discus help

[luke]

hi im new to discus i recently got 2 red turqs there about 12cm in size and ive read so much about what ph, kh etc etc is meant to be so ive done alot of tests and im hoping you guys/lasses can help heres my water test results
PH.7.3
GH.20' dh
KH 8' dkh
NO2 0.3 to 0.9mg
NO3 0mg on the chart its yellow
NH4 and NH3 is 0.5
PO4 1.0mg
C1 = clear

is this ok for discus cos i really dont want them to die as im hoping to get good enough to breed them but thats a while off yet...

any help would be GREAT.. tx

[ronrca]

Your water parameters such as ph, gh, kh are fine to keep discus in. How long is your tank running? Have you cycled the tank before adding discus? ;)

[luke]

when u say cycled i persume you mean how long has it been running i had the tank set up for abotu 8mths ive got some ammonia filter stuff in the filter but could it be the filter as it a project pjf 501 which is a external cannister filter i did have it running a 6ft*2ft*2ft* tank but now i got it running in the 4ft*18*15 were the discus is kept does 0mg mean theres no bacteria in the tank or?

[Rod]

I'd leave your tank without discus until you get 0mg NO2

Rod

[jules]

You have N02 which is Nitrite and NH3/NH4 which is Ammonia.
I don't think your tank is cycled.
Do you currently have the Discus in the Tank?

[luke]

yes i have 2 red turqs in there ive done a 25 percent water change and im just about 2 retest .. some 1 clarifie cycled for me as my tanks been set up for 8mths without a total water change just 50% water change evry mth intill now which ill be doing 25% a wk is this enough or would more be better?

[luke]

right my reading now are as follows

NO2 0.0mg
ph 7.2
nh4/nh3 0.5mg
kh 9dkh
gh 17dgh

[luke]

??? none of me fish are dead lol just dont want them too and need sum1 to tell me if my water quality is ok for me discus 8)

[jules]

Luke, your water should have zero ammonia (NH3/NH4). Try wiping down the tank walls with a paper towel; remove all fish waste and uneaten food. Is it a planted tank?

[luke]

i changed the tank last night for a bigger 1 i used half the tank water from the original tank then replaced half the water with fresh treated water then i tested the water and thats the results above. ive got 2 fake plants not plastic the new 1s that are like clothe material when i changed everything to the other tank i scrubbed it all the only thing i didnt do which i probly should of is clean the filter but the filter was only cleaned about a day or 2 before

[jules]

Did you thoroughly clean out your substrate?
If it's not the tank then perhaps it is the media in your filter.
Did you use chlorinated water to clean your filter?
This would have destroyed some of the good bacteria.

[luke]

when i originally cleaned it out yes i did cos i had to replace the sponges and i put ammonia remover bags in the filter but its been running for a wk without any more cleaning how long does it take for the good bacteria to come back? and what should i do now as ive got the discus in there now. also i put stress coat in there to hopefully look after them if it works..

[Carol_Roberts]

If you washed your filter material in chlorinated water or have totally replaced the filter material it will take 2 or 3 weeks for the good bacteria bed to grow back. always use dechlorinated water to rinse the filter media.

what type of filter do you have and what is inside of it for the bacteria to grow on?

[luke]

in the filter i got 2 filter sponges 1 neting stuff to catch the large mucky stuff and ammonia filter bags. the filter i got is a project pjf 501 which is a external cannister filter its a large 1.. will the good bacteria grow on this material?

[Carol_Roberts]

Sponges make excellent filter media. The ammonia chips may hinder the cycling process.

[Scrappi_tt]

I think that since you have the tank up and running for 8 months, I think the tank should be fully cycled.

What size tank is it.

You mentioned that you only do 50% water changes once a month. In my opinion, this is way too little water to change. If the tank is too large for you to do water changes every day, try upping the changes to 50% a week or even twice a week.

If you don't up your water changes, you discus may soon run into serious problems, diseases etc. I also think that this is why your amonia levels are so high. Remember all waste products, crap, urine and food remains, break down into amonia in just a couple days.

[luke]

right ill take the ammonia filters out also whats the best thing to use to get the hardness of the water down as you can see mines rather high..

[Carol_Roberts]

Reverse Osmossis or RO filter is the only way to remove minerals in GH20 water. You may not need to remove minerals to grow out juveniles. You will definately need RO to breed.

[luke]

just 1 last question what is the best setup for discus to breed like ph etc.. and when will i know that there ready to breed how big do they have to be?

[Carol_Roberts]

Discus are usually over a year old - some closer to two years old before breeding. Wild are more sensitive to pH than domestics. I've had fry in 7.6 pH