Getting ready for my first discus ever!

[TinyTina]

Hello to everybody out there! Nice to meet you all :)

Well, I am getting ready to set up my first ever discus tank :D Needless to say this is very exciting for me. I'd really just like to run a few things by you all today to make sure I am comprehending everything correctly. There is so much conflicting information out there!

The setup will be:

75 gallon planted tank, Rena Filstar XP2 cannister filter, Via Aqua stainless steel 300 watt heater, Tahitian Moon Sand for substrate, and lots of larger river rocks.

Plants will be various species of anubias, java ferns, one huge amazon sword, and some val. I'm hoping to find a nice medium sized piece of malaysian driftwood as well.

Water stats out of the tap are:

pH 6.2
gH 75
kH 80


For stock I am hoping to eventually get to:

5 Discus (3 bright blue and 2 green)
1 Pair German Blue rams (already have them)
1 Pair of gold rams
7 Emporer Tetras (or congos, I can't decide lol)
15 Cardinal Tetras
8 Corydoras Hastatus
6 Otocinclus
3 Clown Loaches (already have them)

I'm hoping to have the tank up and running by the end of October or early November. Am I on the right track? Also, how necessary is beef heart to the diet? ... because that really makes me sqeamish :roll: :lol:

Anyway, I'd love to hear your input on my upcoming tank. Thanks for reading my horribly long post :D

Tina

[africandiscus]

Make sure to find out what the discus are currently eating where you buy them from. Start on that food. Tank sounds great. Good luck

[Trebs]

I've had Congos with Discus before and I'd suggest you went with a smaller tetra. The Congos mating ritual can upset the Discus as they race up and down the tank. They are pretty competative for food and are a decent size when fully grown so will add a reasonable bio-load to the tank. Make sure you quarantine the rams before adding I have found rams in the past carry a few diseases/parasites.
It is always easier to keep Discus in a BB tank which I would recommend first time around. Having said that I did a planted discus tank first time round and it all worked out. Your choice, as long as you are prepared to do a little more maintenance.
Also might be worth getting 6 discus instead of 5, seems to be a better number for spreading out aggression.

[kevkoi]

Would have to agree with Trebs in regards to Congos..... the can be boisterous especially in a small tank. But they are such beautiful fish!

In regards to your plant choice, I would suggest Blyxa instead of val. Val just doesn't seem to do well in soft water (which incidentally discus love!). Val I find thrives in higher pH with more hardness in the water. Blyxa does much better in the softer water.... much classier plant (to compliment some classy fish choice u have!), and not overly expensive.

Corydoras hastatus... wow, nice choice of a dwarf corydoras. Love those little midget corys. Good choice and may I compliment you on your good taste as well. :wink:

Emperor tetras would be a nice choice. I would suggest the Black emperors (Nematobrycon palmeri) over the Kerri tetras (sometimes called blue emperors, Inpaichthys kerri), .... and if you want to go a little bit further and hunt down some nicer emperors, I would suggest the Rainbow Emperor tetra (Nematobrycon lacortei). These are some of my favourite tetras!! Harder to find though...

Rams.... now these can be sometimes rather touchy. Personally I'd suggest you go with either the blue rams or the gold rams. If you want to add any other dwarf cichlid, I would suggest you try the Apistogramma species or even a couple of Discrosus filamentosus (Checkerboard cichlid). These will go well with your discus/amazonian theme (minus the clown loach... he he he).

6 Otocinculus may not be enough to keep algae growth in check. U may need to add more or maybe add a fish such as the Royal whiptail catfish?

Beef heart diet these days can be bought in pre-made frozen dinners. All u have to do is pop out a cube and feed (don't even have to know what's in it if you are squemish... :lol: ). Beefheart mixes are great for growing on small discus or keeping them nice and chunky. Discus can be brought up on frozen bloodworms or even dry food if you wish.... the key to feeding is a varied diet. I suggest feeding different foods every meal... that way, the fish don't get hooked on one particular food which may not be giving them all the nutrients required.

Other than that, u look like you're on your way to becoming a proud owner of a discus community tank.

:)
kev

[Proteus]

I have 10 Congos in my 6ft Discus tank.... looking at getting another 20

good choice IMO

:wink:

[flukes]

Sounds like your on the right track and looks like Trebs and Kev have given you some great advice.

Kev - How come you couldnt tell me that about the Vals about 1 year ago! I always wondered why they never did so well.

[kevkoi]

:lol: Did you ever ask? :wink:

[flukes]

hehehh

I wouldnt say that, you wouldnt believe some of the stupidest questions i can come up with!!

[Trebs]

I really like the Congo's and in a bigger tank. IMO 75gal is a little small for both. 5-6 discus should take up 60-65gal from a bioload/stocking point of view especially for a first timer (which dosn't leave a lot of room for everything else).

Kev, do SLS stock Otocinculus? I always hear about them from Americans with planted tanks and they swear by them. If so what sort of price range? I've been to your store before but didn't see any. I was probably to busy looking at the discus to notice.

[kevkoi]

Yes, we always stock otocinculus affinis. Otos can be touchy and sensitive when they are new... once they have settled in and are well fed, they are busy little fish, always looking for algae to clean.

[Trebs]

Good to know someone has them. Bristlenoses dug holes in all my aquascapes.

[TinyTina]

Wow thanks for all that great info everybody :D I am leaning towards diamond tetras over the congos now. I saw some in the lfs today and they literally made my jaw drop!

I have never heard of blyxa. Will have to look that one up!

Basically I want to acheive a few things with this tank. First and foremost, I want of course... thriving discus! Secondly, I am trying to put compatible fish in that I already have in my existing tanks. These being the pair of blue rams, otos, cories, clown loaches, and lone emperor tetra. I figure they are all compatible and this way I can give them a much better home with proper schools. I also have soooooo much vallis I was hoping to pawn some of it off in this tank :lol:

I do have a couple of questions though now that you all have got the wheels turning. How come I could only do one pair of the rams and not both? And also, would it be possible to keep a mango (or magnum is another term for it) pleco in with the discus? I don't have an l number for it sorry.

And you guys have no idea how glad I am to hear that beefheart is not a necessity. Although if I can buy it frozen I *might* be able to give it a try without puking!

Thanks again for all your help,

Tina

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Tina. You've just been given some great advice. The only thing I would add, is that every time I have put cardinal tetras in my tanks, the discus found them to be a yummy (and expensive) snack :(

[kevkoi]

Hmmm, I have to ask, are u in Australia? The reason I ask is because "Mango plecos" aren't commonly available in Australia.....And if they were they would go for between $650-$750ea!!!

Diamond tetras....Moenkhausia pittieri. They've a nasty knack of nibbling on plants :? , especially fine leafed plants. Nice fish though.....

[TinyTina]

Ok scratch the cardinals! Maybe lemons then... I'll have to think about it for a while. And nope I'm in the US. Heck I'm even having a hard time justifying $70 for a mango :shock: To buy one would take up about half of my paycheck! Expensive hobby we've got here.

Thanks again :D

[Trebs]

Absolutely, they make a decent looking money pit though.
As for the cardinals, I've kept neons with discus before without any probs but make sure they go in first and put on some size. Then add the discus later. As long as you are aren't buying full size discus it should be okay. This ins't foolproof but should work in most cases.
I'd be inclinded to skip the plec entirely, you'll already have Oto's for algae and the cories/clowns will cleanup uneaten food.

[TinyTina]

I suppose you're right, it's just that I've always wanted one of these plecs :lol:

I guess I'm set then! Thanks for everyone's help, I appreciate it! I will be back to post pics of the setup once I get everything going. I am really hoping to have the tank set up with fish by Halloween but I probably won't have any discus until January-ish.

Thanks again :D

[weird]

Welcome Tina, you have come to the right spot, some excellent and friendly advice to be found.

Question in regards to tank mates for the experts, do these tetra species e.g emperor, neon, cardinal ... do they mind temps above 28 degrees ? I often run my tanks around the 30-31 degree mark, as I think it has helped keep the nasties away.

[kevkoi]

Weird, many of the tetras would survive that sort of temperatures but I believe it speeds up their metabolism so much it shortens their lifespan. In a discus community tank, I would suggest 28degrees C as a good temperature to leave it at. Some plants would not tolerate the high water temperatures for prolonged periods either.

Oh, and the Mango Pleco will hate the 30degrees temperature.... A bit on the high side. This is espeically so if you are keeping Mango Plecos (L047) in Australia as they are PRICEY, and u really wouldn't want to lose that fish!

Oh another 2cents about the Mango Plecos..... Please note that they are Baryancistrus species, which by all guesses get up to about 25-30cm (about a foot!). They are carnivorous (ok, they are omnivours but prefer meaty foods to algae) and when they get big, u may find uprooted plants in the mornings. For a discus tank, I would suggests smaller pleco species as companions.... Any of the pleckoltia species, panaloqous species or Hyspancistrus species. (L134, L204, L046)

[TinyTina]

Thanks for that pleco infomation kevkoi :) I was really just looking for an excuse to buy one, my lfs has had the same one for over a year and he's so pretty :D I was prepared for him to grow large but I don't want him to destroy my tank either! I'll pass on him and just keep on dreaming :lol: I'm not fond of plecos really, they're ugly little suckers! But I've been thinking about a bristlenose if I come across one. They are very rare here in California!