To discus or not to discus

[FESHMAN]

Domestic discus would be fine with your tap water, as others may have suggested I also recommend removing the coral. The only "challenge" with discus is keeping the nitrates low and keeping them warm. They also don't appreciate fast moving fish or anything that might out-compete them for food, so a group of sterbai's and cardinals is the most I'd go for tankmates. I also suggest keeping the the scape as minimalistic as possible to reduce detritus, something like a "root structure" and a thin layer of sand.

Something like this would be ideal imo

 

[altums85]

Also keep in mind a dark setting especially dark bottom or dark background will cause the discus to look dark. Discus color is best in a bright environment and lighting to bring out the best color on them. Your tank is tall, make sure you'll have lots of air in the tank the warmer the water the lower the oxygen level. Like other said take out all that saltwater decoration and do white sand

 

[DrWupass]

Thanks you guys are great. Nitrates have never been an issue for me as my setup is constantly changing water. The coral won’t be an issue to get out but Not sure I’m going to take out the one piece decoration. But I could easily add the right drift wood pieces. I have read that they like darker tanks. Some have suggested floating plants to shade parts of the tank.

 

[dr exum]

i like mine, they are labor intensive- lots of feeding and lots of cleaning -

did lose one early on - did not want to convert off blood worms

they are the friendliest fish in my collection-

 

[phreeflow]

Remove the crushed coral and don’t mess with ph/kh. That info about them being sensitive is decades old when they were first brought in from the wild. Domestic discus easily adapt, as long as conditions are stable.

Raising baby/small discus to adulthood is a pain as it just takes way too much work and water changes to prevent stunting them. If you do get small ones, you should run bare bottom and do multiple massive water changes weekly or even daily.

I don’t mess with all that anymore and just buy adults so I can just plop them in a fully aquascaped tank without concern.

 

[DrWupass]

So your basically saying stability is the key like most other fish they will adapt.

 

[DrWupass]

Well I have a few months to decide. Just ordered a new sump since my diy sump is leaking again I decided to step it up. Should have it in about two months.