Questions on Discus Stocking....

marl_nyc

marl_nyc

AC Members
Jul 8, 2008
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Queens, NY
Hello everyone! I hope you can help me out with a couple if questions that I have about discus before I purchase them... First off i have a:

55 gal rectangular long tank
lightly planted with Wisteria, Amazon and Argetnine Swords, Java moss, tropica fern Unbrella plant and a corkscrew val...
Currently the fish i have in the tank are:
6 panda corys
2 german blue rams
4 neon tetras
And as for invertebrates"
6 Taiwanese cherry shrimp
10 amano shrimp
23 olive nerite snails

My water parameters are
water temp 82 deg F
pH 7
dKH 2
CO2 3
Fe .2
this was taken as of last monday prior to my 10% water change

Now my question is:

1. How many discus should I purchase to stock my 55 gla tank? I was thinking on getting 5 but let me know if my tank will be able to handle it...

2. Is it really necessary for me to purchase a separate quarantine tank to put them into before i put them into my planted display tank?

3. and then if i do get a quarantine tank how long should i put them in there? also what temp should i keep the water at in the quarantine tank and in the display tank that are good for them?

Well those are the most important questions that I have for now... I would greatly appreciate any help / advice you can give me before I purchase any discus yet. I want to do this right the first time if possible :help:

Looking forward to hearing from y'all.:)
 
some important things first off - say goodbye to your shrimp. the first thing your discus will do in that tank is start picking them off. the tetras may also become snacks later on.

next - water parameters - you listed a few, but you're missing the most important ones. what are the readings for ammonia, nitrite, and especially nitrate? they are very sensitive to lal of these chemicals, and saying that you only do water changes of 10% weekly is a little unsettling. at this point the bioload is low, of course, but those water changes will have to increase quite a bit with the addition of the discus.

to your actual questions:

1. four would be the best number. less than that and bullying may occur, and more and they'll be crowded.

2. a quarantine tank not only protects the fish you already have from disease, but it saves you money in the long run. a 30g tank is much cheaper to treat than a 55. depending on the size of the discus when you get them, you can go as small as a 20g tank, though a long one would of course be better than a tall one. no one will "require" a quarantine tank, but you risk both your fish and potentially your plants if the discus are sick and you have to treat them.

3. the temp you already use - 82 - is fine, though another couple of degrees won't hurt either. younger discus like it warmer than older discus. QT is usually done for one month of HEALTH. that means if you have them in the tank for 25 days, and they come down with an illness you treat the illness until it is cured and start counting to 30 days again.

before getting the discus, research the cycling process and the effects of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. you will have to find a way to make sure that the QT tank is safe for them - before you put your money down. i think the best way to go would be to cycle the tank using some existing media from the larger tank. however, keep in mind some medications can potentially ruin your biological filtration, requiring you to do daily (or twice daily, in the case of young discus) large water changes to keep toxins to a minimum level.
 
And please be prepared to do at least one or two 50% water changes a week. Discus need clean water.
 
wataugachicken said:
some important things first off - say goodbye to your shrimp. the first thing your discus will do in that tank is start picking them off. the tetras may also become snacks later on.

next - water parameters - you listed a few, but you're missing the most important ones. what are the readings for ammonia, nitrite, and especially nitrate? they are very sensitive to lal of these chemicals, and saying that you only do water changes of 10% weekly is a little unsettling. at this point the bioload is low, of course, but those water changes will have to increase quite a bit with the addition of the discus.

to your actual questions:

1. four would be the best number. less than that and bullying may occur, and more and they'll be crowded.

2. a quarantine tank not only protects the fish you already have from disease, but it saves you money in the long run. a 30g tank is much cheaper to treat than a 55. depending on the size of the discus when you get them, you can go as small as a 20g tank, though a long one would of course be better than a tall one. no one will "require" a quarantine tank, but you risk both your fish and potentially your plants if the discus are sick and you have to treat them.

3. the temp you already use - 82 - is fine, though another couple of degrees won't hurt either. younger discus like it warmer than older discus. QT is usually done for one month of HEALTH. that means if you have them in the tank for 25 days, and they come down with an illness you treat the illness until it is cured and start counting to 30 days again.

before getting the discus, research the cycling process and the effects of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. you will have to find a way to make sure that the QT tank is safe for them - before you put your money down. i think the best way to go would be to cycle the tank using some existing media from the larger tank. however, keep in mind some medications can potentially ruin your biological filtration, requiring you to do daily (or twice daily, in the case of young discus) large water changes to keep toxins to a minimum level.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks for the input... will have to do tests on the ammonia,nitrate and nitrite as my figures for these were done before i put in the fish. As mentioned earlier my bioload is still real small for the size of my tank. I will purchase either a 20 gal or 30 gal tank as soon as I can. would there be an issue with putting it beneath the 55 gal tank that i currently have? im surprised about them eating the shrimp and the tetras though I know they (discus) are carnivores but I thought that they were peaceful fish. Hmmm looks like my shrimp and neons have to be relocated....
 
I'd like to comment on your stocks.

Neon tetras-Replace them with cardinals. Why? Neons lack tolerance for higher temperatures. These prefer cooler waters which the discus in contrast will not tolerate at all.

Panda corydoras-Replace with sterbai corydoras. Similar reasons as above.
 
A few comments: I agree about the cories, but my neons do FINE at 86*. I havent lost one since QT.

As for water changes, 2 per week at 50% is ok for adult fish. For my tank with discus under 3" I do daily 30-60% water changes, and a 90% once a month. The other tank gets 50% changes every other day.
Good luck.
 
Possible Discus Tankmates for a 55 g planted tank

hello can anyone help me with ideas on stocking a 55 gal planted tank with discus? My tank as of now has the following fish:

6 panda corys (will be replaced with sterbai corys)
14 neon tetras (mixed comments on these)
12 harlequin rasboras
2 dwarf rainbowfish
2 german blue rams
10 amano shrimp
5 cherry shrimp

I am also in the proccess of cycling a 29 gal tank to serve as a QT tank for dthe discus when I do get them.. 4 should be enough for the size of my tank and the current bioload?

Depending on the advice i get the fish I will have to remove will rehomed in the QT tank and I will just have to get me another tank to serve as a QT.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
 
Replace the neons with cardinals. Neons have the tendency to die in temperature above 80 degrees. Ditch the rainbowfish as they are far too active for the placid discus.
 
You could put 5 discus in there. Five is a nice sized group, any aggression amongst them will be spread around. I personally wouldn't do a group of less than 5. Discus are happiest with lots of discus buddies.
 
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