Discus

[annka5]

I've 6 discus in a 66 gall tank with 20 cardinals, and 6 cory. i don't have a digital camera though....
I've plants in my tank, but it is loads easier to keep the tank clean if it's bare-bottomed and unplanted, or you just have bare bottom with plants in pots or floating plants. It kind of depends how small your discus are - the older and bigger they are, the easier it is to use a decorated tank, as they are not so finicky with water quality.
I had my tank running about 4 months before adding discus. Most people reckon a more mature tank is better as it is far more stable and there is a better growth of freindly bacteria etc.

 

[Halfsleeve]

Got four discus will add a piccy tonight, well once i find the cable for my card reader.

 

[Halfsleeve]

Got four discus will add a piccy tonight, well once i find the cable for my card reader.

my tank

 

[helsekia]

oooooo a nice tank.how many fish are in there?just the 4 discus?looks lovely.how long has it been set up?

 

[HelenUK]

Ahhhhhhh i am so so sorry i did not add my post but i have been up to my eyes in it making cards. I have a bit of time now hope i am not to late for you. I will post some photos as well.
Ok we have 2 x 4foot tanks each tank holds 62.3 UK gallons or 283.2 litres
We have 12 discus in each tank making a total of 24 discus in all
We did try the real plants but never got on with them so we have now reverted back to fake ones.
We do water changes once every other day
We do what we call a quick clean around once a week this involves taking 40% of the water and washing all the glass down.
We keep the filters maintained once a week this involves a quick rinse out in tank water and changing the floss
We have the tetratec 1200 on both tanks with a UV fitted to both.
We do a deep clean of the tanks once a month this involves taking all deco out and washing it all hovering the bottom shaking up the sand and just thoroughly doing a good clean of everything.
We do a good clean of the filters once a month this involves washing all media in tank water and changing the carbon and filter floss.
We live in the south of England so you will guess that we have very hard water here but i am pleased to say we have been keeping our discus for some time now and we have never altered the water perimeters or messed with them what so ever and all discus are fine and healthy and would you believe they even lay eggs although they never hatch and never will as this does require soft water.
We buy all our discus from Mark Evendon in polegate Devotedly Discus and would never dream of going any where else.
Well i am not sure what else i can tell you but if you wish to know more let me know and i will try my best to answer.
Posting photos now these are older photos so i do really need to up date them as some of the discus have been moved into the other tank and visa versa

This is the 2 x 4 foot tanks they sit side by side giving the appearance of an 8 foot tank

This is a shot of one of the tanks

And now some of the discus although not all of them

The last one was my favourite girl but we lost her a few months back for some strange reason

 

[helsekia]

wow!!!!those tanks are awesome.It sounds like they are your pride and joy and rightly so.what are you water parameters?
Do you use peat in the filters or add blackwater to the tank?wow they lay eggs,they are obiously very happy.did you buy them small nd grow them on ?quick or slow growers?What do you fee and how often?
thakyou for sharing with me

 

[HelenUK]

water parameters are they may not be spot on as i am using a strip rather than liquid
NO3 25
NO2 0
GH 10
KH 10
PH 7.2

No we do not add peat / blackwater or any water softeners to the tanks or filters we just leave it all alone. The only thing we do use is stress coat when doing water changes.

The two very big ones were bought that size the rest are growing on very nicely its hard to say how long it takes as you don't always notice them growing.
but i have noticed just lately how big some have got compared to when we bought them.

We feed then twice a day and always vary their diet. We feed mostly frozen foods like Beefheart (their favourite) Bloodworms, Tubifex, Daphnia, brine shrimp and Artemia sometimes for their secnd feed they get flakes or Tetra Prima but most of the time they turn their nose up to that lol

They sure are our pride and joy and they all seem very happy and healthy.
We did not just rush inand buy them when we started as we always thought that our water would never be right for them so we made lots of enquiries and studied before we brought just two, one in each tank to test in our waters they seemed fine for about 2 months so we slowly stocked them up after that and here they all are living proof that if you take good care of them properly they can live in the water in the south.
We have the best supplier you can get though in Mark

 

[Halfsleeve]

My tank has been running about a year and a bit, had the discus the same I do a 25ltr a week water change with RO water my discus have doubled in size I would say, I have had eggs about 3 times but they eat after about a day this is common for young adults, maybe one day.

 

[helsekia]

at the minute Im feeding frozen feed.I feed discus delight,bloodworm,and the beefheart.Ive tried pellets and granules but they just dont seem interested.

I can honestly say im enjoying watching them they have their own personalities and its great to watch them develop.I will try and get some nice pics this weekend to post

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Wow you guys have BEAUTIFUL tanks! I love your discuses Helen UK. How many discuses can go in a 75-gallon? I'm thinking of getting a few myself. Also, what other kind of fish can go in with them? I love cardinal tetras, but im afraid that the discuses will eat them!

 

[JamieH]

i've always loved discus... but always been put off when you see them in non-specialist shops... always looking very poorly.

also... i live in east anglia, we are starved of decent fish shops here.

My severums are more than enough for me!

 

[DiscusAngel]

HERES MY TANK WITH 6 DISCUS Enjoy....

 

[HelenUK]

Lovely tank and discus DiscusAngel I see you have Angels in with them.
Are they a breeding pair or the same sex?
We had angels in the past but never really got on with them we found them to be to agressive.
How do they get on with the discus?
it would be intresting to know as i do like Angels

 

[kev_kb]

also... i live in east anglia, we are starved of decent fish shops here.

Not really, as far as discus goes there is Swallow Aquatics, Norfolk Discus and The Giant Pet Store. The quality/size does vary a fair bit, but if your patient you can find some really nice discus. Also Atlantis Aquatics is opening a shop soon and they used to sell nice Discus from their website.

 

[DiscusAngel]

Lovely tank and discus DiscusAngel I see you have Angels in with them.
Are they a breeding pair or the same sex?
We had angels in the past but never really got on with them we found them to be to agressive.
How do they get on with the discus?
it would be intresting to know as i do like Angels

Thankyou!!, They are not a breeding pair but i think there opposite sex, but they kinda think there discus because when the discus all follow each other the angels do the same! they are fine with each other and do not harm of scare the discus, try and get smaller ones. get two different ones from diff tanks or diff shops. personally there is no trouble keeping them together. some people say you shouldnt as many years ago discus carried a bactieria which angels coudnt live with but throughout breeding they can now. and infact discus and angels both come from the river amazon hope the info helps