Should I try discus?

[racialfish]

So I bought a new 75 gallon tank with flourite and the whole planted lighting with co2 thing. I'm thinking about trying discus out, 1st question, How many should I get? The 55 gallon I currently have I will transfer the fish from it to the 75 which are 2 BN plecos, 1 sparkling gourami, 1 spiketail gourami, 2 pencilfish, 2 cardinal tetras, and a few ottos. All these fish stay rather small and from what I have read should be compatible with discus. I was thinking 4 discus to start off with and maybe bump it up to 6 later? Also will they do ok in my 7.5 ph? Should I get juvies or adults?

 

[Aquarium Freak]

A 75g is a good sized tank for Discus IMO. I was also very skeptical about jumpig into them but one day i just bit the bullet and bought 9 for my planted 90g. I would personally skip the gouramis as they will take away from the discuses beauty but its up to you im sure the would be fine. I would load the tank with plants aand boost that number of Cardinals up to about 12ish as they look alot nicer in a school and may become stressed with only a pair. I would buy all 6 of them now as juvenniles and let them grow up together and then let the form pairs and see which ones will not get along. If you have had 4 in a tank alone and then add 2 more there might be aggression issues. A ph of 7.5 is a bit high for Discus they prefer and show far better coloring at 6.5 this is what I keep mine at and they look great. The gouramis may not like the ph that low so you might want to take that into consideration. Just some tips I would definatley go for it and as long as you are prepared to do 1 or 2 water changes weekly and supply them with good filteration a temprature of about 86 and a high protein diet they will be fine. They are not as hard to keep as everyone says IMO I personally have not lost one but I lose other fish and once they are acclimatated they are quite hardy. So go for it as long as you are prepared and research them a bit they are just like any other fish maybe a little bit more finicky but I dont even really think so. This is JMO others may disagree but Im explaining my experiences with these beautiful fish!
HTH

 

[BrianNY]

I've grown out my share of discus over the past few years. To have the best chance of success, and to get discus to reach their max size, I use bare bottom tanks. It's easier to keep the water pristine.

I would use the 55g for 6-8 juveniles. When they get to about 4 inches move them to the planted tank. This will give your 75g time to mature and allow you to medicate should the need arise. A sponge filter and a good quality heater are all you need. The more water you change, the quicker the fish will grow. A python makes changing water not seem like much of a chore.

I've found that discus will adapt to a higher pH without problems. What you don't want to do is have the pH bouncing around.

 

[Zagz]

There is some sound advice here for you. BrianNY got me started with discus and I never failed with his advice that's for sure. Discus are a beautiful fish and you won't be sorry with the choice. But that being said, you will need to be diligent in keeping your water parameters in check. My discus tank has a ph of 7.0 for over a year. As Brian mentioned a stable ph is far more key.

 

[racialfish]

I will do like brainy said since the ph in my planted tank can drop as low as 6.8 when I turn on the co2, the ph out of tap is 7.6 but I've noticed once I run pressurized it can drop low b/c my water has a low hardness.