Discus in a planted???

[Sky Devil]

Why do people succeed in keeping discus in a bare tank while i just can't keep them in a planted aquarium. I once heard that discus cannot take planted conditions. Is that true?
I keep discus in a planted and they all turn black. They still eat but their colors are black in color.

[Simon]

please look at your water condition...

[vinz]

SkyDevil,

Have you read the Planted Discus Tank article at George Booth's website?

[Simon]

Read this, much detailed

[wks]

Hi Sky Devil, I keep discus in planted tank and they are doing well. IMO,there are some conditions which you need to adhere to if you want to have healthy discus:
1)Change water at least once a week and in my case 40 to 50% water change.
2)Feed the fish enough food but not excessive or too little everyday. Starve the fish for one day in a week. Diet should includes dry and frozen/live food.
3)Tank with sufficient space for the weaker fish to avoid the big bully. Also ensure enough space for the fish to retreat to a safe area if they feel insecured.
4)Heavily planted tank and preferably with floating plants. Discus love shaddy areas.
5)Do not stress the fish by making too loud noise or shock them by moving too close to the tank. Discus are generally shy, it takes time to get used to human activites. My discus took 2 months to get accustomed to my family's lifestyle.
I hope the above suggestions can help you.

[juggler]

I am not sure how successful are others keeping discus in bare tanks.

In my planted tanks, there are healthy discus that have survived close to a year already and grown big. And yet there are some which remain small in size. Those are the ones likely to sucuumb to some kind of internal bacteria which makes them thinner and thinner and eventually they die.

Some "discus expert" from another forum actually said planted tanks are full of bacteria and therefore hard to keep discus. In bare tanks they change water frequently that kept the tank clean.

But based on my experience, I think my success rate quite OK. Bought a batch of 4 cheap young ones and after a year plus, still got 3 left.

[spilopterus]

I only succeeded breeding discus when I decided to put them into planted tanks. Then they breed like crazy. No problems with discus in planted. However, do take note that sometimes there are one or two buggers who take a little longer or perhaps never get used to the bright lights. That happens rarely.

So far have a friend who was reluctant, he's a beginner, took my discus, placed them in his tank and he has never regretted since. They even bred, but the eggs of course never survived.

I do not know who are the ones that say planted tanks and discus do not mix. But really, most websites I go to either make it look more difficult than it really is or make it seem impossible. Oddly enough, I have a longer survivors with discus than guppies.

People like Simon had wild RSG, tefe and Heckel (the ultimate) in planted tanks, if they survived, why not harder strains like turqs and pigeons. No problemo if you ask me. Colours are also better. All the best!

For starters, if you are a little scared, go on to forums, check out for cheap discus, market is bad. Then try. Don't GROW discus in a tank, rather get almost adult ones. That's perhaps the only part in a discus life when it shouldn't be in a planted, during the first 6-12 months.

[Sky Devil]

spilopterus, you staying in blk 407? I stay in blk 402. Perhaps can help?

[sherchoo]

Curious about your tank parameters.. care to share?

[elmike]

Hi guys

I would love to keep angelfish together with discus, but read in some books that angelfish harbours some strains of bacteria that are harmful to discus. Is this true?? Has anyone been successful in keeping the "kings" and "queens" of the aquarium together... I mean for long

mike

[Simon]

elmike, I wouldnt recommend u to have both angel and discus together in the same tank.. not only does angel carry a harmful parasite immune to them but deadly to discus, discus are slow feeders, so having angel in will limit food consumption for the discus.. I used to have Altums and wild discus together in my 6ft for ard 2years before the discus die from internal parasite, though the diease isnt related to the Angels... some I have some heckels (very senstive to stress, water parameter) who die from stress coz by the jumpy Altums

[elmike]

Simon,

Their combination looks irresistable. When it comes to the final test, I would most likely take half your advice and maybe keep a pair of brown discus, which I understand is the easiest of discus to keep. Hopefully, their hardy nature will make them more compatible with angels. I guess, it's human nature to want to try things out yourself, just as seeing is believing

mike

[Simon]

u can try hybrid discus... maybe 'can' work..

[Sky Devil]

Water Para:
Ph: 6.0
Temp: 28

[spilopterus]

Hi Sky Devil, sorry for the late reply. How you know I stay at 407? Anyway, sure I can help. We can go find fishes together.

Anyway, if you intend to start again, try going for turqs or pigeons. These strains are tougher.

[lorba]

Would someone like to write one or two article/journal on 'Setting up and maintaining a planted discus/arrowana tank'?

[Sky Devil]

Spilop, you have a hp? Contact me at 91718786 when you go buy fishes