32 Gallon discus tank???????

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Cichlid_Keeper

Feeder Fish
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May 9, 2006
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i have a 32 gallon that i want to stock with a discus. in a couple of days i will get a "Red Torquois Discus"....... he is about 3"......... i have heard that the tank is too small for more than one full grown discus????????? i have heard that they need to be paired up or in groups b/c they don't do well alone??? i want to add an angelfish too(smaller than the discus) and a group of schooling fish.

can i just have a explanation of what i need to do to keep him healthy and to keep him happy????

here are the tank contents.....

-32 Gallon
-Natural Gravel.....
-Real "Elodia" ---and Fake Plants--- and maybe a real anubias...
-Normal light strip that came with the tank (less than 2 watts Per gallon)
-Aqua Clear 70 HOB filter

what do i need to keep the water soft??????

can someone help me out please????

thank you



CK
 
It's gonna be tough, I just don't think discus will do well by itself. I had one in a 40 G and it just wasted away.

At a minimum you would need 4 discuses, just getting a pair is generally not a good idea if your starting off at 3". One will be dominant and it could just beat the other one to death. When they are in groups the agression will be spread around.

Juvie discuses need a lot of food and clean water. All that will be hard to do with a gravel bottom. You'll need to do a lot of gravel vacuuming.

Sorry, I'm sure it's not the answer you want to hear. You just have too many things going against you. Your tank will be suitable to keep them but it's not suitable for them to thrive in.

Regarding water hardness or softness, I don't think it's too important so long as it is stable. Mixing water conditionors to hit that magic PH or hardness/softness levels just causes more problems. If you can, you'd be better off aging your water, keeping it aerated and treating it with prime.
 
If you are set on getting Discus, this is what I recommend. Plan on buying a 75 gallon tank within the 6-9 months. Clear everything out of the 32 gallon, buy emporer 280 filter and a visatherm Stealth heater. Run the tank bare bottom, run the filter with no cartidges(you will be changing water 2x a week so you can siphon out a the debree which makes the cartidge useless) The heater you want to be able to run the tank at 90 degrees if you are treating with meds. Now buy 5-6 juvinille discus 2.5 - 3 inches.

I would do 2 10 gallon water chages a week to start and increase to 15 gallons as they get bigger. feed high quality foods. As far as pH goes you can buy a neutral buffer to reg at 7.0 or an acid buffer to reg at 6.5. Keeping constant pH is very important. the water hardness is not that important, but you can soften the water with a reverse osmosis unit.

Once your discus are 4-4.5 inches move into the 75g which can be setup with gravel and decore of your choice. You then can add other fish such as Carndinal tertas, or other like fish. Possibly small angels but I would not recomend unless your discus end up being hardy eaters.
 
I can't upgrade. i have no room....and no money..... i was thinking maybe just 1 discuss.... 2 corys and some tetras and a algea eater. only about 7 fish and i can have sand instead of gravel if it makes a difference.

is there any way i can have one discus in a 32 gallon with sand, good filtration, once a week 1/3 waterchanges, and only a few other fish as tankmates besides the discus????
i saw a red tourquois discus and it was amazing and i want it so any way i can have him in this tank for life???? just tell me what i need to do to keep him alone in this tank for life???


thanks
 
Cichlid_Keeper;636368; said:
I can't upgrade. i have no room....and no money..... i was thinking maybe just 1 discuss.... 2 corys and some tetras and a algea eater. only about 7 fish and i can have sand instead of gravel if it makes a difference.

is there any way i can have one discus in a 32 gallon with sand, good filtration, once a week 1/3 waterchanges, and only a few other fish as tankmates besides the discus????
i saw a red tourquois discus and it was amazing and i want it so any way i can have him in this tank for life???? just tell me what i need to do to keep him alone in this tank for life???


thanks
Click to expand...

i say go for it u should be fine with one discus, plus they dont grow to fast i would get a small discus and just grow him out
 
well my LFS sells ALOT of discuss and many kinds but they have a last remaining Red Tourqoise discus that is about 2.5 to 3" and he is amazing and has GREAT colors.(very skitish too) and i like him...

so if i have the following..................

-sand substrate...
-Driftwood
-(hardy)Live and some Fake Plants
-Normal lighting
-Ph=7.0- to- 7.2(stable)

would this be enough to keep a lone discus for LIFE with some smaller tankmates??????
 
ya i would pick him up if i was in ur spot. post some pics of him when u get him i would love to see the discus and the setup u have good luck
 
Skittish.. that's a red flag. By nature healthy discus should be inquesitive and greet you at the front of the tank. Ask the LFS owner to feed the discus while you are there. If he ignores his food, I wouldn't get it. If he chows down than you have a fighting chance. I wouldn't leave too many things in your tank, if you have something for fish to hide behind than it is likely this is where your discus will spend much of his time. If this discus is skittish to begin with, it'll be hard to bring him out of his shell. Be patient, keep the lights in your tank off for a few days. Good luck.
 
is it worth it??? i like him alot but he is preety expensive and I don't know if i can keep him alive??????? .. is it worth geting him or should i just go with angels and leave him alone and hope he gets a more experienced owner???



thanks
 
From a discus perspective you shouldn't get it. If I understand your situation correctly, you have a 32 G tank now and you're in the process of setting it up. Does this mean it's a new tank with no fish in it yet? Putting an expensive discus in a un-cycled tank is not what you want to do. Discus need pristine water. Set up your tank first get it cycled and maybe a month down the road you can add a discus to it. I've drooled over many discuses before and just had to have it. You know, there'll be others. Who knows maybe you'll see something you like even better. This will give you more time to see if this is an impulse buy or something you truelly want.
 
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