Best Filter System/Biomedia for new Discus 30-55g set up

I keep 6 adult discus in a moderately planted 55 gallon tank with low lighting. Discus require clean water to remain healthy. I do a 50% water change once a week and mine do fine, if you have young discus that are still growing then you will need to feed them more frequently which means you will need to do more frequent water changes. I have a hob filter and it works fine, you can also use cannister filters or sponge filters or all 3 together. Besides clean water discus also require temps over 80F, IMO 84 to 86F is best. I would suggest a 55 gallon tank. I keep mine in treated city water and they do fine. I would NOT order fish from Somethingspishy as I have heard one horror story after another about them, if you can't find a local breeder then I would check out the Simply Discus forum for a reliable breeder, you will probably want to join that forum anyway since it is dedicated to discus keepers. My advice is to take your time and do a lot of research about discus keeping before you get started.

Good advice Pam916! I agree, definitely go with the 55G, they need room, they are not small fish. I use municipal tap water treated with a dechlor/dechloramine conditioner and it's just fine. Temp 84-86F, my ph runs 7.6-7.8, moderately hard. Nitrates are kept below 40 ppm. The lower, the better. I keep two 300W heaters to maintain the temperature evently in all my tanks 55G and over. All my tanks 55G and over have two HOB's running. My 72G discus tank has an Emporer 280 on each end, a gentle flow than the Aquaclear 110's which the discus prefer. They don't get blown around as much. I pack the filter compartment full of sponges and replace the actual cartridges at most 4X a year. Just rinse and reuse since the sponges keep most of the large debris from clogging them.

Rather than neons/cardinals, I prefer black tetras. They are actually very comfortable with discus and out and swimming around the tank much more than neons, cardinals and even rummynose. They have spawned in my tank as well. My rummynose still tend to stay in the back in the plants unless it's feeding time, they just don't feel comfortable with the large size of adult discus. Neons/cardinals did the same thing. I've kept german blue rams with discus without issues.

Cories are totally compatible, I would suggest anaeus or sterbai. I've kept bristlenose with discus without slime sucking issue. Bristlenose need to be fed just like any other fish. For the rare BN that finds slime coat tasty, they are starving! Otos are good little tankmates for a planted discus tank as well, again if they have enough to eat. I've moved more than one oto out of the tank because there wasn't enough algae for them to eat and they discovered slime coat. There's not enough room in a 55G in my opinion for discus and angels so skip the angels.

Plants I have had great success at those temps are all varieties of crypts, lotus, java fern, anubias, swords. And somethingfishy has a terrible reputation. Google them! Poppopsfish here on AC sells a large variety of beautiful, healthy discus, and I believe he has many sizes and prices, highly recommended to check them out.

And I absolutely aggree with Rbishop, if you can do a 75G, because of it's extra width, it's so much better. I have both a 55G and a 75G, I'd get rid of the 55G in a heartbeat for another 75G!