Considering Getting Into Discus... Advice?

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Hmmm... so after my last post I got to thinking about it. I may not have "chimichangas" to throw around but I DO have something else. A little, uh, womanly charm :) did the trick. I have the go ahead for discus. Not only that, I have the go ahead on a new tank and stand for them and a lighting system if I decide to go planted. And I'm so good he even offered to pay for the discus. So BAM. To the topic at hand, it'll be a better idea for me to get a new tank for them anyway because the 20gs I have are on a somewhat unstable stand, preventing me from taking the water line up to the top of the tank. Which means it'll be awhile - tank will need to cycle obviously. Bare bottom is very fine with me. I decided to go that route in all my tanks quite awhile ago.

I'll go to PetSmart and see what tanks they have tomorrow. I've never paid attention to tall tanks before - I go for the long ones for my bichirs. I know they have all sorts of weird sizes. I am on a budget though, so I'd like to keep this as small scale as I can (without compromising the fish's comfort) until I know I can succeed ;)

Time to go to more research and more bookmarking on the net. Hooray for being a cute girl! :ROFL:

Keeper
 
Congrats on the persuasion. Time to start looking at what importer/breeder you are going to buy from. If you can spring it, a 37 gallon or a 45 gallon tank would be really good to start with.
 
Keeper of the Ropes;1457722; said:
Hmmm... so after my last post I got to thinking about it. I may not have "chimichangas" to throw around but I DO have something else. A little, uh, womanly charm :) did the trick. I have the go ahead for discus. Not only that, I have the go ahead on a new tank and stand for them and a lighting system if I decide to go planted. And I'm so good he even offered to pay for the discus. So BAM. To the topic at hand, it'll be a better idea for me to get a new tank for them anyway because the 20gs I have are on a somewhat unstable stand, preventing me from taking the water line up to the top of the tank. Which means it'll be awhile - tank will need to cycle obviously. Bare bottom is very fine with me. I decided to go that route in all my tanks quite awhile ago.

I'll go to PetSmart and see what tanks they have tomorrow. I've never paid attention to tall tanks before - I go for the long ones for my bichirs. I know they have all sorts of weird sizes. I am on a budget though, so I'd like to keep this as small scale as I can (without compromising the fish's comfort) until I know I can succeed ;)

Time to go to more research and more bookmarking on the net. Hooray for being a cute girl! :ROFL:

Keeper
Click to expand...



I'm surprised he said no in the first place lol. I cant say no to my wife. My first Discus tank was a 45 gallon. Standard size. I couldn't have been happier with the turnout. 40% water changes every 3 days seemed to work well for me. I did not have the discus long enough to know weather that amount was good, due to the fact that i gave them to my cousin so i could do Reefs instead. I am however starting up another discus tank down the road, hopefully in June and hope to have as much success as stated above. happy discus keeping.
 
May not make it to PetsMart today... I just worked 60 hours in 6 days and the last day was yesterday. I sorta fell sound asleep after work n slept til, well, now. I was wondering though - there's a tank I was interested in last time I went up there. Wanted to run it by you though. Would they have any issues with a bowfront tank? They had a really nice corner unit - I don't remember the dimensions but I'm pretty sure it was at least 18'' tall and held at least 30 gallons. I'll check the dimensions online if I can :)

Keeper
 
Being from the uk this doesn't go down well....

You go girl!!!!
 
Congrats Keeper :)

We all agree that Discus need better than average water conditions. How hard you have to work to maintain that is going to depend on your setup. A large understocked tank is different to having a whole batch of young discus in a breeders growout tank. (where a continous drip 50-100% water change regime would be sensible for sure)

Anyway, let the water tests be your guide and do the water changes that you need for your tank and fish setup. Those low Nitrates are the important thing about keeping discus.

Cheers

Ian
 
Congrats Keeper
You should shoot for at least a 55 gal tank. And higher is not necessarily better, makes maintenance a pain.
If price is a factor try craigslist. You should find some great deals there.
Ray
 
I went to petsmart and checked out what they had. Three of them were pretty cool.

30 gallon hex tank, 18" tall by 10" each side.

46 gallon bowfront, 12X18X30ish.

Personal favorite,
36 gallon corner bowfront. 18" tall n 24" on both sides. Nice lookin tank.

The 30 is the best deal including the stand and obviously wouldn't take up much room. The 46 is actually a crappy deal now that I think about it. I could get a 55 with a stand for cheaper, but it obviously wouldn't be a bowfront. The corner tank looks awesome though. HM....
 
Personally, I avoid bowfront, curved glass front tanks. The curve of the glass distorts the look of the fish.
 
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