personal preferences

[equidae9854]

Ok, so I'm thinking of starting a planted discus tank... I've been into FW fish for 6 year now, with my biggest current tanks being the 180gal and 125gal. I'm really into the "monster fish". So, I'm not in any need of help in terms of water quality, filtration, stocking, etc. etc., but need some "matters of preference" advice.

Should I start off in a 75-gal tank, or dive straight into the 125? The 75 would be easier to manage in terms of water changes, plant upkeep, costs, etc., but the 125 would definitely look nicer.

Should I go for an all-blue strain or discus, or add some other colors in there as well? I really like the blues, but I also like the oranges. Should I stay simple and stick to one color, or have a colorful variety? Or maybe majority blue with several oranges to stick out from the crowd?

[ILLUSN]

go the 125, more water, easier to maintain water quality, start off with 6 discus of the 1 type (8 MAX), they look beter in a school IMO and thers a good chance you'll get a pair or 2 from them.

blues or oranges are up to you, i prefer blues, plus they are easier to breed (again IMO) with better uniformity in the fry, if you should ever decide to take the plunge into breeding craziness.

[equidae9854]

Thanks. Oh, the 125... That means more plants, substrate, more lighting, filtration... better start saving. lol. But yeah, that's what I was originally leaning towards anyways.

Also, if I get the 2" discus, how long before they are full grown? I realize that water quality, temperature, feeding, etc. affects it, but I'm looking for an approximate "guess-timation"

[equidae9854]

I guess my next question then is, which size I should go for. I hear the smaller ones adjust better to new situations and ship better (less stress), but obviously the larger they are, the more magnificent.

[ILLUSN]

bigger fish are tougher in my experiance, they eat better, they look better and you get less health problems with them.

as for juvis in a planted tank, expect anyware from 4-6 inches in size after 12 months.

[equidae9854]

thanks. one more question. I just found a used 120gal for $100 (comes with stand, filter, heater, etc.). Now that's an awesome deal!

But, do discus prefer the height of the 120, or the length of the 125? I'm not exactly sure if this is a 120L (5') or a 120T (4'), but either way, it's 120gal.

So, I guess my last question is, what dimensions do discus prefer?
1. long length and skinny width (72" x 18.5" x 23.5")
2. short length and tall height (60" x 18.5" 25")
3. kind of a square (48.5" x 24.5" 25.5")

[ILLUSN]

length and width are more important then height. my preferance is 4'x2'x2' but they'd be happy in any of the tanks you've described above.

[dwilder]

its easier to clean a shorter tank over a taller one so keep that in mind

[equidae9854]

Oh decisions... Yeah, I had a 120-gal L (5') that I sold two years ago because of the height issue, and then I recently sold a 90-gal b/c I wasn't using it and I had a height issue with that too. But I figured I'd rather a nice display than what's easy to take care of. I'm only 5'1", so I was actually going to go buy a small ladder/step stool for my tanks anyways.