Adding discus to "unplanned" tank

OK. After promises of getting a 3m tank I started dreaming of combining my 3ft and 4ft with Rainbows in to the ultimate tank. Unfortunately this did not happen and out of frustration I re-scaped the 3ft. During this I noticed that the 4 Yoyo Loaches were harrasing the Lake Kutubu Rainbows so I decided to move the Rainbows to the 4ft. This made the loaches more relaxed as they are not bothering any of the other fishes in the tank. At this point I noticed that I'm basicly setting up a South-American tank when I removed the Rainbows as the other occupants of the tank are 5 Adolfoi Cory's, 6 Julii Cory's and 15 Pigmy Cory's. after this I have added my Whiptail and Royal Whiptail to the tank. I want to remove the 4 Loaches from the tank and replace them with some Discus. My only concern with this is that I will have to run the tanks temp at least at 28C while the Cory's prefer a max of 26C. I am aware that Discus should be kept in groups of at least 6, I'm only planning on having 2 in this tank.I'm also looking at getting them as juveniles as this will reduce the risk of them eating the smaller fish when they grow up. My questions then are:
1. Will the Cory's be able to handle the higher temps without any ill effects?
2. What will the effect, of having only 2 Discus, be on their natural behavior?

Please give me any feedback on this as I'm very interested in doing this but will not commit to this if there is any valid reason for me for not doing it as I will not have my current or future fish live under any conditions that they won't be happy with. Just for the record, Angels will not work for me as I'm not a big fan, sorry.

 

Just realized that I have a pair of Agazizi and some Endlers in the tank as well

 

The first, and biggest problem you're going to have is the 2 discus. If they don't like each other, one will be dead in less than a month. One must always remember that discus are Cichlids. They are aggressive towards each other, and they have nasty fights.

I really wouldn't recommend keeping only 2 of them together. Unless you have a mated, breeding pair.

Secondly, a 3ft tank is too small for 2 discus.

Thirdly, with the fish load you currently have in the tank, 2 juvenile discus would push the bioload well over the "normal" threshold. The amount of food you need to feed juvenile discus is insane, and I don't think your filtration would cope with the extra load. Unless you're prepared to do 50% water changes every day, or every second day?

I hope that helps?

 

At the moment I run this tank with 1 HOB filter as well as 2 internal filters and never had any problems with the water quality but I know this can change due to the Discus being 'messy' fish. BTW it is a planted tank with some rocks and spiderwood. I am willing to do my part in keeping the water as clean as possible, as this is what the Discus need, I actually enjoy doing water changes as this gives me time to have a closer look at the tank and plants and not only at the fish. I'm not willing to kill a R500+ fish due to neglect. I have looked at some sites and almost all of them mention the water volume per Discus, which ranges from 30l to 50l. Now this makes a huge margin when implemented. I considered having only one but feel it is not the best idea as they are schooling fish but I don't want more than 2 as the tank is too small for 3 or more. I'm not going ahead with adding Discus too this tank before I'm 100% sure that it is the right thing and done the right way. Please give feedback on this as I need hands on experianced people with Discus to also give their hones opinions about this please. I can handle the truth

 

You must have at least 5 or 6 Discus for them to be happy and if you are getting juveniles your tank temp must be a minimum of 30 deg ( 31-32 is better for juveniles)!!! and then you should feed them 4 - 6 times a day , do water changes 3 - 6 times a week of about 30% each time.
That's for starters ! They are wonderful fish to keep, and easy once you give them what THEY need and want, Juvenile fish also LOVE hiding away behind rocks and plants and they thye don't come out to eat like they should,. Bare bottom tank is the way to go with juveniles until they are adult and large.

 

+1 for what Eros and sean j said!
Rather dont try it,it will cost you money and make fish sick!

 

Bare bottom 3 foot is a must if you decide you go ahead.
I would go with at least 4-6 though.
Having a smaller tank (3 foot/100Lt) doesn't mean that you cannot keep discus or any other fish for that matter.
you'll only have to do much more water changes than the guy with say a 6-8 foot
I keep hundreds (300+) of guppies in a 3 foot.
Haven't lost any due to illness except for the occasional day old being seen as food by ever hungry adults.
I do 2-3 water changes daily so I admit that it isn't always a pleasure.
Best of luck whatever you decide

 

At the present moment i'm beginning to stear away from this moment of madness by me. I just loved the idee of adding some Discus to the tank but don't want to stress the fish out in doing what I want or whould like to do. Any other sugestions of South-America fish, of roughly the same size, except Angels that might be more suitable for this tank. I apresiate every coment that was posted here in helping me deside. I saw too many unhappy/unhealthy Discus in lfs today to show me what can go wrong

 

Yes 100% correct. I have got 9 youngsters in a 3foot Bb tank with only some pool filter sand in there. As long as you keep up with cleaning, they will be fine in a 3 foot. Many people on other forums have told me how crazy I am for doing this and that my fish will die but, thanks to @Altum and @Marco my fish are fine and growing very well.

 

WOW....that is a labour of love. glad u can find the time

 

Pierre, please don't be put-off in keeping Discus. They are wonderful beautiful and interesting fish to keep, and really do have their own character and quirks. Set up a tank dedicated to Discus, and you will see how rewarding it is to have them in your life. As i said above, give them what they need and then things are easy and so worth all the effort to watch them grow and you will be hooked for life. Their beauty cannot ever be denied.

 

Agree. Could not have said that better.

 

Thanks eros111. At the moment I'n still considering Discus. I have not given up on it yet. I even got a better HOB to replace one of the internal filters with. Just read through one of the discus threads here and whould love to have a pair in current setup. I just havn't found the right ones yet. When I see them I will know