I really want a discus!

[f8fan]

Today I went to the LFS on a cricket run for my geckos and saw the most beautiful orange (tangerine???) discus. It was young, only about 4 inches, and priced at only $29.99!

Instantly I wanted to buy it. But my common sense told me to think about it first and post questions here to see what you guys think.

I don't know a whole lot about them, other than they are breathtaking. This little guy came right up to the glass and watched me as curiously as I was watching him.

Here's my tank stats of the tank I would want to put him in:
55 gallon community. temp = 78 degrees, ph tends to stay right around 7.0. Soft water. I have a Emporer Biowheel 400 and the extra chambers are stuffed with filter floss (for additional bio-filtration).

Current inhabitants = male and female kribensis, african butterfly fish, three x-ray tetras, 15 or so assorted danios, young red tailed black shark, two female mollies, one kuhli loach & four bronze cories.

I try, I really try to do a couple 20% water changes a week. In all honestly, most of the times I do a 30% once a week change. Nitrates are always under 20 ppm when I test them.

Just in case the layout of the tank matters, here is a pretty recent picture of it:

Would this be a bad move, or would it be ok? Either way, I'm fine, one one hand I would love to have this beauty, on the other hand, what little I do know of them is that they require pristine water conditions and if it means having to do 3x per week water changes, then count me out.*thumbsdow

 

[MOsborne05]

You should be ok with one in that tank if you keep up with water changes, say 2x a week. But they like to be in groups

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I would usually type out a lot of stuff here because i love these fish but i really think this article written by Dan the man back in the day covers it very well. I'd have a look here first F8

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15803

If you have any othre questions feel free to ask. I will echo Daniel in his article, all they need is a little TLC and you should have no problems. In my experiences i eventually got down to 1 water change a week on my discus and they did perfectly fine, the more the better though. 4" for $30 seems like a really good deal considering its coming from an LFS.

 

[f8fan]

I was just reading that very article!

Quite a good read. It concerns me that they require groups, tho. That article said groups of at least six or more! And I ain't doing that. If I did, I would have to get rid of everything else in my tank. Although I am understocked (and try to stay that way) I can't see getting more than a pair...and then that is only if the kribs wouldn't tear it to shreds. Ideally I would like to only have one.

. Hmm. Well I'm glad I didn't do an impulse buy. I wish I could just get one of them.

 

[Pure]

I honestly haven't read the article. (bad pure) yeah I know.
But they really only need to be kept in such large groups when they are young. They are indeed very social and even more so when young. I do know of accounts when someone had a big meany that would only allow his owner to keep him by himself in a tank, but for the most part they do enjoy each others company. But even as adults 2 in a tank is a bad idea, as I learned the hard way one will always get picked on.

If it is in fact 4 inches fr just the body it is getting at the age where it doesn't need a large group to be happy, but more than one is a must..normally.

Waterchanges.....Well Cm pointed out a mistake I made in a post where I was saying that one large water change a week is enough. But I was thinking about adults. If the fish is still growing they do need at least 2 decent sized changes a week. When you do get down to just one a week, 30% isn't going to cut it. I do at a minimum a 50%, and just got done doing a 75%. This takes a great deal of care and knowledge on your part about water parameters. Doing this large of a water change can be dangerous if you do not know how to Mach your parameters.

What concerns me about your tank are the tank mates you have for him. Discus are grazers and must be fed small amounts several times a day. If you don't do this they tend to get thin and when young do not grow the way they should. They are not normally fast eaters, so I fear that some of your tank mates may hog most of the food. The danios in particular are not a good choice, for this reason and because Discus tend to not like very active boisterous tank mates.

In all honesty discus can be kept in a community setting. Mine are, but the tank mates have to be picked to work around the discus. Mine share a tank with a school of rummy nose tetras and an L182. All these fish are good tank mates. They can deal with the heat and are not overly active. The Rummys give me SOMETHING to look at.

In the end Discus are REALLY worth the effort and I do recommend you get some! I know you can handle it.