Advice for keeping discus in a planted tank

[snowy85]

Been always wanting to try this since i got my tank started. discus are just so damm cool. so i bought 4 discus for christmas, they range in sizes between 3.5in to around 5in. i keep them in a 5x2x2 tank with about another 80 neon tetras or so, some yamatos, and some other smaller algae eating fish. the discus r like hiding in a corner of the tank most of the time since i put them in. seems stressed to me. Anyone here with experience in keeping the fishes in a planted tank?

I have several concerns...
1)Tank temperature is kinda on a low side, i set the chiller from 26 to 27 since i understand discus need a highier tempreature to survive, but won't other flora and fauna be affected? What would be an ideal balance? (plants i am keeping include christmas moss, hair grass, red tiger lily, and a couple of more of those stem plants i have no idea what the names are.)
2)Black oyama background which many Discus hobbyists will say stresses a discus fish, my soil is black gex soil also. is this the reason they r stressed now?
3)is 4 discus still too little for the tank? what would be a good number?
4)my ph is kept around 6.1-6.4 is that ok for the discuss? co2 is around 20ppm.
5)i am doing about 25% water change every 2 weeks. is this enough?
6) feeding them sera discus granules at the moment. is this good enough? or do i need to start feeding them frozen food like brine shrimps or bloodworms?

The above are but just some of my worries,hope fellow hobbyist/gurus here can help enlighten me on this subject and guide be towards keeping discus in a plated setup!

[stormhawk]

To answer your queries:

1) Sounds fine to keep the temp at 27 deg C. My uncle used to keep them in a bare tank with just a single heater, that he barely turned on since the tank was almost always at 29-30 deg C. 2-3 degrees lower shouldn't affect them too much I think.

2) I have no idea of the effect of black Oyama paper on discus, but basically in nature, they are found in habitats where there is a lot of driftwood on a substrate that is usually fine sand. They are probably stressed because they are still getting used to your tank.

3) 4 discus is fine for your tank. Perhaps another 2 or 3 might be just enough. They will probably establish a pecking order in the tank, and the largest one is usually the alpha fish. If you're lucky, they'll pair up.

4) Your pH range is probably good enough for green/blue discus (S. aequifasciatus). Following an article in PFK magazine on wild discus by Heiko Bleher, you might be required to pull it down to 5-5.8 or so for other wild discus species. Tank-bred strains might be better accustomed to other pH ranges.

5) Water change regime is good enough, but perhaps you might want to consider doing smaller changes every week instead of 25% every 2 weeks.

6) If they are feeding on the granules, there should be no issues. You can feed them frozen bloodworm as a treat.

That's my input so far, since I'm not that experienced in discus keeping. You might want to observe the discus. At times if they are stressed, they fall sick easily.

[snowy85]

thanks for the reply stormhawk. i will prolly get the number of discus up to 7 or 8. takes awhile to search for nice big discus.
green and blue? most of mine are more red/orange then blue or green. is that an issue? i'm pulling down the PH by increasing the CO2. is it ok to do it this way?
2 of them are still not feeding. i will prolly buy the bloodworms and try if they feed.

[stormhawk]

As long as there are no sudden changes in pH values, you should be fine. You should probably pay a visit to Shoal Haven at Bukit Ho Swee. They are having a 40% store-wide discount on all their Discus:

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...675#post506675

Perhaps the people at the shop can advise you further on how to care for the Discus, since it's run by Discus enthusiasts, as per their website's info. I figure you can obtain some nice well-sized specimens to join the 4 you have in your fish tank.

I think the Discus you own are tank-bred fancy varieties, so they should be somewhat less fussy as compared to wild imports.

[snowy85]

i went down this afternoon. picked up another 2 pieces. couldn't resist.... xD

kinda ex tho even with the discount.

about tank bred or wild i am not too sure. does it mean more colourful = tank bred?

if so i think 2 of mine r wild. i will try to get some pictures up so its easier for you guys to tell.

cheers

[stormhawk]

Tank-bred forms are those that have been bred specifically for colour and always comes with fancy names like Red Melon, Blood Pigeon? etc. Wild ones are those caught in the wild from the parts of the Amazon where they are found, and there are 3 species. All 3 have different requirements with regards to pH.

Generally speaking, the tank-bred forms aka fancy discus, are probably easier to handle as compared to wild-caught discus.

[snowy85]

now i got a problem. after adding the 2 new fishes in. one of them seems really stressed. its suppose to have a blue colour. it should be a full grown adult discus, size around 6".

now its dark and hiding at a corner all the time and is also not eating. my other 5 r already feeeding quite well. although still scared at times.

could this be caused by the difference in size? as the others r range from 3.5in to 5in

[stormhawk]

It is probably still getting used to your tank. I hope you acclimatised it properly before releasing it into the tank. With such fishes I always rely on the drip method because too many times I've lost fish in my eagerness to just dump them straight from the bag into the tank. Osmotic stress can cause death in fishes very quickly, especially in those that are extremely sensitive like discus.