Keeping Discus.

[Mettle]

Alright. All you fancy, schmancy discus keepers have got me thinking about some things in terms of these fish.

One - Why do so many of you keep the fish in bare tanks?

Two - Has anyone ever kept discus with dwarf cichlids, like Rams or Apistos and if so how successful was this?

Three - Does substrate truly matter, or will they be fine with anything? Aesthetics in the end?

Four - Knowing that they'd need to be upgraded eventually, how many could you realistically have in a 38 gallon and til what size.  :lol:

Thanks.

[Evan]

Discus create lots of waste and are messy eaters.  Bare tanks are easier to keep clean.  (Especially if you have MTS)  Clean water is very important to ensure they grow up big and healthy.    With the bare tank you can see all of the waste and get rid of it.

I have used regular gravel with no issues.  In general Discus  feed off the bottom.  The gravel should not allow the food to sink  down so they cannot eat it.    Uneaten food is bad.

[Julie]

6 is best.  38 will only accomodate 6 for so long.

I've been trying to figure out what MTS meant all day.  Finally  :idea:

Julie

[aidensmomma2000]

I think MTS is multiple tank syndrome  :wink:

[Julie]

Yes I guess it is, I was substituting something else for the s :shock: all day.   :oops:  
Julie

[darkdep]

Yeah, MTS is a term someone came up with a month or so ago, and it seems it's a new "standard" aquaria term now hehehe :lol:

[Nelson]

Before I ventured into discus, the only advice that seemed to be consistant (and advice as we know isn't generally consistant) was that the rule of thumb for population is 10 gals per fish.

[aidensmomma2000]

That, and clean water.

[NjOyRiD]

but they are doing okay in planted tank right?

[discusFans]

Actually i dont keep mine in a bare tank. It is a moderately planted tank. True that it is a bit harder during water change, but hey, i only get 1 tank. Just like if u have only 1 kid and he/she get all your time..hehe..and i feed them slowly. what i mean is that i dont dump all the food in a single shoot. I watch them finish some before putting in more. so, there is usually nothing left on the substrate.
I heard that discus can be keep with Apistos. I wanna try that also if i get more $$.
for a 38G, it may be a bit harder for u. because as Nelson said, the general rule is 1/10G. However 6 is the minimum you wanna keep, unless u get can a already paired one from someone here...welcome to the discus world.....

[Julie]

Discusfans:  it can work in a planted, but you won't grow them as big and round.  
I wouldn't recommend putting an active breeding pair in a smaller tank with anything else.  My pair ate my albino bushynose pleco.

Julie

[aidensmomma2000]

Mine are in a gravel-bottomed planted tank, but Im not trying to breed or grow show fish  :wink:

[discusFans]

Julie: I agree with you that in a planted tank, growing discus to big and round is more difficult. So, back to Mettle's question, it depends on what does he want to achieve. A show fish, or to breed, or just a beautiful tank....
for me, i just want a beautiful tank for now... :>

[BigDaddy]

Alright. All you fancy, schmancy discus keepers have got me thinking about some things in terms of these fish.

One - Why do so many of you keep the fish in bare tanks?

Pretty much covered.   :wink:

Two - Has anyone ever kept discus with dwarf cichlids, like Rams or Apistos and if so how successful was this?

I haven't personally, but others have and been very succesful.  Rams in particular enjoy the frequent water changes and increased levels of husbandry that discus receive.  They can also handle the higher temps quite well.  Romer said in his book that they had found Rams in pools as high as 35 degrees celcius.  Overall, they seem to be most highly populated in slow moving warm acidic water (around 26 degrees).

Pretty close to discus conditions if you ask me.

Three - Does substrate truly matter, or will they be fine with anything? Aesthetics in the end?

IF you decide to go with a substrate... make it something that is not likely to encourage anaerobic activity, and something you wouldn't have a hard time doing a deep gravel vac in.

Four - Knowing that they'd need to be upgraded eventually, how many could you realistically have in a 38 gallon and til what size.  :lol:

Thanks.

I currently have 7 of them in a 33 gallon.  Now... I do at least a 66% water change daily, sometimes 100% (two changes during the day).  Ideally, when the first of them get to around 3 to 3.5 inches, I'll move them into a 65 high with 4 others... and then leave the others to continue to grow out in the 33.  Given I have a 36 x 12 space for this growout tank, I'll probably upgrade to a 45 high eventually (for my own piece of mind).

[Mettle]

I do at least a 66% water change daily, sometimes 100% (two changes during the day).

:shock:

You sure do love your fish!

And thanks for all the other info/insights!  

[328iGuy]

... I do at least a 66% water change daily, sometimes 100% (two changes during the day).

.....and you are still married?  :lol:

My wife complains that I do 2x water changes a week on my tanks.....YIKES!  :shock:

[NjOyRiD]

whoa, that a lot of water changes!!

[BigDaddy]

Well, that's why I have 4 inch discus that are less than 6 months old.  Or so ottawadiscus tells me   :wink:

[Mettle]

Well, that's why I have 4 inch discus that are less than 6 months old.  Or so ottawadiscus tells me   :wink:

And a water bill to match, I bet.

[BigDaddy]

Well, that's why I have 4 inch discus that are less than 6 months old.  Or so ottawadiscus tells me   :wink:

And a water bill to match, I bet.

No water bills on this side of the river.