how many in a 3fter

[boydie]

hey all im thinking of getting some blue turqs from a lfs,he has quite a few.they are about 5-6cm. im thinking ill get about 8 fish as thats what i can afford to buy.
ive got a couple of questions,how long can i keep 8 fish in a standard 3ft tank with pretty good filtation?
and when im selecting fish of that size,i would like to get a good mix of boys and girls is there any thing to look for or do i just get the best looking fish??
let me know your thoughts.
cheers marty

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Marty,

What is your tank volume, don't forget to subtract the volume of sand, wood, ornaments, etc. that you have in the tank.

I have nine discus in a 600 ltr (6x2x2) tank, probably around 560 ltr after gravel wood etc. This number allows me a few corydoras and a couple of schools of various tetras.

Regards,

Bob

[boydie]

its a bare tank with 1 maybe 2 sponge filters and a home made (lge)sump type filter.

[BigDaddyAdo]

If it is a standard size 3ft tank I would only ever use t to house a single grown pair.

[boydie]

ok heres a bit of a up date.
they are only 5-6cm in size and they have been in the tank for a couple of weeks now and doing really well,eating ect.( there is 8 in the tank)
they get a good water change daily and a even better wc on weekends.
today i have come home to feed them and have noticed 3 or 4 fish are being quite dominant and i surpose you could say aggresive towards the others over food and territory.
my plan is over the weekend move them all into a 4x18x18.
do you guys think this will stop the squabbling,??
they have been realy good together up untill today.
what are your thoughts.will the 4x18x18 be enough.
cheers marty

[boydie]

just went back to look at them and now feeding has stopped the dominants has stopped???

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Marty,

While your new set-up will be an improvement you are still looking at 8 fish in a 240 ltr (max) tank which means approx 30 ltr per fish. To get the best growth out of your juvies you need to maximise your feeding regime, good water changes (which I see you are doing) and maintaining tank cleanliness.

While discus are a schooling fish they will still need to establish a "hierarchy" within the group and it is unlikely that the "squabbling" will subside until order has been established.

Any move will result in the fish engaging in this type of behaviour again as they establish territory/position within the group/tank. Don't let this put you off moving them, the sooner done the better.

When I purchased a group of six juveniles a couple of years ago I quarantined them in a tank of that size. Of the six two became bonded pairs and I had to relocate the others into my main tank. Do watch for bonding and be ready to move either pairs or unattached singles as required.

Regards,

Bob

[boydie]

thanks for your adice bob,thats what id like to achieve,a pair or two.
cheers marty

[b/n guy]

pics???

[boydie]

ive got pics just dont know how to upload them,ive been trying with help from my wife and duaghter but cant get it sorted,maybe on the weekend when we have some time.
brissy got any suggestions on uploads.
cheers marty