unclenedsfishfactory.com

Ned,

I see you have a topic on tank size on discus...You mentioned 55gal. minimum for 8 discus... say 180 liters (47.5gal.) for 10 -12 discus minimum...Other Discus sites says 1 discus per gallon....As you mentioned bigger is better which I couldn't agree more...So does Discus acquire less room as to compared to severums?
I have a nice 55 gal right now which I want to use for Discus....I like to get 6. This won't be a bare bottom tank. I will have drift wood and plants.
But I'm concerned on the amount, maybe to little which Discus like to be in big groups. Would you agree?

all of these are just suggestions

basically:
discus are happiest in large groups
biology (dissolved waste) is less risky with large volumes of water per each fish

so...
you need a happy medium

yes
6 discus is fine in a 55gallon
8 would be better
10 might be too many
...depends on the fish keeper also
you could probably have 18 in a 55gallon but who wants to change 90% of the water twice a day

the biggest discus I ever saw was half the weight of the biggest severum I ever saw