bare V.S planted? help out the newbie,lol

[first_timer]

ok i'm a TOTAL newbie to discus, i have 2 brilliant turquoise coming in tomorrow, everything is already setup for them in my 20g, and next month when my africans are moved to the pond they'll go to the 30g then finally around june to the 75g. i'm 15 btw, trying to prove that someone as young as i can can indeed keep discus and keep them well .anyways, the 20g is in the living room, its lightly planted right now with a fine gravel substrate, previous occupants have been moved out, major WC done, everything checked etc. but i've been lurking around this site quite a while now and notice that 80-90% of discus i see on this site are in bare tanks.......now i want the best for my discus, should i introduce them to my planted tank or keep it bare? would bare be better for health? i'm jus now getting into them so i'm not lookin to breed...........yet : sooooooo planted or bare? pleez answer asap, thank u

mark

[drew22to375]

I'm pretty new to Discus here also and from just keeping them 3 weeks I can't even imagine NOT having them in a bare bottom. When you see how much waste they produce BB is a must. Most people that have Dicsus in planted tanks have Discus that are 4" or larger. BB is Sooo much esier to keep clean to.

[Carol_Roberts]

Barebottom is a must for juveniles. Actually it's best for all ages of discus.

By the way you may have problems with only two (or three). Four is about the minmum as they like to be in groups (6 or 8 is even better). One option might be to postpone getting the discus until you can put 4 in the 35 gallon.

[BlueTurquoise]

I agree with Carol with the amount of fish. The larger the tank you start off with, the better. It takes water longer to foul up if there is more of it.

Bare bottom is a MUST! I cannot imagine how I could keep a clean tank with gravel in it. It's hard enough with bare bottom!

Even my goldfish tank is bare bottom

[Wahter]

As already said, try to get more than just two discus - youngsters (even adults) often like to pick on each other and getting a group of 6-8 spreads the "chasing" around a bit. And a bigger tank is better too.

And grow them out in a bare bottom tank, then if you still want to keep them in a planted tank, move them in when they are grown.

[first_timer]

i know that they do better in groups, but money was tight, and in my part of the world i see discus for sale ONCE a year, its crazy :-\ , so tha why when i say that lfs ACTUALLY HAD some i practically shoved the money into their hands : ! however i paid for 2 three inch juveniles, i could though get 3 two inchers instead cause that lfs is my second home ;D . so can 3 do until this coming weekend when i should get more money to add about one or two more, whichever u discus pro's think is better .oh and don't worry about the water fouling, i'm young and strong and dedicated to my fish, as i maintain 4 tanks and 2 "mini-ponds", so i've gotten quite used to hauling buckets ;D ,lol. i'm thinking 20% each week day? and a big 50% on saturday, then sunday is rest day 8) . anyway guys keep the warm and kind support coming through, as NONE of my friends even know what discus are,lol, and i'll prolly be one of the VERY few and youngest ever to give discus a go , so the nice family feel here is very encouraging, thank u!

mark,

[iceskater]

Hi Mark,
I started with 2 discus in a 29g bare bottom, Both of them came from a LFS. I was lucky I got 2 healthy ones. I did however notice the drawbacks. One was picked on so much that it did not grow. If you can wait till you get more you will be better off for it. You will see as you start this, the obsession grows before you know it, you will be constantly trying to juggle tanks/equipment around in the end you end up spending more money than you would have if you did it right the first time. Can you put a desposit on the fish and wait till you have everything ready??

Karen

[stir-fry]

first_timer,

I just started the discus hobby, and i have a medium planted tank. (ie, it's not dense, but you can't see all the substrate either.) I have 4 discus in there right now.

As for your question, I can see that having substrate and lots of plants is a drawback as far as keeping the poop out of the tank, but I think it looks way more attractive. I think bare bottom tanks are the ugliest thing ever, and I would never consider having one. Keep in mind that I started the planted tank hobby for a few years before I ever went with discus, so I may be biased.

Of course, you have to be a little more diligent in keeping the bottom clean and instead of doing a 50% water change a week, I am doing a 5-gallon bucket a day. It still works out to 50% a week, (my tank is 65 gallons) but this way I can remove the poop on a daily basis and lessen the change of my nitrates getting out of control.

You could also invest in a powerhead and direct the flow towards the gravel, so that it keeps everything moving towards the filter intake.

Good luck.

[ronrca]

I have both, bb and planted. My advice is simple. BB for growout tanks and adult discus may go into a planted tank. Juv discus will be fine in a planted tank however dont expect them to grow to their full size rather you can expect them to be runts. Therefore, if you are going the planted route, be sure to get discus that are 5"+. Anything smaller will pretty much stay that way!

I guess raising discus isnt for the 'tank' appearance rather trying to achieve 'discus' appearance thus grow out tanks must be bb.

[Carol_Roberts]

[quote author=ronrca link=board=21;threadid=15789;start=0#msg163330 date=1074787134]

I have both, bb and planted. My advice is simple. BB for growout tanks and adult discus may go into a planted tank. Juv discus will be fine in a planted tank however dont expect them to grow to their full size rather you can expect them to be runts. Therefore, if you are going the planted route, be sure to get discus that are 5"+. Anything smaller will pretty much stay that way!

I guess raising discus isnt for the 'tank' appearance rather trying to achieve 'discus' appearance thus grow out tanks must be bb.
[/quote]

Pay close attention. Ron is a moderator of the Show tanks/biotope section. He is not guessing what will happen - he knows and has explained it in the quote above.

[realbetta]

Is runt discus bad?
I am not in breeding right now and think aldult Discus kind a big, would it be cool to have mini-discus just to have less work. Btw, I am new.

[Carol_Roberts]

It is very easy to make mini discus. They are no work at all. Generally they are oval shaped rather than round and do not color up as nicely. I hope you like big eyes too.

I prefer big, thick, brightly colored discus that exude health and vitality. They are a lot of work to successfully grow out. Everything has to be right. It's like producing a top show dog . . . or a top athlete.

[vickie s]

Since your 20 gallon is lightly planted, could you move the plants to a different aquarium or into pots and remove the gravel for the growout period? As Carol has pointed out in a different thread, the growout tank is a feeding trough-lots of food and lots of cleaning.

While they are growing you may consider taking some time getting their final home well established before the move to that tank. If it is going to be planted, I would get it well established at the higher discus temperature to make sure your plants will do well and you can manage the algea or other issues that occur at higher temperatures.

Keep reading this forum for good (and current compared to many books) information.

[first_timer]

wow! thanks for all the quick replies guys! anyways i managed to (by a miracle,lol) get 4 two inchers, their aclimatising to their new home right now, the only thing i left in the tank is my big ole amazon sword, i'm gunna pot it so that they can take cover in it etc 8) . is that wise? they're doing very well, for the past 2 days in the petshop the owner let me feed them bloodworms and what piggies they were! lol very good sign that they are healthy and vibrant! ;D . the ones still in the bag are already pecking the bottom looking for food,hehehe. anyway things are looking really good so far. BTW, does one have to treat water with dechlor formulas if it is left to age for about 3-4 days? cuz at the rate of 25% daily WC's i'll be going thru dechlor like crazy and i like to use the best so it ain't cheap stuff. so if anyone has any ideas to get around that lil problem pleez share. anyways i'm so psyched right now! yay! IF they settle down by tonight, is it wise to feed them if they want food orrrrrr should i wait a bit? anyways i'm going back to watch them, later

mark,

[BlueTurquoise]

With Dechlorinator, the best I have found is SeaChem Prime. It is much more dearer than the other dechlorinators on the market but the ratio of dechlorinator vs tap water is the key and Prime has the best ratio, something like 1 mil treats 40 litres which is HUGE! In the long run i works out to b much better than the cheaper stuff, even though you get more for your money with the cheaper stuff (just do your maths )

I've had the same bottle of prime for my fish for about 6 months and I still have about 1/4 left in the bottle and I make a 20gal change every day or every 2 days (time being the constraint).

I have tried many products and all are very similar cept for the ratio thingy I just explained...