Had natives now gettting into discus

[gizmo42au]

How hard are Discus to keep?

I have heard of stories of them being real delicate and such. But i just wanted some peoples honest opinions.

I want to get a pair(or more) for a 3x2x2 that has been partially emptied with the sale of my larger natives.

Atm there is a large ghost knife, 2 bristlies and a purple spot gudgeon. Would the tankmates be suitable?

I am also getting an albino male brisltie for the tank though i dont think he will make much of a fuss for the Discus.

Also what would you suggest in the way of tankmates? I was thinking some smaller Angels or something. Maybe a school of rummynose.

The ones i am looking at are: a white one with red stripes that sorta wriggle around the body and fins(looks amazing), another that is similar but is yellow and half of it is striped and the other half is just shaded in yellow, and some all white ones which look amazing.

Matt

[Nathan]

discus arernt to difficult to keep as long as you can keep stable water coniditions an have a bit of knowledge about them under your belt.

if you can keep stable water conditions an do at least 2 w/c a week then you should not have a problem.

a lot of people dont keep angels with discus, however some do. it is mainly because angels carry quite a few parasites which there immune to, however discus are not. also discus are quite slow eaters an they cant have anything that will outcompete them for food which angels sometimes do, also angels are known to get a bit agressive.

a school of rummynose would look awesome an they are great for the same sort of water params as discus.

If you get into a routine an have a bit of knowledge on water params then you should be fine, an i cant stress it enough when introducing new fish to the tank with discus you MUST quarantine, i have lost quite a few discus before due to this an so have many others!

[gizmo42au]

Might skip on the angels and just get more discus, hehe.

Since i decided to move into discus i have upped my routine from 25% fortnightly to 25% w/c weekly. Would that be sufficient? All my params are stable, its just my pH that is remaining stubborn at 7.8. Which is a bit high, but i will get it down.

[Phlipper]

The recommended water change routine is 40% twice weekly, you may get away with less but it may well lead to trouble. As far as suitable tank mates go, there are lots to pick from, nothing aggressive and preferably fish that like low PH and soft water conditions, tetras are ideal. As far as hard to keep ???.............that depends on how you feel about water changing all the time :roll:

[gizmo42au]

ok so i might wanna up my routine a bit then. Not hard just about finding the right time and getting into a pattern.

Thanks for the speedy replys guys

[Nathan]

well there are numerous ways to lower your ph, some more effective an cheaper then others.

go to the water chemistry section of the forum an make a thread on how to lower your ph, youl be steered in the right direction. but if i was you id be looking into peat moss