FINALLY! Going to start a Discus tank- a few questions

[butrfli262]

Hi there!

I've been saving and saving and finally bought my dream tank setup- the tank is currently cycling, but of course, I'm plotting and scheming for the day that I can stock it

I bought a 76g bowfront, Filstar xp3 & an RO unit, and now I'm waiting. I've always wanted to keep discus, but I've always shied away due to their reputation for being incredibly hard to keep. A little about myself.... I currently have a 36g African (mbuna) tank going, but have kept everything from oscars to malawi cichlids to a nano reef (in otherwords, I'm no newbie to the hobby).

I've been lurking around this forum for years now, and wanted to ask some of the resident "experts" on discus what things I need to prepare myself for before I stock my tank. I'm aware of their finicky water quality standards, and have since invested in a python, which I might say, has been the BEST purchase in all of my years in the hobby! I don't mind frequent water changes...

What sort of biotope should I plan for? Its going to be a centrally located tank in the living room- and while I've read that a bare bottom tank is ideal for discus, I would like to stray away from that & I don't plan on breeding. I personally would love a heavily planted tank with driftwood (came across some seriously inexpensive manzanita recently that I have curing at the moment...), but wanted to ask if that was an ideal setup?

Secondly, with ALL the options out there on strain, what are your personal favorites? I'm looking to stock the tank with 4-6 discus, and then do a school of rummy nosed tetras or??? HELP ME HERE, lol. I want to have happy fish before anything else...

thanks in advance guys! You are always so helpful here!

[Gerry]

I'm no discus expert so will just say welcome, sure someone will chime in shortly

[OinKY]

No Discus expert either...but heavy plantings can lead to Discus you never see.They're not above "fading" into the plant work.
Modern Discus aren't the sensitive fish that started the "difficult" mystique.... more of the commonly seen varieties are "farm/tank raised" in local water chemistry.Generally,these days if you look hard enough you can find a breeder raising them in everything from 4.5-7.4 pH to 0-250 hardness.... "wild-types" and newer "strains" are still relatively fixed in needs,don't get me wrong.... but a local breeder can supply Discus almost suited to any water chemistry not too alkaline.So it pays to call around and ask the right questions just to prevent "extra" work that might be taking you in the wrong direction anyway.

[callen]

Very excited for you!! Search AquaCare as he has some great posts on Discus and pop him a PM. I know he has been super busy but he is our Discus expert.

[butrfli262]

Thanks guys! Any personal favorite strains/types?

There are WAY too many options, and I don't even know where to start! lol...

[Nathan]

I personally like the blue varieties. My personal favorite was one I had years ago. It was sold to me as a Green Dragon discus. It was metallic green with metallic red "vein" stripes. Absolutely gorgeous.

From what I've seen lately, Pigeon Bloods are the most common/easy to keep variety. It seems like everyone has them around here (including "The Not-so-Smart Pet Store" and "The other pet store"), and they're pretty inexpensive - about $10 for a 2 inch discus.

I didn't find them to be horribly difficult to keep. They do generally require soft, acid water and a well planted tank.