Greetings and advice on my first choice

Hello

I have been following this forum for a while but this is my first post.

I recently decided to add to my family of animals (I have dogs, cats and parrots) fish . I work from home and decided to set up a fish tank in my consulting room. After much research I bought a 225 liter tank (100x40x60) with an external canister filter (1000litres per hour) and heater, its been running since Saturday. There are no fish yet...:wondering:

I am struggling to decide what type of tank to set, i want to do it right from the first time . I have ended up with three possibilities,
The first would be an assorted collection of the Malawi Cichild. My concern however, is there possible aggression (even the calmer of the cichild). I have only one tank and cannot see myself trying to separate fishes with large egos...

The second possibility, which is the most appealing one for me is setting up a Discus tank (approximately 5-6 for my tank size) After much reading , mainly on the internet, I realise that this beautiful breed requires more care than other fishe. What worries me the most are the frequent water changes required. However, even there the information differs vastly, with some people saying every day, others once a week, and some advise only twice a month. I am not intending on breeding only creating a peaceful display tank

My third choice, the ‘safest’ one, would be to go with a few silver dollars, one severum and two parrot fish - or something like this.

I would appreciate any advice, feedback's or thoughts

Thank you!

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I have 9 Discus that are very happy in my tank with not perfect conditions and 20% water changes weekly. In my opinion Discus can be kept in stable water parameters. I would not recommend Discus for beginners, and adolecent Discus are easier than juveniles that has to be grown out first(need alot of protein rich food, alot of water changes so that you do not stunt them)

So if you want to go for Discus, IMO spend abit more to buy a adolecent.

I'm no pro, but this is my experience with the KING of freshwater!!

Domenique

 

hi Domenique

thank you for your reply and sharing your experience. 20%-50% water change weekly is very manageable, also, i believe the water condition in Cape Town and favorable (indeed water tested less than PH7 immediately as i filled the tank and remained at this level). I also read that the bigger the fish the better , yet no matter how fast i educate myself i would remain a beginner, that is, until i begin ... maybe i need to find a "capetonian" that will be prepared to mentor me during the first few stages

 

Hi and welcome...

I would say go the severum, forget the silver dollars.

Check out my tank http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?1464-Slayers-500lt-Display you could get some ideas.
Don't just go out and buy lots of fish at once rather start with maybe 2 severums and see how it goes. Then after about a week or 2 add another fish. Also consider a bottom feeder to eat any food that drops to the bottom. Remember the severums grow quiet big so limit the numbers in your tank. I have 6 in my tank with some other fish

 

I wouldn't suggest discus for a beginner tank.. not at all. And at 225litres, doing a 20-50% water change once a week will not suffice at all. Maybe it the tank was bigger (double). Remember, the smaller the tank, the more concentrated the problems are. Discus like to be in groups of 5 or more, so to put 5 discus into that size tank may be cruel.

I would suggest going with a planted tank... put in a few schooling tetras, a few bottom dwellers (ancistrus, cory) and then put in 3 Angels as your main feature.

 

Hi Zoom

Hi

I understand that my size tank can comfortably accommodate 5 discus very comfortably working on the principle of 10 gallon for one Discus, my tank is 60 gallons so I don’t think it will be in anyway cruel. The water changes are the concern, obviously you feel that a more frequent change is required, this is exactly what I am trying to establish.

---------- Post added at 09:10 ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 ----------

Hi Slayer


Thank you for the pic, would love to see more, I was advice not to keep more than 1 severum due to size and aggression ,what do you think?

 

Hi Slayer

One more question, why " forget the silver dollars" ?

 

Would you mind sharing a bit more info about the consulting room where you will be keeping the tank?
Reason I am asking is because a brightly lit room with lots of movement might not be ideal for some fish, plus you might have some people tapping on the glass (or other random idiotic behaviour) that would totally freak out some fish.
Obviously there are other contributing factors to what fish you would like to keep and I think its better to get a full understanding of your particular situation.

regards
Eugene

 

Zoom is right, I would also go for this. It will be much easier and cheaper.

 

probably because silver dollars grow to about 20cm in diameter.. and they shoaling fish so they do best in rather larger groups...

check out this thread for some more input on which fish you could try:

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?5456-My-Malawi-s

---------- Post added at 11:10 ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 ----------

wild angels!!!

 

Hi Eugene

My consulting room is very peaceful, i am a psychologist so only 2 people at the time, the tank is in the corner of the room, not in direct sunlight and if anyone taps the glass i will have them locked down !

 

hi and welcome, severums are very nice, and one of the more peacefull chiclid, from my experience with them anyways. right info on the dollars, you would need a school and your tank is 2 small for them, plus they will terminate with imediate affect any plant you put in the tank. discus are very difficult, your tank size in terms of literage maybe be enough but only just, that being so you would need to up the maintenance and water changes more. also with discus they dont really give you a chance to make a mistake, - mistake equal dead discus. Zoom's suggestion i also believe is the best, lots of plants with a nice school of tetras, danios, would be stunning and watching schooling fish glide around a well planted tank is truly majestic.

 

hehe have them thrown into a padded cell with a straight jacket

 

Hi natnat. The ppl are giving you good advise. It is however human nature to go out and do what you want, irrespective of what everyone else advises. On this I would advise that you do exactly that, but just make sure, whatever you do, that you know what you are getting yourself into. Discus are great and very rewarding. They are also demanding and need a great deal of attention given to their living conditions. With Discus you have to make the right decisions from start, otherwise. . .problems! They would be great in that setting though, being calm and majestic they might calm your extreme patients. . .

 

Hi Marco

You are right about human nature, yet the reason i posted is to get advice and the message is coming loud and clear. Therefor i will not attempt Discus at this stage, although everything seem to pale next to them... I think the best will be to start with a pair of Severums as Zoom advised. could any of you direct me to a good breeder/pet shop in the cape town arrea?

 

Hi natnat.... Just my 2 cents worth: a nice mixed school of Rainbow fish could be a great answer for you -> Not only are they pretty tough,but few freshwater fish can rival a fullgrown male in breeding colour... doesnt quite have the impact of a Discus,but to me(after 30 years of keeping fish),still the most rewarding group to keep....Dont judge them on the drab little things you see @ the LFS,get them home and in a planted tank - the colours will astound you....just google image them,sure you will like......

 

Hi Azurekoi

they are indeed beautiful ! however if i keep a severum will it not be too dangerous for the rainbows ( as in eat them once it is large enough to do so)?

 

Nope,doubt that... for such a large cichlid they are pretty peacefull.... And a rainbow can sckedaddle if he has to.... just think that a small school of M.boesemanii could complement the colour of a gold or red Deacon quite nicely.... + you can find them @ most LFS's...

 

And they are way cheaper than a school of discus!!