newbie needs help [Archive]

JarradH

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 04:50 AM

Hey

over the past month or so ive been doing heavy reading on discus and discus care etc. Ive finally got a standard 4 ft tank in which i can use to keep discus. its going to be in the family living room oppisite the tv, is this ok? also im using fake plants as i dont seem to be good at keeping plants for longer than a few months they tend to die :(

this is what ive got planned stocking wise

4-5 x discus ( i read that its better to keep an odd number is this true?)
25 x neon tetras
6 x dwarf cories
4 x dwarfs gouramis
2 x bristlenose

is this too much? an answer asap would be greatly appreciated as ill be getting the cories and gouramis tommorow.

Im using a fluval 404 cannister filter for filtration and i also have two airstones goin on either end of the tank to break surface tension.

shayesmommy

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 04:56 AM

four foot by what?
that all sound fine.
but depending on gallons or litres it sound like it might be to many fish.

JarradH

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 05:12 AM

im pretty sure its 48x14x18

JarradH

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 05:14 AM

55(us) gallon

Dave76

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 05:26 AM

One thing to keep in mind that depending on the size of your discus your 25 neons will soon become expensive fish food.....

Dave

shayesmommy

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 05:45 AM

you got to think of the adult size of these fish cause they grow to the size of the tank and might not grow to their full potential.
and dave76 how long before they eat these fish?
i have 10 minnows that i bought for them to eat and make them not so sketchy but they are a few month old and havent even touched the things

JarradH

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 06:08 AM

hmm also is this stocking order alright?

currently in the tank are the two bristlenose
then im getting the cories and gouramis at the same time,
then a week or two later neons ( im choosing neons as they are considerably cheaper than cardinals and at the current time i dont have the funds to purchase a school of cardinals)
then a month or two after the neons getting 4-5 discus

shayesmommy

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 06:14 AM

well what ever works.
but i still wouldnt get some many tetras. are you planning on upgrading?
and like he says one day they will be food.
you could go for something cheaper. say like white cloud minnows.
and i would reccommed getting all other fish first for like a month before to make sure no desease is carried.

sammigold

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 10:20 AM

I would personally save up and buy cardinals as they are more suited to the water conditions and higher temperatures that discus require... Neons will not have a very long lifespan in the higher temps.... (I think that no. 25 is fine in a 4ft tank) I have 11 cardinals, 2 rummy nose and 5 big black widow tetras in mine and have had no problems...

shayesmommy are your minnows, white cloud minnows? I am asking because they grow roughly the same size as cardinal tetras I think, and I believe that your discus probably wouldnt be interested in them as food as they are maybe too large.. ? I also dont think that all discus are "littlefish" eaters, just some...maybe yours arent so predatory as some other discus.....

shayesmommy

Tue Jul 04, 2006, 04:34 PM

sammigold

Wed Jul 05, 2006, 01:59 AM

ok. well i wasnt sure about the tetras.
thanks for correcting me, i just thought it was to many fish.
yes they are whitecloud minnows.
so they wont eat them?
they pick at my corey cats? with no harm done so i figured they might eat the minnows. if not then i have to get rid of them.
My dad will feed the piranahs them.
but anyways if i did want to geta feeder fish, what would u reccomend.If they havent eaten them by now I dont think they will... cloud minnows do grow as big as a cardinal who are quite alot bigger than neons....

Is there a reason why you want to give them feeder fish? I only ask this as by introducing new fish into a tank you are at risk of adding diseases and parasites into your otherwise healthy tank...

I would suggest that you not worry about feeder fish. Feeding them frozen brine shrimp (or if you can be bothered hatching them yourself you could feed them live brineshrimp) frozen beef heart, a selection of flakes and discus bits etc will give them a nicely rounded diet... I also find that my discus enjoy the zucchini that I put in my tank for my pleco and bristlenose...check out the forum on food,nutrition and water chemistry it may give you some feeding ideas...

I dont really know what would be suitable as a feeder fish... sorry...

shayesmommy

Wed Jul 05, 2006, 04:55 AM

oh lol. i just thought it might be fun.
im not really intrested in buying other fish for them to eat. haha.
i will just give the minnows to my dad.
they have a varied diet of all kinds of frozen foods , flakes and pellets.

sammigold

Wed Jul 05, 2006, 05:21 AM

cool :-)

FishLover

Wed Jul 05, 2006, 02:01 PM

Neons will last about few weeks in your Discus tank. I learned that the hard way.

Water temp is too high for them and the discus kind of picking them out one by one. I had about 15 of them in my tank and almost every day I lost about one or two of them. Never found where they went and I guess they became yummy lunch for my discus.

I thought I was saving money buying the cheap neons rather than cardinals. Actually, I wasted money and bought some very expensive feeder fish for my discus.

By the way, feeder fish for discus is a bad idea. They could carry some really bad things and wipe out your discus.