How Many Discus/angels - Which Tank

[pippoodle]

i'm considering selling off stock of my rio 180 and turning iunto a discus tank or maybe the aquaone 620t into a angel tank

just really confused as what to do at the moment so ideas would be helpful

i am not a novice fish keeper have kept fish for 30 years but only went over to tropical in september , before i get the discus or angels (if we can get them) we're going to be saving for an RO unit

so any ideas on these fish or any other ideas greatly appreciated

Thanks Sarah xx

 

[Jim Curtis]

A decent RO unit will likly cost less than a single quality discus.

 

[pippoodle]

A decent RO unit will likly cost less than a single quality discus.

going to get "pet" discus my LFS - which is a branch of maidenhead aquatic have some there for £20-80 each
can they be kept without an RO unit and in a 180

thanks Sarah x

 

[shroob]

I'd have thought a rio 180 would be abit small for discus? But I havn't experience with them myself so hopefully someone who has will chip in.

 

[rabbut]

You want at least 50g for Discus as a "to keep" species, as you will require a group of 5+ to spread agression and reduce stress through being alone, and need to go into a tank that has been designed arround them. The tank needs to have been matured for arround 6 months prior to addition, filtration needs to be good, heated warmer than most at 28-32c and the water changes come regularly, idealy twice a week at 50% a time Still sound like a fish you want to keep?

They can be kept without RO in some situations, but it realy depends uppon your tap water quality Can you post stats for GH, KH, pH and NitrAte please?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[pippoodle]

You want at least 50g for Discus as a "to keep" species, as you will require a group of 5+ to spread agression and reduce stress through being alone, and need to go into a tank that has been designed arround them. The tank needs to have been matured for arround 6 months prior to addition, filtration needs to be good, heated warmer than most at 28-32c and the water changes come regularly, idealy twice a week at 50% a time Still sound like a fish you want to keep?

They can be kept without RO in some situations, but it realy depends uppon your tap water quality Can you post stats for GH, KH, pH and NitrAte please?

All the best
Rabbut

not got gh kh test kits but i know i'm in soft water area in devon
my nitrate on tap is 10 and tap ph reads 7-7.2

i dont have a problem with doing 50% water changes twice or even 3 times a week
most of my tanks are over filtered now and i also have a spare fluval 205

180 litres is about 40 imp gallons / 47 us gallons

rio measurements are 101x41x50
620t 62 W x 72 H x 39 D cm

so if discus are ruled out then are angels ok , i dont seem to be getting any definate answers or i'm not understanding properly (sorry MS)

 

[Truck]

angels will be fine, in a tank that size. and their easier to look after than discus

 

[pippoodle]

i'm not worried about difficulty looking after fish

 

[Truck]

yes i know, its just that i think discus would be happier in a bigger tank...

 

[Jim Curtis]

Tank size is fine for 5 discus imo. Especially if you go with a bare tank. I wouldnt want to waste my time and money on feeding and caring for "cheap" discus though.

 

[GShorty1981]

I kept 3 Discus (1 turq,1 red and one snowflake)and 2 Angels (1 altum cross and 1 marble) with Cardinals and Corydoras in a PH of 7.5 in a 60 gallon for 6 years,not sure how big a Rio 180 is in gallons (40ish?) but i bought them all small and cheap and grew them up into adults,did a weekly water change with tap water and tested for Ammonia,Nitrate,Nitrite weekly.

Did have 4 Discus originally (another turq) but he wouldnt touch flake food and starved to death,by the time i figured out why he was skin and bones and bought some frozen food he was beyond help sadly. (while they were all under 3")

Anyway they all shoaled together Angles + Discus,all left alone the tetras and all other than that one fed on flake.

Not that this is the best way to do it,but it can be done,i think tank bred Discus are definitely more comfortable in tap water and all my lfs's keep them in 7.5-8.0 anyway.

 

[pippoodle]

the discus maidenhead have are

candy apple red , golden dragon , snow leopard , diamond blue , red tiger , F-1 , red ruby and royal pideon

i think i'm going to do lots more research before i go discus , it's just nice to know what i could have in the tank

thanks for the replies

Sarah xx

 

[rabbut]

In a 40g, you could get away with a group of 5 discus, but these are messy fish and would fully stock the tank IMO...

You would usualy look for an 18" deap tank for Discus, and you have about 16-17" of deapth (in the Rio 180). You could get away with it if you keep it bare bottomed

Without the Gh and KH readings, it's hard to say for certain, but your tap water looks good to use IMO

With discus, as a new keeper, you want to be buying at arround the 4" size bracket. Fish smaller than this are easily stunted and need daily attention in the form of waterchanges arround 50% and lots of high-protien food feeds, 5-8 a day to be exact or they will stunt... After 4", three feeds a day and twice weekly waterchanges will suffice

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Truck]

isnt the rio 180 50 cm high? thats 20"
but allow for substrate

 

[GShorty1981]

Yes it is the glass is 20" high....

..well actually 23" high but the wood covers the last 3".