Can I get a bottom line on Discus?

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sledge760

sledge760

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2005
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Philadelphia, PA
I have a 180 gallon African cichlid tank set up right now. I am thinking of switching to a Discus set up. I have been fishkeeping for 35 years with just about every kind of set up you can think of, including a 180 SW Reef, but have never kept Discus. I would like to give Discus a shot. Just how difficult would they be to maintain with my routine and set up below. I keep reading that losing Discus is almost a routine part of keeping them. I do not think I would be too happy to keep losing a $100 and up fish. How many Discus can I keep in this tank?

Here is my set up and maintenance routing:

180 gallon tank
Fluval FX5 x2
36 watt Coralife UV Sterlizer
2 Maxijet 1200 powerheads

60-70 gallon water change once a week (never miss a WC). Occasional water changes are 75-80 gallons Would I need to do more water changes than this?

PH is 7.8 now for the Africans. Typical tap is 7.2 coming out of the faucet. I do have a RO/DI unit I can use, but is 7.2 still too high?
Nitrates are 30ppm
Ammonia is 0 ppm
Nitrites is 0 ppm
 
Discus do not like a lot of current. 7.2 is alright for today's discus. I would stick with a local breeder for the best quality and hardy fish. I have 8 discus in a 110 with 6 angles and 4 tiger barbs and 6 neon tetras. You could have a dozen easy for that tank. If you have an R/O unit I would use it. They love R/O water, it helps them to breed. Discus are not any different than any other fish. Good water and a good diet.
 
ziggy2;1442533; said:
Discus do not like a lot of current. 7.2 is alright for today's discus. I would stick with a local breeder for the best quality and hardy fish. I have 8 discus in a 110 with 6 angles and 4 tiger barbs and 6 neon tetras. You could have a dozen easy for that tank. If you have an R/O unit I would use it. They love R/O water, it helps them to breed. Discus are not any different than any other fish. Good water and a good diet.
Click to expand...

:iagree:
 
To have high quality healthy discus alot of people do a waterchange ever day, but it can be dont every other. I personaly do it every day. Your ph should be around 6.5 and the healthy amount of adult discus in that tank size would be about 18 (one person 10gallons). To find out more info go to simplydicus.com
 
I have a planted tank, so I only do one change per week. The nitrates stay low with the plants.
 
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