Shooting for 10 years on 100g tank!

[goldfish]

Hi I am new to keeping to discus tank. I am hoping to keep my discus serviving for 10 years.

[DatDiscusDude]

Aren't we all ;) !!!

Welcome and best of luck!

[rickztahone]

Hello goldfish. I see you are a long time member like myself :).

Discus can certainly survive a long time. I'm not sure if 10yrs is achievable, but they will survive for a long time if you take care of them properly

[goldfish]

Hi Rick

Thank you for your response. I think it is achievable if I am conservative and consistent with my water changes. I am currently if feeding my 20 discus with frozen blood warm and real beef and shrimp mixes that is okay for human consumption. They grow big really fast.

[goldfish]

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[EJ_B]

I would suggest being very liberal and consistant with your water changes. 20 adult discus is a lot for a 100 gal. Do you plan on getting rid of some at some point? Also the substrate you have will trap a lot of debris and will not be optimal for the growth of your fish.

[goldfish]

Thank you for wonderful concerns. Most of my discus are from 2to 3 inches when I brought them. After 3to 4 months, they are about 4to 5 inches. Keeping discus happy and growing are very important. I do wc every 3 to 4 days about 25 percent from tapped water without chemical.

[brewmaster15]

Hello,
10 years is a very good goal but might be possible with good care. Id avoid adding anything else to the tank livestock wise. With your waterchanges and tank size your tank is pretty heavily stocked. I would also caution you to be careful feeding that beefheart with substrate like you have. Its really hard to keep it clean .

Im curious about something. I see you signed up here in 2008 and were planning on discus then. Looks like you got your discus in the Last Year? Curious what you did the last 8 years or so. Did you end up keeping something first and finally let the discus bug get you?

al

[goldfish]

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January 2017

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February 2017

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[brewmaster15]

At the risk of coming across negative,which is not my intent, I need to tell you That all is not well in that tank.:( Some of the fish in the pictures are stunted and others are very dark and stressed out. If you really want to make to 10 years with your Discus, you need to make some changes. First is to decrease the stocking density... 20 discus in a 100 gal tank is just too much, and that you have substrate is going to compound the problem. Sort through your fish , keep the best 8-10 fish. remove the small stunted ones.. Rethink the substrate with all the rocks... go with a thin layer of sand. Increase your water changes. Even doing all these things wont guarantee 10 years... it will definitely improve the odds.

hth,
Al

[goldfish]

Hi Al


Thank you for your wonderul concerns. My tank is alittle bite congested. I am not buying anymore discus for while��l will keep an eye on how they doing. It has been only 6 months. They are still growing.110998

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July 10, 2017

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After listening to Al advices, I changed 40 percent tapped water. Move all the substrate to the center. July 13,2017

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[White Worm]

You should get rid of all that rock and keep the wood with a thin layer of sand. You will be surprised how much they perk up and start doing 50% water changes every few days. You keep going this way and you will start to lose discus well before 10 years. They are dark and stressed which is the path to illness. That substrate is trapping all kinds of crud on top of the water being packed with nitrates.

[Kyla]

I used to have lots of rocks like that in my big 210gal tank, but I removed them because I noticed that tiny particles of food were falling between the cracks where they would rot and lower the water quality. The rocks look nice but it's impossible to keep substrate like that clean. And organic matter decaying in the substrate will likely affect the fish on some level, even if u don't notice it now.

In my 180gal I removed all the sand and saw a huge improvement in the growth of my fish. I also rehomed a bunch of my smaller discus to reduce the total number of discus to about 12. A dozen large discus in my 180gal seems like a lot, so I imagine that 20 discus in your 100gal is a bit too many to have all of them thrive.

I'd recommend to remove the rocks (at least for now, while your fish are growing - u can add them back later if u like) and then choose your favourite large discus and sell off a bunch of the smaller ones... aim for 10 awesome discus instead of 20 so-so discus... this way the ones you keep will grow even bigger with more room and better water quality.

[btrader]

Thank you for wonderful concerns. Most of my discus are from 2to 3 inches when I brought them. After 3to 4 months, they are about 4to 5 inches. Keeping discus happy and growing are very important. I do wc every 3 to 4 days about 25 percent from tapped water without chemical.

When you say tap water without chemicals are you saying you don't use a dechlorinator?

[goldfish]

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Yes I change tap water without dechorination. Fish are swimming fine after 40 percent water changed.

[goldfish]

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[btrader]

And you have city water not well water?

[goldfish]

Straight tap water from city of Milpitas for n California

[Ryan925]

Straight tap water from city of Milpitas for n California

I'm also in the bay area and use straight tap.

I would have to agree with the others. I would prefer to have a smaller amount of great looking fish than a large amount of ok looking fish. With those photos you have some nice looking fish but there also looks to be some that are potentially stunted, judging by eye to body ratio. Just a suggestion but at some point might want to reduce the total number to your best fish. That definitely will help you to reach your goal

[goldfish]

Shooting for 10 years does not mean the discus will servive for 10 years. You must look at the human side if the comment.

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[gators111]

My last group of 6 I bought back in 2003 and had them until 2014 when they one by one started dying off. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way, including 3 moves. So it isn't hard for keeping them 10 years. However, I agree with everybody else. Cut your stock down to 10-12 max and get rid of the stones ASAP. Some driftwood and pool filter sand is all you need. That and good food.

[goldfish]

Yesterday was a bad day. I did a 40 percent tap water changed for my tank. Fish were not summing happy after I took out all the rock substrates from the tank. Fish shows sign of stress and fin rotting. I might loss some fishes but hoping everything should be okay. This morning I did another 20 percent tap water and there are visable stuffs still in the tank. 111132

[goldfish]

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[White Worm]

You need to do a larger water change to clean the water.

[Kyla]

I think it was the right decision to remove the rocks, but it can be hazardous to do it all at once when the fish are in the tank. I don't know whether your substrate layer was thick enough to house toxic gas pockets, but if it was this could be stressing the fish.

Another thing to consider: Rocks and gravel/substrate can provide a surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize. By removing them suddenly you may have inadvertently also removed some beneficial bacteria. I'd recommend to test the water for ammonia and nitrite daily for a few days to make sure there are no toxic spikes. If BB was removed it should recolonize the filter media shortly, but if there are toxins in the water in the meantime u may need to perform increased daily water changes during the regrowth period.

How do you perform your water changes? It looks like a lot of the mulm and crud which had collected under the rock bed is still sitting on the bottom of the tank - can u siphon this debris out directly, by placing a hose close to it and sucking it out? How much water are you currently changing, how often, and what set-up are you using (eg hoses, pythons, buckets, pumps?)

Is the bottom of ur tank open (eg can u see thru the glass floor of the tank) or Is the tank sitting on a flat surface? The discus might take a bit to get used to the new set up. If the bottom is totally open they would prob appreciate taping a piece of paper under it or painting the outside bottom of the tank. You can add branches to the tank of the fish r scared also.

If their fins are frayed and they look upset, more water changes may be called for, to speed healing. Although I am not sure about doing water changes without dechlorinator... are you saying there is no chlorine or chloramines added to your city tap water? And with big water changes you want to make sure the water u r using is ideal... eg no pH swings and no micro bubbles.

[goldfish]

So far the fish are not eating. Some are summing funny. Pointing upward and there is one fish tank. I can't too muchwater in 24 hours. I have changed 40 and 20 percent in last 12 hours. All straight tap water.

[goldfish]

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Cloudy water and cloudy eyes in the discus.

[btrader]

Are you using a syphon to clean the bottom of the tank? And why are you not using Prime in your water?

[Kyla]

Why can't you do a 100% water change using prime conditioner? What are the barriers for water changes? Are those micro bubbles in the pic? We need more information.

[goldfish]

I don't use chemical or treat my discus. It is always a straight tap water. I don't have a barrier extra or RO system upsets for the fish tank. No extra tank. Only one fish tank.:cry:

[rickztahone]

You have caused an ammonia spike in your tank. Do major water changes daily and provide a lot of air in the tank via sponge filters.

Get prime asap

[Ryan925]

I don't use chemical or treat my discus. It is always a straight tap water. I don't have a barrier extra or RO system upsets for the fish tank. No extra tank. Only one fish tank.:cry:

You don't ever use a water conditioner to remove chlorine?

[goldfish]

I did n't use water conditioner either. I think I am going to do another water changed maybe 10 percent this time.

[Kyla]

Why don't u use dechlorinator / water conditioner? Are you concerned it is bad for the fish? I'm worried that if your city's water plant treats the tap water you may be harming the beneficial bacteria and the fish when using un-dechlorinated/un-conditioned water for all these water changes...

[goldfish]

Hey Kyla

Thank you for all your tips. I think my fish tank has too much bacteria in it. Al was totally right. It was nice to have rock substrate in the tank but not practical or benifical to the discus. Discus are show signs of rotting fins and bilateral cloudy eyes. Maybe some will die but hopefully not all. 111138

[EJ_B]

Hey Kyla

Thank you for all your tips. I think my fish tank has too much bacteria in it. Al was totally right. It was nice to have rock substrate in the tank but not practical or benifical to the discus. Discus are show signs of rotting fins and bilateral cloudy eyes. Maybe some will die but hopefully not all. 111138

Not sure what you mean by too much bacteria? I don't know if you mentioned it, but what is your filtration set up, and are you testing for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? I think Rick is right, your tank is probably going through a mini cycle. You need to siphon off all that mulm and uneaten food and do large frequent water changes until your ammonia and nitrite I are zero. Also as many have said, please get yourself some Seachem Prime , it will remove any chlorine and chloramines in your water and it will detoxify any ammonia and nitrites that may be present in your tank until your bio filter re-establishes.

[Kyla]

I don't know what your experience level with discus is so I apologize if this is really basic:

Good bacteria or beneficial bacteria (BB) - this bacteria is good for your fish tank and ensures the toxic ammonia produced by the fish is broken down into less toxic nitrate through the "nitrogen cycle". Good bacteria colonizes the filter media and can live on hard surfaces in a tank, like on the tank glass, plants, decor, and on the gravel/substrate. We add porous material with large surface area to our filters as a media to encourage the growth of good bacteria in our filters where there is good water flow and a good supply of oxygen for the BB. This is why you never want to remove or boil or bleach your filter's media when you are cleaning it - because that would kill your precious BB which are keeping the fish alive by removing the ammonia they are producing as waste. Without BB your fish could be harmed by their own waste building up as toxins in the water.

BAD bacteria can also be present in a tank. If there is a lot of substrate on the floor of the tank it can collect fish waste and uneaten food which rots, hidden between the cracks of the rocks, and bad bacteria can thrive in these conditions. We siphon our tanks every day to remove waste and uneaten food particles etc and we wipe down the sides of the tank and scrub the decor and rinse our filter media (under fish tank water only, not under tap water) to reduce build up of bad bacteria.

The reason we are all asking you to consider using a dechlorinator / water conditioner during your water changes is because if you pour chlorinated tap water into the tank the chemicals in that untreated tap water can actually kill your good bacteria in the tank, which can lead to toxins building up because the good bacteria are dead and cannot break down the toxic ammonia anymore... so ammonia builds up in the water and hurts the fish. Also, the same chemicals that kill bacteria in our drinking water from the tap can BURN the discus and hurt their sensitive gills if it's added directly to their tank without being conditioned first.

My favourite water conditioner is Prime - because it neutralizes the chemicals in tap water AND helps to detoxify ammonia/nitrite if it is present in the aquarium water. Conditioning tap water is not an option, if you keep fish it is almost always necessary unless you have access to good untreated water from a well without chemicals or toxins... but if you are using city tap water... your city's water treatment plant is likely adding chemicals to your tap water which will hurt your fish and your fish tank's good bacteria, so tap water has to be conditioned with a product like Prime before you can add it to your fish tank safely.

Using Prime during a water change is really simple. For example, if you remove half of the water from your 100 gallon tank, and are refilling the tank directly from the tap with a hose, just before you go to refill your tank with new tap water (which is about the same temperature as your tank water) you pour a some capfuls of Prime directly into the fish tank water - read the directions on the bottle to treat the FULL volume of your tank. So even if you are only adding 50 gallons of NEW tap water back into your fish tank, you are going to add enough Prime to treat the TOTAL 100 gallons of water.

[goldfish]

Lost three discus total; 2 german tertoise about 4 inches, which started about 2 inches 6 monthes ago. 1 yellow diamond about the 2.5 inches stated about 3weeks ago. Fish tank is about to stable.111250

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[Filip]

I hope youll have luck and success with the rest of them now you've made this changes in your keeping routine .
Just don't forget to siphon the bottom regularly and change more water then you currently do and your fish will look and behave much better then before .