Thinking about Discus

[Thor1]

I currently have a 20 Gal. tank with an Aquaclear 30 filter.
The previous pop of assorted smalled fish met a bad fate due to an alge problem which now has been fixed. So now I am looking at repopulating the tank with some discus and a pleco. Now the question is, how many and what size I should get to get started? I realize that the tank is not very large and I was thinking two, but I am worried about bullying.
Any suggestions would be welcome.

[jesx57]

Well I am no discus expert (yet), but I don't think that you could get away with that. Sure, you could use it as a growout tank, buy some juvies (4-5, best to buy them more bout 5 or so cm) and raise them up then put them into a much larger tank. As a general rule, it's best to keep either a breeding pair or more than 4 discus, 6 being the best. Keeping two that are not paired, one will be bullied. Your situation is workable to some extent, but you will have to face that if you want to raise discus to their adult size then you will need to upgrade to a bigger tank. You could keep discus in your tank for about 8 months then look at getting something bigger, your fish should be a nice size by then if you keep up with the water changes!

[ILLUSN]

20 gal is only good for a mated pair and nothing more, if you like get your self some smaller rarer plecos and make it a biotype tank with plants wood and tetras, that would look great, and the tank would be a perfect size for 4-5 small L-numbers and a school of 10.

[Hollowman]

Hi Thor,

As has been said by Illusn, a 20 is ok for a adult pair, but nothing more. We, as a rule of thumb, recommend 10 gallons per adult discus. You could put a group of 2-3" fish in there but in a few months they would out grow it, or if you try to keep them in there, they will, what we call 'stunt' themselves. (stop growing properly)

(I am talking about a BB tank too, not planted)


A word of advice too, common plecos do not mix with discus, they tend to find the slime on discus tasty and can severely damage them. Bristle Nose and Ansistrus plecos are fine, as well as many L numbers. Cory Sterbai are also a great tankmate.

HTH

Hollowman

[Thor1]

Thanks for the input guys. I pretty much was thinking about the same lines allready. And I don't think I will try it, unless I find a mated pair or get a bigger tank.