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hey guys. whiel my new 55g is cycling for the 1st time i've been thinking about whatfish to keep.

and the fish that stand out the most is discus. i dont mind spending the money on a pair. epecially a breeding pair.

should i be scared of owning them? knowing they need special requriements. ie soft water..

i have a medium peice of driftwood in the tank and some red rock with a gravel substrate. i'll be adding more DW in the future. and i plan on doing weekly water changes.

i have silver dollars (3) in the tank atm and i think i'll keep them in there in with the discus. i'm using a AquaOne cannister filter. and theres a bubble wall to..

only have a year or so's ecperiance with fish am i ready? or am i wasting my money? these fish really apeal to me..

get some reading material - 'discus fish' by giovanetti is a good start. there's a lot to be kept in mind when keeping these beauties - i kept them for about a year but found them too demanding. i think if you want to keep them in optimum health, there is a lot of work involved. and they are pricey. i don't know what else you've kept in your year of fishkeeping, (i waited 25 years before i got discus!!) but if it's all been fairly simple stuff, eg silver dollars, you might want to branch out and keep some more delicate species before doing discus. discus are more demanding because they require EXCELLENT water quality. if you can give them that, go for it! they ARE the kings of the feshwater aquarium. i've got some pics of mine in my post in the photobooth if u wanna have a look.

Stu,

The bottom line on discus is water quality. Daily water changes of 20% would be fine for a display tank. Many breeders tout the need for “soft”, acidic water. They are absolutely right, if you are setting up the fish to spawn. However, a bare bottom 20 gallon with a sponge filter is the recommended spawning tank.

Other thoughts – discus are placid fish and prefer similar tankmates. The silver dollars won’t hurt the discus but they are quick and flashy. You may keep your investment lower for discus by purchasing young fish and growing them out. Fish that have 3 inch bodies are much less expensive than fish with 5 inch bodies. If you buy 7 three inch fish, you will likely get a pair or two for the same price as a breeding pair!

To find hobbyists in your area that are keeping discus check out simplydiscus.com or discusasahobby.com. Both are excellent sites that are specific to discus.


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

thanks jase and bob.

i was planing on getting smaller discus. that are a little bigger than the SDs so thieres no problems.

i was only going to get 1 pair at a time, adding to many fish at once will freak out the bio load of the tank.

i think i might move my SDs into my 3ft tank.

Do remember that discus are a schooling fish. Keep them in groups of 5 or more!

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

To add to Bob's above statement, there are often problems with keeping only two or three discus. Oftentimes, one discus will become dominant and harass the other, less dominant ones. In small groups, that is a major problem because there aren't enough fish for the aggression to be spread out. If that happens, it is entirely possible that at least one discus will die.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

To be honest mate - your tank is too small at pres.
discus grow fast and as mentioned they are schooling fish groups of 6+ generally six discus is a lot of fish ( i learn't the hard way with getting a pair- it caused nothing be heartache) they can be VERY nervous not all are but in a pair odds are you'll get a one that shys away the other will follow suit with the fear factor of the schooling nature they have. the silver dollars no matter how small WILL spook the discus and don't forget there not small fish at adult size.

as for quality of water it all depends on if there captive bred - wild caught are fussy about water, captive - not as but still you need to keep on top.

hope this helps

James

EH UP!!!

oh jeez i dont know what to do

one forum is saying dont get them, it'll be a waste. another is saying (a discus dedicated forum) they'll be fine you can add them to a tank gradually..

i'm going to look at prices this afternoon. i wont talk to the people thier as they are useless.

I'm not sure discus are as hard as they are made out to be. My parents had a pair is a 20 gallon tank with a clown loach and a betta. They lasted several years. The chain store by me often has several juvies in 10 gallon tanks. After stopping in there every week, (lots of demanding pets) none of them appear to be sick or die. I agree that you have to pay special attention to quality. But don't be scared away from keeping them.

Last edited by djtj at 29-Apr-2005 21:46

I agree with DJTJ don't be scared of keeping them - you maybe just fine - but you need to consider that you generally buy babies at the pet shop and they WILL grow and they are group fish.... let us know what you do

- all the best

EH UP!!!

I agree, Discus are not that hard. A daily water change is NOT required at all. I do water changes every 2 weeks, and my Discus are doing great.
I think a 55g tank is fine for a trio or quad of discus.
I am still not sure if a Breeding pair require company, as noone has ever answered this question for me.
They do enjoy highly planted tanks with lots of shady hiding spaces, and like tall, heavy leafed plants to lay eggs on.
Discus are really so far in my experience, a very easy fish to keep- on par with Angelfish. I have noticed no difference in care required between my breeder angels and my breeder Discus.
Do not be intimidated by Discus. If you are interested I have posted an Article on a different site about Discus, and could give you the link via PM if you want.


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yeah sneaky.

thanks for the advice. i am waiting for my tank 2 cycle and i'll be getting a small pair of discus. i'll add some plants, and i;ve got 2 peices of diftwood in there

feel free to send that link to me in Pm or you can email it to me at
stuartATstuartsmithmusicDOTcom

I have been looking into getting discus for my tank, mainly as the centre piece. I would only want 2, but I notice that people say 2 are not reccommended. I do not really want to get 5 or 6, I have a 4ft tank (200 litres).

I already have cardinal tetras, lemon tetras, black neon tetras, harlequins, some corys and a bristlenose, so as you can see they are small schooling fish and I thought 2 Discus would look great swimming around with the smaller fish...

I have java ferns and recently added some melon swords, plus I have alot of lava rock. I am going to wait to see how the Melon Swords grow and possibly get some Amazon swords as well as I read that Discus like to hide in the plants.

So I guess after all of that my question is - can a pair of Discus be kept successfully? If not I would like to know what other type of fish I could keep as a centre piece???

Also does anybody know any good fish shops / breeders in the Sydney area?

just a quick add on, discus (as long as they are not wild caught) are relatively easy to keep however i wouldnt recomend cycling your tank with them, they are more delicate and do require good water quality so cycle your tank with neons or something similar. apart from that feed them good quality food and keep them with `quiet` fish that are not too boisterous as you want your discus to be as happy as possible - also they prefer being in a group and will show their best colours when happy.