amazon biotope

i know that discus need special conditions that is why i am doing this biotope i am going to use that black water extract and some peat in the fillter. i also plan to keep the temp at around 80 to 82 deg. i also have a question on thaT should put the black water extract in during the cycle, you know right before the fish, or should i put it in when i put the fish in?
 
Black water extract has to be added every week. You can get the same effect cheaper by putting peat in teh filter and using lots of driftwood. Discus need CLEAN water. in a 50 gallon you could do 2-3 by themselves with maybe some cories. They are huge fish. With all the other fish u mentioned, they will be shy, out competed, and the water wont be good enough quality to keep discus. A 50 gallon tank is in the small range for keeping discus. You don't need RO water if you purchase locally raised discus. My lfs stocks angels and discus that were raised here in Boston area. So they have always known our water. There are discus breeders in this forum who breed their discus in more alkaline and harder water. Trying to mess with the PH all the time will have harmful effects on the discus and rummynose. Discus is a very expensive and difficult fish to keep.
 
sorry to have dropped this topic for a while but i think i have found a way to make the tank work becusae the lfs said that most of the fish i chose should be fine with the discus so here is a revised list:
4 Discus
10 rummynose tetras
6 marble hatchet fish
4 german blue rams
4 panda cory cats

i have dropped the angelfish becuase i don't think ihave had a positive comment on angels and discus together but the one in my book. but it is ok becuse i may get some angels for my thirty gallon! so what do you guys think?any more suggetstions on the biotope in general?
 
i know you are suggesting that becuase of how big the discus get right? but trust me i have a person to give the Discus to when they reach adulthood untill i get a bigger tank the ones i am going to get are a little older than juveniles. thanx for the suggestion though!
 
Kissofthegorami said:
Discus need CLEAN water. in a 50 gallon you could do 2-3 by themselves with maybe some cories. They are huge fish. With all the other fish u mentioned, they will be shy, out competed, and the water wont be good enough quality to keep discus. A 50 gallon tank is in the small range for keeping discus. Discus is a very expensive and difficult fish to keep.

I am afraid your discus won't make it to adulthood in order to be traded once they get bigger :confused: !!! Also, have you looked into the maintenance schedule for discus? I think it is something like large water changes every other day. I would think with that many other fish you might be doing large water changes everyday :eek: !! Just something to think about :idea: . I think you are being advised against discus in part b/c of their size and in part b/c they can be very difficult, demanding fish to keep healthy. The water must be kept immaculate for them to do well
 
well that is the kind of commitement i am willing to make because a biotope wouldn't be a biotope unless there is a diversity of life and discus are high maintenance fish don't get me wrong but i really want to take a stab at this even if it means water changes monthly,weekly, or daily i want to rise to the challenge of keeping discus with other fish. i hope you guys can see where i am comming from and i would like to here how i can make this attempt as smooth as possible :)
 
As long as you are prepared for some hard core tank maintenance (if Kas is right, I would think along the lines of at least 1, possibly 2 50% water changes a day) I would consider revising your stocking list some. I would not get the angels, let the discus be the only bigger fish in the tank, and lower the number of rummynose and hatchetfish. The tank is still overstocked, which I think you will run into problems with, but the less fish the better
 
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