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Hello,
I have an idea for Discus tank when I am older. I am thinking the tank will have lots of plants and have a school of dicus starting out with a male and a female. How big of a tank will I need to Breed Discus and grow them out for some good moola. Thanks.

Chris

Unless you have some sort of large fish farm, breeding any aquarium fish is unlikely to be profitable. Fish breeders are extremely lucky if they even break even once they sell the offspring. If you're looking to make some money, you may want to think of something else.

Unless you want to try Zebra Plecos or something along those lines...

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I agree with Natalie. Ive breed cories and peacock cichlids and i cant say ive made any money from it, i think ive actually spent more!

also ive found it difficult trying to sell them to LFS for money most prefer to give you store credit.

its nice to dream though

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I would much rather do it for pleasure versus money. I would just like to be able to get a little money out of it.
So what size?

Chris

Discus breeding tanks are generally 20 gallon tanks that are bare bottom with a heater, sponge filter and a breeding cone. They are not very decorative and very utilitarian. Most breeders will paint the bottom of the glass and three on the sides to give the fish a little more "privacy". Each tank houses one pair of discus.

The use of a smaller, bare bottom tank gives the breeder the chance to manipulate water parameters to provide optimum conditions for a successful spawn. The optimum conditions for discus are great water quality with very low conductivity and slightly to very acidic water. The bare bottom tank allows the breeder to quickly and easily clean the tank with a siphon.

Temperatures can be from 82F to 86F in the tank. A sponge filter is used for gentle filtration and to prevent fry from becoming one with a more aggressive filter system.



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__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

And remember, when you breed them, you'll have to have a grow-out tank or two. So it will take more than one tank.

*Kristin*

I was kind of thinking of having like a big bowfront 75g starting with 2 discus and growing them out.

Chris

Chris,

Discus are a shoaling fish, they like to be in groups. I recommend a minimum of 5 discus as a shoal. The shoal makes the fish much more comfortable and reduces the amount of cichlid aggression.

With a 75 gallon tank, you have the space to work with a larger group of discus. Growing out five or seven fish will probably result in a mated pair of fish.

A couple of cautions on purchasing any young fish:
o They have weak immune systems so they need very clean water conditions,
o They are young fish and need to be fed 3 to 5 times per day to grow.

Discus are great fish and their level of difficulty is exaggerated by hobbyists who do not understand their simple needs. The needs are: clean water (nitrates as low as possible), varied diet, minimum group of 5, and temps from 82F to 90F.

Please note that I did not mention hardness or pH. My pH is above 7.6 and my fish are healthy, happy and spawning!

Good luck!

BTW, I just picked up 8 fish that raised in size from 3 to 5 inches at a total cost of $70. If you are looking for great fish, whether discus or goldfish, you may want to join your local fish club!



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Well what I was hoping to do is have a tank with lots of plants and buy a mated pair of Adult Discus. Then have them breed until this tank has about 5-7 discus and sell the extras. How does that sound? Thanks.

Chris

Even with plain Brown Discus, this sounds to me like an expensive way of doing it. Juvenile Brown Discus are £10 each where I live, and that's at about 1.5 inches diameter. Fancy colour strains over here cost a king's ransom - if you wanted a mated adult pair of iridescent Lavender Discus, for example, then in the places near to where I live you'd be looking at £250 for the pair - at current exchange rates that's equivalent to $480!

You'd be better off getting yourself 6 juveniles, rehousing the surplus ones once you have your first breeding pair (and you'll be able to offer the bigger grown fishes for sale for more than you paid for them as juveniles to offset some of the startup costs) and then work on the setup from there. This is likely to be your only way forward if you're thinking of obtaining some exotic colour variant - the "hot ticket" colour variants among the Discus change hands for £200 per fish as juveniles over here, in some case more, which should give you an idea what you're looking at if you're determined to obtain stock with a good provenance ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

That sounds good but I might as well keep the surplus and have that being all my fish. How long does it take to grow them out and as adults how many can i Have in a 75g tank? I am thinking of getting Turquoise Discus but I am not positive. Thanks.

Chris