Inquiries about New Discus Setup

[mrez5]

Good day to all discus lovers,

I am thinking of setting up a discus tank which previously was for goldfish. I will state the details below and hope to have more incoming comments and feedback.

120 Gallon Aquarium (4 x 2 x 2 ft) with overflow for the sump tank
Water pump running at 4500 LPH / 1189 GPH (Cycling the aquarium for around >10 times)
Water gravel
A flat rock

I have read around and think for my setup it can contain up to 12 discus (adult size)?
I will like to know if my water pump is too strong for the discus and will it get stressed up? I have noticed many discus aquarium are quiet and slow moving water. Correct me if i am wrong. Please advise.

The water condition in my aquarium is at 6.5 - 7 pH which i think is good for discus. The temperature of the water is range from 27C to 30C.
I might be adding soil under the gravel to start the water cycle as i read somewhere that soil has ammonia which will help to start the cycle.

So, anymore advice that can be added to my near future setup? Some fish lovers told me since i am successful with keeping goldfish, i should not have an issue with discus as goldfish is coldwater fish but my country is warm all year round which also make surviving goldfish harder, is that true? Love to hear from discus lovers!! :D

[OC Discus]

I would not even compare discus and goldfish. Here children bring home goldfish and put them in a 1 gallon bowl without heat, aeration, or filtration. Discus could never live under those conditions. They are also sensitive to diseases common in other fish. If it is an established tank, I would recommend a few things before getting discus:

1) Remove all tank substrate and contents and sterilize the tank with bleach (about 4 cups for 120 gallons). Let the bleach run through the filters without media overnight. Also soak all nets, buckets, and decorations in bleach mix to kill any parasites and diseases that can affect the discus.
2) Drain and refill the tank with dechlorinated water and add new filter media. Double dose with Prime to ensure removal of chlorine. Wipe down all surfaces.
3) Cycle the tank using recommendations for a fishless cycle on sd (search fishless cycle), or use Tetra Safestart with bio spira to the tank at the time of adding fish.
4) Research threads on sd about quarantine, water changes, tankmates, etc before adding fish.
5) Decide on size of fish- young fish require more daily feeding and daily water changes. Adult fish are easier to care for
6) Add at least 1/2 of your fish (6) at one time from the same source. Better to add all 10-12 at one time. Later additions will need careful quarantine before adding to the tank
7) You want to keep the surface stirring, but you don't want strong currents all over the tank.
Good luck and welcome to sd.

[mrez5]

Thank you so much for the detailed information to kickstart with!

May i know if using soil to cycle the water is good? I heard from some forum that said the soil has ammonia and can be used for water cycling. Anyone tried before and any tips?

[discuspaul]

That's not a reliable, effective way to cycle a tank, particularly for discus. Do a fishless cycle, using store bought ammonia, or obtain some reliable seeded media for your filter(s).

[mrez5]

Understand. Since i had started out with goldfish, i am unable to find pure ammonia at my local store and heard that this product is not for public use. Any recommended ammonia product which can be found worldwide? Maybe i can search for it in Singapore too. :)

Any more input regarding setup of Discus aquarium? Love to hear more too. :)

[STHH]

Discus does better in Singapore than goldfish, because the high room temperature year round is suitable for discus, without a need for heater. The water from the tap is also good and suitable.

If you have kept goldfishes, and does lots of large regular water changes for goldfish tanks, then Discus keeping will be quite easy. Discus needs good water and regular large water change too.
If you are keeping juvenile discus, you will probably need consider doing large daily water change, so that they can grow out fast without stunting.

Goldfish tanks are usually barebottom, and devoid of plants, because goldfishes eats plants and swallow pebbles. So this will be a good model for discus tanks too.
12 discus is a bit too many for a 4-2-2, especially if you are growing them to dinner plates sizes.

Start with less discus first. You will learn more about discus quality later, and may regret your earlier purchases. But if you get less, you will be able to have room for quality fishes later.

However, Discus prefers less current in the tank, so do check your filter outlet. Otherwise you will find your Discus huddle together in a corner.

I am currently keeping discus and ranchus too, in separate tanks of course.
Good places to look at discus in Singapore will be Chai discus and 88Discus. There are also some local breeders selling quality fishes. Have a good start.

My 4ft Discus tank has it's filter medium transferred from a planted tank previously. This helps me cut down any cycling time. If you still have your goldfish tank filter medium, you may consider doing some seeding.

[paulW]

Not to contradict the other poster, but I don't recommend using bleach to clean tanks. The silicone can absorb it.

Best to wash out with salty water. Let dry. Then wipe down with rubbing alcohol. Let it evaporate. That will take care of any residual diseases or whatever.

[OC Discus]

Does silicone not absorb alcohol? Also. If you dechlorinate for equal time it will not be an issue.


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[paulW]

Rubbing alcohol evaporates very quickly, unlike bleach which leaves a residue.
But yea, people bleach tanks without incident, so it's a workable solution.
I heard a speaker at our club about diseases/parasites recommend the salt water/alcohol sterilization technique and it made sense.

The salt bath dehydrates any parasites in cysts.. Then the alcohol helps kill them.
Don't know if the cysts can withstand bleach or not. The speaker brought up the point about how it's hard to get rid of all the bleach, and I agree with him based on past experience. Not impossible, but more difficult.

[mrez5]

Discus does better in Singapore than goldfish, because the high room temperature year round is suitable for discus, without a need for heater. The water from the tap is also good and suitable.

If you have kept goldfishes, and does lots of large regular water changes for goldfish tanks, then Discus keeping will be quite easy. Discus needs good water and regular large water change too.
If you are keeping juvenile discus, you will probably need consider doing large daily water change, so that they can grow out fast without stunting.

Goldfish tanks are usually barebottom, and devoid of plants, because goldfishes eats plants and swallow pebbles. So this will be a good model for discus tanks too.
12 discus is a bit too many for a 4-2-2, especially if you are growing them to dinner plates sizes.

Start with less discus first. You will learn more about discus quality later, and may regret your earlier purchases. But if you get less, you will be able to have room for quality fishes later.

However, Discus prefers less current in the tank, so do check your filter outlet. Otherwise you will find your Discus huddle together in a corner.

I am currently keeping discus and ranchus too, in separate tanks of course.
Good places to look at discus in Singapore will be Chai discus and 88Discus. There are also some local breeders selling quality fishes. Have a good start.

My 4ft Discus tank has it's filter medium transferred from a planted tank previously. This helps me cut down any cycling time. If you still have your goldfish tank filter medium, you may consider doing some seeding.

Yes, currently, my goldfish aquarium is still around in 4-2-2ft.

I will be moving goldfish to another aquarium and the current 4-2-2 will be prepared for discus, but using back the filter medias means i doesn't need to tear down the whole aquarium and continue to let it run without the need to bleach or salt bath the aquarium before introducing discus?

And how many full grown adult discus is recommended for 4-2-2ft aquarium?

What is your take on this? Others might want to provide some idea too.

Thank you all for the information! :)

[mrez5]

Silly me! Just found that there is a thread that has all my questions and doubts.

URL: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86009-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Getting-Started-with-Discus

Anyway, thanks all for the advice!