46 bow & discus ???

[Jim in Michiana]

I recently acquired a nice 46 bowfront, and I'm considering stocking it with 30-50 neons/cardinals, and 1 or 2 pairs of med discus. Should I be concerned with the fact that 1-2 pairs may actually not be pairs (as I doubt they would be at that size.) So....... would 4 discus be too much in this set-up? Would I need to worry about bullying ???? Would I be better off going with only 2 discus (perhaps slightly larger), or is 46g alltogether too small for discus period ???? I have about 10 tanks set-up already, but this would be my first attempt at discus, and at $35-$75 a pop, I really don't want to screw it up. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[Star_Rider]

discus really should be in a school. 4 is bare minimum but 5-6 is better.

in that tank you could possibly do 5 with less cards. but a larger tank is suggested.

[SubRosa]

I generally go by the 10 gal per adult rule with Discus, and unless set up for breeding I wouldn't keep less than 6 together. I could see starting out with half a dozen 2 inchers in the tank and then separating pairs into their own tanks as they form. But really a 46 is a bit small.

[theredchaser]

Your tank can only house a proven or friendly pair, which are expensive. I would not chance trying to "see if it works" with two random discus since that is just asking for trouble.

Also, the pair is going to be annoyed as hell with all those cardinals around, who don't even school as tightly as some other fish. Discus need clean water, and it seems counterproductive to overcrowd your tank with 30-50 cards???

If you are serious about keeping the discus, then I would recommend the proven/friendly pair option, which'll cost you around $200 easy. The alternative is to find a loner discus somewhere. Sometimes there are discus with bad temperament (usually caused by bad conditions) and live by themselves in some fish stores.