Discus

Discus do tend to like tall tanks, that is true. Although the best tank theoretically would be a cube, it is impossible to find and unless you want to put in many hours making your own your next bet is a tall tank. honestly there is little gain from any different configuration of the same size tank without going to extremes. your tank in particular has a good volume for a few fish but i generally don't like to go below 20", i would say it's fine for now and could be used with out any real side effects. i hope you also intend to take out the neons, guppies, platys, ghost shrimp and watch what the other fish do such as the Siamese Algae eaters do as I know they are opportunistic and will eat scales from the discus ( most of the fish above like other cooler and less acidic conditions and will get eaten such as the guppies and the ghost shrimp) lower the ph to about 6.4, step up the cleanings, put in less fertilizer, and turn down the CO2 to the lowest level (I had a scary experience with the same CO2). Good luck and have fun!!

Discsu do tend to like taller tanks as previously stated, but a 40 gallon breeder would be ok. The other fish may be a problem. First of all discus will eat the ghost shrimp. Neons like temps that are cooler and so do guppies, platies may also but I'm not sure about them. The siamese algae eater will be fine, I have never had a problem with them, but Chinese algae eaters are scale eaters. I have had problems with ottos in the past, but not all, they seem to be attracted to discus slime coat. I have not kept those loaches so I'm not sure about them but clown loaches do well with discus.
Since you want a planted tank a good place for info is http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/index.php and go to the Show tanks and biotypes section.

Research

I also would like to suggest going to SimplyDiscus, you need to be sure about what you are getting into! Discus are more difficult than many (any?) other fish, and they are too expensive to allow to get ill and die from improper set up.

what are the plants all teh way on the right

Originally posted by elgecko
Need some help here.......

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Simply Discus is a good site .... Careful on mentioning Discus and Live Plants in the same sentence. You may get your 'head-bit-off' and then scolded! I did find a few sensible people there --- not all bad folks over there, just a few.. LOL
Besides, I'm not sure you want live plants with them anyway.

On temperatures - between 84 and 87 degrees is good..... Try to have 2 heaters in case one fails..

Yep- the Discus Police.
I ran into them as well when I first put mine into a planted community aquarium.
Plants? The discus won't live!
Gravel? The discus won't live.
Other species? The discus won't live.

Meanwhile my discus are fat, happy, and growing like weeds.

There are tons of good information at Simply Discus.
Just don't let the purists ruin your experience.

Originally posted by Cearbhaill
Yep- the Discus Police......Just don't let the purists ruin your experience.

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OH! That's what they are called!
Ok.
I thought there had to be a more polite name for them...