The Discus Aquarium

An important consideration before purchasing a Discus (or several of them) is the Aquarium in which you intend to house them. While there are no set rules regarding aquarium selection there are a number of considerations to account for before you buy an aquarium. The Discus is a large fish, and as such needs plenty of space to if they are to grow and thrive. While there is no such thing as too large an aquarium when we are considering what to purchase for our Discus, there can certainly be too small an aquarium. Keep in mind that your aquarium selection will determine how many Discus you can keep. The following information will help you choose the best tank size for your needs.

SELECTING YOUR AQUARIUM

What is your goal when purchasing Discus, what do you personally wish to derive from this? Certainly your aquarium choice will be affected by what you want to get out of it. Is it your intention to make a stunning display for your living room or den based on the latest trends in German decorating? or is it your intention to take on the challenge of breeding and raising Discus for fun or profit? These issues must be carefully decided before you go out and spend your money, your intent is going to be a determining factor in your purchases.

For Discus that are going to be displayed in a planted and decorated aquarium I generally recommend 20 gallons of water per adult discus, although this seems like a lot of water, in a display type setup it can become cramped rather quickly. Being a schooling fish, the Discus does best with lots of room and open water to move about freely. There are no doubt some of you reading this that may have 4 or more adult Discus in a 45 gallon tank that are right now thinking I'm crazy. Sure you can keep that many Discus in a 45 gallon tank, but not optimally for the Discus. Between intense Bio-Load and and the extreme amount of stress this is going to place on your fish (such as Infection Pressure ), it is not worth cutting the corners for. An over-crowded tank is going to mean severe problems down the line with issues such as disease, stress and especially maintenance.

Lets assume you have your heart set on a 135 gallon show tank, six to eight adult Discus is ideal for the ecosystem you wish to create. If you are gung ho about building a heavily planted, natural display this should be about your limit. Of course we are figuring necessary maintenance and water changes when estimating the number of fish we wish to add. Obviously if you plan to purchase a number of small Discus and grow them out, you can put many more in the aquarium, but remember, sooner or later you will have to get rid of some or buy more tanks. Tank sizing and water volume will be covered more in the filtration section.

If on the other hand you intend to someday become a breeder, you are going to use a different approach. Initially you aer going to want to provide the young Discus with plenty of room to grow, bare tanks and frequent water changes. As they grow and you begin culling and separating your fish, you will eventually move them down into much smaller tanks.To compensate for things like Bio-Load The breeder has to monitor his water conditions and perform more water changes, often on a daily basis. It is not uncommon for these daily water changes to be rather substantial, sometimes as much as 100% changes per day. If you buy small fish with the intent to grow them out, then initially you will want to work with a good size aquarium. 40 to 70 gallons tanks are fairly ideal for this. You will be able to keep a dozen or more young Discus with ease, more if you want to increase your water changes, but as they grow, you will want to reduce the number of fish in the tank to about 5 to 8 adults.

After they begin to pair off you will want to move them to their "permanent" accomodations. Your tank choices generally take on even smaller dimensions. Bare minimum consideration for a pair should be no less than the standard 20 gallon "high" aquarium, 24 inches long, by 16 inches high. This tank will work quite well for many Discus pairs, and is the "standard" breeding tank for Angelfish as well as Discus for many breeders. In our hatchery we use a custom made 25 gallon aquarium for most of our pairs that measures 18 inches by 18 inches by 18 inches, in other words a cube. For most Discus this is an ideal size, it has a good amount of surface space vs. depth which is important for oxygen exchange. In some circumstances, the "cube" we use is too small. Discus like the Giant Red Turquoise would be cramped in a tank that small and so they are placed 1 pair to a 50 gallon breeder tank (36L x 18H x 18W), and even in that they look cramped!

Other commercially available sizes of aquariums that are suitable for Discus breeders are the 29 gallon, which is also a good choice, for larger discus it provides ample space above and below for your Discus to swin in comfort. With the exception of very young Discus, avoid the "long" tanks such as the 20 Long, 30 Long and so on. These tanks are long with lots of swimming space, but are much to short for Discus. Another thing to keep in consideration is to not use too large an aquarium for breeding. Too large a space will not keep your pair interested in each other and they will be all over the place with little attempt to spawn. A "tight" space helps you the breeder maintain a respectable measure of control.

This article is a guidline, not an absolute, there is always room for variations. The suggestions I have made are what I have used over the years, using different sizes of tanks and setups, and I have enjoyed much sucess with both breeding and displaying Discus, and with a little work so can you.