# of discus in 75 gal

[Orange Crush]

I realize that in my 75 gal I can fit 6 discus but I also have a school of tetras, a BN pleco, and soon a few Apistogramma. Considering this I would feel more comfortable with having only 5 discus instead.

What are the reasons people recommend 6, is it a pecking order/aggression issue?

How liklely would I have problems if I did 5?

Is 5 discus just a really bad idea?

Thanks! :)

[chiligum]

The smaller the group, the more squabbling and the more in a group justs make the fish feel more comfortable and you'll get a lot less troubles as they act more natural and you shouldn't have any hunger strikes etc. I've kept 5 in a tank before with no troubles at all but it's all down to the individual fish itself, you can get some right nutters that never seem to fit in however many there is in a group! You don't have to have 5 anyway, you still have room for 6, just keep an eye on the water (but that should be happening if you have 1 Discus or 6 anyway!)

[CajunAg]

6 (or more) Discus will be better, 5 may work if you just so happen to get the "right" ones. What kind of filtration and water changes are you planning? I have 6 in my 65gal w/ similar tankmates, but I also have a 20gal sump to increase the total water volume somewhere north of 80gal total.

[Skip]

As of last nite.. I have 15... Young adults.. lol..

[damba]

I have twelve youngsters now but will slim down.

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[Orange Crush]

I have a fluval 405 canister (for up to 100 gal) and an AC 30 HOB.
I plan on buying discus that are at least 4"

As for the water changes I'm not sure how much I need to do yet but I was planning on doing 50% 3 times a week unless you recommend more.

6 just seems like it would be so cramped for a 75 gal with those other fish....

[Bill63SG]

I think I read somewhere that with six its the tipping point of the odds being in your favor of gettinng a pair.71049I've been meaning to move these guys,but raised them so far in a 75.

[chiligum]

And they all look perfect in their tank Bill, plenty of water in and out!

[Orange Crush]

I'm not sure if I want to breed the discus but they will be in the 75 (possibly) for years...

[Orange Crush]

What if I also put a pearl gourami in the tank with all of the others. Would 6 discus still be okay?

[damba]

I would not mix discus with pearl gouramis. They are not biotopically correct. The gourami may be too aggressive.

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[chiligum]

I personally wouldn't want to put a Gourami in with anything, i cant stand them!...JMO!

[ericatdallas]

I prefer 8+. The more the better... I don't think it's a hard number. Nothing magical happens at 6. I think it's going to be dependent on the aggression of the fish you get and I think 6 is just a good guideline that has worked most of the time for people.

However, I saw almost no fish getting overly picked on with 12+ but still see some with 6.

[Orange Crush]

Well I know that gouramis are from Asia and discus are from SA but pearls are very community friendly (unlike all of the other gouramis, those are a*******!). Currently my pearl is living with a school of tetras and he seems to think that he is part of that group, swimming and eating with them although at feeding time he is more timid.
I was planning to swap the gourami (currently in 75) with my apistos (currently in 20) but now I am thinking about having both the gourami and the apistos in the 75 since the gourami seems to really enjoy being with the tetras.
However, I am more concerned about the bioload once I put discus in there...will it be too much?

[DiscusBR]

I used to have 6 wild Cuipeuas in a 80g tank (slightly bigger than yours). They were doing well, but after a tragic mistake during a WC I lost one of them. When I ended up with 5 discus, I had a lot of problems with aggression and one bully started to dominate the tank. I then added two discus and things changed dramatically. With the 7-discus setup aggression is spread out and they are doing much better. Like you, I was afraid that 7 discus would be too much for a 80g tank, but I don't think the tank is crowdy. You can check it out at another thread:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?91991-7-months-update-My-80g-with-7-Cuipeuas-(Pics-and-video)

6 discus will be fine in a 75g, just don't add too many tankmates.