Discus in plant tank

[buzzmario]

never try to keep discus on plant tank before. heard that discus need to has heater. you seen now that i am having a fan blowing on the surface of the tank to keep the temp to be around 25 to 28( depend i on the air con ). so with this range of temp, it is ok to keep discus?

thanks

[Stevie]

I had a planted tank with discus. Though my discus are not at the peak of health, I do believe dicus can stayed on a planted tank. what I know, the heater not necessary to on the whole day, only time when the fish is not well or after water change...etc

[derekseah]

hi,i haf alot of guppies in my planted tank,i would like to ask if discus will nip the tails of my guppies??

[ek]

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On 5/15/2003 6:40:08 PM

hi,i haf alot of guppies in my planted tank,i would like to ask if discus will nip the tails of my guppies??

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Generally, discus are friendly towards other fishes, hardly border them in fact. So far never see a discus attack smaller fishes in my planted tank. Nevertheless they are quite hostile among themselves or territorial to be precise.

[fishboy]

also try and keep those of the same size/age
the smaller ones will be bullied to death

[squall99e]

In a bare tank at 29 deg C my discus develop richer colour, eat vigourously and fight against each other.

After i install a chiller at 25 deg C, they are darker in colour , eat and fight as usual.

I feel that temp is a factor for the discus health but also for my plants.
They have grown more green n red at 25 compare to 27.5 with a fan.

[Lighthammer]

Hi discus can be kept in a planted tank. But what those discus hobbyists have told me is that it would be better to keep larger discus in the tank as they are more hardy. The only problem is getting them to be used to the tank. Discus like shady areas to hide in but planted tanks have strong lighting so give them a couple of weeks to get get used to it. Tried keeping some discus in my tank before but hands itchy and eyes hungry always want to on the light to see them in the night. Caused a couple of deaths but those were juveniles...

Also in a planted tank kind of hard to feed them beefheart as it really screws up the water conditions. I think they need daily water changes to be in peak condition but a bit hard for a planted tank especially if u have a big one. So stick to Tetra Bits and BW. Hard to see if the fish are passing out whitish feces and have internal parasites as well. But it can be done.

As for the temp they will adjust to it slowly as long as the temp doesn't plunge suddenly. But not too low as they come from warm waters. Just my opinions... [] [] []

[Plantbrain]

I don't think there's anything wrong with my fish at 28C. I have no need to keep them lower than this. Plants don't care, except for a very few like lace plants/ome liverworts.
60-70liters of plant tank per full sized adult. Some folks dose and water change 2x a week, 30% to 50%. I just did 50-60% weekly and doses 3x a week.
They were fed live brine and frozen worms/some beef heart and other commercial frozen foods. I fed 2x a day and they got pretty good size fast. But I did not "stuff" them each time I fed.
They seem much more relaxed in a planted tank, drifting into the thickets of leaves.

I've never been one to overload a tank. Discus folks like to overload both the the fish and the food into a small tank. If you like the fish and are willing to pay and take care of them, may as well give them a nice roomy home. Consider keeping them as a long term pet and not a little piggy being fattened up for market.
You can bend a little both ways with the plants and with the requirements for these fish.
I had no problems with them ever with the above conditions and I have not seen bullying. Color was bright and electric.
I think 25C is getting a bit cool for the fish though. 28C is better.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Tom Barr

[David]

Hybrid Discus generally do better in a planted tank. However if wild forms are to be kept for biotope reasons, Tefes maybe one of choice. Heckels are alittle too sensitive.