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I probably should have known better. Quite a while ago when I stopped working, I set up a 180gal and 55gal tank. They were great. After 10 years I got tired of fighting my 4 Fluval 404 (I think) filters and sold the fish to a good home and retired from fishkeeping. I got the bug recently and to keep my wife somewhat happy bought a 50 gal bow front tank. Big mistake. Went to the library and found that my 2 favorite fw fish--Clown loach and Bala Tri Color Sharks require more than a 50 gal tank. So I thought - maybe I'll try to raise a few Discus Fish. Same thing-book I got says 80gal minimum for Discus. Anyone out there having success with any of these fish in a similar size tank to mine. I do not want to stress the fish or make life miserable for them. Comments would be appreciated. I haven't set the tank up yet. This is my first post---

The clown loaches will grow slowly, so they may be fine in your tank for quite a while before they grow out of it.

The discus are quite sensitive and will not do well with such active fish as clown loaches or bala sharks. If you did want to keep them (and if, like me, you live where the water is hard, another thing you'll need is a source of low-mineral water such as an R/O unit), they may be fine in a 50-gallon tank, especially if you only get a pair (many breeders keep their pairs in 30-gallon tanks).

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Hello Superlion and thank you for your response. When I posted I didn't make it clear that if I were to consider Discus I would be forgetting about the Clown Loach and Bala Sharks. When I went to clean the new 50 gal tank today I found it had instead of a simple ledge around the top of the tank just a little thicker than the glass itself there was a 1 to 1 1/4 in ledge around the whole top of the tank creating a slew of problems setting up the tank-ie-heater, filter, air hose etc. The box indicated it is a show tank. I called That Pet Place in Lancaster and they said the tanks don't have that ledge anymore and to bring it back. They're an hour and a half away and I don't have an SUV so I will have to try and call on my son again to take me there when he can find time. They don't do exchanges so if they will give me a credit I'm going to go to a bigger tank which hopefully will take care of the problem I described. I don't have warm and fuzzy feelings about this. Wish me luck and thanks again for your response.

Hi,
I thought I'd mention, in support of Superlion's comment, that you should check your water at your residence, and determine if it is hard or soft. He is correct in that if your water is "hard" you would need to bring it down to the "soft range." Remember they come from the Amazon area where the water is really soft. A Reverse Osmosis (R/O) unit would work, but, it consumes several gallons of water to produce one gallon of "mineral free" water (depending upon your source water). That's alot of water to fill that large a tank. Plus, the R/O filter does such a good job that you have to "reconstitute" the water before you add it to the tank (even more expense).
If your water is hard and your tank is large, it would be less expensive to simply go with fish that prefer your source water, or use a carbonate substrate and keep "hard water fish."

Just some thoughts, while you are in the planning stage...

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thank you, Frank. I will certainly take the info you and Superlion provided into consideration before considering going into Discus. Right now, I am trying to get in touch with management at That Pet Place to get authorization to return the tank, stand, cover, and light I bought since the more than 1" rim around the inside of the tank makes it something I do not want to have to contend with. Strange.