I am confused ................

Please check this website...

http://www.marksfish.dipsy.cyberprog.net/marksfish/discus/discus3.htm


very very confused...


This guys does 25% of water change weekly....planted tanks.....discus grow and are healthy...

Someone in here says discus will not grow in planted tanks with litle water changes.....

[ping]

Hi,

Here is what i quoted from your link :

I am certainly no beginner, having kept fish for over 30 years, owned both retail stores and a wholesaler distributorship, and I currently breed Angels commercially

Discus can grow in planted tank with less water changes. But the growth rate wont be as fast or as good as in bare bottom tank with a frequent water changes. I used to keep my discus in planted tank. All my tanks are bare bottom now. It is much easier to clean the bare bottom tanks, easier to maintain a good quality water.

Bare bottom is a better way for beginner, IMO.

HTH,
Ronny

[Carol_Roberts]

Someone in here says discus will not grow in planted tanks with litle water changes.....


That would be me ;) (and lots of others)

[dannop]

I'm a firm believer in floating plants though and would recommend them to any discus keeper-even a beginner. They do not get in the way of bare tank maintenance, help eliminate algae and bacteria blooms by sucking up excess nutrients in the water and help shade discus from direct light which helps them to keep calm. They grow rapidly and you can thin them down and sell the extras on aquabid or e-bay or feed them to plant eating fish like plecos and uaru cichlids. I have not noticed any difference in grow out rates of young discus with floating plants.

[Jeff]

There are a lot of different ways, diets, and temperatures of keeping discus. Discus are very hardy and try to adapt to them all. We all have different water conditions. What works for a few will not work for all. What I recommend here is what works for most, but certainly there are other ways of doing things that will work for a select few. If you have the time and money to burn try for yourself and see if you can repeat it. My guess is most can't.

[derrickTC]

Before I comment on that article, I would like to see his discus first. Second yes you can keep discus in a planted tank but your stocking rate will have to be very low say 6 in a 120 gallon tank, you can do 25% w/c a week and still have a good growth rate and healthy fish. but your feeding schedule will have to change maybe 6-10 times a day would be more like it. and the kind of food will also have to change. ;D

[dannop]

"but your feeding schedule will have to change maybe 6-10 times a day would be more like it. and the kind of food will also have to change. "

How exactly would it need to change and why?