new discus owner! took the plunge!!! Now seeking advice PLEASE

[pitmindi]

Hi, I recently posted a question asking about what size discus to get for my established 120 gallon and many experienced people were king enough to advise me. Today I bought 2 hugh adult discus from my lfs that the owner said was a tradin and had been in his store for 4 months. They are 6" or 7" and the person trading them in had said they were about 18 months. I dont know if they are a mated pair, or even a male or female. They were together in a tank of 4 and the owners said they stuck together. So in my established 120 gallon I currently have the 2 adult discus, dozens of neons, 5 clown loaches ( about 5"), 5 glass catfish (about 4"), and 1 large bosemoni rainbowfish, and one large turquoise rainbowfish. I did get rid of my other rainbowfish, keeping just the most colorful of each type, and it did make me sad since I have had the rainbowfish for about 2 years. Is it ok to keep just the 2 remaining rainbowfish? Do I need to add more discus soon or can I wait a while before adding more?

I also bought 8 baby discus (2.5") that I put in my 20 gallon tank with a few neons and african dwarf frogs. I will feed the babies 4 times a day and do major water changes every day or every other day. I know it will take over six months for the babies to be large enough to put in the 120 gallon, so will it be ok to just have the 6"pair in the 120 gallon tank for over 6 months until the babies are ready to join them? The 6" adult discus are hugh!!! They look like floating plates and dwarf everything else in the 120 gallon tank!!!

Also, the babies ate frozen bloodworms tonight, but the adult discus just ignored the frozen bloodworm food.

[ericatdallas]

Congrats! No one warned you about LFS fish though? I'm convinced there are -some- good LFS w/ Discus. I actually know of -one- but all the others I've seen that sell Discus, the fish looked like they were near death.

Most people are also going to tell you to avoid FWB if you can. They get addicted to it, people become allergic to it, and there are healthier things to feed to it...

It's good though that the juvies are eating right away though.

[pitmindi]

Thanks for the reply. I went to the lfs for the juvies. I thought they would endure less stress on the 20 minute ride home than through shipping. Then I saw the 2 hugh adults that were beautiful and only $85.00 each and are orangish red which is the color that I am looking for so on impulse I bought the adults then had to take the rainbowfish out of my tank when I got home. The lfs said they would stand behind them if they dont live long. I hope they will be ok. I will wait a couple days before I do my first water change on my 120 gallon so not to stress them further since acclimation was a slow stressful process since they are so large. I hope they eat tomorrow, but the gul at the lfs said they dont eat much, said that adults dont eat much. What do you think of having just 2 for a long while?

[strawberryblonde]

If they have been a pair (as in were happily living together before they were traded in, and then stayed together in the LFS for 4 months) then they will probably be fine all by themselves for a few months. Just watch them closely for awhile. If they get aggressive you may need to add another 4 large discus to the tank. They are social fish.

You may find your neons disappearing from the tank. Discus will eat anything that's small enough to fit in their mouths and neons make for a tasty treat. The rainbowfish should be fine. I actually had 10 of them in my tank when I added my discus and there were no problems with them other than the fact that they are such voracious eaters that the discus had a hard time getting any food before it was all gobbled up. I moved the rainbows out cuz the darned things kept breeding like crazy and between that and the fast eating I figured they'd be happier in a tank by themselves.

Not sure about the glass catfish. They tend to like cooler waters, so while the higher temps might not kill them outright, it will probably shorten their lifespan considerably.

As far as eating goes, they probably won't eat much for the first few days just due to the stress of a new environment. Don't worry too much about it. Offer them discus flakes, pellets and/or worms (I prefer freeze dried blackworms since I'm allergic to bloodworms) once a day. Oh and it's ok to do water changes even when they are new! It's good for them to get used to you fussing around the tank and good water quality is key to keeping them healthy, especially when they are feeling stressed. Adults won't need as many water changes as your juvies, but be sure to keep an eye on your parameters so that water quality doesn't dip.

As for the babies, they need a good quality food. It sounds like you already know about the frequent feeding schedule, so just keep doing large water changes every day with them. You'll probably want to keep a sharp eye on your ADF's too because juvie discus are huge pigs and may rob the frogs of food.

Ok, last topic, I promise! You didn't quarantine your discus, so at this point you are going to have to be on the lookout for diseases that they may have brought with them, and also for diseases that your other fish have, and tolerate well, that the discus will be susceptible to. Watch for scratching (flashing), darting, loss of appetite, stringy white feces, blemishes or reddened areas on any of the fish and cottony fungal growths.

Once you get 10 posts on this thread, please upload some pics so we can see your new discus too!

[wendy9722]

If they have been a pair (as in were happily living together before they were traded in, and then stayed together in the LFS for 4 months) then they will probably be fine all by themselves for a few months. Just watch them closely for awhile. If they get aggressive you may need to add another 4 large discus to the tank. They are social fish.

You may find your neons disappearing from the tank. Discus will eat anything that's small enough to fit in their mouths and neons make for a tasty treat. The rainbowfish should be fine. I actually had 10 of them in my tank when I added my discus and there were no problems with them other than the fact that they are such voracious eaters that the discus had a hard time getting any food before it was all gobbled up. I moved the rainbows out cuz the darned things kept breeding like crazy and between that and the fast eating I figured they'd be happier in a tank by themselves.

Not sure about the glass catfish. They tend to like cooler waters, so while the higher temps might not kill them outright, it will probably shorten their lifespan considerably.

As far as eating goes, they probably won't eat much for the first few days just due to the stress of a new environment. Don't worry too much about it. Offer them discus flakes, pellets and/or worms (I prefer freeze dried blackworms since I'm allergic to bloodworms) once a day. Oh and it's ok to do water changes even when they are new! It's good for them to get used to you fussing around the tank and good water quality is key to keeping them healthy, especially when they are feeling stressed. Adults won't need as many water changes as your juvies, but be sure to keep an eye on your parameters so that water quality doesn't dip.

As for the babies, they need a good quality food. It sounds like you already know about the frequent feeding schedule, so just keep doing large water changes every day with them. You'll probably want to keep a sharp eye on your ADF's too because juvie discus are huge pigs and may rob the frogs of food.

Ok, last topic, I promise! You didn't quarantine your discus, so at this point you are going to have to be on the lookout for diseases that they may have brought with them, and also for diseases that your other fish have, and tolerate well, that the discus will be susceptible to. Watch for scratching (flashing), darting, loss of appetite, stringy white feces, blemishes or reddened areas on any of the fish and cottony fungal growths.

Once you get 10 posts on this thread, please upload some pics so we can see your new discus too!

Well said Toni

[Bud Smith]

+ 1 on the quarantine

[mmorris]

So in my established 120 gallon I currently have the 2 adult discus, dozens of neons, 5 clown loaches ( about 5"), 5 glass catfish (about 4"), and 1 large bosemoni rainbowfish, and one large turquoise rainbowfish.
I also bought 8 baby discus (2.5") that I put in my 20 gallon tank with a few neons and african dwarf frogs. ...I know it will take over six months for the babies to be large enough to put in the 120 gallon, .

You have a variety of fish that I would not keep in a discus tank because of different temperature requirements. What temperature are you keeping the adults in, and what temperature are you keeping the juvies in? Adults should be kept at a minimum of 82 degrees, juvies 84-86. Your juvies should outgrow the 20 gallon pretty quickly. I'd get rid of the neons and frogs in that tank. I assume you have substrate in the 120 gallon? If so, you will need to either: buy a bigger grow-out tank, lose the substrate in the 120 and move them to that tank in a couple months, or move them in a couple of months and take your chances growing them out in a tank with substrate. If there is no substrate, you can move them sooner than you now plan and there shouldn't be an issue.

[discolicious]

Congrats on the new discus! You've already gotten some good advice, and you'll undoubtedly have to make some decisions about your tanks in the future, but things sound good so far. I also have a really nice, large pair that I bought at my LFS who was selling them on consignment for a guy in the area. They were very healthy, eating well, beautifully colored, etc... but I still quarantined them. (Just a good practice if they're going to put them in with any other fish).

Post pics of them when you get everything settled in.

Tom

[pitmindi]

Hi, thanks for all the responses!!! My babies are eating but the adults arent. I feed they mysis nd it just dropped right by their mouths and the neons, clowns, and my two lonely remaining rainbowfish got a treat since I usually only feed mysis to my saltwater tanks! My 120 gallon is a planted tank, except in one area that is about 18", where I feed the fish. I would post a picture but im not allowed to yet.

[pitmindi]

My baby discus went into the quarantine tank. It is the 20 gallons with a few neons and about a dozen african dwarf frogs. I havent bought any new freshwater fish for about 2 years, since they were all alive and thriving, so I put the frogs in my quarantine tank. I didnt put the adults with the babies since they are about 10 times the size of the babies