Serioulsy thinking about keeping Discus

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Sauteman

Sauteman

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 9, 2011
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Ok so here's the scoop. I am done with keeping monsters(aro's, pacus, and all those type) and have decided to go the peacuful route. I have the wild Peruivan Scaralet Altums already wild out of peru, and I am thinking about keeping discus for the first time ever. My mom and dad promised to get me a 125 gallon for my graduation present in May/late June. I would love to make this a tank for altums and discus and maybe 1 or 2 motoro rays. I keep my ph. around 6.2-7.2 in which my altums are thriving in. I feed them bloodworms, pellets, shrimp, and flakes and that would be the discus meal as well. The tankmates for the discus would be the 4 altum angels, 3 hassar oresis, megladoras irwini, and not sure about rays in a 125 gallon fish tank. I am thinking of getting 4-6 discus. Are the suggested tank mates ok for discus?I will keep the P.H. around 6.2-7.2? Is this good? What do I need to know about discus before I go out and get them? Full grown size? Experience you have with them? Any information you have is excellent. Doing a lot of research on discus. Would I be able to get a few say in Feb and grow them out with the altums and catfish in my 75 and then upgrade to a 125 in May/June? I am also planning on over filtering the 125 and using a lot of aeration in the form of air pumps.
I don't really know what else to ask but if you feel any info I need to know about discus let me know.
If you have any pics please share them with me.
I am thinking about getting wild discus, since I like the look of them better than the farm raised asian discus..... no offense, but those look horrible. Please don't take offensene to that. I just like the wild discus better.
-Alex
 
angels and discus can work. I would suggest no less than 6 discus and at least 4" in size. I agree with wilds. you won't need plants unless you want them. wilds love wood as it's thier natural habitat. a thin layer of sand and you will give them what they want. I think a 6' tank is too small for a ray let alone two and they may stress the discus. this is my 120 gal. with wild greens, lemon tetras, and a dozen cories.

sm tank.jpg
 
Nothing wrong with the wilds IMO always my 1st choice. I'm not a fan of designer discus either. A 125 will be a great tank. Like 3dees mentioned get about 6 grown fish and you'll have an easier time of it. That's a beautyful set up and Lemon Tetras are one of my favorites I'm currently keeping a shcool of about 30 Serpae Tetras which are nice too.
 
3dees said:
angels and discus can work. I would suggest no less than 6 discus and at least 4" in size. I agree with wilds. you won't need plants unless you want them. wilds love wood as it's thier natural habitat. a thin layer of sand and you will give them what they want. I think a 6' tank is too small for a ray let alone two and they may stress the discus. this is my 120 gal. with wild greens, lemon tetras, and a dozen cories.
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Nice discus! Alright so I will try and get about 6 discus. No plants then. I will try and get some driftwood. I love having wood in my tank as it is. So you think I'd be ok with mixing peru scarlet altums with true colombina altums with discus? No tetras for me, they'll get eaten by my catfish. Do you think the catfish are safe with discus? Ray's I will probably pass but the lfs has rays in fine with discus,he says they cohap in the wild.
-Alex
 
Aquanero said:
Nothing wrong with the wilds IMO always my 1st choice. I'm not a fan of designer discus either. A 125 will be a great tank. Like 3dees mentioned get about 6 grown fish and you'll have an easier time of it. That's a beautyful set up and Lemon Tetras are one of my favorites I'm currently keeping a shcool of about 30 Serpae Tetras which are nice too.
Click to expand...

How much am I looking to pay for 6 (4-5'') wild discus?
 
For me discus were frustrating. I'd loose two a year for no reason. They'd be eating fine and swim'n around, next they're floating dead. I kept 12 in a 210, all different sizes.
I used plants. Seemed to keep my ph more stable. Beautiful fish so good luck.
Here were some of mine.
Sent from my DROID4 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

uploadfromtaptalk1357233224884.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1357233725137.jpg
 
Sauteman said:
How much am I looking to pay for 6 (4-5'') wild discus?
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I would say in the $750.00 range and up wouldn't be unreasonable to expect. I would keep the stocking of the tank to a minimum. I 125 with Discus, Angels, Rays and Catfish is too much. I thought you wanted to keep 6 Discus in a 125. Don't go overboard.
 
I ordered 8 4" wild greens from snookn21 at aquabid about 2 1/2 years ago. John is a great seller of wilds. I paid 450.00 plus shipping. look to pay a bit more for his 6" wilds. he acclimates and deworms all his fish before shipping.
 
Aquanero said:
I would say in the $750.00 range and up wouldn't be unreasonable to expect. I would keep the stocking of the tank to a minimum. I 125 with Discus, Angels, Rays and Catfish is too much. I thought you wanted to keep 6 Discus in a 125. Don't go overboard.
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Not doing rays. Maybe later on when I upgrade. It'd be the 4-6 discus, my 4 angels now and the cats.
 
You'll all come back :)
 
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