Discus

[KyleJ]

Yes mate and the advise I have been given iv taking on board and looking into it, like I say things like 'poor discus' doesnt help anyone. Fair enough I can se it may get you a bit peed off but im sure you've made mistakes before, im sure everyone has, im new to keeping fish and learning quick

Also the shop I bought them at, they all came out of the same tank although the discus inst normally stocked, not that im making exuses but I went on that and the advise form the staff there.

 

[SamUK]

i didnt jus say poor discus.

i said the LFS must be pretty crap to sell you one without asking any questions or telling you anything about it.

i dont kno much about discus apart from what ive read so i didnt want to start trying to tell you how to keep it when i havent done myself.

thats why i posted the first time.


and poor discus is right anyway.

how long has the tank been up and running?

i leave ya now anyway. hopefully someone who keeps discus (suprisingly small number i think which is a shame) will be along to help you out.

 

[annka5]

Ok, regarding the tank size: usefuly, the biggest you can fit! I know, it's a bit vague, but for the discus I'd say try to go for a 55 gallon and get 5 other discus - they do better in groups, as it spreads out any aggression as well as making them feel safer.
You COULD get away with keeping only 4 together, but I wouldn't like to be the person who recommends this as it is a risk. You COULD also get away with a smaller tank than this, but you would be setting yourself up to have NO margin of error /leeway, and no room to slip behind in maintenance, and IMO you would regret it after a few months.
I keep discus and have found they aren't as difficult as a lot of people think, so long as you do provide them with what they need. Otherwise, you're losing from the start and setting yourself up to fail. There really isn't any room to make mistakes with them.
Try local ads or e-bay for a secondhand tank. Problem is, I can see you having to get 2 larger tanks or getting one larger tank and returning either the sharks or the discus...

 

[kev_kb]

Put all this behind you and decide what you want to do from now on.

If you want to keep Discus:

Firstly consider they are not beginners fish, they are not as hard as some sites/books make out, but they are unforgiving of mistakes...

For a group of 5-6 Discus you'll need a 4 ft tank, around 48x15x18 is probably the minimum size, bigger is better though of course. For this to work out you need to leave out the sharks and the loaches, I'd take them back to the LFS. You'd have some room for some Cories/Tetras and other small fish that would live in the water parameters of Discus.

To keep Discus your basically keeping water and a clean tank. They need soft water that is soft-neutral, so you'll need to test your tap water for pH and hardness. Try to match the parameters of the place you purchase your fish from, and I'd recomend finding a Discus breeder as some Discus in normal LFS can be fairly low quality.

In order to match the water parameters you may need to soften your water, this is best done by using RO water. This is basically water with 0 hardness, it can be mixed in with your tap water to achieve the required hardness or chemicals such as Kent RO right can added to it as RO water cannot support life on its own.

You can either buy your own RO unit or buy RO water from an LFS. It works out cheaper over time to buy your own unit. So you'll need to space to store/mix the water your producing for you water changes.

If you buy baby Discus your better off keeping a bare bottom tank as they require very very clean water. I would suggest you buy adult Discus as they are far more forgiving.

So when you get the 4ft tank you need to set that up alongside your current tank, I'd have an external filter for the 4ft and run it on the smaller tank for a month or so to cycle it. Then you can transfer it to the 4ft and add some fish, but not the Discus, add the other tank mates such as Tetras/Cories to slowly build up the load on the tank, the Discus should be the final addition and if you can add them at the same time so they can all settle in and then fight for territory at the same time.

Hope that hasn't put you off, if it has I'd say tank all your fish back to the LFS and buy something that will happily for life in your smaller tank. Oh, and remember, don't trust any LFS, no matter how good their advice it can't hurt to double check it yourself.

 

[KyleJ]

Thanks for that, thats some good advise, I relies now that maybe I should take the discus back although it pains me as he's class and is a right character!

Ill look into getting a bigger tank and maybe like you say put in 6 or so discus cause if there all like the one I got it should be a good tank.

Thanks for you help, SamUK I never meant to have a go it just seemed a bit patronizing that all, I appreciate you trying to help mate

 

[SamUK]

no problem and i didnt mean any harm either!

i shud be more patient and learn the full situations before assuming im dealing with another uncoperative lil sod lol.



im looking to convert my malawi tanks to discus soon so im sure ill be making a mistake or 2.......