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sudz

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
1,275
Location
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Ok, i've been looking around for ideas for fish to stock in my new tank.

I've fallen in love with the discus.

Now, can anyone think of a reason why i should not get one?

They secreet slime, and apparently you have to wipe down your tank every week. Does this mess up your substrate too?

Speaking of which, i just got 40 pounds of eco-complete in today!!! woohoo! i'm going to mix it with 25 pounds of walnut substrate, and have myself a nice dark ground for my driftwood and plants!

I hear that discus are very affectionate fish. It'll be on my desk (which i already re-enforced, so no worres about the 400 pounds of water on it)

Anyway, they seem like a beautiful fish. Are they fairly hardy? would you recommend it to someone who is just getting into a larger tank? Are they a decent community fish too? would they get along with my cherry barb and clown loach? They like it warmer, but all of my fish survived the summer without A/C... the tank got up to 85*f for a almost a week and all survived without any change in behaviour.

So many questions. I shall google for a while.

*goes off to surf*
 
There was a discussion about discus a little while agi in the general discussion forum.

The water should even be change more than only once a week. How big of a tank are you getting for the discus?

Have you had other tanks before and already a little experience? Discus are supposed to be quite hardy, but the water changes should be done frequently!

If I wwanted to keep discus I would buy myself a book about them, just to make sure I got all the info I need and can look things up just whenever.
 
Tiffi said:
The water should even be change more than only once a week. .

water changes are VERY important for discus
(maybe MORE important than any aquarium fish)
They like the most perfect aquarium water everyday !!


Also discus should be kept in schools (3 or more)
 
Tiffi said:
There was a discussion about discus a little while agi in the general discussion forum.

here it is:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=62986&highlight=discus


read it and make up your own mind :wink:

In my opinion:
if you have a large TALL tank (discus prefer tall tanks)
if you have the money (discus are expensive !!! plus they like to be kept in schools)
if you are diligent and strict on water changes and have the time/effort

go for it
(they are a great investment)
 
I don't think it would be happy in my tank. Its a 44 gallon Diamond, Rather tall, but i'd want 3 of them. I'm also away every weekend and don't believe i'd keep up to doing 30% water changes every day.

*sigh*

Maybe in a few years, once my college is done. I'll buy an 80 long. (already planning my next tank and i haven't even got my 44 yet!

Am i suffering from MTS even BEFORE i have my second tank? :p
 
If you did 30% daily and left it over the weekend they will be fine you would then probably do 50% when you returned.

If you try Angels first using a similar pwc routine then you would know if you can keep up the routine.
 
I'll probably try that. I like rainbow fish too, as well as a lot of chichillids. I just don't have the means to do a 30% water change every day. I'd need a 4 gallon bucket, and have to carry it 3 times down the hall to my bath tub, and i don't think my folks would want me dumping my fishtank water in the bath tub. Right now i just do 10% water changes every other day. its a gallon pail, and i just fill it up by remoing the canopy and dunking it in there. I did buy a self starting siphon from princess auto. Ya just shake the end underwater and it starts the flow going. pretty nifty, and only 3.99 witha 9 foot hose.
 
You need to set up a system so you can syphon the water straight out to your garden/bathtub..... long hose etc. You can then just stop it when the water level is low enough.
 
That won't be possible. The tub is over 40 feet away from the tank, down the hall I might be able to just open the screen on my window and run the tube down the roof below my window. But i'd have to sneak that one past my parents. I dont know how hard it is to remove the screen. Brand new windows (a year old)

I'll look into it
 
YOu know what... I'm going to do it. I want discus. Badly. They are the only fish i've seen that have really made my eyes widen. Do you think 3 of them will be ok in a 44 gallon 24X24 diamond tank?

From what i'm reading, the modern discus that you find in your petstore is much easier to keep than discus caught from the wild as they were even 10 years ago. I can do the water changes, i bought 2x 5 gallon buckets from princess auto. I'll do 10% water changes daily.

and my neons and clown loach will be fine in their (discus) environment. This just leaves my cherry barb, african dwarf frog and and CAE left in that tank. My tap water isn't far off, and they sell peat at big al's quite cheaply. I can through that int he resovoir of my Aquaclear 70. My 200 watt rena heater will be able to keep the tank at 84-86 degrees without a problem, and tank bred discus are able to handle the 2.8 wpg that i'll have.

I want to do this. Unless someone can tell me something drastic that i'm missing (which i encourage) I think i will!

Its not 100%... i'll establish the tank and see the water parameters... if its naturally very basic, i'll go to a african chichillid tank, to my disipointment. I have a feeling that if i don't go with discus, i'll be forever be... well, not unhappy... but not AS happy with the tank as i could be.

Please give me your thoughts. Especially you discus lovers/keepers/FINatics :p
 
Hmmm. Another discus lover. There's a reason they are the king. I want to know if you're going to buy adults or juveniles? Also 3 is about the worst number. You can almost be certain that one will be picked on. Two is fine though.
 
It's a good idea to get them, but i've been researching them for 3 years and only know actually feel ready for them.

You have to understand what food they need, and how much to feed/how many times a day. The food alone will cost $50. 3, is like someone said, a very bad number. Two is worse, one will make it lonely, 4 is too many for your tank. So you see your dilema?
 
This is a tough decision. I think before i get all worked up about it, i'll set up my tank, and see what its natural parameters are. PH, hardness, etc. Its probably a smarter idea to base my fish around my tank, rather than my tank around my fish.
 
Ok. Let me please try and clarify this a bit for you Sudz. There's a world of difference between juvenile discus and adults. Just like you'd have to care more for a baby than you would a teen, so too young discus require lots more care.

I would never suggest raising discus in a community tank. Juveniles are much more susceptible to many of the diseases that seem to infect discus. You can keep a pair of adults in that tank without too much additional work or stress.
 
I have been doing the discus thing for a good year now and have gained a very strong knowledge of the fish and what they require. All I can say is learn as much as possible before trying to raise and keep discus. They are an addiction and if you don't have the money to dump into them then they become a burden. What I am saying is, have everything planed out before you invest and don't go cheap in any way. You will use less energy and time if you buy and do the right thing. I could go on forever about the many topics and need to knows about discus but this would be an eight page repy. If you ever really want to learn about discus go to www.simplydiscus.com/forum and ask them or send me a PM. BrianNY knows his stuff too.
 
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