how many discus in a 300?

[jimmie d wad]

I set a tank up about two weeks ago. did soil substrate with a fine gravel cap. Have some wood in there. my build my led light is being assembled. The tank will be planted. heavily after it has time to fill in. I've had discus a few times before. always on 100% r\o water. I have a local guy that will be supplying me with some nice solid blues. how many adults could I comfortably house in this tank? 96x24x30

 

[fibbingbear]

About 30. The general rule is one adult per ten gallons. 30 discus would look amazing.

 

[jimmie d wad]

im going to shoot for 18-24 discus, 100 of one kind of tetra,100 hasbrosus or dwarf cories, and Id like o go with a few butterfly plecos then

 

[decoy50]

The one discus per ten gallons rule only applies to bare bottom tanks. A heavily planted 300 with tankmates - I would go 10-12 discus. Buy adults of it will be tough to keep them from stunting in a planted tank. Also expect the fish to darken significantly with a dark background.

 

[Skittle]

Id shoot for inbetween what the others have said, about 15-18 discus. Especially with adding other fish


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[jimmie d wad]

why will the fish stunt in a planted tank? harder to find food?

 

[fibbingbear]

why will the fish stunt in a planted tank? harder to find food?

Discus will only become stunted if you don't do water changes. Even if your water parameters look good, I'd still do 2-3 wc/week. With plants there are more places for food and poop to hide and rot. Leaves might also die and decompose. All that adds waste.

 

[decoy50]

why will the fish stunt in a planted tank? harder to find food?

Growing out young discus to full size takes multuple feedings (some folks do 6+) daily. With the amount of food needed to growout, excess food will get trapped in your substrate & cause high nitrates. Growout can be done in a planted tank, but it takes ALOT of work & your results may still not be the best. Thats why most folks recommend buying adults if they are going in a planted tank.

 

[jimmie d wad]

some pics after the $300 worth of plants went in. I have 2 build my led lights on it. a dutch one and a 10'000k. right now I have two medium angles in there, 5 skunk cories and a few tetras. picked up 3 discus from the most hated petco about a month ago. there in a 55 for grow out along with 5 whiptail cats. tannins are coming out slowly.

 

[jimmie d wad]

and I have since put the canopy on it to get rid of the glare from the lights