An adventure begins...

[George Kulangara]

I'd actually start with more discus than that & plan on 8 adults longterm in this tank, they really do prefer group living ... depending on size of juvies, 16 might be a better # to start with ... then if you have a few losses & want to select out a few, you'll still have a good sized group to choose from.
Experienced discus keepers do add/remove large discus from established tanks - discus specific forums can be helpful in this regard

Cardinals - again I'd likely bring this # up to 35-40 ... you can also mix in some green neons etc if you want a bit more diversity, maybe some black phantoms or lemon tetras (though it's been awhile since I've seen nicely conformed lemon tetras)

Well I would love to have that many discus but wouldn't that many fish in a planted 300L mean daily WC and all that. I won't be able to keep up with that much maintenance on top of school work.

On a 30 % weekly water change regiment would I be able to hold that many fish?

I'll find a discus forum and ask them too but everyone's opinion is appreciated!!

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[alto]

Much depends on what you mean by juvenile discus -
~2cm "babies" & you really should begin with more
4-5 cm juveniles & 8 would be fine
8 - 10cm near adults & you can just buy what you'd like to end up with, eg 4-6 for lower bioload (also limit cardinal shoal to your planned 25 or so)

I'd likely include some corydoras as they will clean out missed food bits that end up in planted areas (most discus are "lazy" diners)
Adult japonica shrimp may do OK, some discus will hunt them, other will ignore them - if you want to try shrimp, they need to be well established before adding in discus
Feeding discus efficiently - be careful of those beef heart etc foods, lots of mess & wrong type of fats (biochemical structure) for aquatic fish

How are your water changes done?
Python style water changer will allow you to do 50% water changes without much time or effort - it's well worth investing in some sort of system.

If you want to stay with smaller, fewer water changes, then you're right to be careful of stocking levels - even though planted tanks can consume excess nutrients, may people that keep discus in bare tanks will syphon out uneaten food after every feeding or at daily

 

[George Kulangara]

Much depends on what you mean by juvenile discus -
~2cm "babies" & you really should begin with more
4-5 cm juveniles & 8 would be fine
8 - 10cm near adults & you can just buy what you'd like to end up with, eg 4-6 for lower bioload (also limit cardinal shoal to your planned 25 or so)

I'd likely include some corydoras as they will clean out missed food bits that end up in planted areas (most discus are "lazy" diners)
Adult japonica shrimp may do OK, some discus will hunt them, other will ignore them - if you want to try shrimp, they need to be well established before adding in discus
Feeding discus efficiently - be careful of those beef heart etc foods, lots of mess & wrong type of fats (biochemical structure) for aquatic fish

How are your water changes done?
Python style water changer will allow you to do 50% water changes without much time or effort - it's well worth investing in some sort of system.

If you want to stay with smaller, fewer water changes, then you're right to be careful of stocking levels - even though planted tanks can consume excess nutrients, may people that keep discus in bare tanks will syphon out uneaten food after every feeding or at daily

Hi alto,
I will be buying my discus around 8-10 cm.
A shoal of corydoras sounds good but are there any species that thrive at 28C?
I'm not a huge fan of the larger corydora species; I prefer a large school of smaller fish.

I currently have 6 amano shrimps and a colony of cherry shrimps. Do discus actively hunt shrimps?

Currently water changes involve dragging a 30L bucket across the living room to the garden and dragging fresh (cold water) back, adding some boiling water to increase the temperature. Then pouring it into the tank a mug at a time until I can/lift the bucket above the tank... x3

I've ordered a pump so that'll speed up the process slightly

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[alto]

Currently water changes involve dragging a 30L bucket across the living room to the garden and dragging fresh (cold water) back, adding some boiling water to increase the temperature. Then pouring it into the tank a mug at a time until I can/lift the bucket above the tank... x3

I remember those days
Even after watching the endless repeating video loop for that Python system at a lfs, I never bought one until a petshop did a half price clearance on fish stuff (switched over to house branded versions only) ... now I'd buy one at double price
If you don't need/choose to alter tank parameters from tap, I can't encourage the time/labour saving of a Python type system enough - especially with discus when most people will still recommend frequent water changes ... though I'm not sure how much of this stems from the unnatural diet that is often fed to these fish - read the dietary commentary from Sverting in the responses section (it's fairly easy to find the scientific journal papers that provide stomach contents analyses)
I suspect for long term discus success you may need to do more than 30% weekly water changes, even when the water parameters that are easily measured via kits, all look good, I find that fish always seem to appreciate "new" water (I've seen many tank sets up that followed the initial Walstead protocols re dirted "balanced" tanks where water changes are not required ... a few fish did very well in these setups, most fish were not thriving ... IMNSHO )

I will be buying my discus around 8-10 cm.

I'd suggest then just buying what you really like & getting the 8 or so - I assume you're buying from a discus specialist or breeder, so be sure to also buy whatever food fish are accustomed to & have tank parameters match as closely as possible

Corydoras - if you look on the discus forums, many species are kept ... from Seriously Fish Corydoras pages (Planet Catfish doesn't always list temp range), C similis & sterbae are more likely candidates
you might also consider Mikrogeophagus as they would also tidy missed foods (choose either Cory's or rams re bioload considerations)

I prefer a large school of smaller fish.

Do discus actively hunt shrimps?

realize that discus may eat whatever they can catch ... unfortunately it's difficult to predict what your particular group will do
There are anecdotes on both sides

 

[George Kulangara]

I remember those daysEven after watching the endless repeating video loop for that Python system at a lfs, I never bought one until a petshop did a half price clearance on fish stuff (switched over to house branded versions only) ... now I'd buy one at double price
If you don't need/choose to alter tank parameters from tap, I can't encourage the time/labour saving of a Python type system enough - especially with discus when most people will still recommend frequent water changes ... though I'm not sure how much of this stems from the unnatural diet that is often fed to these fish - read the dietary commentary from Sverting in the responses section (it's fairly easy to find the scientific journal papers that provide stomach contents analyses)
I suspect for long term discus success you may need to do more than 30% weekly water changes, even when the water parameters that are easily measured via kits, all look good, I find that fish always seem to appreciate "new" water (I've seen many tank sets up that followed the initial Walstead protocols re dirted "balanced" tanks where water changes are not required ... a few fish did very well in these setups, most fish were not thriving ... IMNSHO )



I'd suggest then just buying what you really like & getting the 8 or so - I assume you're buying from a discus specialist or breeder, so be sure to also buy whatever food fish are accustomed to & have tank parameters match as closely as possible

Corydoras - if you look on the discus forums, many species are kept ... from Seriously Fish Corydoras pages (Planet Catfish doesn't always list temp range), C similis & sterbae are more likely candidates
you might also consider Mikrogeophagus as they would also tidy missed foods (choose either Cory's or rams re bioload considerations)




realize that discus may eat whatever they can catch ... unfortunately it's difficult to predict what your particular group will do
There are anecdotes on both sides

Haha, I will look into the python systems. I personally don't mind water changes but after I leave for uni, the easier the maintenance the more likely it is done properly

I am planning on buying some stendker discus from devotedly discus. I like some of the strains they offer and they seem to be very hardy.

As for bottom dwelling fish, I have a separate black water tank in which I am hoping to breed rams so I may be able to throw a couple into the planted tank in the future.

Rams have got to be one of the coolest fish that I've kept... Along with pundamilia nyereri "makobe island" (a beautiful cichlid from lake Victoria).

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[George Kulangara]

- especially with discus when most people will still recommend frequent water changes ... though I'm not sure how much of this stems from the unnatural diet that is often fed to these fish - read the dietary commentary from Sverting in the responses section (it's fairly easy to find the scientific journal papers that provide stomach contents analyses)


I found that link really interesting, I obviously knew that red meat isn't in their diet but I didn't consider that it may be bad for them. I will definitely look into that and possibly wein the fish off the beefheart into the green stuff...

Thanks for the insight!

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[alto]

Heh George

any updates on this tank?

 

[George Kulangara]

Heh George

any updates on this tank?

Hi Alto,
sorry for not posting anything for a while, I am absolutely swamped with school work
I managed to get 10 juvenile discus from Devotedly Discus. They all look beautiful. I will probably get move a few of them out of the tank as they grow older. The tank also has some otocinclus and flying foxes to help remove some of the algae.

Regarding the plants, the stem plants that I have been trying to grow in the left hand corner kept melting so I replaced it with vallis and amazon swords. I'm waiting for those to grow in. The hygrophila has shot up and created a jungle like effect, as did the tiger lotus. The morning after getting the new discus, when the lights were turned on automatically, the discus got spooked. They ended up uprooting most of my hemianthus carpet. Yes - the one that took months growing in the dry start method I have replaced the heminathus with micranthemum and I am waiting on that to grow in.

I will post a picture of the tank as soon as I get the chance. Hopefully, after my exams in the next couple of months, I will be more active on the forums

Regards, George

 

[alto]

Heh George thanks for the update (& there's no doubt school comes first )

You might add some Eleocharis interplanted with the Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' (I assume), while E acicularis "mini" is shorter, E parvula is sturdier stuff & generally grows in more quickly - either will help to "hold" ground cover in place (Amano used to do this with HC)
With Discus I'd choose M 'Monte Carlo' over HC anyway re leaf size, it's also much more tolerant of conditions.

The morning after getting the new discus, when the lights were turned on automatically, the discus got spooked. They ended up uprooting most of my hemianthus carpet.

At least they didn't crash into glass or wood
sorry for your HC loss though

Sounds like a good group of fish in the tank
- did you remove the cardinals?

 

[George Kulangara]

Hi Alto,
It's been a long time since I've posted anything. The last few months have been stressful ahaha.
I will try and post an update of the tank in the next few days.

Wow, can't believe it's been half a year with the discus in the tank. I'm sad to say that the foreground carpet has not grown back. I've attempted to regrow it several times now and it's not working. I guess it only worked the first time because I grew the carpet as an emersed set up; giving the plants time to grow strong foundations. Now, every time I plant the hemianthus, it gets picked up by the fish. Since the last update, one of my favourite strains passed away due to mysterious circumstances ( Red scribbelt). I also currently have 3 breeding pairs in the tank. However, there isn't too much conflict. One fo the pairs has managed to keep the fry alive for a few days while they grazed on the mucus, despite the hungry shoals of tetras. It was an amazing sight to see Most of the other fish are doing well, a couple of tetras have died but nothing dramatic has happened. Hopefully, one day the carpet grows back to the beauty that it was. The ottocinclus have all died off (does anyone know any potential reason for this?) and the red cherry shrimps are a rare sight so I am in need of some bottom grazers.

I did buy two whiptail catfish, which are doing miracles to stir up the substrate. I also bought an Orinoco Angel Pleco, which was an impulse buy aha. The Orinoco is so beautiful but I only ever see it after the lights go out. I am planning on getting some Malaysian trumpet snails and maybe another shoal of ottos.

Does anyone know about any corydoras that can survive in high temperatures? My tank is in the low ranges for discus (28C) but I'm under the impression that corries don't tolerate heat.

 

[George Kulangara]

I have been growing some M. Monte Carlo with the Eleocharis like you suggested in a plant pot. I recently added that to the tank so we shall see whether it manages to stay in the ground. Only time will tell. I will be setting up my old 120L tank into a planted tank soon ( while I still have time during my Christmas break), so I will be creating a new post for that! I also have a 15L tank that i've set up for my brother's Betta fish which I will share with you all soon.