Headed in the right direction???

[skinnyghm]

I'm getting ready to setup my 1st discus tank. I've had a 55gal going for sometime (3 yrs). I transfered the fish from that tank over to a 180 (two 14" pacus in a 55 isn't good). Now I want to use the 55 for Discus i have a Rena XP2 canister filter running various sponges, purigen, and bio sorb. I have a 300 watt heater.
I do have gravel in the bottom now. I've read about growing juveniles out in a bare bottom tank. How small are juveniles considered are they large fry or the ones you'd get from a breeder?
I know I still have a lot to learn before I start getting them.

[Abercrombie6202]

Juveniles are usually considered under 4"

If you want to know more read this, i wrote this on another forum!! enjoy and i hope you will have fun when you get discus!!

You do not need to change the ph, you don't need co2, and you don't need a wet/dry filter!!

What kind of tank are you keeping, gravel, planted, BB (barebottom)?

It's best to keep discus in a barebottom tank. Some have planted tanks, like me, but do not keep discus smaller than 4 inches in a planted tank as they may become runts. Runts are like dwarfs in the human world. They are smaller and won't reach the size they were ment to grow, except for a few, some have had there runts become bigger, by changing to different tanks, or changing the factor that was making them become runts.

Discus don't need a lower ph, i first thought this too, but they need a stable ph, that doesn't change constantly that causes stress, which could lead to disease, and then if not treated will most likely turn into death.

You don't need a wet/dry filter as you cna buy teh cheaper sponge filters and they will do fine!!

You could probably keep 5-6 adult discus in a 55 gallon tank with no other fish. Are you going to have other fish in the tank? You can also have 8-10 juveniles in the 55 gallon tank, but then would need to transfer them to a bigger tank as they grow older.

Do you have a quarintine and a hospital tank? THESE ARE REQUIRED NOT OPTIONAL!!!!!! Quarintine, always quarintine your discus they could be carrying a disease. A lot of people on Simply have had bad experiences when they were impatient and didn't quarintine the discus. Hospital tank, if you have a sick discus, you can put it in the hospital tank and treat only that one fish. Rather then treating the whole tank. I would recommend a 29+ tank for a quarintine tank and a 20 gallon high+ for a hospital tank.

Acclimation: This is a big debate some people don't acclimate there fish to the tank and some do. I personally feel better by accliamting the fish to the water, before just cutting the bag and putting the fish in the tank. NEVER ADD WATER FROM TEH BAG INTO THE TANK!!

Water Changes, you need to have a water changing system for discus, i reccomend doing, 25-50% every other day or 25% daily, for your water changes, the water must be aged water, by this i mean it has been sitting for atleast 24 hours and has had dechlorinator added to it!!

Food, what are you planning to feed the discus, CBW (california Black worms), frozen beef heart, earthworms, tetra bits, and other foods like Ocean Nutrion 1 are all good for Discus, Bewware some Live foods carry disease, frozen foods cloud water easily and some flakes/ pellets have color hormones in the foods.

When looking for a discus. Try going to a breeder and observe the fish for a while don't get the fish the first time you see it. Never buy a discus, if it has, a off shaped body (not round), it should be around the same length and height, do not include fins, it shouldn't have a lot of color if it is under 2 inches, it shouldn't poop white feces, don't buy the discus that doesn't eat the food when it is given to them, frayed fins, or any disease signs, don't buy the discus if it's eyes are big compared to the size of the body. I probably forgot a few.
When buying fish from online, always ask the online breeder for the best, try to tell them which kinds you want. ALWAYS QUARINTINE THE FISH MATTER WHERE THEY ARE FROM, ONLINE OR BREEDER!!!

LINKS:
Tanks, planted or Barebottom:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=7;action=display;threadid=3645

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=6105

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7674

PH:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7163

Filters:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7646

How many discus?

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7354

Runts:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7617

Quarintine and hospital tank:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=12077

Acclimation:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=12114

Food:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7432

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=10227

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=12123

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=12124

When looking for a discus, what to buy:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=6126

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=8592

What not to buy:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=6125


ALSO GO TO THESE LINKS THEY WILL HELP OUT A LOT!!!

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=7983

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=5705



I found out that is always best to find a breeder or hobbyist near you. They can help out a lot!!!! make a lot of discus friends that cna help you out with all your questions. Read books and online articles read the begineer section here, read as much as you can. I'm still a newbie and look how much i have learned in the last 2-3 weeks!!!!!!!!

Also read about diseases, know all the different strains of discus, know the symbals, like PB, RT, BT, BB, CBW, etc... And if you want also read about breeding if you get interested into that!!!

[skinnyghm]

thx for the advise
there is so much info on this site it great. I just haven't had the time to read through all of it yet. I realized yesterday after posting that my questions were answered in other topics