cazandchris I am a newbie to discus and planted tanks, but I have kept cichlids and some other tropical fish for several years now. I have a 46 gallon bowfront tank, and I have had my FOUR discus since March of this year...not to long, I know, but so far, so good. They didnt go into my display tank until May. I just starting doing EI, and the 50% weekly water changes, about 3 weeks ago. I was actually thinking I may do like 30% twice a week, like I used to....they do create a good bio load. What Ive read is 1 adult discus per 10gallons(40L) and they like highly oxygenated water
I have my tank set at 84F (28-29C)....when they are younger, the higher temps are more important, and you will have to feed more often, due to higher motabolism, and do more water changes cause of this, but once they get older, you can back off the temp, and the amount of feeds per day. When I first got them, I kept them in a 20gal. bare bottom and fed them up, and actually had the temp in that tank at about 87F (30+C)
Maybe if you have room, try to get your feel for them in a bare bottom tank first, before putting them in your planted tank. Then when they get bigger, you can upgrade to a bigger tank....thats my plan
I am a member of
Discus Forums :: Index
Take a read there, and see what info you can gather....discus are beautiful fish, and they have a great personality
Hopefully someone else will chime in and give their opinions, and correct me if Im wrong with any of my advice....again, Im a newbie to these fish, so take any advice you can from me with a grain of salt...hahahaha
Good luck
Eric