room for a 55, I would try and do that verses a 29 gallon tank. The reasons are grow out for one, the fish (depending on the size you buy) can be stunted if not in a proper tank suitable for their growth rate. And everyone who knows discus, they can grow very quickly. Secondly aggression due to cramped quarters.

If you are limited in space and have to settle for the 29 gallon tank, I think the discus could get aggressive with one another for space. I am not trying to discourage you, but discus need room. Your floor should be fine with a 55 gallon if you can do it. The fish will love you for the room. Also to that, discus are better in larger groups of at least 6.

Good luck!

[ericatdallas]

Besides, if you start with a 55G now, you can still get your Rams or any fish. Any fish you get will appreciate the extra 26 gallons and will make the cost of switching to discus that much easier. Besides, once you have the 55G and have your Rams for a while, it's not much additional effort to plop in Discus when you're comfortable doing so. :)

55G are pretty cheap. I see them on Craigslist for $20-50 all the time. Just wait for a price you feel comfortable with. A lot of the fish clubs also have a "For Sale" section on their forums and they're even cheaper (i.e. hobbyist downsizing or breeder not making enough money).

[CajunAg]

Thanks for the replies everyone! As I mentioned in the first post, I'd like to get discus now, but I don't think I have the room for a 48" tank or the water resources, even getting a 55gal. I have actually been reading this site and others for a few months, but looking at the breeders' new stock posts makes it hard to think about anything else. One thing for sure, I am absolutely convinced that when I do start I will get some adult fish from a supporter of this site.

The idea behind the 29gal (I'm actually aiming for something between 35 and 45 gals) was not to use that as a discus starting point, more of a "I started keeping fish back in 2011 in a..." tank. I know it is too small for discus, but in the future I'll use it as a quarantine tank or maybe even a DIY sump. The rams and such are just to have something with similar needs as discus but in a smaller package.

Keep the comments coming!

[Jhhnn]

I think you're being entirely sensible. Rams have very similar requirements to discus, particularly wrt water quality & temperature, and they're gorgeous little fish. One of our sponsors, Snookn21, offers both wild and domestics on a regular basis, and they're often available from reputable parties on aquabid for entirely reasonable prices. You can also keep other compatible species, like bushynoses, corys & tetras. My friend blkrob has gold tetras that breed like crazy in planted tanks. 29's are good sized tanks for beginners- big enough to be interesting and for water quality to deteriorate slowly if you're not paying attention, giving you some buffer zone against disaster. They're the least pricey of medium tanks, and are widely available used on Craigslist for a fraction of the new price.

When you get into your own house, You'll want a 75gal or larger for discus. I have 2 75's, and have found them to work really well for schools of 6-8 discus. They're well worth the price premium over 55's, imo. Even bigger is good, for sure, but 75's occupy the sweetspot wrt price and size...

[CajunAg]

Thanks again for the responses everyone, that's why I keep a tab to this forum always open! I must confess that I got fed up with wanting discus and trying to compensate with rams/etc. I decided to say screw it, I'm going to get what I've always wanted. So, as of yesterday, I will be the new owner of a 65 gal reef-ready tank! My plan is to get 6 adult-ish (4" or bigger) discus, which is just at the limit for that tank, as far as volume goes. But, I have done a ton of research on sump filtration, and I'll be DIY'ing a 20-29 gallon tank into a sump. This will give me over 80 gallons of water, plenty to keep the discus happy. Once I start putting the pieces together, I'll make another post and keep you all updated. It will take awhile, but bear with me and as always throw out your suggestions!

[ericatdallas]

Thanks again for the responses everyone, that's why I keep a tab to this forum always open! I must confess that I got fed up with wanting discus and trying to compensate with rams/etc. I decided to say screw it, I'm going to get what I've always wanted. So, as of yesterday, I will be the new owner of a 65 gal reef-ready tank! My plan is to get 6 adult-ish (4" or bigger) discus, which is just at the limit for that tank, as far as volume goes. But, I have done a ton of research on sump filtration, and I'll be DIY'ing a 20-29 gallon tank into a sump. This will give me over 80 gallons of water, plenty to keep the discus happy. Once I start putting the pieces together, I'll make another post and keep you all updated. It will take awhile, but bear with me and as always throw out your suggestions!

LOL, you totally leapfrogged from being conservative to being ambitious. :)

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Honestly, I wish I was a little more aggressive when I started back up because I ended up with a lot of stuff I didn't need.

[CajunAg]

LOL yes, well I knew that, even if I started with the rams and all, I wouldn't be happy until I got some discus. And, with a great forum to ask questions and get advice, what other reason is there not to? Haha thanks for the encouragement, it is a bit of a leap of faith, but I'm going to plan everything out and slowly build up a good home for some future flat-sided inhabitants.

I've honestly had this tank planned out for a while, I just thought I'd never bring myself to taking the chance to do it in my current home. I decided, upon seeing other people's setups and opinions on the care of discus, that I actually could do it. The tank should arrive this weekend, I'll start a build thread as soon as I can!

[scottthomas]

First, welcome to Simply Discus. I read your posts and you seem to be doing plenty of research and are a patient person. That and "Simply" is all you need to be successful. I have a feeling you will do great with discus. In my opinion there are many other species that are more difficult to keep such as rams etc. I know many people will claim that keeping discus is a delicate, time consuming job only siuted for the most advanced and experienced experts of fishkeeping. However, just following some basic rules and advice that can be found here will result in beautuiful fish that are suprisingly hardy and long lived. I am glad you went with what you wanted and did not try to learn with other fish which might have been just as expensive and harder to keep. Good Luck.

[14cichlid]

i would get a bigger tank, craigslist is great and reliable if got my 55 gallon for $200 and it came with just about everything (just make sure you check it for leaks before you get it all set up.

[CajunAg]

i would get a bigger tank, craigslist is great and reliable if got my 55 gallon for $200 and it came with just about everything (just make sure you check it for leaks before you get it all set up.

Are you saying the 65gal is too small or the 29gal? I ended up going with a 65gal, got it for not much more than $200 new from the LFS :)