I would like to get some advice about possibly stocking my 75g with discus.. I have been reading about them and asking around.. just wondering what words of wisdom are out there.. what things I might need to plan/think about before making this a final decision.. I am still a month or so away from setting up the tank and a month from that I'll be actually thinking about buying fish.. once I know everything is good and stable. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thinking about Discus
- Thread starter Temptress
- Start date
Hi Temptress,
Discus are not difficult to keep at all if you play by the rules. Start with no less than 4. If you do plan to keep juvenile discus (size no bigger than 4 inches), then keep the tank barebottom first for hygiene reasons. Juvenile discus require plenty of feedings which is compensated by several water changes to maintain good water quality. They are far less forgiving compared to adults and are easily stunted once the water conditions deteriorate quickly. Once they get big enough, then that's the point you may wish to start adding decorations there. Patience is a virtue that is highly needed in this situation. In the end, it pays off if you follow the guidelines set to help your discus grow well.
Discus are not difficult to keep at all if you play by the rules. Start with no less than 4. If you do plan to keep juvenile discus (size no bigger than 4 inches), then keep the tank barebottom first for hygiene reasons. Juvenile discus require plenty of feedings which is compensated by several water changes to maintain good water quality. They are far less forgiving compared to adults and are easily stunted once the water conditions deteriorate quickly. Once they get big enough, then that's the point you may wish to start adding decorations there. Patience is a virtue that is highly needed in this situation. In the end, it pays off if you follow the guidelines set to help your discus grow well.
Most important thing I found is that you will have 1 or more than 5 Discus, nothing in between.
For a 75g I would get 8 Discus, make sure that they are all of similar size when you buy them and make sure you have some decent size plants/wood in the tank.
The reason for the plants/wood is to break up their line of sight so that even with their pecking-order, the lowest one will still be able to easily pickup food out of sight of the other ones.
Popular belief has it that Discus are very difficult to keep. I would say that's not entirely true. 2x 30% water changes and good bio-filtration (2 Canisters or a sump) should take care of your water for that.
Last, diet: I used to feed them blood-worms, but I'm now on 100% dry food. The risk of Discus picking up worms is relatively high, and feeding them dry food is helping to reduce that risk while giving them all their required food-contents.
Temperature at 28'C minimum, they will have no problem with higher temperatures but lower makes them slow down. (Treating a sick Discus, I normally increase the temperature in the med-tank to 33'C while on meds).
In general, beautiful fish that are not much hassle. You'd might get them used to being hand-fed, though I don't bother with that. Feed them regular (ideally 4 - 5 times a day for juveniles) dry food comes easier for that with a feeding-machine that you clip on the side of the tank.
For adults, 2 - 3 times a day is enough.
Watch their poop, it is the best indicator of sickness. Dark brown or almost black is ok. light/white indicates worms or other parasites.
Good luck, enjoy them and just take care of the water-changes (which helps the rest of your tank as well.)
For a 75g I would get 8 Discus, make sure that they are all of similar size when you buy them and make sure you have some decent size plants/wood in the tank.
The reason for the plants/wood is to break up their line of sight so that even with their pecking-order, the lowest one will still be able to easily pickup food out of sight of the other ones.
Popular belief has it that Discus are very difficult to keep. I would say that's not entirely true. 2x 30% water changes and good bio-filtration (2 Canisters or a sump) should take care of your water for that.
Last, diet: I used to feed them blood-worms, but I'm now on 100% dry food. The risk of Discus picking up worms is relatively high, and feeding them dry food is helping to reduce that risk while giving them all their required food-contents.
Temperature at 28'C minimum, they will have no problem with higher temperatures but lower makes them slow down. (Treating a sick Discus, I normally increase the temperature in the med-tank to 33'C while on meds).
In general, beautiful fish that are not much hassle. You'd might get them used to being hand-fed, though I don't bother with that. Feed them regular (ideally 4 - 5 times a day for juveniles) dry food comes easier for that with a feeding-machine that you clip on the side of the tank.
For adults, 2 - 3 times a day is enough.
Watch their poop, it is the best indicator of sickness. Dark brown or almost black is ok. light/white indicates worms or other parasites.
Good luck, enjoy them and just take care of the water-changes (which helps the rest of your tank as well.)
Any larger fish is gonna poop quite a bit that`s why I go with bare bottom-wood-potted plants.Hard to get waste outta the gravel or have a very elaborate filter system. If you live in a larger city there`s all kinds of good quality Discus in the local stores,they are very popular..If I wanted to I could search out 500-1000 in a given day.But only about 5-10% are better quality.Look around don`t buy the first ones you see.
So let's say I really don't have a LFS around me.. like within an hour and a half, any places you guys could recommend to order them from? Is there anyone on AC that you guys know right off hand? I found this place called Discus Madness But I have no way of knowing how the fish look or act when I order them.. and that's ALOT of money.. but I seen they run specials on "assorted" which I would like to have an assortment of those colors.. or should I stick with pairs?
Why not try our very own vendor, Discus Hans or buy from Poppopsfish? While money does seem an issue in some cases, discus should never be really cheap considering plenty of efforts are involved to keep them at their best potential. We have to accept how much people want for them in exchange for their efforts. Be sure you are getting your fish from a reputable source with glowing reviews as all transactions are caveat emptor.
I can recommend a couple of breeders closer to MN, so less shipping $$.
choiceaquariums.com (Great Lakes Discus, Cary Strong) Farmington Hill, MI
codiscus.com (Central Ohio Discus, Mike Beals) Galena, Ohio
geocities.com/kc_discus (Discus KC, Jack Taylor) Kansas City
All highly recommended in addition to Poppops and Hans.
choiceaquariums.com (Great Lakes Discus, Cary Strong) Farmington Hill, MI
codiscus.com (Central Ohio Discus, Mike Beals) Galena, Ohio
geocities.com/kc_discus (Discus KC, Jack Taylor) Kansas City
All highly recommended in addition to Poppops and Hans.
These are very reliable discus dealers:
Gabe Posada at http://www.wattleydiscus.com/
Pete Thode at http://www.discushatchery.com/
Al Johnson at http://rockymountaindiscus.com/Default.htm
Gabe Posada at http://www.wattleydiscus.com/
Pete Thode at http://www.discushatchery.com/
Al Johnson at http://rockymountaindiscus.com/Default.htm
I did message poppops no reply yet but it's only been a day or 2 now, I didn't know about hans.. I will search that name out, thanks. As for the price of discus in general, that wasn't really the complaint/worry the fear came from spending that kind of money on fish from a website that I didn't know anything about.. hence why I asked if anyone here sold them =) I am not even sure that I care about the shipping prices.. i just want to get them from someone I know I can trust and someone that I will also be able to keep in contact with.. a "reputable" source as you put it.. just was looking for better ideas than random websites I might happen across, I don't mind spending money on good fish =)
excellent attitude! I think with any of the links above, you will find what you are looking for in service and quality.
