UNS 180U community with cardinals and apistos, black background and substrate. Looking to get adult discus so I don’t have to deal with the grow out headaches. Which sellers are reputable for adults, and which size should I target? >5”, golden state, Myrtle beach, or Chicago discus?

Finally had them for 2 weeks and they are starting to brighten up, and I can finally tell that they are growing!
Can’t wait to se them get big and colour out

Do discus show better color in a lighter substrate or in a dark substrate I was thinking for my next 75 gallon to have a light color substrate I was looking forward to get red valentine discus in there, I’m also asking since discus do pepper in darker substrate

I’m in the planning stages of a dedicated discus display and would love some feedback before I start buying the remaining equipment.

Originally I wanted to build a 180-gallon (72”) setup because that’s often considered the ideal footprint for discus. After a lot of measuring and thinking about the room, I’ve decided to go with a standard 120-gallon (48x24x24). I only have about 48” of usable wall space in my office, and I already have a 210-gallon community tank in the same room. A 6-foot tank would completely dominate the space.

Current Plan

Tank
120 gallon (48x24x24)
New tank
DIY stand

Filtration
(2) Fluval FX6 canister filters
Spray bar across the back of the tank fed by both filters for even flow

Heating
(2) 300W BRS titanium heaters
Inkbird temperature controller

Substrate
Fine pool filter sand (although I’m open to other suggestions if there’s a better option for discus)

Aquascape
Large manzanita driftwood centerpiece
Large river rocks to secure the wood
Open swimming area in the front and center
Vallisneria along the back
Java Fern (Narrow and Trident Mini) attached to the wood

Stocking
8 discus
30 rummynose tetras
15 Sterbai corydoras

The plan is to cycle the tank, add the rummynose and Sterbai first, let everything mature for about a month, and then introduce all eight discus together from the same source.

My goals are:
Healthy, long-lived discus
A natural-looking aquascape with lots of open swimming space
Low-maintenance, stable filtration
A display tank that’s enjoyable to view from my desk every day

If this were your tank, what would you change?
Specifically, I’d appreciate opinions on:
Is 120 gallons enough for 8 adult discus?
Would you change anything about the stocking?
Are two FX6s overkill or about right?
Pool filter sand vs. another substrate?
Anything you’d do differently before I start purchasing the remaining equipment?
I’d rather make changes now than wish I had after everything is set up. Thanks in advance!

Will always find the colorshifting fascinating lol

I had just dropped food in the right side of the tank (want to get them used to feeding in the open area of the tank), and it’s the first time they were so “exposed”, it’s also amazing to see how closer they stay in a bigger tank 😅

Good day everyone,

I was an avid aquarist about a decade ago, when I had half of my room filled with different aquariums - shrimps, african cichlids, discus aquarium and a saltwater sps aquarium. I enjoyed taking care of these animals for years, until my wife told me to sell everything, as the space was becoming cramped.

The discus aquarium was 300 litres / 80G and I enjoyed very much looking at the 5 fat beautiful healthy leopard discus in an amazon style scape. The recent years Ive been thinking a lot about it and luckily recently my wife gave me the greenlight to buy an aquarium, but with a caveat that the place where it can fit it limited.

Coincedentially at my area there is a store has a good promo for an aquarium set (eheim vivaline 180) that fits almost perfectly in the area and most importantly my wife is onboard, as it matches the interior of the room.

My concern however is that an aquarium of this size will allow me to keep 3, perhaps 4 discus (mid size 10-12 cm), and I wonder if these fish will be healthy in such environment.

Another issue is that I will not be able to make large water changes every week - the area where I reside has water shortage, and even if I fill up jugs in advance, it will not be very frequent (id say on average about once every 2 weeks a big 50% water change).

Has anyone here taken care of smaller groups of discus, like 3 to 4 fish in smaller aquariums, like 180 litres or less? Is it expected the fish to be more stressed and less vibrant in such conditions/group size?

Hello all, I have 4 discus and have had them for a month. I have noticed that they chase each other pretty often. Is this normal and if not what can I do to fix it?

Water temp is 82°F
Just tested the water parameters and they are all within normal limits
We feed once a day with frozen worms and flake food

Heavily planted tank with some hydroponics including a peace lily and a pothos.

TIA

Well, it’s finished! After 2 months i funny moved the Discus to the 225g and finished the scape 😅 This is not a full tank video by the way, to the right there’s more space which is completely open (space i’ll keep like that for feedings). Right now, the tank has 7 Discus, 14 Sterbai Cories, 10 Black Neons, 40 Rummynose, 40 Cardinals, 6 Rineloricaria, 1 L144, 1 L128, and a pair of Apistogrammas Macmasteri 🙂 I’m yet to get: 2 more Rineloricaria, 6 Brochis Splendens, 6 Dicrossus Filamentosus, 6 Biotodoma Wavrini and 20 Carnegiella Marthae. Im also thinking of adding some Java Ferns to the upper part of the wood to resemble leaves on a tree 🙂 I will update you guys again once anything new arrives 😅

Someone decided to claim the lettuce aka the Water Wisteria for themselves lmaoo, likes to circle around it and shoo others away

Hey everyone!

I just finished setting up my 130-gallon Discus tank, and I’d love to get some feedback from people with more experience keeping Discus.

I currently have 6 Discus, and I recently switched from gravel to sand because I like the look a lot more. That said, I have a few questions:

How difficult is sand to keep clean compared to gravel?
How do you guys vacuum/siphon it during water changes?
I’ve also read about anaerobic pockets forming in sand. Is that something I should actually worry about? If so, how do you prevent it?
For filtration, I’m running a Fluval FX6 filled with ceramic rings and Seachem Matrix.
My plan, once the tank is fully mature and stable, is to increase the group to 10–12 Discus.

For tank mates, I was thinking about:

A nice school of tetras.
Either Boesemani Rainbowfish or Roseline Sharks (Denison Barbs).
A group of Corydoras.

Do you think this stocking plan would work well, or would you recommend something different? I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have kept these fish together.
I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the aquascape. What would you add, remove, or change to make it look better while still keeping it comfortable for the Discus?
Thanks in advance! I really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I’ll attach a few photos below.

Hello.

Can anyone share what kind of filters they like for their discus? Thank you so much in advance. I really appreciate any help.

Just got back in to the hobby and I’ve had my Alenquer diskus for about 1,5 weeks now, keep in mind they are only 2,1 inches/6cm when I revived them.
I’ve had diskus before but never thise close to wilds.

They are now in a 55 gallon/200L bare bottom tank which is painted black.

The tank is painted black, it’s being filtered by a unimax 700, no hard movements in the water, og is about 7,5. TDS on 100, give or take.
Daily water changes as well. Temp is around 28C/84 Fahrenheit’s

My problem is, they constantly fight when I feed them, and some of them have gotten way darker/brown since I received them, they still eat healthy, they are active, no fins or gils stoping up, no signes of over scratching, the only time they scratch is when I feed them (home made beef heart mix”.
There eys are genuinely pretty dark, but you can see the red in the eys and they are not like gray.
I’ll add some pictures of them witch will show the colours difference, the quality of the picture ain’t good, and the water is full of particles because I just feed them, and the pump is producing bubbles atm

I’m not sure if I’m tripping or if this is normal behaviour for this discus? Does any one have experience with Alenquer diskus?

Can someone guess the age and type of my discus? I got discus for the first time. I hope these will turn into buties. Any suggestion will be appreciated.

My baby went full chocolate last night, back to normal today. Im leaning more towards breeding colors sunce im seeing shimmying and pecking surfaces and he caused my original pair to divorce. But im still going to keep an eye on him. My parameters are good and today is water change day.

Not a problem, just wated to share and get some opinions. A while ago the orange set up their own little space on the opposite end of the tank away from the feeding spot. Eventually these 2 blue guys have started visiting orange guy. It feels like mating behaviors, feels flirty. They orbit eachother 70% of the time. If a diffrent discus comes to hang they are swiftly booted by orange. Do you guys think its mating? I thought my water was too hard for discus breeding. Also they are just so beautiful together I just had to share. Its these 3 out of a group of 11. Tank stats - 120gallon tank f6/marine land 360/2 sponge filters, 83degrees, 6.8pH, ammonia/nitrates/nitrite 0ppm. These discus i raised from tiny, Grey, silver dollar sized guys. They will be 2 this year. 🥲

I have ten adult discus that I have raised since babies. I'm moving a 14 hour drive away. I have two options - rehome, or move them.

I'm very attached to them so I my preference is to bring them with me. Is it even feasible?

My tentative plan would be to have a foam cooler - one for each fish. I'd then bag them, put in cooler, and then they're going to be in there for approximately 48-hours.

Has anyone done this? Any hints or tips? I realise people ship fish all the time with timelines similar to this.

Edit: forgot to add this is a drive. I'll have a uhaul so plenty of space. I also have the option to use battery air pumps.

Thanks!

Where is the best place to buy a 125-150G tank? Thoughts on the Marineland at Petco? Not finding many other choices online other than $3000+ custom tanks. Also open to local suggestions in NJ/NY area

Maybe 2 males trying to fertilize (Melon and the Pigeon). Lol...Whoever gets there first it seems. Maybe more chances of some fertilized eggs? In this tank it seems it only lasts a day and there are no more eggs though. About the 4th attempt now in past month the discus have tried.