was thinking of adding discus to my new tank.

[mos90]

i have a 300g that i just finished setting up. i really think discus are beautiful fish and i think the wife will to. but i wanted to ask if some of my other fish are compatible. water changes wont be an issue as i do 30-50 per week already.

the first and main fish that will be going in soon is my 13" silver arow.
2nd is my 3-5" payara scombs.
was also hoping to add a stingray or 2 down the road.

 

[hillbilly]

Discus are not the best community fish. A tank with discus should be a discus tank first because of their need for clean water. You might do a group of adults, but I wouldn't recommend it, especially with fish that eat live food aggressively. If you want discus, that's cool, I have dozens and dozens of them myself, but set up their own tank. The discus will be happier with fewer problems. By the way, a 300 gal. would make a great discus species tank. Get rid of the other fish, and you could easily house 30 to 40 adults in there.

 

[beccabee]

Yeah I agree that would make an awesome discus tank and they do better in their own tank not as a community fish

 

[Sparkyreed123]

I agree with Becca, i've kept Discus and the only fish that i had with them where Clown Loaches. Sorry dude.

 

[fishyjoe26]

like darrell said get read of the other fish and make it a discus only tank. some driftwood wood and some live potted plants on the back corners and in the middle would be ok.
some adult discus would be awesome in that tank. 300 gallon - 96x24x30 or 96x30x24 right.

 

[mos90]

all good advise. maybe ill use my 125 for a discus tank and the 300 for my large fish. can discus and angels get along?

fyi my tank is 96x30x25 300g
and 72x18x21 for the 125

discus like higher water temps right. like 82-86deg? and ph around 6.5

they would be perfect for my 125 it a planted tank with c02inj ph is 6.6 and temp 80. and has a uv

here are some picture of the 125 and the 300. the 300 isnt cleared up just yet, only filled it 2 days ago.

 

[jello212]

i have a planted discus tank that right now only have 4 discus in it. 2 2-3in and 2 4-5 in that have paired up and just layed eggs. in there with them is a mated pair of brevis, a krib, some guorami, and beleive it or not a couple of calvus. water temp is around 82-84 and ph is about 7.5. they all do fine and seem happy. not hiding and just swimming around. the calvus actually stay around the discus which is weird but they are all doing fine and are healthy with vibrant colors. no fin nipping and no stress. i can even pet my big discus. but i like to push the envelope a little. mine are also all tank raised, nothing from the wild.

 

[Titania]

Discus and angels can get along, but keeping them together generally isn't a great idea. Discus and angels readily transfer diseases back and forth, especially the dreaded "Angel aids/discus plague". Personally, I wouldn't risk keeping prized discus with unknown pet store angels.

But, if you do decide to do it. The best way to ensure things work out OK is to keep adequate groups of each. That way the aggression can stay species-specific.

 

[mos90]

i could kill my dreams of owning a ray and transfer all my fish from my 125 and make the 125 all discus. then 300g maintenence will be minimal. and 125 will stay the same.

i probably could get away with 25% waterchanges on the 300 every 2-3 weeks with current 125 stock. then add discus to 125 and stick with my 50% changes on that per week.

 

[hillbilly]

Yeah, you can do that. If the 125 was going to contain substrate and plants, and only have a 50% water change per week with discus, I would put adult discus in there. Juvies are very sensitive to water conditions and quality, and will stunt quite easily, which is why they are not recommended for planted tanks. They also need to eat almost constantly to attain proper growth. Adults are more tolerant of water conditions, will do just fine being fed one or two times a day, and create a much better display because of their larger size. Expect non stunted adults to be around 5" to 8" in size overall. Adults will cost about twice as much as juvies, but they are twice to three times the size, and have had to be grown out over about a years time at rather great cost. So when you factor this in, the price of adults are really pretty cheap. Someone has put as much or more into the fish already in terms of time and money, as they are getting out of it. The only way to make real profit on discus is to grow hundreds and thousands of them.