kclarke Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Hi, My name is Karen and I am just setting up a tank. I used to keep fish several years ago and had a 6' , a 4', a couple of 3' and a 2'. Now I'm just starting again. My son bought this for my b'day as he knows how much I have missed keeping fish. (he has the bug too). The tank is not a normal 4 footer, but is 48' long, 12' wide and 17' high. I'm not sure how many litres it holds but I hope someone can help me work it out. As we do have chlorine in our taps, ect, ect. And I want to try discus. The tank was set up 3 days ago and now I just want to let it settle and learn as much as possible about discus before I purchase them. Any help would be appreciated. PS I'm from Victoria, Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Hi Karen, Welcome to The Fishroom. To calculate capacity, multiply the internal length, height and breadth in centimetres and divide the answer by 1,000. This will tell you how may litres your tank will hold. My maths is useless so doublecheck this but... 48" x 12" x 17" is 122cm x 30 x 43. Multiply and divide by 1,000 comes to 157.38 litres. Don't forget this is water only. Once you have gravel and rocks, your internal measurements will be smaller. Put the gravel in first and then measure your internal sizes as it will make a big difference. If discus are as expensive in Aussie as they are here, you will certainly want to make sure you have everything right for them before purchase! Good luck. At least you know where to come with your questions now. There are plenty of members ready and willing and able to answer most questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Hello Karen and Welcome, Your tank is approx 150L. You are lucky, as Australia does not have too bad a range of Discus. NZ is pretty poor, - it seems to get all the reject fish. Even the ones they call 'Good Quality' are not very good when stacked up against Australia (or other parts of the world). I believe Coburg Aquariums could be in your area, although Vic is a pretty big place (although anywhere that not NZ is pretty big). Its just the best one I found in Melbourne anyway. If you don't know of them, here are their details: Coburg Aquariums 232-236 Bell St, Coburg Melbourne Ph 03 9354 5843 In a tank of 150L I'd put a maximum of 3-4 discus. They really need about 100L each as adults to be totally happy, but people seem to get away with a lot less. The problem is discus have a bit of a pecking order. Its usually best to keep them in a large group 8-12 is good. This requires a medium sized tank however of about 500-800L. If too few discus are kept together, one may get bullied too much. This can cause undue stress so the fish does not eat and slowly wastes away. Sometimes you get lucky however. If you can plant the tank quite densely it will help a lot with any bullying that may happen. I will be setting up a new tank soon with about 35 discus in it. I'm looking for a couple of good breeding pairs at the moment as I can't afford to buy 35 imported fish. I'll have settle for a couple of pairs of the ones we get imported and try to breed lots. The best money you can spend on discus is on books. Get a couple of good ones and you'll find all you need to know. A couple of good ones are 'Handbook of Discus - Jack Wattley' ISBN 0-86622-037-2 and 'Discus for the Perfectionist - Jack Wattley' ISBN 0-86622-168-9. I hope this helps a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kclarke Posted May 27, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Thanks Caryl, That helps a lot, I was going to take into consideration the gravel, etc but I wasn't sure how to and that was my next question. Discus certainly are not cheap and I know they can be particular. I'm going to start to make a list of the questions I have so that I remember to ask when I'm on here. I hoping to purchase a few this Thursday, but only if everything is working well. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kclarke Posted May 27, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Hi Warren, I see that you are a discus lover. Thanks for the info. Bell Street, Coburg is at least in Melbourne but a couple of hours away from Cockatoo (where I live in the hills). But it might be worth the trip to check them out. I do have other questions (lots), but I really should log out now, but will be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 They have a really good range. Heaps of display tanks. They're the only place I've ever seen more than 1 redline batfish (the black one with the thin red line round the perimeter of its fins), - they had about a dozen! I wanted to take one home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did not have much time in Melborne, - finished the job I was doing at 9:00am and had to fly out at 6:00pm. I only got to visit 6 aquarium shops and 2 HIFI shop, but this was one of those shops you always remember. Next time in Melborne, worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldie Posted July 20, 2002 Report Share Posted July 20, 2002 I keep discus too (only 5 at the moment) and have found a site given to me by Alex invalable, it is :- http://members.aol.com/bgdiscus/discus.htm Thanks for sharing and introducing yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minchton Posted July 20, 2002 Report Share Posted July 20, 2002 Msge for Warren Dont know a hell of a lot about discus but there are some new ones in the shops at the moment. Would have to sell my Rolls Royce to buy them. You would find them at Wetpets Palmerston North or alternatively AB Aquariums New Plymouth have a good range which I understand from a local arer the best price and quality of the two shops. He had pre-ordered from Wetpets and paid deposit and was dismayed to find the ones locally. Hope this may be of some help. If you want to know any more i.e. types prices etc, give me a yell Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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