How To Start Off In Discus Keeping

[RipSlider]

Right, I've put my marine aqurium on hold for a good while until we move house, because I can't make the damnthing quiet. I'm going to seal up the holes where the bulkheads are, mothball the marine equipment, and take the tank tropical.

This gives me a tank of approx 1,200 litres to fill with something wonderful.

The choice is between either a mangrove or a heavily planted tank with 10-12 discus in it and some cory's/tetra's/something else.

I've been able to find some stuff around mangrove tanks, but there seems to be just TOO MANY opinions regarding discus.

Therefore, could some of you experienced discus keepers give me some suggestions regarding which sites and books you think I can base my reading and learning around? Which resources do you believe are rock solid when it comes to discus advice?

Thanks

Steve

 

[demonmagus]

I am sure that you can have more then 10-12 discus lol

also, a huge shoal of tetras and cories

well, I don't really know about any books or whatever, but I want to see this tank when its set up

 

[RipSlider]

To be honest, I don't really want the tank stocked up very highly. I already have an "active" tank in my lounge. This one is for my office at home, and if I have it packed with fish I will end up looking at it all the time.

What I really want is some nice dense planting, a nice shoal of discus, a few other peaceful fish and for it to be really calm and tranquil.

That way, when I'm working until god knows what hour and wound up completely with insane projects created by people who would seem to have no solid link to the real world and are demanding things yesterday, then I can actually sit back, have a look at the tank and calm down, rather than having activity at the corner of my eye and getting even more twitchy than I already would be.


You may be able to tell by the time of posting that tonight is one of those nights and I'm longing to take a couple of weeks off to fiddle about setting up and planting a new tank.....


Steve

 

[kev_kb]

Theres a lot of good advice on Discus right here on this forum, but as you say opinion can vary greatly.

Here are my thoughts:

If you want a planted tank then buy adult discus, babies are best raised in bare bottom tanks.

Discus require soft water that is around 30C, so you'll need to choose your plants accordingly. You'll probably need to use a mixture of RO and tap water to get this but some are lucky and have soft tap water.

As for the exact water parameters its much better to find a shop/breeder you trust and match their parameters, thus resulting in less stress for the fish. The most important thing with Discus is consistancy!

Keep the tank well filtered with slow water movement and as long you keep it clean and change water regurlarly you'll be fine.

 

[annka5]

I agree with kev.... for research, I think the UK Discus Association forum on internet is good. You can also try simplydiscus.com.
Discus do squable a bit amongst themselves, at least until they settle down, but not a huge amount.
IMO there's npothing nicer than a well-planted discus tank with a big shoal of cardinal tetras and some cories, I'm sure you'll have a great time with it!!