Discus and PLanted tank

[CT]

thinking of keeping discus(ard 2.5" in size) in my planted tank and have the following question to ask.

1) will they eat cardinal tetra and cherry shrimp?

2) what should I feed them?

[Simon]

how big is your tank? how many you intend to keep? golden rule for discus is 1 for every 10gallons of water.

they are unlikely to hunt your tetras, I also don't think they are fast enough for them, unlike Altums whom hunt after lights off in packs. But beware if you have shrimps, once they tasted them, they will eventually try their luck on them :P

As for feeding, the most effective food (IMO) will be beefheart, its packed with protein and fat.. if you wish to fatten them up quickly. But it will get messy :P and frequent water change is a must. Frozen bloodworm is also accepted, its clean and less messy. Over time, you can also try other food, pellets or flakes to give them variety. But it will take time for them to accept.

[CT]

my tank is a 3ft x 1ft x 1ft. have ard 20 cardinal tetra and 15 rabosa. so is it adviceable to feed them blood worm? heard that can also feed tetrabit.

[subxero]

I have 5 discus, 25+neon tetras, 6 rummynose tetras, 5 SAEs, 2 angel fishes and a few yamatos in a 4ftx1.5ftx1.5ft tank.

i feed them tetrabits in the morning, bloodworms in the evening.. and beef heart once in a while..

so far so good.. no complain from the occupants inside the tank

[ckll]

Hey CT! Discus in planted tank will look splendid!

My discus dont bother tetras & pencil fish. But my yamatos freaked out by their sheer size and all of them hide away. As a start, try to keep the hardier strains (such as turquiose), and if budget allows, always get from reputable discus breeders.

There's an article by George Booth here which you might want to take a look. There are things to look out for (such as kH, pH, temp) which might work in plants' way, but may work against discus. My discus have been weaned off beefheart and they take tetrabits. In fact they prefer tetrabits to frozen bloodworms! Weird huh? You can feed them beefheart just before your weekly water change. That will help to keep the water clean.

A couple of sites that provide good info on discus are :

- http://article.dphnet.com
- http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum

Have fun!

[CT]

thks ckll, the articles are very useful.

[ckll]

No problem!

Just remembered one more thing .. you may want to avoid Pigeon Blood strain (though this strain is hardy) cos they develop black specks around their head region (genetics, called peppering) and would become even more when lighting is strong (as in the case in most planted tanks).

[CT]

ok. dun think will be getting a pigeon blood strain. most likely getting a leopard x turq.

[ckll]

[quote:6a735ae448="CT"]ok. dun think will be getting a pigeon blood strain. most likely getting a leopard x turq. [/quote:6a735ae448]

Fabulous choice!

[Star-flog]

New in this hobby, thinking to put a few Discus on my 3ft planted tank but have a few questions hope someone could advise:-

1) How difficult to keep discus in a planted tank?
2) I travel quite frequently 5 - 7 days every few weeks, can Discus survive on dry food from auto feeder OR can Discus survice without food for 7 - 10 days. It's okay with other fishes (no food for 7 days), I tried already.

[celticfish]

New in this hobby, thinking to put a few Discus on my 3ft planted tank but have a few questions hope someone could advise:-

1) How difficult to keep discus in a planted tank?
2) I travel quite frequently 5 - 7 days every few weeks, can Discus survive on dry food from auto feeder OR can Discus survice without food for 7 - 10 days. It's okay with other fishes (no food for 7 days), I tried already.

starflog,
considering the size of discus fish and the higher temperatures i don't think its a good idea. if they are adults you might get away with once a day. but if they are juveniles then you might need to feed them at least thrice a day. making them fast for a day or two is alright but 5 to 7 days is a bit much. am sure they'll be around when you are back but its not good for the growth of juvenile fish.
celticfish

[Star-flog]

starflog,
considering the size of discus fish and the higher temperatures i don't think its a good idea. if they are adults you might get away with once a day. but if they are juveniles then you might need to feed them at least thrice a day. making them fast for a day or two is alright but 5 to 7 days is a bit much. am sure they'll be around when you are back but its not good for the growth of juvenile fish.
celticfish

Thanks for the advice.

Can Discus fish survive on dry food? If okay, I have a Eheim autofeeder can programmed up to 4 feeding per day...

Also I heard Discus got to maintanance the temperature around 28, that is no program and also for planted tank, normally the water is very clean because of low live stock.

[celticfish]

Thanks for the advice.

Can Discus fish survive on dry food? If okay, I have a Eheim autofeeder can programmed up to 4 feeding per day...

Also I heard Discus got to maintanance the temperature around 28, that is no program and also for planted tank, normally the water is very clean because of low live stock.

wow! many night owls on AQ!

yes, they certainly can. as mentioned before are they juveniles if so, you need more protien packed foods. but little and often is the way to go for most fish. btw what kind of dry food do you use?

you're right about the plant temp and discus temp...
i am still trying to figure that out. so far i'm thinking of a low/slow plant growth tank for the discus and a separate tank for the planted stuff. all the protein they need stuffs up the water unless you have full grown adults or lotsa time for water and vacuming. in which case you won't have to worry about their growth.

i reckon enchinodorus, crypts and ferns are the way to go for discus. you should checkout simon's discus tank. BEAU-TI-FUL!!! one day simon, when my home reno works are done i'm gonna get that discus tank!! in the meantime its search search search on tht internet... hahahaha

[Simon]

You can train them to feed on dry food, just takes time to adjust. What I did was feed flakes and bloodworm, eventually, one of them will be curious enough to take a bite and soon after all of them love flakes

Discus like celticfish said likes clean water, so overfeeding is a big no no, as for temperature, the reason why they need a higher temperature is because of parasite, its more of a need from a fish keeper rather than the fish. In the wild, the rivers where discus is found temperature can drop to quite a low temperature. I rather not go with a tank heater and just observe the fishes. The bigger the tank, the happier they will be. And also, Discus infamous of getting startled easily, so avoid having the tank in high traffic areas in the house. If you do not have a choice, then again observe them closely, especially with irregular traffic like children running around, banging on the tank wall will spoof them rather easily. That's another reason why the use of echinodorus, they act as cushion if the discus makes a mad dash. I lost of 2 favorite wild blue head heckels because my elder brother got married and with a new addition to the house (my sis-in-law) spoof them quite abit (kanchiong, always walking very fast), not long after, both commited suicide. (yeah, discus jumping out of the tank.. incredible feat)

[Star-flog]

That was really a great advice, Simon and Celticfish
I would now certainly like to start looking around for some discus. It's look so beautiful, the colour and its slow movement goes very nicely with the planted background.
Many thanks once again!!