just had a discus dumped on me! help!

[kezdoc09]

my (so called) friend and fish lover decided to bring a discus to me today with no word of warning! She was getting angry with it because she blamed it for eating her neons, the other one she had died apparently so she decided this one should be gone and if i didn't take it she was gonna leave it on the street!! (yes so called animal lover, and my respect is all but gone for her!!) Any way in my tank i have quite a mix, it is about 50 gal ish and has: rams, kribensis, cockatoo cichlid, african butterfly, boosemani, angel, pristella, black phantom, borneo, plec, bala shark (also dumped on me), glass catfish and pearl gourami. I'm watching it now and it seems really happy and they are all getting along but will this last? Also, is it ok being the only discus or should i get another? or take it to my lfs? Please help, i know all the myths about them but as it came from a small tank which i expect had bad water readings i think it should do well in my tank? PH 6.8 Amm always 0 nitrites always 0 nitrates always 10. i do 2 10 - 20% water change a week and the tank is heavily planted with mopany wod and caves?

 

[misterking]

That seems ideal for the discus and as long as you keep on top of water changes you should be fine. Pretty sure I read on here something along the lines of "repeat after me.. water change, water change water change, now you're an expert discus keeper". They're not as fussy as people make out.

Onto more pressing issues, how many fish you have in your tank! How much of each fish do you have? Overstocking is a big issue for discus keepers, and can lead to typical diseases such as popeye and hole-in-the-head if you don't keep up on water quality.

I'd take the bala shark to your LFS if I were you, too big for a 50 gallon. And also the pleco will need ID to make sure it's suitable for your tank.