# Tank raised Discus



## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

So I read, hear (LFS) they are a lot easier to take of and hardier? How true is this I am mainly worried if I go away for a week vacation feeding them. Would a automatic feeder work?

I have a well planted tank with some driftwood. Basicly I'm bored with my 29 gal. I would only keep the corys and 2 otos. Would like to add a pair of discus. I always keep up with the water changes about 35%. 

I have read about the dificulties of these fish over the years. So are tank raised any easier to deal with?

Or would the 29 be entirely to small? I'm just wanting to do something differnt with this tank.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

If I am not mistaken they are a schooling fish so you need at least 5 in a 50 gallon tank. I did some research on them for my gf and that is the main thing that I remember.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I've kept discus twice, and I found them very demanding, much like Geophagus, Satanoperca or other 'tank-large' South American cichlids.
To begin, forget about a 29. It is WAY too small for two of these fish. 
I found that with discus, 20 gallons per fish, with nothing else in there was the basic. If you add 40% weekly water changes on excellent filtration, all was well. Miss one water change, and hole in the head was lurking. 
I kept wilds - I find the colour forms available from domestic breeders ugly. That's just taste differences. A lot of the stock I see in pet shops are thin flanked, hungry looking things, often with really poor shapes. I suspect a lot of the cheaper discus available are breeder culls that didn't turn out right.
There are no culls with wilds, and from a good dealer, they are robust and healthy fish. That being said, whatever their origin, they are dull, placid fish that keep you on a treadmill - one mistake and they are dead. If I kept them again, I would aim for four fish in a 120.


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## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

Thanks, I decided I'm going to go wild Bettas.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Superb choice! Those are neat fish not enough people keep, and they are small enough that they don't ever become a chore to keep. I think you'll really enjoy them.


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## Skippah (Mar 20, 2012)

It would make sense that tank raised discus fish are easier then their captive counter parts. I have a total of 11 discus fish in my 48 gallon tank. One is 3 inches others 1-2.5 inches. I started with two in my 29 gallon tank at just 1.75 inches each and updgraded to a 48 gallon tall tank with a large cannister filter (317gph flow rate) and an air fed sponge filter. The tank is doing fine with the extra load of fish. I just completed the new tank cycle.

When it comes to 29 gallon and a couple of discus it is okay to start them in that then get up-grade to a larger tank. They are difficult to take care of. I did a water change once partially treated water and it turns out the amonia level was higher than I read in my first test and it killed one of my discus fish. They are sensitive fish and loosing them is costly. So far two of my fish died. One on an account that I went away on vacation and had a neighbor feeding them that she overfed my fish. When I came back I had one partially eaten baby discus fish stuck on my fiter's intake valve with very murky water. However, I have 11 healthy discus fish doing fine now. I do pwc, 20 gallons one a week. It's a lot of work at the start up but once you get used to the work it becomes easy.


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## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

Thanks Skippah maybe some day I will give them a shot. I decided to go with wild bettas


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## Skippah (Mar 20, 2012)

RonB said:


> Thanks Skippah maybe some day I will give them a shot. I decided to go with wild bettas


Yeah I was thinking they were too much for me at first but there was a local guy that was selling them on craigslist for cheap and I didn't want to lose out so I got them. I've invested a lot up to that point so it just made sense for me. FYI: I found a website that sells lots of aquarium supplies at very low prices: Fish & Pond Supplies, Aquarium Supplies, Live Tropical Fish. If it wasn't for them I doubt I'd have discus fish. Bought two filters and a bunch of other things that I can't find anywhere else.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Depends on the stock as to their care needs. I have 2 dozen 5+" in a 210g tank and about 8 that are around 3", total cost involved to date is over 7k including livestock and tank purchase.

Mine arent raised in tap water at all, I produce 400g of RO water daily, every 2 days they get a 50% PWC(a little over 100g). as I said it depends on the stock as to their care needs. Ive got some that are domestically bred in with ones that were wild caught.

I also keep dwarf geo's and to be honest between the two they are near identical in care needs. Also, you get what you pay for in this hobby if the price of a single discus is too much or makes you rethink then you are better off with ones that are less demanding. Your LFS is just trying to make a sale, they buy the little guys at around $10 a piece and sell for atleast $35 a piece. I Usually spend 800-1000 bucks for 5-8 discus shipped.


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## Skippah (Mar 20, 2012)

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> Depends on the stock as to their care needs. I have 2 dozen 5+" in a 210g tank and about 8 that are around 3", total cost involved to date is over 7k including livestock and tank purchase.
> 
> Mine arent raised in tap water at all, I produce 400g of RO water daily, every 2 days they get a 50% PWC(a little over 100g). as I said it depends on the stock as to their care needs. Ive got some that are domestically bred in with ones that were wild caught.
> 
> I also keep dwarf geo's and to be honest between the two they are near identical in care needs. Also, you get what you pay for in this hobby if the price of a single discus is too much or makes you rethink then you are better off with ones that are less demanding. Your LFS is just trying to make a sale, they buy the little guys at around $10 a piece and sell for atleast $35 a piece. I Usually spend 800-1000 bucks for 5-8 discus shipped.



Yeah we just bought four fish frm Discus Hans on our way back from vacation. All are doing well. Those other fish I bought off craigslist were from discus hans and another set I bought were the fry from a local guy's pair.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

you cannot go wrong with HANS livestock but you cannot be sure they are true HANS fish unless you get them straight from baltimore,md. I bought two from a high end LFS that were sold as HANS fish, well HANS didnt have this LFS on their client list and pretty much reassured me they were not his stock, needless to say they lasted less then a year.
I do have a pair of hans pigeons and they are pushing 3 years old and just a smidge over 6" in diameter not including their fins.


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## Skippah (Mar 20, 2012)

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> you cannot go wrong with HANS livestock but you cannot be sure they are true HANS fish unless you get them straight from baltimore,md. I bought two from a high end LFS that were sold as HANS fish, well HANS didnt have this LFS on their client list and pretty much reassured me they were not his stock, needless to say they lasted less then a year.
> I do have a pair of hans pigeons and they are pushing 3 years old and just a smidge over 6" in diameter not including their fins.



Yes we had a great experience with Hans. He's quite a character. His facility is actually in Middle River, MD which is outside Baltimore. All my fish are 3 inches and under. We will be dealing with him more often although there is a not so local fish store that says he has Hans fish but I have never been there. It's funny I came in there only wanting to buy 2 fish but ended up leaving with four. My wife picked out two of the Dark Angels, I picked out a Brilliant Blue and a Snake Skin Red.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

yeah, most people dont know middle river exists lol. I was there a few years back when I lived in MD.


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## Rod4Rodger (Jan 2, 2012)

This is an older post and I see you chose Betas, but I have to dispel some myths about my beloved Discus Fish! First of all they KNOW they are God’s gift to man and won’t let you forget it. Think about it, the ones in the store look at you as if to say, “Look at me, I’m a DISCUS. I’m bad, yea!” Mine eat out of my hand and expect to be petted when they eat! I have currently got four in 29 gallon tanks and about 20 in my 240. There are a couple of runts but they are all 4 to 5 inches, even in the 29s. 
Discus are not starter fish. They are not as hard to keep as the horror stories, but if you lose interest and do not do the water changes, they will become very unhealthy and you may not be able to nurse them back to health. They can go without food or other attention at all for a week while you are on vacation, but they can’t stand a huge temperature swing so you have to condition your house all the time at least enough to keep their temperature in the 87 degree range; that means nights, weekends, and vacation and if you live in a hot climate like I do, Houston, Texas, you will pay a monthly premium to keep them. In a colder climate you can use insulation and blankets to cover the tank, but if you lose the temperature, they very well may get sick. If you lose it badly or there are sudden changes, they may die outright.
Discus are SHOALING fish, not schooling fish. They hang out together but all do their own thing and without the shoal they will grieve themselves to death. Schooling fish move as one, like one body, one mind, in many fish. If you don’t have at least two, in that size tank, no more than three or four, they WILL die.
The smallest tank I have Discus in is 29 gallons. Usually I have two mating, or maybe three or four holding. I have had up to eight three and four inch in a 29 for about six weeks, but I did daily 80% change outs from my big tank. It is essential you cycle the tank and I recommend a live bacteria supplement even when you add the fish to the cycled tank. Discus are too sensitive to live through the ammonia rollercoaster of a tank cycle.
To do Discus successfully in that size tank all you need is a sponge bubbler and a good heater. I don’t like gravel because it is too hard to vacuum up the mess and I can’t imagine an under gravel with Discus! Accurately get the heat set to 87 degrees because the main parasite that eats on them dies in the larva stage if the water is about 86 degrees. DO NOT LET THEM GET ABOVE 90 DEGREES, at least not for long. I use a fan on the surface of the water in the height of the summer in Houston, Texas and it works. My sump is in an unconditioned garage with the fans. The main tank is on the other side of the wall in my man-cave and I can let it get up to about 78 in there in the summer even though the garage may be pushing 100 and the evaporation from the fan is huge. 
Secondly you will need to change out their water with clean and properly prepared water. Get a plastic trash can that will hold at least what you want to change out. I use two 54 gallon cans but I have a 240 gallon tank with a 110 gallon sump and two 29 gallon tanks. In your case, probably about 15 gallons is the smallest you want. Put a heater in it and set it to the same temperature as your tank. If you need Discus Buffer, use it there, not after you add it to the tank. I buy SeaChem’s Discus Buffer in bulk off Ebay and get it really cheap compared to the pet store little bottle price. If the water stays in the bubbler for at least a couple of days you will not even need chlorine remover. I change out 100 gallons every week and I never use anything but Discus Buffer and after I am through Blackwater Extract. I think they are healthier with it but I never had any problems when I didn’t use it. I recommend in a tank that small 50% give or take once a week. There are a lot of tricks you can use, like having the trash cans higher than the tank so you don’t have to dip or pump. You may even be able to locate them somewhat remotely and use a siphon hose. You can put some quick shut offs on it and never even have to prime it. I invested in a 1” x 30’ with shutoffs and a “spool” near the drain end so I never have to prime it. I hook it up to drain the tank, use it like a vacuum, then put it in the trash can and use it to re-fill. (Now I have everything piped in with PVC so I don’t have to do anything but turn it on in sequence at the right times.) 
Be careful of chemical filters with Discus! They work great when they are fresh but are not needed if you change out weekly and I have had them become saturated and leach out the very crap they originally removed, and all at once. I didn’t lose any fish but it was ugly and touch and go and I did three change outs in as many days!
Oh, mine do live on tap water. I have a whole house filter but it is not anywhere near the quality of an RO system. My outside spigots are before the filter so I fill from an auxiliary tap of my wife’s washer. The water quality is noticeably better. 
Good luck with your Betas and if you ever want to try Discus, remember my short instructions and you will have a lot more fun! Oh, and if they tell you they are God, or Plato, or President of the United States, humor them. They have a three minute memory but they never forget they are Discus and you are not! Also, if they say they have never eaten and are starving but you fed thme five minutes ago and their little sides are bulging, they are not lying, they forgot because more than three minutes have passed.


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## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

Thanks for all that good info. I will copy for future referance.


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