Ive done my research, but want to know, what are your TOP 5 most important tips?

[CanuckGame]

Hey everyone,

so my 75 gallon just finished cycling, and i will continue to feed the bacteria for a week before i get my first 6 Discus.

ive done a TON of research, but want to know, as veterans, what are your TOP 5 tips you could tell a noobie? i really dont want to fail here, and i must say im worried ill fail. ive kept fish for a year and a half, but nothing as demanding as Discus seem to be.

i plan on buying either 6 or 7- 4" Discus, at 100 dollars PER fish, so i really dont want to fail here, that is alot of money to me.

thanks for any advice you can give me, my main goal will be to grow them out as fast as i can to 6"+.

the only rule i have broken is i have a VERY thin layer of sand in my tank, i really dont think i can do bare bottom, but besides this, i am following everything by the book, and i plan on doing 90% WC every day until they reach 6"+ then i will slow it down to every 2nd day or so, as i heard this is ok?

[STHH]

Can't really say i am a veteran, but here's what I think are important.

1. Regularly LARGE water change. 70-80% water change is much better than 20-30%. Hence a larger grow out tank is quite a lot of work for juveniles, compared to a smaller tank, when it comes to regular LARGE water change.

2. Good food that has all the necessary amino acids and protein.

3. Good fishes to begin with.

4. Feed very regularly during their growing stage. If you are feeding beefheart, then you really have to consider barebottom.
Attached is a video of my juvenile during feeding of beefheart. Notice they are eating heartily even when the beefheart drops to the bottom. Surely you don't want your juvenile discus to be eating mouthful of sand and dirt that is also trapped in your sand substrate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pETKHo1Fe0A

5. Good filtration.

[John_Nicholson]

Once people go bare bottom they never go back...LOL.
The 3 basic rules for raising quality discus.

1. You cannot keep your water clean enough. Large daily WC's give you the best chance of success.
2. Feed a high quality, high protein food. I prefer BH and I only feed mine twice a day, while others feed every time they see a gill plate move..
3. Do not go cheap with the fish. Buy healthy fish to start.

After that you have others minor things like...82 degrees is the best, Always quarantine any new fish, healthy discus will spawn so don't freak out when they do, just because they "pair" does not mean they are a pair, don't start throwing meds in the tank unless you know you need them( change water instead ), etc.....

-john

[ericNH]

Hi CanuckGame.

I am definitely not an expert, but I have been trying to keep discus now for about 6 months. The top 5 things I WISH I followed right from the beginning are:

1. I should have fed them MUCH more than I did when I started. I ended up with stunted, unhealthy discus, and most of my first discus died, but only after months of agonizing over how unhappy/unhealthy and small they were. I feed them much more now (homemade blend now, too) and upped my water changes.

2. I wish I had bought adult, healthy discus from a reputable source. Juveniles require more food, more often, and its effects on water quality may be the #1 reason why ppl consider discus "hard to keep."

3. I wish I had gotten all of them at once. There was a lot of aggression and resulting timidness/unhappiness until I got over 6.

4. I wish I had my tank and its plants all set up, stable, and finalized BEFORE i got my discus. Undesirable results with my discus were harder to diagnose, because I couldn't tell if it was the changes I made that made them skittish/unhappy, or if it was something else.

5. I wish I had started with all the proper tankmates from the beginning.

Being a noob, these are probably not the 5 most important things. But these are the particular mistakes that I made up until now. Good luck, and may your discus keeping be much less chaotic, harried, and worrisome than mine has been up to this point!

[Skip]

hey newbie..

why not buy a confirmed pair of discus from Hans.. and save yourself $200.. thEY will be ALOT toughER and can taKE noob mistakes.., so no worries about stunting them.. or slow growth.. its the way to go!! promise you! :)

[ericNH]

this will will alot tough and can talk noob mistakes..,

What the Sam Hilll are you trying to say in this fragment? I keep trying to fill in/replace the proper words in my mind and i can't get it square...

[John_Nicholson]

Skip get out of the tequila...its too early.

-john

[DISCUS STU]

There's a lot of good experience here. My BB tanks are painted on the underside. I also use ceramic planters with Radican Swords which are also beautiful, so BB isn't always as spartan as it may sound, 83216 my Bristlenose and Clown Plecos also throw out some sand from the planter, so it's not as BB as it may be. The plants are also good for water quality. The only thing I can add is...

1. Reliable equipment and heaters (there are a lot of cheapies, especially heaters that aren't reliable and may even pulse/shock the water. I like Ebo-Jaegers). A good ph meter (I use a Hanna that can measure ph, tds (hardness), temp.
2. Healthy food, Beef heart is great. I also feed a variety of quality foods.
3. If you're absolutely sure that a fish needs to be medicated and have a good idea of what you're treating (more fish have been killed by "curing" them..) then have a dedicated quarantine/hospital tank on hand. The old saying "if one has it, they all have it", isn't always true and medicating a whole tank can kill the bio filter resulting in more problems. It's also very expensive in a big tank.
a. I use Aquaclear outside power filters because they're easy to clean.
b. 10-15 gallon tanks.

[Skip]

Skip get out of the tequila...its too early.

-john

i was didn't have my monster drink yet.. i edited it.. :)

[ericNH]

ha ha, thx for clearing it up :balloon:

[ericNH]

*sip*

[DonMD]

From my experience, I say NEVER introduce any fish in with your stock without putting them in QT for at least 2 months. If they survive the first few weeks in QT, then put your least favorite discus in with them, and then start counting the 2 months. Because once you introduce a pathogen in with your good fish, it's all downhill from there. Just my 2 cents.

[OC Discus]

Wisdom: "Knowledge gained by experience"


From my experience, I say NEVER introduce any fish in with your stock without putting them in QT for at least 2 months. If they survive the first few weeks in QT, then put your least favorite discus in with them, and then start counting the 2 months. Because once you introduce a pathogen in with your good fish, it's all downhill from there. Just my 2 cents.

[discuspaul]

D-I-S-C-U-S - 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR NEWBIES TO FOLLOW



First I'd just like to mention once again that discus are hardier than many people think, and are not difficult to keep, so long as one is prepared to accept and adhere to a few key practices that will provide the best chances of success with discus.

This listing is recorded more or less in order of importance:

1) - D - Do your homework well before delving into discus. Read and research all you can beforehand. Googling will certainly help, as well as spending a good deal of time reading the posts and threads on the simplydiscus.com forum, particularly the stickies in their 'Discus Basics'
section, which will provide you with much of the material you need to digest.

2) - I - Investigate and learn of the best sources to get your discus stock. Find those breeders &/or importers that are long time, well-experienced, responsible, reputable, and known to supply high quality, healthy, and well-shaped discus. Buy your discus from one of these sources in order to insure that you get off on the best footing possible.
This is the single, most important factor in succeeding with discus.

3) - S - Set up and plan to follow a strict regular routine of fresh water changes, tank wipe-downs and cleansing, vacuuming of wastes, and regular filter and media cleaning, changes, replacements, and maintenance. Be fully prepared for the kind of commitment it takes to produce and maintain the highest water quality and conditions that you can.

4) - C - Carefully consider the type of tank set up you start with. Make sure the tank size is ample enough to start with 5 or 6 discus. Don't be tempted to begin with a tank of less than 55 or 60 gallons, and don't try to justify going smaller by just getting 1, 2, 3, or 4 discus for cost or other reasons.
Wait till you have sufficient resources to get a proper-sized tank, and the suitable size and number of fish to insure continuing good health and harmonious discus sociability.
Do not start with small, undersized, very juvenile fish which have not yet developed a more mature immune system, are more demanding to raise properly, and much more prone to health problems and other issues. Get fish of at least 3.0" in size, preferably larger.

5) - U - Undertake to start off with a bare bottom tank, unless you're getting fully adult fish and have previous good experience with maintaining a planted tank. If you must have some decor, limit yourself to a very thin sand substrate layer, and perhaps a piece of driftwood with just a couple of small plants attached, or one or two potted plants.
Once you gain several months' of experience getting to know your discus' traits & behavior, and your discus get larger, then you may proceed to an aquascaped environment. Feed a varied diet, several times a day, and learn which foods will achieve a nutritious diet, by researching.

6) - S - Simplify. Keep things as simple as you can to start. Don't complicate your start with discus, at least at first, by placing them in a heavily planted environment, using CO2 and a strict fertilization regime. Make sure your tank is fully cycled before adding the fish, and don't be tempted to alter or change the pH of your water, or modify your water conditions and params by using chemicals of any kind. No need to use RO water or adopt any other procedures that would tend to complicate what should be a simple start to your discus launch.

Follow these 'rules', and there's little doubt you will succeed with discus !

[ericNH]

I broke every single one of discuspaul's rules. And paid for it in worry, anxiety, and tragedy. Not to mention the money I've buried along with the discus that have died.

Follow those rules.

[discus rookie]

I think you have done your homework and if you are committed to change a lot of water you should be fine.
My 2 cents is use a filter that is easy to clean up. Food leftover trapped inside the filter will just rot and the nasty stuff will keep circulating around the tank and bacteria will grow which can lead to problems after a while. If you are using a canister just make sure you open it up and have it cleaned regularly.
You can use sand as long as it is thin. Just more work as you need to make sure you do not have food/poop trapped inside.
Speaking from my humble opinion, clean water and lots of water change is the key for fast growth.
If you can age your water, it is better than using tap.
Good luck.

P.S. I really like what discuspaul said here, this is what Rick (Canadian Aqua Farm) told me when I first started and is what I always try to go by.
3) - S - Set up and plan to follow a strict regular routine of fresh water changes, tank wipe-downs and cleansing, vacuuming of wastes, and regular filter and media cleaning, changes, replacements, and maintenance. Be fully prepared for the kind of commitment it takes to produce and maintain the highest water quality and conditions that you can.

[mountain_bike]

Clean your filter often! I know this thread is old but I learned from old threads. Anything in the tank that has a lot of water or waste running through you must clean. I clean my sponge filters once a week, I clean my mechanical cartridge in my canister 2 - 3 x a week, I empty the bio section of my canister every 4 - 6 weeks, I clean the bio section every 4 - 6 months. This sounds difficult but it is actually very simple, clean everything you can whether it be tank walls, vacuuming sand, rinsing filter media in tank water, etc... Just make sure you understand how to keep enough bacteria in your system and how to properly clean everything.

Just remember if your discus look distressed for more than a few hours think of what could be cleaned. I read a lot about water changes, which is more important than what I am talking about. But I think it is worth stressing to clean almost everything in your tank regularly. The time for each piece will vary, look at forums and test your water to decide what works for you.

[farebox]

Just follow all the advise mentioned and you will have no problems my friend. Kick back and enjoy a tank full of very healthy, eating like pigs, and entertaining fish. Welcome to SD and the hobby,,,,,

[mountain_bike]

Yes i agree with the last post it is addicting and not as hard as it sounds. I spend about a half hour on a simple day and an hour on a heavy day ( cleaning filters and all) If you have ever had a dog keeping discus might be harder to learn at first, but is way less work than a puppy. Just budget a half hour to 45 minutes a day and you will be fine.

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: W/C, W/C, W/C, you said 5 right? Umm W/C, W/C !! lol Have fun & go easy. "T"