New discus tank

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
I am hopefully getting a 200L (52 US gall) tank and will be doing EI with it, Ive been told to have one discus per 25L of water. Whats your thoughts guys? sounds a lot to me, Im not sure
 

Spar

Guru Class Expert
Jun 5, 2005
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Dallas, TX
Re: New discus tank

i had 10 in my 200L (1 per 20L) and ended up with all deaths. now, it could have been user error else-wise, but... everyone kept warning me about putting so many in one tank but didnt listen.

I would think 4-5 adults at most in there. so 1 per 50L.

Keep us posted on how it works out! I may one day re-try Discus. I convinced my wife originally to put this tank together by promising her Discus would go in it. Havent had any quite a while now.
 

oveb

Junior Poster
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: New discus tank

I have 6 rather small ones in 180 liter. I believe 50 liter/adult discus is what most people recommend.

And preferably 8-10 Corys to clean up leftovers...
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

I have managed to get 10 Corydoras burgessi for delivery next month, I might get 4-6 discus, Im not going to get too many and I am keeping my Harlequin Rasboras to go in it, along with my ottos and Apisto Eunatus and maybe my B/nose
 

oveb

Junior Poster
Jan 24, 2005
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Re: New discus tank

Make sure you can afford at least 6 before buying ! They feel much more secure then and the one lowest in rang have larger chances to survive !
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

oveb said:
Make sure you can afford at least 6 before buying ! They feel much more secure then and the one lowest in rang have larger chances to survive !


Six is the amount I want to start with, any other ideas on corys? I want something unusual,there a guy who breeds rare and hard to get corys near where I live, I dont know what hes got, he wanted to know what I was after, suggestions?
 

JHipkin

Junior Poster
May 27, 2005
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Re: New discus tank

If you are in touch w/ the Cory breeder can you ask him if he knows the scientific name for what the LFS called a Pepper Cory. They have gone out of business so I can't ask them. It's a pigmy Cory w/ various black spots about the size of pepper corns. I would like to get some more so there may be some business in it for him. Thanks.
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

The three dwarf corys are
habrosus
hastatus
pygmeaus

or do you mean a corydoras paleatus? they are very common in the uk, where are you ?
 

oveb

Junior Poster
Jan 24, 2005
25
0
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Re: New discus tank

If you want something rare why don't you buy a pair of zebro-plecos. They are expensive but beautiful. They like high temps (29Deg C) like discus as well. Just make sure you have a high turb corner with a place to hide for them.
 

Ian H

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Shipley, West Yorkshire, UK
Re: New discus tank

Paul I wouldn't go above 5 or 6 discus in your tank and ideally not more than 4. I inherited 6 when I bought my Trigon 350 litre tank. I would not want to put any more in there.

I have been keeping fish for over 40 years now but I am still very nervous about keeping discus. For a big fish they are quite delicate and by far not the easiest to look after. To be perfectly honest I find them a little boring compared with a lot of my smaller fishes.

If you intend to put a lot of plants in there, and I assume that by going onto EI you are, then chose the plants wisely, bare in mind that the temperature that discus need is towards the upper limits of their ranges and that the discus do need swimming room.

Ian
 

JHipkin

Junior Poster
May 27, 2005
21
0
1
Re: New discus tank

Paul said:
The three dwarf corys are
habrosus
hastatus
pygmeaus

or do you mean a corydoras paleatus? they are very common in the uk, where are you ?
I live in Northern California.

I looked the species up that you suggested and the ones I have are corydoras paleatus. Thanks for the tip. Best. JH
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

For the plants I will be getting the greenline discus pack, I havent had chance to ask whats in the set as its not listed on their site, I will call them on Monday.
I wont be getting Zebra plecs as they are not available in the uk and I will be killed by the wife if I spent £140 on one fish if they were available :(
i know the discus are not exactly active, thats why I want some corys in there, I can get C121s at a good price off my main forum, but am looking to see what else I can get as a alternative, I am not looking at putting a plec in there yet, maybe in the future when the bank balance has recovered from the discus :D
 

oveb

Junior Poster
Jan 24, 2005
25
0
1
Re: New discus tank

Large South-American Cichlids have by far the most interresting behaviour if you ask me. There hierarchal (sorry for my spelling) "fights" always puzzles me...

My largest discus is propably the one on the ladders first step. When the dominant ones fights over food he/she's eating... Propably a smart guy/gal :)

In my opionion there's only one secret to keep your discus healthy, priority number one, two and three is to have clean water with lots of air in it.

Paul: I have the same problem, my wife knows how much a zebra costs... even though they are a lot cheeper in Scandinavia.
 

Tom Barr

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Jan 23, 2005
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Re: New discus tank

Try the black satan plecos, they do very well in planted tanks.
A adonis. They do get larger.

Sturisoma, Puesdoancathicus, Pecklotia, any Rhinolocaria etc, otto like cats, etc...........

Most people starve their plecos to death FYI.
Make sure you feed them correctly.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

ok, I have the filter running in my 120L tank to seed it, looks like a river now theres so much current ;) Getting the tank in a couple of weeks, just a bit concerned about crashing the ph, Im going to be using about a 80/20 ro/tap mix to get the kh and gh low enough, so the c02 is concerning my a little..
 

Bill

Lifetime Charter Member
Lifetime Member
Jan 23, 2005
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Houston, Tx.
Re: New discus tank

Why are you using ro? Straight tap water should be fine for your discus unless your trying to get them to spawn.

Bill
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

Cos I dont think they will be happy with a ph of 7.6-7.8, kh of 12 and gh of 16 - was perfect for the tangs though
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
169
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

Thanks Bill

I have joined the UK Discus Association now, fishy and planty people there. Im looking forward to it, think the discus will be waiting till mid august though, need to get the tank sep up propely first
 

Paul

Guru Class Expert
Jan 24, 2005
169
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Droitwich, UK
Re: New discus tank

Small change of plan.. I am getting some black angels to do in there on the way home tonight! I wasnt going to get them, but saw them last night and they were lovley!! so for now the discus are on hold :D