Hey guys, I'm looking to get into discus keeping. I have a 220L tank (100cm Length/ 55cm Height / 45/50 cm width) My current stock is : 4 hatchet 2 electric blue rams (spawning) 4 khuili loach (Spawning *I have seen a few babies during water changes) 5 Cory dora (Spawning) 10 Cardinals 8 Pork chop tetra My tank is well scaped and heavily planted (Its set up for discus with no areas for them to be trapped and low lying plants for uneaten food). Most fry get eaten, otherwise i move them to my nano tanks. pH 6.3 ammonia 0 - I have a canister filter that is meant for 4o0L tank 1st question is can i house discus ( maybe 1 pair ?) 2nd question is were can i find a good breeder ? - I'm in cape town. I don't mind young fish or lower grades as its my first time with discus. I have a 500L tank that is unused and will only use it when the water crises gets better in CT - so can move growing discus across in the future. I currently house 4 beautiful angelfish that i will sell/swop when i get the discus. Thank you in advance
Will work but growing out discus is no easy feat! Barebottom tanks with a lot of water changes are needed... Lots of food... Etc etc I know breeders but they're reluctant to sell to people unless they are ready to do so
I'm sure it is not an easy feat, but you have to start somewhere. I have done my research and know they better off with a bare bottom tank, but i do have the time to clean and maintain the waste level. Would you suggest buying from a shop rather than going through a breeder (Getting a low grade discus) .
I've been looking at purchasing a young pair of red turquoise from a shop in greenpoint CT - i trust the owner. He wants 350 each.
Well, you can do it but shop discus don't tend to last as long or grow as well as locally/high quality bred ones...
At the end of the day the choice is yours. Here’s my suggestion (ps: I’ve never kept discus) Get a bigger tank...at least 300-500l To my knowledge you will need to do frequent water changes so you need to figure that out Choose appropriate tank mates/dither fish. As an example Rams turn into demons when they are breeding. Look into sump filtration Get proper pH meters and accurate test kits not those glass suckers Get hold of a Cape Town breeder who is willing to teach you the appropriate parameters and general necessities of the fish in a planted tank Get the tank setup correctly, monitor the parameters and ensure it’s stable before considering putting discus in. Even R 350/fish is going to be a costly mistake if you get it wrong
So I have just recently delved into the discus world and can say that I wouldn't suggest going the route you are planning. If you are buying juvis then I would honestly suggest housing them in a barebottom tank for growout. I have my six juvies in a 55 gallon barebottom with sump and do 50l water changes daily with 100l on Friday and Saturday. This is with RO water as my TDS is very high. CT water I believe is quite soft so RO will probably not be necessary. The water change schedule is actually quite light compared to many others out there who do 90 percent daily. This is to keep nitrates down and bacterial count in the water down. I thought with my setup that even a piece of driftwood by itself would be fine in the barebottom and have since taken it out as I started getting bacterial issues. A planted tank is definitely not the way to grow out discus and you will end up with stunted fish. Also remember that discus are social fish and should be housed in a group of 6 or more, this is also to diffuse aggression amongst the group. With 6 discus and a rule of 10 gallon per fish you looking at about a 60 gallon setup for your adult fish. Growing them out in a smaller setup is easier as it's easier and better to change lots of water on a smaller setup than on a bigger setup. Long story short, your experiment will probably result in you spending R700 on 2 subpar fish. Rather do it properly from the start I believe and avoid mistakes. There is a wealth of knowledge online on how to keep discus correctly. I don't believe that these fish are difficult to keep at all if done correctly, however most don't do it correctly and thus end up with terrible results and this is where the bad rep comes from. I hope you do end up doing a discus setup as they are truly beautiful fish to keep.
Nothing to add. Both Prof Dirk and Andrew Medcalf close to cape town. They can point you in direction of good fish once you decide what you want to do Sent from my HUAWEI Y360-U72 using Tapatalk
Thanks guys, I've decided to leave my 220l as it is and maybe get a pair of altum angels. Then set up the 500l when i am ready for discus maybe next year Jan.
Altum angels don't grow on trees and they need much higher care than discus Sent from my HUAWEI Y360-U72 using Tapatalk
