# Discus setup advice



## Nathanh2150 (19 Nov 2020)

Hi all,
I have a brand new setup and looking to start keeping discus Iv kept many species of fish but gonna be new to keeping discus. They will have a hole tank to themselves with some alge eaters maybe a zebra pleco at some stage. 

I have a 
Evolution Aquascaper 900
Biomaster thermo 600
Co2 full setup
Glass Lilly pipes 
Inline co2 from extunel filter 
Co2 art regulator 
Co2 fire extinguisher 
Twin star 900c lighting 
Tropica plant food 
Fluval filter media
Fluval stratum soil 12kg
Tropica powder soil 9kg
FLUVAL 250ML CYCLE & AQUAPLUS BIOLOGICAL WATER CONDITIONER
Evolution Aqua Aquascaper Complete Aquarium Fish Tank Liquid Plant food
EVOLUTION AQUA PURE AQUARIUM 50 BALLS FISH TANK START UP CLEAR WATER TREATMENT
Co2 Glass drop checker 
Light dimmer 
Co2 return valve
ADA clear piping 
Co2 art airline 

looking to see if anyone has any advice to give me regarding keeping discus best group numbers.
Care requirements of care. Best aquarium plants to add into the tank. stones wood ect
I’m located in Norfolk (Norwich) 
And noticed water is quiet hard  
I would really appreciate all the help and advice 
Many thanks 
Nathan 🙂


----------



## castle (19 Nov 2020)

Hello, water in Nowich is too hard for them to breed so I'd expect the water hardness to be detrimelntal to their health too. Most of the discuss breeders I've known that way use RO. The real issue I'd say is that your tank is quite small for Symphysodon aequifasciatus even though they tend to not grow much larger than 6" or so. They're fairly active and messy so the larger water volume, the better.

What other fish do you fancy?


----------



## castle (19 Nov 2020)

Try Taverham garden centre or The aquatics shop at Highway garden centre - they both can and do order in fish. They'll also be very honest about what fish for your tank.


----------



## mort (19 Nov 2020)

Hi, I'm in norwich too and wouldn't contemplate discus without using a high proportion of ro in our water. There are a few discus keepers on the site here who can advise on whether a 900 is ok but I agree with what castle has said about tank size.

Taverham garden centre has been getting a lot of stendker discus in, so there is a market around here for them and they may be able to advise or know of someone who can.


----------



## Nathanh2150 (19 Nov 2020)

Hi castle,
Thankyou for taking the time to reply to my enquiry 
Atm I’m in no rush to add any livestock into the aquarium as atm it’s a blank canvas so will need to get all the bog wood stones plants ect.
I was in two minds to keeping discus but feel that they would set the tank of quiet well as I haven’t previously owned this size tank before so looking to  step out of my comfort zone and try discus as Iv always had my eye on them. I tottaly understand that my water is not idea but one of my family member Keeps discus and has had no issues as they also have hard water. I won’t be adding any live stock for at least 2-3 months to allow plants to root and to get established before adding any fish I gather I may get a spike in alge as to new tank set up so want to sort that out first setting the light to only 6 hours a day 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night co2 turning on an hour before light and turning off 1 hour before lighting.
In the long run I may add some 
Panda Cory, pepper Cory, albino Cory, bronze Cory 
1 of each.
1/2 zebra pleco
And maybe around 10/15 cardinal tetra 
I’m looking at only owning around 4 discus 2male/2female 
Hope this helps 
Many thanks 
Nathan


----------



## dw1305 (19 Nov 2020)

Hi all,


Nathanh2150 said:


> Panda Cory, pepper Cory, albino Cory, bronze Cory
> 1 of each.
> 1/2 zebra pleco


Do you have the _Corydoras_ already? If you don't? You would be better off with just one type of _Corydoras. 

Corydoras sterbai i_s the normally suggested with Discus (because of the water temperature), but others are probably OK as well, some-one will be able to advise @REDSTEVEO?

Personally I don't think any of the _Hypancistrus_ spp. are suitable for a Discus tank, or any tank with added CO2 to be honest.

Have a look at <"Aeration and dissolved oxygen....."> I wrote it specifically for <"Plec keepers">.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Nathanh2150 (19 Nov 2020)

Hi Darrel,
I don’t currently have any fish for the tank and won’t be any untill the new year as looking to add fish until 2-3 months once all the scape and plants have settled and rooted.


----------



## mort (19 Nov 2020)

I agree with Darrel about the cory choice. The ones you mention prefer cooler water than you would ideally keep discus in whereas sterbai enjoy warmer conditions. It is also best to keep a group of the same species as with odd ones and twos you will find they don't act as a group and they like each others company. I'd consider 6-8 as a minimum really.

I've kept discus and although they can do well in our water (depending on the source as over the years they have been commercially bred in harder water) it is far better to make it softer with ro imo. I'll once again leave it to the discus experts to confirm/correct but 2 males and 2 females in such a volume will be hard as the dominant pair will claim a large territory and push the others out. I had 4, 2 pairs, in a trigon 350 and I saw dominance in that when they were breeding but these were dinner plate sized discus. This was a display tank in the lfs I ran and they were a fish I knew a fair bit about but not to the level of some discus keepers which is why I'm always interested to hear their opinions as they are a relationship dedicated bunch.


----------



## Siege (19 Nov 2020)

I think a 900 200L tank is too small for Discus, the 1200 Aquascape is the smallest tank id consider them in.

For hard water Discus check out Stendker Discus.

Devotedly discus are a good I shop I hear. They ship everywhere and will give you good advice re size of tank etc.

https://www.devotedly-discus.co.uk/


----------



## RudeDogg1 (19 Nov 2020)

Minimum of 6 is the magic number with discus


----------



## Nathanh2150 (19 Nov 2020)

Thankyou for all the help I am getting I didn’t know all this information so do appreciate it 🙂 I know that you all are suggesting that have the same amount of discus to corys and also my size of tank.
I’m not looking to get plate size discus to start off with maybe the younger discus small in size I know they will get bigger but I can always move them over to my family member as they have a bigger thank then me (slightly jealous tbf) haha 😂


----------



## RudeDogg1 (19 Nov 2020)

Depends how small tho under a certain size it’s not advisable to keep a small group in a big tank. Not sure why but that’s what they always used to say


----------



## Siege (19 Nov 2020)

What ever the size you’ve gotta spread that aggression I think.

They are gonna grow fast. It’s gonna be expensive at say £50 - £100 per fish and then only keep them for a year max.....

In all honesty, if you are just realising that your tank may not be big enough for discus, then discus ain’t the fish for you.
They are expensive and not the easiest fish to keep. Aggression levels are high so be prepared for one fish to be be bullied to death......

if you are into planted tanks it’s always harder and more limiting at discus temperatures.

just some food for thought really.


----------



## Wolf6 (19 Nov 2020)

Its been forever since I had discus, and I know there are some experts here who can advise much better. But in a tank that size you could maybe have 1 breeding couple, but defo not as permanent housing for a group of 6, which is what you want for them to be happy. You could house some angels though, those are slightly smaller. If you really have your mind set on discus, get a group of young ones, grow them till you see a pair form, then sell the rest to someone with a bigger tank, breed them and then sell them on as well? Back as a kid I had 6 in a 100x50 tank, and that was far too small as well, which I why I sold most of them on. They had been a gift from a relative who bred them and had a few 'less pretty' ones (at least to him, I saw nothing wrong with them . I kept a pair that had formed in that tank and bred them (and raised a handful), then sold them on too. It was a fun experience, escpecially as a teen to whom discus had always been the epitome of fish, the holy grail, so I totally get where you are coming from  Just keep in mind their long term well being.


----------



## Conort2 (19 Nov 2020)

I’d only go for a breeding pair in a tank that size and unfortunately proven pairs are expensive to buy. The only other way to do it would be have six and let them pair off naturally but a 90cm tank won’t permit that unfortunately. I personally don’t think they are the hardest fish to keep as long as they have clean water and space. 

Does it have to be discus or are there any other cichlids you like the look of?

cheers


----------



## Nathanh2150 (19 Nov 2020)

Well Iv always liked the look of discus so thought to give it a go been watching a lot of YouTube videos and been doing research to make sure that the equipment and tank would be good for them I’m not looking to cram a lot of discus in the tank if they do pair that’s a bonus or if anyone on the group from Norwich is selling a pair off couple of discus I could be interested. I’m not put off with the comments as have always liked to give it a go to lean new things in the aquarium and fish keeping hobby as I do enjoy it .


----------



## Siege (19 Nov 2020)

You should be put off though.....


Id suggest have a chat with devotedly discus. They are the super experts on hard water discus.


----------



## RudeDogg1 (19 Nov 2020)

Siege said:


> You should be put off though.....
> 
> 
> Id suggest have a chat with devotedly discus. They are the super experts on hard water discus.



That’s where all my old discus came from mark is a top chap


----------



## Conort2 (19 Nov 2020)

I think a proven pair would be your only option then. Young discus need lots and lots of water changes to reach their full potential and I don’t think a group would reach anywhere near their full potential in a 90cm tank. I’d only recommend a group in a 120cm if you’re really set on them, however I can see you’ve got the tank already which is a shame.

cheers

Conor


----------



## castle (19 Nov 2020)

150cm really would be my minimum, can you try and take the aquarium back and get the 150?


----------



## RudeDogg1 (19 Nov 2020)

Personally I wouldn’t keep discus in one that size


----------



## h17mdr (26 Nov 2020)

Discus like a large minimalistic setup, alot of discus keepers go for bare bottom tanks so im not sure how well a planted tank will work


----------



## dw1305 (26 Nov 2020)

Hi all,
I've <"never kept them"> but I know there are very successful <"Discus keepers with planted tanks">.


h17mdr said:


> Discus like a large minimalistic setup


I'm not sure they like it, but it is what a lot of people keep them in.  People also insist that you have to feed them beef-heart and say that there aren't any <"plants where they live">, and I'm not sure they are right either.

cheers Darrel


----------



## mort (26 Nov 2020)

The discus display I had, that they regularly bred in, was half wooden roots and half lillies with surface pads. This was a tannin rich set up and they spent most of the time in the planted area.
I did get moaned at by some dedicated discus fanatics but I figured they were happy as they were breeding and out and about in a shop setting.

I think it's more a case of discus keepers prefer a minimalistic setup because they are easy to keep in them. The boldest most settled (which is easy to tell with discus colouration) have been in tanks with lots of cover.


----------



## dean (11 Dec 2020)

I’m slightly confused are you looking to create an aquascape firstly and keep discus secondly or is having discus your main objective ? 

The answer will then tell us which advice to give 

Let get a few facts straight 
If there is any beef heart in an Amazon river from a dead cow I’m positive the discus won’t be the species to benefit from it, beef heart is not a natural food, it’s a cheap way to get food into them, it’s messy and if it’s not eaten it soon pollutes the water, therefore bare tanks are used to breed and raise them. 

Discus are cichlids so they are aggressive so you need atleast 6 so no individual receives excessive aggression 

You tank size is too small to house 6 adult fish 

You could buy 6-8 small fish and be lucky to get them all to a size where they form a pair, then this gives you more problems, 
#you have to keep just the pair and sell / re home the others 
# you’ve invested £100’s to obtain a breeding pair of discus, not just in the original purchase price of the fish but with special foods, extra water changes, maybe buying RO water or an RO filter plus all the hours you’ve spent on maintenance, so like most people you will want to raise the fish to a saleable size, who wouldn’t ? 
# A nicely aquascaped aquarium
With plants, substrates etc etc isn’t going to give you the best chance of success not like a bare would, Do you leave it to luck ? Or do you remove everything to get to the bare tank setup ? Then you’ve wasted time and money on the substrate, plants, fertilisers, good lights, Co2 etc etc 

So ask yourself what is your goal ? 
answer truthfully or you will just go around in circles 


What’s the latest update ? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

