DiscusJimmy
04-03-2015, 09:52 AM
Hello Simply members!
Sorry I do not post that much, but I am an avid reader in the forum and have learned so much through this website. I thought it was time to stop taking and give a little for once.
I have been keeping discus now for 3 years now and wanted to share some of my experiences and major mistakes over the years leading up to now.
Firstly I have been keeping fish all of my life; starting with goldfish, then tropical community, Malawi cichlids and finally Discus. All of this prior experience, I do not think, really prepares you for discus though. These fish are much less forgiving and soon tell you when you’re screwing with their home too much!
So what have I learned over the last 3 years that is worth passing on...
1. Water is your friend...change it often, test it often but don’t screw with it!
The water I have here in Spain is very changeable. When it rains the pH can fluctuate wildly. For this reason and because I want to breed I bought a RO system. Plus I wanted to create the perfect water...or the myth of the perfect water.
My water from the RO unit comes out at pH6.6, KH 0, GH 0, TDS 9. This is great and I thought to myself I can chase the pH of 6.8 and set the KH and GH to whatever I want. This is true to some extent, but the moment you think about buffering the pH will have to increase accordingly. This cost me a fish by increasing the KH and adding acid to lower the pH afterwards. The pH “bounced” and one fish turned into a missile and terminated itself.
Now I add enough KH to my storage bucket to increase it to KH2.5 – 3 which will bring the pH up to 7.2 and just leave it well alone at that. I know I can use branded buffers, but to be honest the more things you add the greater the margin for error.
2. Quarantine your fish or roll the dice...
It is discussed here so much and like many new comers I thought it won’t happen to me. Well it did and I wiped out a whole tank except the 2 new Discus I added.
My mantra now is if you buy discus that’s great, if you want to buy more...and you will! get another tank first. It is FAR cheaper in the long run! I have a dedicated tank in another room all by itself for future new arrivals.
3. Fish at the LFS are the harbingers of death.
It’s a hard lesson that I do not wish on anyone but trying to “rescue” or “nurse” back to health one lonely discus is not worth your entire tank. Leave it well alone and say a prayer for it if it makes you feel better!
I now mail order all my fish from a reputable discus importer, yes it costs more but is far less costly.
4. Gravel or bare bottom...personally in my opinion, it’s about the fish not what you like.
I have had both but will never use gravel again. It is just too hard to keep clean, no matter how hard you try. IMO it was only stubbornness that kept gravel (pool filter sand) in the tank but after I finally removed it life became so much easier.
I love plants and planted driftwood is just as nice and cleaning is not a laborious task. Just a quick vacuum and all nice a clean!
5. Equipment...more is MORE!
When I started out with discus I already had the basics: Tank, heater, air pump and filter. Then when you start keeping them you soon learn that you just do not have enough.
I would recommend having spares of everything, especially heaters! I also love electronic thermostats.
6. Sick fish...it’s always you that caused it!
Discus tell you when they are not happy, look for the signs. However in every case I have dealt with thus far it is always me to blame. I mentioned quarantining, but if you have otherwise healthy fish and suddenly something happens. Look no further than the water they are in / you’re adding. 9 times out of 10 you’ve screwed something up either by not changing enough or by not checking the water you’re adding.
Many times I blamed the fish for my mistakes, you run to a forum looking for people that have had fish with the same symptoms. Before you know it you treating them with something they don’t need and compounding the problem.
My advice is buy good test kits and don’t be shy with them!
So three years on and I’m by no means an expert, just a little bit more clued up. I now have 2 x 55 tanks, 1 x 20 gallon hospital tank, and 1 x 150 gallon...and no fish of any type in any of them!
Yes that’s right, no fish at all! It has been my ambition to setup a large display tank and over the last 18 months I have been saving to be able to have my “dream” tank. The 150 gallon has finally cycled and my 6 x 15cm Ricky Lim Leopards and 6 x 17cm Ricky Lim Turquoise Brilliants are arriving in 5 days!
I had the tank and sump built to my specifications and have built the stand and plumbed it all in myself. It will change 200 litres of water automatically every day and there is not a single piece of equipment in the main tank. Just some pieces of planted driftwood!
The other tanks are still cycling and it is my intention to start breeding them. The reason for no fish is I sold all my adult fish so I could sterilize everything and start again with new fish.
I’ll keep everyone posted on how this is going and I’m sure I will be picking some brains along the way!
Sorry I do not post that much, but I am an avid reader in the forum and have learned so much through this website. I thought it was time to stop taking and give a little for once.
I have been keeping discus now for 3 years now and wanted to share some of my experiences and major mistakes over the years leading up to now.
Firstly I have been keeping fish all of my life; starting with goldfish, then tropical community, Malawi cichlids and finally Discus. All of this prior experience, I do not think, really prepares you for discus though. These fish are much less forgiving and soon tell you when you’re screwing with their home too much!
So what have I learned over the last 3 years that is worth passing on...
1. Water is your friend...change it often, test it often but don’t screw with it!
The water I have here in Spain is very changeable. When it rains the pH can fluctuate wildly. For this reason and because I want to breed I bought a RO system. Plus I wanted to create the perfect water...or the myth of the perfect water.
My water from the RO unit comes out at pH6.6, KH 0, GH 0, TDS 9. This is great and I thought to myself I can chase the pH of 6.8 and set the KH and GH to whatever I want. This is true to some extent, but the moment you think about buffering the pH will have to increase accordingly. This cost me a fish by increasing the KH and adding acid to lower the pH afterwards. The pH “bounced” and one fish turned into a missile and terminated itself.
Now I add enough KH to my storage bucket to increase it to KH2.5 – 3 which will bring the pH up to 7.2 and just leave it well alone at that. I know I can use branded buffers, but to be honest the more things you add the greater the margin for error.
2. Quarantine your fish or roll the dice...
It is discussed here so much and like many new comers I thought it won’t happen to me. Well it did and I wiped out a whole tank except the 2 new Discus I added.
My mantra now is if you buy discus that’s great, if you want to buy more...and you will! get another tank first. It is FAR cheaper in the long run! I have a dedicated tank in another room all by itself for future new arrivals.
3. Fish at the LFS are the harbingers of death.
It’s a hard lesson that I do not wish on anyone but trying to “rescue” or “nurse” back to health one lonely discus is not worth your entire tank. Leave it well alone and say a prayer for it if it makes you feel better!
I now mail order all my fish from a reputable discus importer, yes it costs more but is far less costly.
4. Gravel or bare bottom...personally in my opinion, it’s about the fish not what you like.
I have had both but will never use gravel again. It is just too hard to keep clean, no matter how hard you try. IMO it was only stubbornness that kept gravel (pool filter sand) in the tank but after I finally removed it life became so much easier.
I love plants and planted driftwood is just as nice and cleaning is not a laborious task. Just a quick vacuum and all nice a clean!
5. Equipment...more is MORE!
When I started out with discus I already had the basics: Tank, heater, air pump and filter. Then when you start keeping them you soon learn that you just do not have enough.
I would recommend having spares of everything, especially heaters! I also love electronic thermostats.
6. Sick fish...it’s always you that caused it!
Discus tell you when they are not happy, look for the signs. However in every case I have dealt with thus far it is always me to blame. I mentioned quarantining, but if you have otherwise healthy fish and suddenly something happens. Look no further than the water they are in / you’re adding. 9 times out of 10 you’ve screwed something up either by not changing enough or by not checking the water you’re adding.
Many times I blamed the fish for my mistakes, you run to a forum looking for people that have had fish with the same symptoms. Before you know it you treating them with something they don’t need and compounding the problem.
My advice is buy good test kits and don’t be shy with them!
So three years on and I’m by no means an expert, just a little bit more clued up. I now have 2 x 55 tanks, 1 x 20 gallon hospital tank, and 1 x 150 gallon...and no fish of any type in any of them!
Yes that’s right, no fish at all! It has been my ambition to setup a large display tank and over the last 18 months I have been saving to be able to have my “dream” tank. The 150 gallon has finally cycled and my 6 x 15cm Ricky Lim Leopards and 6 x 17cm Ricky Lim Turquoise Brilliants are arriving in 5 days!
I had the tank and sump built to my specifications and have built the stand and plumbed it all in myself. It will change 200 litres of water automatically every day and there is not a single piece of equipment in the main tank. Just some pieces of planted driftwood!
The other tanks are still cycling and it is my intention to start breeding them. The reason for no fish is I sold all my adult fish so I could sterilize everything and start again with new fish.
I’ll keep everyone posted on how this is going and I’m sure I will be picking some brains along the way!