Discus For Planted Tank. Advice

[CT]

I have a 2 ft planted tank with ph 6.8 and temp at 27.5 deg C. I am considering of rearing a pair of discus in this tank setup. Is it ok? pls advice? and do anyone know anywhere with good discus?

[chua]

oh.
Me also thouht of rearing this type of fish.
But i am new to it.
Can anyone tell me what are some things that i need to take precaution in. ( like the temperature, the PH, the type of fish that can put with it..........)

Thks

[David]

Hi CT

Sorry to bust your bubble but I think your tank is alittle small to have discus. Unless your 2ft tank is a 2x2x2, it may not be possible.

[Simon]

Discus are softwater fishes, make sure u provide them with pH of less than 7, your tank should be away from the main circulation area in the house where members of your family walk through everytime (minimize stress), provide tall, large leafy plant (echinodorus) provides them with hiding spaces and a cushion in case they panick and dash through the vegatation. They are sometimes fussy and slow eaters, therefore you need to take that in consideration, especially if you have other fishes around. most importantly, provide them with enough space to swimming, which means a 2ft is a defintely no no for discus or any other fish of that space.

[chua]

Thks for the information. But how to we provide cushion for them?

[Simon]

use plants like nuphaer, echinodorus species. Plant them at the side. I have heard stories of discus dying due to dashing and knocking themselves onto the glass

[David]

and no sharp edged or pointed wood deco as well......

[CT]

Ok! I think discus will be out of my mind until I have a bigger tank for them to swim in. Anyway, what is the ideal size of the tank for those discus?

[loupgarou]

discus: well, chai's discus at commonwealth , fishio tribe, there are couple of other places with discus as well. (clementi c328 sometimes, the one near the cinema , happy discus at bv.)

as for planted tank, watch what species you get.
I find that those species prone to blackening/getting black pigment (ie: red white,yellow white, pigeon blood mixes etc) will develop the problem in planted tank (probably because you aren't changing water daily.)

(san merah, rose reds don't have this problem)

also, the amount of food a juvenile discus needs to eat will certainly polute a planted tank into an algae/bba bloom. so if you feed low quantities, you might stunt a young discus..

[David]

CT....the ideal size of tank for adult discus is a 4x2x2...and its one adult discus to 10 gallons of water if my memory serves me correctly...and like what Lou has mentioned, its better to get adult discus rather than juveniles.....

[Plantbrain]

My fish did great, but I think the key is a good diet, water changes(large % weekly is fine in a planted tank), lots of plants to hide in, My fish were certainly not stunted at once a day feeding after they got 5-8 cm. I only kept 5 in a 340 liter tank. I had a fair amount of other fish, cories, otto cats, various pleco's.
Temp was around 28C, they bred, the KH was 5.5, the GH 9. 5 fully grown happy Discus + plants fills a tank that size well.

Some folks with higher fish loads change the water 2x 50% a week and dose afterwards only on those days.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[David]

Hi Tom

Just out of curiousity, what breed of discus are you having and the diet that you are giving them.

I have 3 adult Tefe Green in a 4x1.5x1.5 and I am feeding them mainly on frozen blood worms. I used to have Heckels but they are too sensitive to my liking.

[mervin]

hi there !!!

i believe discus thrive in warmer water like around 30'C so 27'C.......

anyway, where did u buy your TeFe Green David ?

[David]

Hi Mervin

I got them from Gan about 3 years ago.....I seem to noticed that he does not bring in wild discus anymore....pity though

Discus are pretty much okay from temp range from 26 to 32C....I have read in some dicus book that during the monsoon season in SA, it could rain for days on end without sunshine...the temp can drop quite drastically....

[Plantbrain]

Blue Diamonds(solids, from Dick Au/Bing, our local breeders here).
I feed frozen tubifix, blood worms, glass worms, mysis shrimps, live brine, beef heart. Some frozen Discus mixes are fairly good.

I dod around 50-70% weekly water changes, KH=5, GH=9, Temp = 27-28C, 350w MH's over a 4x2x1.5 ft tank.
They don't seem to have issues with anything to me.

Big cichlids that look like colorful dinner plates
Mine were pretty much solid blues as they got older.
I like fish that don't eat Amano shrimps. I sold the fish(75$ ea).
From the color, breeding and $ standpoint I see the appeal, but I really don't care for them. I like Altums and other fish more. I might raise some more to adults and sell them in a couple of years or so when I settle down more.
They just don't excite me like say rare pleco's. Discus get too big for many tanks IMO when they get full size and many folks add too many little ones in the beginning.

Regards,
Tom Barr