Thinking of keeping Discus

[james]

Hello,

I am considering keeping Discus in my current 2ft tank. Appreciate if anyone of you can give pointers like:

- Water requirement
- Temp
- Compatible fishes ( I current have guppies and Neon tetra)
- How fast does it grew and how many it the right number in a 2ft
- Food..I heard of beef heart, what's that? Any other food
- Where to get Discus and prices
- any other information that I may have missed out?

Any good site on Discus?

Thank you.

[Simon]

- Water requirement - clean (need to change water regularly, but for me, its once a week, some keepers change every day)

- Temp - 29-30

- Compatible fishes ( I current have guppies and Neon tetra) - any peaceful fishes

- How fast does it grew and how many it the right number in a 2ft - dun recommend keeping discus in a 2ft, too crampy even for small ones.. growth rate depend on food, water condition

- Food..I heard of beef heart, what's that? Any other food.. frozen bloodworm, tetrabits, beefheart is processed beef's heart

- Where to get Discus and prices,- wat type?

one of the best discus site ard
http://www.dph.nl/

[coryfav]

james,

you won't want to keep discus in a 2ft tank cos before you know it, you'll start worrying about overcrowding. even if they don't grow fast enough, there're so many beautiful discus around, you may want to buy more![]

i once told a colleague that the sudden rise in my water bills may be due to my tanks and bettas. he dismissed that cos among his 6 tanks, he changed 140litres of water in his discus tank, daily![:0]

another colleague started his discus tank, and waited them to fall sick (body turning black) before he went and buy a heater. now he's a happy man with happy discus.

this same colleague got a very good bargain (according to our other discus-man colleague) from b328, that he actually took a cab home during lunchtime to put them into his tank!!! according to our discus-man, that price was unusual, maybe someone gave up his hobby...[:] maybe you can drop by and see. but discus-man himself goes to ahkai (cactus road, off yiochukang).

you may like to put in some corydoras and/or zebra pleco. heard they're good for clearing up uneaten food from the bottom of the tank.

happy discus keeping!

[lsz]

not a discus keeper,

but can just tell you one thing that 2ft is way too small.

tank of this size should only be used for slender fish which grow to less than 4" at the very max.

we all want happy fish dont we?

[kelstorm]

sigh.. there goes my discus.. []

[juggler]

Someone shared this article before:
The Planted Discus Tank

[Simon]

see the URL.. 500 gal for discus, simply beautiful

San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society

[akoh]

Hi James ! don't meant to pour cold water on u but there are more than just the water parameter, food etc. IMO the main factors are " commitment ", " time ", " $ " etc. I 've been keeping discus for many years but unfortunately I give them up for Loricariidae 4 years ago, reason being " no time lah - very busy with work " BUT BUT I still think they're one of the most beautiful fish ! - that I've to confess lah !.
U may asked why all the factors ! well ! I give a real life example: My brother-in-law ( about 2 years ago ) have this sudden " gien feeling " to keep discus, I told him the same thing but his " gien feeling " got better of him, so he invested in a 4' tank , pick up some discus from Akai and Gan. Well ! with " some useful tips from Gan and not forgetting me ! ".
With these tips like daily water change, make ur own food ( mixture of beef heart, vitamin, shrimp etc ) he managed to raise them to adults and guess what ! he also managed to breed them !. With this " increases " he invested another 2 units of 2tiers 4' tank !. Not only he is productive in breeding discus , he is also very productive in " breeding kids too !" . Well the young ones came along ! AND " the no time excuse " came AND now discus is history ! BTW he is currently into LH !.
SO ! If the above " Factors " is not an issue to u ! GO AHEAD ! I bet u gonna have hrs of fun sitting in front of the discus tank ( all by urself ) drinking coffee ! man ! I really missed the time man !, Have Fun ! Cheers. []

Akoh
Safe Diving !

[juggler]

Is it good to keep discus of the same breed? Or can mix them?

[Simon]

it doesnt matter koah fong, unless u intend to breed them..

[kelstorm]

wouldn't they cross-breed..??? should they become horny? like red discus with blue diamond discus.. come out green color discus or something like that?? i know it sound silly.. but the only thing that managed to breed are my banded gobies.. and my cardinal tetras.. and i never do anything.. they just do it..

[hoppinghippo]

I've tot of keeping discus too but I found it unnerving that the fish is beautiful only from the side view and when it faces you you don't see much at all! tho I keep one angelfish now and face the same thing, heh.... and angelfishes always have a habit of looking at you.