Discus Tank

[cobraden]

After years of being in the hobby and reading lots of books about it, I am thinking of starting a tank for discus. Thinking of using a 55 gallon tank. May even go 75g.

I'd like to start with small discus. How small is too small? I am prepared to deal with the feeding requirements of the little guys.

My favorites seem to be the Marlboro Reds. Anyone breeding them here in town. If not where would be the best place to get some young ones?

I'm not opposed to keeping them in a smaller bare tank for a while to make sure they are eating and such before transferring them to the larger display tank once they are of size.

[nacra99]

hmmm.... there are different ways to go about raising discus depending on your goals and your definition of "of size"
Is your goal to
1) raise the biggest & thickest discus that your fish could be, with nice small eyes compared to their body?
or
2) To just keep them as pets and be content with their smaller size and have larger eyes compared to their body?

If your answer is 1, then i won't go more than 6 in a 55 gal. Bare Bottom with daily 50% water changes with heavy feeding. Within the year, you should have nice 6" to 8" discus which you can move to your larger display tank.

If your answer is 2, then still i won't go more than 6 in a 55 gal tank. Planted with at least 50% weekly (twice weekly even better) water changes. Controlled feeding so as not to overload the tank (food falls into the gravel and fouls the water). Your fish would quite possibly max out at any diameter between 4"-6", have medium to larger eye to body ratio and then you can move to your larger display tank.

Then there's always option (3) with more than 6 discus in a 55 gal with a small waterchange every 2 weeks and heavy feeding. You'll get nice petite fish which max out at 3" to 4". Full of pepper and huge giant bulging eyes! But i'm sure you don't want this option....

try houston aquarium warehouse.. don't know if they have marlbro reds, but they shure have a fine selection...

[Darbex]

Yeah with juvies I would do as nacra said dont do more than 6 in a 55, lots of WC, lots of food, and high temps. which means BB tank since not much can handle that kind of params. Once they are adults then you can switch. For this reason I am way to lazy for all of that work so I went with adults only.

[FrontosaurusRex]

Very good advice from both parties. I never had luck with small Discus. I prefer them to be at least 3". Good luck with your new tank. Also I would go 75g so you have more aquascaping options.

[cobraden]

Hummm, may go the Darbex route. I do however like the idea of raising them but not sure I want to keep them in a bare bottom tank for that long. Maybe I can do both....LOL

[justjuice]

i was reading that there filtration needs for discus are different from other fish... discus should not be keept in taks that are being filtered with carbon can any body give us a little more info on what kind of filtration we should use

[Darbex]

I have heard this but I have no proof that its true or false. The theory I believe revolves around the idea that the carbon removes good particles from the water leading to HITH. However, the problem I have with this is people use carbon reactors for marine fish and tangs are also susceptible to HITH. I havent heard people swearing of the use of carbon reactors for salt water.

[wesleydnunder]

Some good advice so far...

How small is too small to start with? I would suggest a minimum 1 1/2". Feed them several times a day, no more than they'll eat in about five to ten minutes. Vaccuum up the remains after feedings. They'll typically let the food fall to the bottom and peck at it there. I'd keep the water warm; 86F. As nacra and Brian both pointed out, BB is gonna be your best set-up for a grow-out tank... much easier to clean. Daily waterchanges of 50% with complete bottom vac. Vary their diet. The sooner you can get them to eat different foods the better. Many people feed their discus only bloodworms which leads to deficiencies.

For filtration I prefer something easy to clean since it needs to be cleaned often for a grow-out. Sponge filters, HOBs and canisters all work well, with the sponges being the simplest.

A 55 is definitely workable for 6 discus, but a 75 would be better, IMO.

Mark

[cobraden]

Thanks for all of the great advise. Just as I start to plan someone list the type of discus I want for sale before I'm even ready. So goes the luck. I will have have to keep that name on file

[Darbex]

That's how it always happen. Just don't rush it make sure you research it and everything is cycled and running well.

[BassTank]

i got a 29g thats gonna get cleared up in about a month and want to put 2 juvi discus and a few tetras in it with a bare bottom tank. black background and bottom. i might add 1-2 medium rocks in there. with weekly water changes and 2 aqua clear 70s for filtration. possible?

[Darbex]

I wouldn't do it. Also the dark background and bottom will cause your discus to darken.

[BassTank]

ok how about light color for background and bottom.

algarcia- has 3 5-6 inch discus on a 30g cube and does fine with it.....

[Darbex]

One thing juvies and adults are two different things. With what you said unless you want stunted discus I wouldn't mess with juvies. I am not a fan of putting discus in anything smaller than 55G. Can smaller be done sure there are exceptions to every rule. But discus command excellent water quality. So unless you do daily WC with over 50% per or you run some kind of carbon filtration. With that small of water volume the water quality will drop fast and you will set yourself up for issues.

[BassTank]

cool thanks for the good advice.