55 gal stocking question - discus, gourami exp. advice needed!

[tropical-fish]

We were thinking of just setting the tank up with a pair and adding a couple more later as we go, but the more I investigate the more it seems like they'd do better with all 4 right off the bat.

i read the same thing, that it's better to add all the discus at the same time. however you want to pick only the best discus and not to be buying fish just to make up numbers. if there are only 2 worthy discus at the lfs, then that's all i would buy.

i started off with 3. added another 2 after a few weeks and have a bit of space left for 1 or 2 more when i see the ones i want.

 

[janky]

It's a 55 but not everyone is full grown I go 2 discus that look pretty much full grow. 2 more right behind them. One medium 1 slightly smaller and 2 about 3 inches. Loaches are 2.5-3.5. Pleco is a hair under 6 inches which I think I'm going to get rid of him for a either two other ones that don't grow to 12 cm or maybe one that grows to 15 cm. depends on what I can fine here. Kind a limited on what I can have/find in okinawa here. Oh and 11 tetra. Had 12 but one seemed sick/I'll/ age? So I had to pull him out. I think in the next year I'll be losing the neons one by one due to age.

That sounds like what I wanna do.
Only I'd max out at about 4 discus. It'd be less than "ideal" in terms of schooling, but they'd have plenty of room and I wanna keep them long haul and not have to worry about getting rid of any.

I was looking at discus in my lfs a few day ago. The owner said I could have 4 in a 30 gallon tall she showed me. It was a pretty tank, but 4 seemed like to much for that tank.

4 is what I'm aiming for in a 55. I would agree that it's too much for a 30 gal. Back on the 1st page (I think) someone was talking about 10 gal per 1 discus fish is the minimum.
Sounds like the lfs was just tryin to make a sale :/

i read the same thing, that it's better to add all the discus at the same time. however you want to pick only the best discus and not to be buying fish just to make up numbers. if there are only 2 worthy discus at the lfs, then that's all i would buy.

i started off with 3. added another 2 after a few weeks and have a bit of space left for 1 or 2 more when i see the ones i want.

That sounds good. I'm checking out a discus-specialty lfs locally later on today, so I'll see what they look like there. I found another shop about a half hour away that has some really nice, healthy, vibrant looking ones.

 

[DirtyMechanic]

I had 4 when i first got the tank... and since they were the king and the largest. they really didnt school... they fought mostly they schooled when i did water changes but then again... they were stuck on staying in one corner the whole time and extremely hard to get out of the corner during the water change. Id say if you can get 5 and not 4...

 

[janky]

I can see why everyone says 55 is not enough. I went to a discus specialty store and they were freakin HUGE! Like gigantic, colorful pancakes!!!!
I think 5 would definitely be crowded in my tank once fully grown. Do they all get that big or are there "dwarf" and "giant" breeds?

 

[Passatryde]

I can see why everyone says 55 is not enough. I went to a discus specialty store and they were freakin HUGE! Like gigantic, colorful pancakes!!!!
I think 5 would definitely be crowded in my tank once fully grown. Do they all get that big or are there "dwarf" and "giant" breeds?

maybe I should've got Something bigger too

 

[Passatryde]

Sorry I meant the general retailers one...the post about the person not getting his $150 back for the fish that died the day after he bought it

 

[DirtyMechanic]

I can see why everyone says 55 is not enough. I went to a discus specialty store and they were freakin HUGE! Like gigantic, colorful pancakes!!!!
I think 5 would definitely be crowded in my tank once fully grown. Do they all get that big or are there "dwarf" and "giant" breeds?

I know mine are still not fully grown. Seems to take a while. I don't know how old my 4 largest ones are. I know some are just smaller that others. Just seems like on conditions and how many times and how much you feed them.