Planning for a new 4ft tank

[Michelle.g]

Planning to get a new tank, and would really appreciate anyones thoughts before I buy anything. Have had several tropical fish tanks, but never kept discus and I would like to have a couple of discus in a reasonably well planted tank. I realise this may be a challenge, so I plan to set up the tank for discus and see how I go!

This is the basic plan:

- Tank: 48 x 18 x 18", with lids.

- Filter: Fluval 305

- Lighting: 2 x double aqua one lighthoods, 4 x ~40W tubes (what tubes to use?)

- Heating: 2 x 150W heaters, aim to keep temp ~28degrees.

- Plants: Start with valisineria (sp?), java fern, crypts. Later, gradually replace with anubias, dwarf chain sword, amazon sword. etc. Will use ferts, but probably no CO2 setup.

- Fish: About 10 tetras (probably cardinals), 5 sterbai corys, 2 small clown loaches, 1 bristlenose (maybe more?), a couple of discus

- Substrate: layer of Daltons aquatic mix, covered with a fine light coloured gravel

- Water changes: At least 25%, twice a week

Would this be ok?

Michelle.

[tHEcONCH]

It sounds fine, so long as you keep up the water changes and get a true mated pair of Discus if you are only going to keep two. Bear in mind that Discus are big messy fish, so you might not need fertiliser for the plants.

An extract from a thing I wrote:

Discus are relatively big and messy fish, they are a schooling fish (like tetras they should be kept in small groups) but they are also territorial and hierachical. Provided you give them what they need they are pretty hardy.

Give them clean, soft water, and plenty of it. You need to do regular, large water changes - I personally change 70% per week. I think they benefit from having driftwood in the water - it softens the water and also releases certain acids etc. that seem to be important to long term health.

Give them companions - unless you have a true mated pair you should keep at least 5 Discus - you can successfully maintain smaller groups, but having 5 or more makes it easier because it spreads the inevitable battles around. 'Dither' fish such as cardinals can help make them feel less threatened - aggressive, fast moving and / or 'nippy' fish should be avoided.

Give them enough space to let individuals form small territories - I use a 'reverse' fish length stocking rule - at least one foot of tank length for every adult Discus. Again, you can stock more, but it makes long term success and happiness harder. They need open areas to swim - don't overplant your tank.

Give them a high quality varied diet - including frozen bloodworms and high quality granular and flake foods with some vegitable content, although protein levels need to be high. I've had good success with the JBL range of foods + frozen bloodworms twice per week. Clean up leftovers after half an hour unless you have Bristlenose Ancistrus or other fish that will consume it - don't leave excess food to rot.

Don't over-react to percieved symptoms - often Discus (like most other animals) will recover from small injuries and sickness without medication, provided you have met their basic needs.

Did I mention water changes?

[Michelle.g]

Thanks for the information tHEcCONCH.

Could I keep four discus in a tank this size?

Would four discus be ok together?

[Dixon1990]

I think you could keep 4 discus in that tank.

[tHEcONCH]

Thanks for the information tHEcCONCH.

Could I keep four discus in a tank this size?

Would four discus be ok together?

Probably - although a true mated pair would cost a bit less, and be a lot less stress.

[Slightly Blue Dalmation]

how hard is it to get hold of true mated pairs?

[cichlid7]

how hard is it to get hold of true mated pairs?

Not hard you just have to know the right people :lol: :lol: i got 2 proven pairs for $150 each 8)

[Slightly Blue Dalmation]

ah il keep that in mind, gota get tank up and running for a couple of months first anyway :-?