Discus Breeding Pairs

[dismantle me]

I am having the hardest time finding a web site that sells discus breeding pairs. Does anyone know of any good sites for this? Thanks in advance!

[Pacman]

www.aquabid.com
But for true pairs its best to do it yourself. Pick up a handfull of two and let them pair off. When you get a pair from someone you know nothing about the pair or how old they may be. Not too many people would sell a good pair that they are making some money off of for very cheap. Would be kind of foolish of them.

[dismantle me]

yeah, come to think of it, it would be very foolish. And thank you for the website. How many discus can I put in a 55 gal. tank? I was thinking about taking all of my fish out of my 55 and getting some discus. Thanks!

[Pacman]

The rule is 10 gallons per fish. You can get away with 6 fish if you have a good filter. Once they start pairing off you might have some problems. Also a lot of people with tell you to do a bare bottom tank. Ive done them all and its pretty much up to you. Bare bottom is a lot easier to clean but kind of boring to look at. I use pots to keep my plants in and drift wood. There is no gravel or sand to deal with and you still have something else to look at.

[dismantle me]

Well, if I get 3'' discus, by the time they are ready to breed I'll have my 2 22gallon tanks empty. They both have AC 200's on them and sponge filters made for tanks up to 80 gal. Is this too small/not enough filtration for a breeding pair? My 55 has an AC 200 and a Rena Filstar Xp2. Is that enough filtration for about 6 discus? Thanks!

edit- both 22 gal. tanks are bare bottom-/edit

[PumaWard]

The minimum tank size for a breeding pair is a 29g.

The rule is 10g per fish if you do more water changes (daily). If you're only going to do them 2X a week, then you need signifigantly less discus. BB is best for growing out juveniles because they need to be fed a lot (4X a day minimum for proper growth) which is what you'll want to do if you plan on breeding. You might also want to check out the "Beginner's Discus Article" in the article corner.

Also, considering the time, energy, and the money putting in to growing out juveniles, a breeding pair isn't a bad route. Check out http://www.farwaters.com , he may still have a couple pairs for sale. Be very cautious when buying on aquabid, I just recently had a bad experience and my pair is still recovering. Post the auction on a place like simply or daah to find out if the person is reputable.

[dismantle me]

Thanks for all of the help everyone! Yesterday I purchased 6 2-3'' Red Turquoise Discus. They are going to be delivered saturday. I can't wait!

[NatakuTseng]

Make sure you get us some pictures when you get them in and settled, if you have any questions please ask, or refer to the Discus article in my signature!

[dismantle me]

Ill try to get some decent pics (my camera is a piece of crap)
Thanks everyone for all of the help! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions later.

[PumaWard]

Who did you buy them from?

[dismantle me]

I got them form www.discusmadness.com. I would have gotten them from Far Waters, but they didnt have what I was looking for. I was going to get them from aquabid, but I figured I didnt want to take that risk.
Did I pick a good site?
Thanks.

[PumaWard]

Hmm, I've never heard of them, but it looks like they have nice fish. Let me know how it goes... and of course... Pics once they arrive!

[dismantle me]

Cant wait only 2 more days....
Dont worry, Ill have tons of pics!