Quick Check on Discus

[Allen_1971]

I'm thinking of trying out a couple of discus in one of my tanks, so I've just got a couple of questions...

1) How many discus can I comfortably keep in a 75G? My Current fishload is 50 Cardinals, 12 honey gourami.
2)Do discus prey on shrimps?
3) Any other precautions or things I should note?
4) wheres a good place to get them?

[Allen_1971]

I'm thinking of trying out a couple of discus in one of my tanks, so I've just got a couple of questions...

1) How many discus can I comfortably keep in a 75G? My Current fishload is 50 Cardinals, 12 honey gourami.
2)Do discus prey on shrimps?
3) Any other precautions or things I should note?
4) wheres a good place to get them?

[Allen_1971]

I'm thinking of trying out a couple of discus in one of my tanks, so I've just got a couple of questions...

1) How many discus can I comfortably keep in a 75G? My Current fishload is 50 Cardinals, 12 honey gourami.
2)Do discus prey on shrimps?
3) Any other precautions or things I should note?
4) wheres a good place to get them?

[Allen_1971]

I'm thinking of trying out a couple of discus in one of my tanks, so I've just got a couple of questions...

1) How many discus can I comfortably keep in a 75G? My Current fishload is 50 Cardinals, 12 honey gourami.
2)Do discus prey on shrimps?
3) Any other precautions or things I should note?
4) wheres a good place to get them?

[kunner]

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On 11/13/2002 5:00:30 PM

I'm thinking of trying out a couple of discus in one of my tanks, so I've just got a couple of questions...

1) How many discus can I comfortably keep in a 75G? My Current fishload is 50 Cardinals, 12 honey gourami.
2)Do discus prey on shrimps?
3) Any other precautions or things I should note?
4) wheres a good place to get them?

----------------

Hi Allen, is this a planted tank where u r going to put your discus?
1. What size of discus do you intend to get 3",4"or 5". If u r getting young discus 3", then 5 pc is a good number. But u might need to upgrade your tank if your discus grow up.
2. Yes, disucs is crazy overy shrimps that is afirmitive.
3. Do u have oto in the tank? Some otos like the slime produce from the discus body and tend to stuck on them and make the discus very stressful.
4. Rainbow at Sungei Tengah has a wide range of discus, Striats at Seletar, or maybe you can look around if there is any home breeder. Depend on the strain u prefer.

Just some suggestion

[zac08]

One more thing.... I had one of mine jump out of the tank before.... so do watch the lid on it...

I've heard that some plecos also like to go after the slime of the discus.

And so far, my 5in discus has left all my yamatos alone... None have gone missing or are missing any limbs or parts...

[Allen_1971]

Really? I was planning to give up the idea cuz my tank currently loaded with shrimp... So is it safe or not? Hmmmm... can any other discus people comment?

[Simon]

Allen, its fine... if u raise them from young, u shldnt have that prob.. but it vary from fish to fish.. my wild discus neber touch my shrimps b4

[Allen_1971]

Cool!! [] [] [] so I can consider trying them out again... now I need more advise...

1) Are there any differences between various types of discus besides coloration? i.e. temperment, susceptability to disease, etc

2) What are the benefits of getting wild caught discus?

3) Wheres a good lfs to start looking for discus?

4) Is it easy to sex discus when they are young?

5) How many mature discus can a 5x1.5x2 ft tank support? roughly 80G

6) What kind of food requirement do discus have?

7) What should I look out for when choosing a discus

Is there a good FAQ on discus?

Thanks,

Allen

p/s I know I could probably get a lot of this info off the web, but its probably far faster and quicker to get it from you guys who are experienced [] [] []

[zac08]

There are quite a few differences....

The main being the wild heckels and the cultivated aequifasciatus. And among the cultivated ones, there are pidgeon blood, blue diamonds, malboro, and a lot more....

Do try out the cultivated ones first, less costly (esp. if you make a beginner's mistake, with discus anything can happen)

Benefits of the wild species is that their colours are much stronger when displayed in proper conditions (meaning black water, subdued lighting and proper tankmates)

As for LFS, I can't reccomend any as there are quite a few around, so it's up to you to shop around and compare...

Sexing is almost impossible. There are no visible differences and only when the fishes pair off, then you can confirm that they are a pair.

A 5ft tank should be able to support about 6 - 8 adults...

As for food, most are not particular, esp if you've conditioned it from young to accept any food available. Mine was trained to take Tetrabits, freeze-dried tubifex, live tubifex, live blood worms, live brine shrimp... so it's best to keep switching their food around for better effect. And if you choose to feed them beefheart (which I find is unnecessary and bad for fishes, this was a mistake by the british aquariumist during the 70's and the whole whole blindly followed)

A discus should have a high body, alert (but not scared/spooked). It should have eyes that is relatively proportionate to the body (big eye ones will not be able to grow anymore, some bad genes)
And generally, it should not have white droppings or stringy droppings.


PS : I learnt this off the web and off some books... hope this helps and not give you wrong info.[:]

[Simon]

Hi allen, the rule of the thumb is 1 per 10gals.. for one adult.. but since u starting off, I suggest u get ard 5-6, they shld be better off in groups. Differences btw wild and tank-bred is usually, the color and strain of hybrid... sexing when they r young is almost impossible, get a few and hope they wil pair off by themselve.

when selecting them, always observe the others in the same tank, if there is any sign of illness, medication then dun buy... u got look ard, not much discus in lfs, but they r coming back. try to find one with a round body. notice the forehead and see if the area isnt pinched in (sign of starving, usually due to sickness like internal parasite) for food, u shld feed them with what they normally eat and slowly convert them to accept others. My tefe takes flakes

[Allen_1971]

Cool Thanks for the answers...

Hahaha sorry to say this just brings out more questions.... []

1) Whats type of fish is considered a bad tankmate for discus
2) I assume I shouldn't get them too small, so whats the smallest size I should go for
3) For reasonable healthy discus of the above size (see Q2) which are not wild caught, what should I expect to pay (give a range)
4) I read that discus don't like subdued lighting in tanks, isn't there some conflict here with our planted tanks that tend to be brightly lit?

Thanks,

Allen

[kunner]

Hi Allen, I suggest you buy a discus handbook as a beginner as there lots of beginner tricks in it. As for your question, Discus has a wide range of price range from $10 to $200 or more, depend on the strain you chose. I sugguest you choose the so called beginer strain known as blue tur or pigeon blood. They commonly know to be very tough and more over cheap. A good size to start is around 3".
Try not to get aggressive tankmate like tiger barb or the kind of fish which has a different water condition as discus like goldfish either side will be casulty. Yeah, as I said earlier, some oto or catfish will like to stuck on the body of the discus to make them very stressful.
Last but not least, the discus might not get use to the lighting at first but they will not get affected once they get use to the environment. Even the wild discus get use to the intense light in my bare tank.
Good luck in discusing.

[spilopterus]

Eh, fishes that would nip fins would probably be unfriendly. Careful that some otos just love so suck the sides of discus. Pervs.

Discus do prey on shrimps. Mine seem to be ok, but just came from a friend's place who has had shrimps disappearing cause of the discus. Depends on fauna and your discus personality. Had a friend whose dad somehow made the discus so fierce, neons would get eaten on sight and terrapins lost their heads.

Your discus size, i always advocate getting adults, little ones just need to much food for the planted tank to cope. Try home breeders. Depending on the breed, it can range anywhere from 10 bucks to 500. Try the forums, always got good deal now and then.

But if you got cash to spare, Gan and the farm at seletar is good.

By the way, discus can get used to the lighting. However, sometimes there is that neurotic discus, best if you spot one, sell it away cause it's nerves are too fried. Then there are the rambos who have no problems with lights. All a matter of them getting used to it.

[Allen_1971]

Hey Spilo!

long time no see... very sorry to say the choco gouramis I got from you about a year back bit the dust a couple of months back due to disease outbreak... Really miss those guys.

Anyway, with regards to discus, I'm quite keen to try, however I've still got to convince the "financial controller" at home that its a good idea... haha, this is even harder considering she doesn't really like them + they are costly.

My water is not stable now either, just ripped up my entire 5ft tank about 1 month back, so I'm still stabilizing the system... In the meantime, I'll continue to read up and investigate about discus

To everyone,

Thanks for all the advice so far [] []

[spilopterus]

Poor choc gouramies. Oh well, cest la vie.

Anyway, your financial controller could be helping you in selecting your discus actually. Forcing you to slow down and not be too hasty. Discus, can be very easy to be hasty. From my own experience, there are plenty of 'grandmother' stories out there. Just take for example water change. A few camps.

1. change water everyday
2. change x% (x<50) water everyday
3. change water once a week
4. change x% (x<50) water once a week
5. don't change your water at all

Which one works, well, all that i have been to or heard from all got good discus. So who to believe. But the time period will allow you to expose yourself to more discus out there, then you'll be more aware of good discus shapes, bad ones, good deals and even the strains that you like. And slowly save up the money too. *heehee* I realised that if I take a bottle of water out with me, I save at least a dollar a day and hence 30 bucks at least a month. Three months will earn me a heckel.

Back to the story, camp out at the farms and shops a little more often, talk and by the time you get your first batch, who knows, so gum with the owner until got cheap deal come along.

[danny]

The few good discus shop within MRT distance,
1)Chai Discus Farm
B78 Commonwealth Drive 01-575
Tel : 6475 4909 They are closed on Monday
Drop at Commonwealth MRT
web : www.chaidiscus.com.sg

Their fish just won the Grand Champion in Germany.
There are reasonably price fish also.

2)Fishio Tribe
B46 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee #01-896
Tel : 6278 8830 Call b4 going doing owner doing tank maintance/setup so sometime not regular hour. Drop at Tiong Bahru MRT, behind Tiong Bahru Plaza
web: fishiotribe.com.sg
Only discus no other fish except some common sucker-fish.
reasonably price fish avail.

Another place to learn more is a local forum; http://www.aquarealms.com
Not trying to promote but their discus section is more lively and lots of home-breeder post there.

Hope this help.