newbie

[moose579]

hello all just jioned so go soft on me lol

come from a tropical forum and needing to know i little more about these fish

ive seen a breeder on ebay uk and he only live about 40 mins drive from me ,

here is the link to all his fish Item number: 320938773630

anyway / ive phoned and spoken to him ,and he has asured me that discus would be fine in tap safe water of ph of 7.2 in my area

i do have other tropical fish in the tank

4 x zebras
4 x angels
2 x swordtails
1 x baby pleco
1 x blue fighter


he has siad to me they discus are great community fish and would be fine in my tank

my tank is 4 foot long x 18 x 12" ,,,which there is plenty of room for them

bogwood /sand/plants/shipreck ,,so they have plently of hiding places

my temp is around 78 to which ive read that this could be a little on the low side for discus

his selling 2 x blue discus to which im thinking of buying from him

the tank has internal fluvar and external 304 fluvar so plenty of filters running

tank is nice and stable ,,,and never had spikes happen in the tank

what do you all think to keeping discus

[strawberryblonde]

Hi and welcome to the SD forums!!

From what I can see of the fish in his auctions, most are pretty badly stunted and don't look healthy. I'd stay away from him altogether!

If you're interested in discus, hang out here, read lots of threads and do some research, then ask questions. Everyone here is great about helping out newbies. =)

[Orange Crush]

Welcome! read the "stickies" and you will learn all you need to know to start out successfully. That is key!
-Temp needs to be at least 82F
-Discus are schooling fish and need to be in groups of at least 5-6, unless you get a "bonded" pair
-If you give them places to hide they probably will. Why not remove stuff so you can see these beautiful fish that you will spend so much time and $ on
-Your pH is great
-I'm not sure about the compatability with your other fish
-I think that would be overstocking but I am not sure because I do not know the size of your fish
-When starting out it is better to have them in a bare bottom tank while you learn how to care for them
-juvies cost less up front but you will spend more in the long run. juvies also take a lot more time to care for.

[Orange Crush]

On the ebay site look at the 2nd picture. That is what you will get and the poor thing looks unhealthy and stunted. I'm with Toni, stay away from that breeder. Here are 2 links of what to look for when you buy discus....http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?46982-What-not-to-buy
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?33300-Selecting-Discus

[TNT77]

Another thing no one has mentioned that I will throw in here. You have a 55g tank that is pretty close to already stocked with the fish you have. If you want discus I would either 1...get rid of what you have in the tank for the 5-6 discus you should get or 2...get another tank.

[moose579]

thanks for all your replys

are they really that hard to keep ?

320938773630 was going to buy 2 of these

ive read some good storys and bad ,,,and really cant make my mind up which way to go

[Orange Crush]

thanks for all your replys

are they really that hard to keep ?

320938773630 was going to buy 2 of these

ive read some good storys and bad ,,,and really cant make my mind up which way to go
Like I said look at the 2nd pic on ebay and look through the two threads I posted the link to. That is one crappy looking discus. When you buy poor quality discus you spend a lot of time trying to keep them alive only to have them die anyways.

[Orange Crush]

here is the link to what the OP is talking about http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320938773630?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch% 2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D320938773630%26_rdc %3D1

[Orange Crush]

They take a lot more time because of all the water changes but if you put them in the right size tank, by themselves with a bare bottom then it is easy to keep their tank and water clean enough. They are very picky about water quality.

[Brent1972]

thanks for all your replys

are they really that hard to keep ?

320938773630 was going to buy 2 of these

ive read some good storys and bad ,,,and really cant make my mind up which way to go

Don't buy them mate if you want good quality discus in the UK , Mark (http://www.devotedly-discus.co.uk/) Stendkers , Chens(http://www.chensdiscus.co.uk/) Asian and David(http://discusforthediscerning.com/) Asian. They all deliver. There are also many Breeders near you who have Great Quality fish.

[Brent1972]

They are not as hard to keep as a lot of people try to make out !! As long as you have good water and food they will do well. How do you treat your water for the tank ,tap safe or HMA or RO water??

[Second Hand Pat]

Hello Moose, welcome to SD and there is a discus forum in the UK that you might consider joining,

http://forum.bidka.org/

[moose579]

brent i use tap safe ,,,

and do 40% water change once a week

tank is very settled ,,as i brought it second hand and keeped the bactria living in buckets while i set it back up

reading have been fine ever since

so was thinking of just buying 2 just to see how i got on with them

the other forum im on did give all info on the discus and marked it (red) has hard to keep

before i went and collected them on saturday thought i would just ask a few Q before hand

the guy told me they can be keeped in tapsafe water ,,but they wouldnt breed in it as they would needed better ro water for breeding

not buying them to breed ,just to finsh of my stocking of fish and hopefully to look arfter them safely

[strawberryblonde]

Moose, please don't buy those 2 fish on Saturday! We're all trying to tell you that they are bad quality and that your tank isn't setup for raising juvenile discus.

There are many good breeders in the UK, Brent gave you names and links to some of them. Check those out first, ok?

Oh and if you don't want to make any changes to your tank, please buy adult discus, not babies.

[Orange Crush]

Moose, please don't buy those 2 fish on Saturday! We're all trying to tell you that they are bad quality and that your tank isn't setup for raising juvenile discus.

There are many good breeders in the UK, Brent gave you names and links to some of them. Check those out first, ok?

Oh and if you don't want to make any changes to your tank, please buy adult discus, not babies.
+1

[shoveltrash]

+2

to avoid disappointment, buy adults or sub-adults, buy from a recommended importer or breeder - quality stock counts for a LOT. and definitely don't get just 2. as was said above, they are schooling fish, and a 55g you need at least 5. but with your current stock it may very well be too crowded/overstocked.