adding another discus

[luvmydiscus]

Just wanting to know for later on if I find another discus how would I add it to my tank of one discus with out fighting taking place? If this is not advisable I totally understand.

My tank is only a 25 gal and I don't want to over load it. I don't want to buy a school of discus as they are very hard for me to get here in the first place. But to add one more would be nice if I could but it is not necessary.

:D

[africandiscus]

I would get one that is slightly bigger than your current one so as to break the dominance.

[anti-generic]

do you have a divider?

what i do is
i put a divider in the tank and keep the new ones separated from the others for a week or two.

they can see each other but cant figh over food

works well for me.
even when im adding smaller fish

[luvmydiscus]

Hey thanks. :D

I also wanted to ask a stupid quesiton. I have been reading that 1 adult discus per 10 gal of water. So, can you keep one discus in a 10 gal tank with a small school of tetras?

:D

[anti-generic]

it really depends on how often and how much your water changes are.

the more often and more water changes you do the more you can relatively keep.

but on the other hand discus are a schooling fish so i dunno if keeping one by itself is a good idea.

[Trebs]

Discus don't do well alone. Also 10 gal per fish is a water volume rule which should be spread out over several fish - a 10 gal tank would be too restrictive. The larger a tank is the less stressed the fish will be.

I'd get a pair of gold rams with some tetras in the 10gal tank. They've got plenty of personality for small fish and will suit the tank well. Wait until you've got a setup suitable before starting discus - you will be glad you did (bare minimum - 55gal).

[kalebjarrod]

i agree, minimum of six discus works out welll

enough water that you can go a few days between water changes

enough fish to keep themselves occupied

[luvmydiscus]

I was just curious about that 10 gal per adult discus. I would not do that, I know these fish need room.

Trebs: I already have one discus with my Angel fish in my 25 gal. Discus are very very hard to get here. They have to be ordered in which costs alot of money and many store will not do it because they are so delicate. When I seen a store had them in for their fish sale I jumped at the opportunity to get one. A school of them is so breathtaking but getting one alone will do me just fine.

I have had this one for a month now, the Angel fish and my Discus are the best of buddies. My tank is heavily planted and has some small schooling fish in there as well. Many years ago we had a huge run on Discus here. Our city water is hard with a high ph. So needless to say the stores would only do themselves harm by telling customers these fish are very hard to keep alive in our water. They not only did this with Discus but Angels too.

In my 20 years in the hobby I have bred many fish in our water and Angels being one of them. I never did lower the ph of our water and I had more angels than I knew what to do with. I did this for 3 years then decided it was to much work, plus I had a young family too.

I have always wanted discus, knowing that I would pay dearly for one let along a school of them :? I opted to get the one and give it a try. Wow, they are amazing even if it is only a single one. I am very happy with my new discus and cannot wait to see what colors all come in as it ages.

They are just like Angels, very personable. They are right at the glass everytime they see you begging like little puppies.

If I ever get the opportunity to add another one to my tank I will definatley do so with some caution. Knowing very well they are cichlids in deed.

Thanks for your reply.... :D

[africandiscus]

luvmydiscus, as a matter of interest, what do discus cost?

[luvmydiscus]

Full grown discus $155.00-200.00 CDN each and this is petshop quality. The one I bought was $70.00CDN size 3"

So if you need to buy 6 or more you better rob a bank :lol: