Advice With Discus Please

[Katchan]

Hi all, I purchased a pair of small (7cm diameter) snakeskin discus about 10 days ago, they were shy and kept in a back corner for the first 2-3 days which is what I expected, after this they slowly came out of hiding, now about about 3 days ago they are hiding again, any advice would help heaps.

Tank stats
2'x1'x1' (14 US Gallon)
2 7cm discus
7 neons (dither fish)
1 male blue ram
2 cories and 1 small BN

I know the discus will have to be moved when they get bigger but I put them in this tank because it's my most stable tank, I constantly had a pair of blue rams spawning in it, and as such I thought it the best tank to start them in

I could move them to a 36"x15"x18"h (40gallon) tank
1 Large RTBS
1 Small RTBS (anybody mentions mixing sharks and I'll scream, they are happy together)
2 Male Blue Rams
2 medium angels
1 Large female Krib can be moved
1 tomasi (african butterfly ram) can be moved
2 8ish cm BN's 1M/1F
3 Panda Cories
3 black phantom tetras
2 platinum gourami
1 albino paradise fish

Also my wife is supposed to be picking up a blue turquise (possibly 2) discus 4-5cm diameter, should I add it to the same tank as my 2 discus. I know more is better with young discus but I dont know about the size difference

Andrew

 

[leroy]

i work in my lfs and we currently have a discus tank set up. in this setup we have had 5 discus, a shoal of rummy noes's and a couple of cory's they get on perfectly fine but discus's moods change like the weather, one min there fine the next next there hinding away. its the same with feeding one day there feeding fine and the next there pickey and will only eat certain things or nothing at all. discus take a long time to setle in and i would say theres to many fish in that tank and to much going on for them to keep carm. discus like a carm tank with small and slow moving fish, plenty of cover with plants. i would say the only fish suitable in ur tanks to go with them are the:

neons - which are great choice
cories - another great choice
and maybe 1 or 2 rams but that would have to be it.
i would definently move the RTBS's there two fast and chasey, and in my opion i would move the paradise fish out, they can be aggressive.

i hope i did'nt sound rude! and i hope this helps!

 

[IMCL85]

Either of this tank aren't really good for ur discus. Its just over crowed. Seriousely even for young discus a minimum of 20g tank is required. The bio load in those two tank is going to stunt ur young one. Not to mention young discus need to be heavily feed at least 4 times a day. U should get a 20g bare bottom tank for ur discus and buy 4 more as that way they will feel more comfort with there own species and also help to divide agreesion once they grow older. Right now you should do daily water change of minimum 40-50 percent of ur tank water as ur tank is under heavy bio load. Good luck to ya.

 

[sylvia]

You can't move them to the larger tank as it's much too aggressive for discus and you can't keep them in this one realy either for the reasons mentioned by the previous poster. You need to get a bigger tank for them and keep in mind that young discus should be kept in groups of 6 or so - so 2 or 3 isn't realy suitable.

 

[Katchan]

Ok got 3 more discus comming in the morning, are a bit smaller 4cm diam, all will go into the 40gallon

-paradise will be watched, moved if needed
-my redtails are nice and quite, can move one out no probs if needed
tomasi and krib are gone
-2 angels are gone, replaced by small-medium (4cm diam) black angel
-can move gourami pair if needed

will add some more dither fish (black neons) as I noticed

does this sound ok?

 

[sylvia]

Yes, that's an improvement but you're still going to need a bigger tank as you'll be over-stocked (discus get to 8" you know). Also, the RTBSs will eventualy be too much for the discus to handle. If you have 2 together and they're getting along, sounds like they are still young - just wait until both are fully grown. Also, rather than adding the neons (that would likely get eaten eventualy and also don't like high temps. which are necessary for discus), just get a few more black phantoms for the time being. Once the discus are moved into a suitable tank, cardinals would be a better choice and like the temperature as well.