Discuss beginner

[madskraaer]

Hey there! I have recently cycled a Trigon 350 from Juwel, and today I'm going to move my fish from the earlier 40 gallon to the new 85 gallon.. Here's my Trigon 350:

I was wondering whether or not I should by a group of discuss for the tank, because it's a "big" fish(compared to the ones I have at least) and I think that they would be very beautiful in my tank!
I thought that a lot of you properly had experience with discuss, because I haven't, and therefore I don't know if my tank is stocked and has the size needed for discuss?
Besides, I will have the following fish in the tank:
2 pearl gouramis
2 three spot gouramis
4 small catfish
3 of these (Bali sharks?)

Does my stocking go with discuss, and how do you think my tank would be for discuss?

Thank you for your help!


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[gilpi]

My opinion from experience, I would not mix discuss with the fish you have and especially in such a small tank and even more if you're new at discuss. They can live in a tank with other fish but only after carefully selecting the ones that can coexist with them.
Discuss do well in groups of their own and its a bit challenging since it requires optimum water conditions, are finicky eaters and they can be "moody"
My suggestion if you want to try keeping discuss is to get a tank no smaller than a 55g, and get a small group of them.


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[ImACoolguy]

Discus are known as the "Kings of the Freshwater Aquarium" for their beauty and color. It's no surprise they caught your eye. However, discus are best kept as a species only tank, BUT I have seen them kept with small schools of fish just as Denison barbs. I would not recommend them for your tank simply because of your stock already. If they were to be in a tank alone i would say go for it.

Discus are also Kings because they are considered one of the hardest freshwater fish in a normal aquarium (when I say normal I mean excluding huge tanks with Arowana and stuff) to take care of. Their water needs to be kept pristine and you cannot slack on water changes. They are susceptible to disease more than other fish. A quarantine tank is a MUST. I would not recommend them to a beginner aquarist just because of the level of care needed for them.


Caleb

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[ImACoolguy]

I'm also concerned about the stock you have. Gourami can be very Territorial it is best to only have one, a breeding pair, or if you have a huge tank you can keep more then one. Bala Sharks (if that's what you have) need a group of 4-5 minimum in a large 100+ gallon tank because of their great size. Not trying to sound so negative, it's for the better of the fish and their we'll being


Caleb

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[SushiRoll]

The shark in the picture is a red-tailed shark.


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[treemanone2003]

No don't put any Discus in that tank. The footprint is totally wrong for them IMO/E. More than likely they will just hide in the back. As for species only, hogwash !!! They do plenty fine with the PROPER community of fish. Gourami and Discus are generally a bad match and quite often it ends bad for the Discus. As pointed out above, that is a RTS (red tail shark) and not a Bala. I would recommend doing some research on what's currently in your tank before proceeding with anything just because it would be "pretty" in your tank.


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[madskraaer]

Thank you for your help! I will reconsider and do some more research on the discuss, it's normal habitat, basic needs and the rest of my stocking! I'm really happy you took your time to help! The discuss will maybe fit in my tank with a smaller stocking later on!


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[NigelK8485]

Thank you for your help! I will reconsider and do some more research on the discuss, it's normal habitat, basic needs and the rest of my stocking! I'm really happy you took your time to help! The discuss will maybe fit in my tank with a smaller stocking later on!


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Even with your current stock thinned out, discus do better in a normal rectangular aquarium for the lateral swimming space rather than a corner aquarium. Though it's 84 gallons or whatever it is, it's still not a lot of horizontal space for them to swim.


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[madskraaer]

Okay, I'll remember that! Do you have any other suggestions for a "bigger" and beautiful fish for my tank then?


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[ImACoolguy]

I'd say an angelfish, not sure how they do with RTS though.


Caleb

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[NigelK8485]

Okay, I'll remember that! Do you have any other suggestions for a "bigger" and beautiful fish for my tank then?


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I would look at a severum, you could do the red spotted or rotkeil for more color. The severum should be fine with your current stock. Or look into an acarichthys heckelii, though I'm biased because these are both fish I have and love haha. The heckelii has great colors.

Just a warning though, red tail sharks usually prefer to be the only shark in the tank. There may be issues with you having three to where they could become very aggressive toward one another or other fish.


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[madskraaer]

The acarichthys heckelii has some great colors! I understand why you keep those in your tank! - I do know about the fact that the sharks want to be alone in the tank, but I bought one big and got two small in the deal.. And surprisingly, they are extremely peaceful against one another and the other fish too! I'm selling my old tank though, so I figures I could sell one or two of them with the tank! Thanks for the advices, I appreciate!


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