Begginer Question

[hayliekay]

Okay I have been toying with the idea of getting Discus since early 2008. I have A: never had an empty tank or B: never had the money when i had an empty tank c: never had the utter confidence to care for Discus..

Well my husband recently purchased me a 90 gallon tank.. It came with an Eheim 2217 canister (which he thouroghly cleaned and left only the hoses forme to clean..) i believe i have some HOB filters in the garage if not i'm certainly not opposed to purchasing one.. in the AC family..

Now i have had this tank since March 26th - it has been rinsed, cleaned and drying since the 27th...

I first voted out Discus cause i wanted to plant.. I vetoed that motion. So instead i purchased fake plants, etc, without thinking "hey i can do Discus again"

However i then when right ahead and put about 50lbs black gravel in the tank.. but nothing else

I know that discus especially with begginer discus keepers do better with BB (and for prices smaller fish are obviously easier to afford). I am not opposed to doing daily water changes (at the most missing one day per week) as a fact i do do every other day changes in my 44 gallon right now. However i do not have a "bucket" set up to pre age the water.. Now in all the times previous when setting up tanks and all the tests i performed on my tap water it has remained constant.. it took about 1 year for my 125 gallon to go from 8 to 7.8.. then it held there dispite the w/c (granted rarely ever full 50% changes multiple times per week). My plan discus or not is to get a fresh test kit, and test the water for everything (or take to the store and have tested).. and perform a fishless cycle..

I guess my question now is, should i removed the gravel and attempt my first Discus tank? I would like at some point to add the fake plants (and perhaps enough gravel to just cover the base of the plants) but understand that this will take some time having grown them out..
Or scratch the whole idea (isn't a 90 a bit big to "grow" out in?)

I keep toying with the Idea and just can't seem to decide if i should take the plunge or not..

TIA for any input and forgive any information i may have left out.

[LizStreithorst]

What you need to do is test your pH straight from the tap and then again after it has been sitting in a bucket with an air stone for 12 hours. It's the swing in ph which will do the Discus in. If your ph doesn't change more that 3 points you can use straight tap. Otherwise you must age are expect problems. There are ways to set up a WS container to make it look like part of your house's decor.

[waters10]

Okay I have been toying with the idea of getting Discus since early 2008. I have A: never had an empty tank or B: never had the money when i had an empty tank c: never had the utter confidence to care for Discus..

Well my husband recently purchased me a 90 gallon tank.. It came with an Eheim 2217 canister (which he thouroghly cleaned and left only the hoses forme to clean..) i believe i have some HOB filters in the garage if not i'm certainly not opposed to purchasing one.. in the AC family..

Now i have had this tank since March 26th - it has been rinsed, cleaned and drying since the 27th...

I first voted out Discus cause i wanted to plant.. I vetoed that motion. So instead i purchased fake plants, etc, without thinking "hey i can do Discus again"

However i then when right ahead and put about 50lbs black gravel in the tank.. but nothing else

I know that discus especially with begginer discus keepers do better with BB (and for prices smaller fish are obviously easier to afford). I am not opposed to doing daily water changes (at the most missing one day per week) as a fact i do do every other day changes in my 44 gallon right now. However i do not have a "bucket" set up to pre age the water.. Now in all the times previous when setting up tanks and all the tests i performed on my tap water it has remained constant.. it took about 1 year for my 125 gallon to go from 8 to 7.8.. then it held there dispite the w/c (granted rarely ever full 50% changes multiple times per week). My plan discus or not is to get a fresh test kit, and test the water for everything (or take to the store and have tested).. and perform a fishless cycle..

I guess my question now is, should i removed the gravel and attempt my first Discus tank? I would like at some point to add the fake plants (and perhaps enough gravel to just cover the base of the plants) but understand that this will take some time having grown them out..
Or scratch the whole idea (isn't a 90 a bit big to "grow" out in?)

I keep toying with the Idea and just can't seem to decide if i should take the plunge or not..

TIA for any input and forgive any information i may have left out.
I was going to welcome you, but you're around us since 08! :D Welcome anyway!

I'd remove the gravel. Not only because BB is better, but also because it's black ...

Your plan sounds great! Definitely get the test kits and perform a fishless cycle. Perform a 100% water change before adding fish! And watch ammonia and nitrites very closely for the first few weeks, to see if your filter is handling the load with no issues.

Regarding water changes, it's a very heated subject here, with differing (strong) opinions on all sides. I'd personally do ~40% water change daily and wouldn't bother with aging your water. If you search around, there's a lot of people that fill straight from tap. I would fill slowly and have your python (you have one, right?) dropping water from up high. It'll probably take more than an hour to fill 40% of that tank, but I think it's easier than aging. If you feel a bit insecure about this, perform few water changes during your fishless cycle. Watch for the tiny bubbles in your tank. I get some of those, but not all over the tank. You can fine tune your water change task during the fishless cycle. If you're not happy about it, you can think about aging.

I'm sure there will be people that will suggest aging, so at the end of the day, you'll have to make a decision on your own.

A 90 gallon tank is ok for a grow out tank. Don't start with 3-4 discus. On a 90 gallon, start with 9-11 discus (from our sponsors!) and they will do well in a group that size!

Just be ready to get addicted to this! :)

[mmorris]

If your ph doesn't change more that 3 points you can use straight tap. .

3 or 0.3?

[hayliekay]

LizStreithors and mmoris: i'm guessing it was mean .3 for Ph.. It took a year of twice weekly water changes for my Ph to change from 8 to 7.8.. (8 from the tap).. not really sure where or when the change happened since that was a year in... thanks a million for your input!

waters10 - thanks for the welcome i have been more of a lurker here.... I was thinking 6-8 initally, but i suppose i could do a full 8...
As far as the sponsers i think i will need to look for one in Cali (im in washington) I have always used pythons for my changes, im not TOO worried about using one with Discus (ok maybe a little)

Any suggestions on what to do with my 50 lbs of black gravel?

Should i leave the fake plants out completely till they are bigger as well?

Im thinking it's time for me to "crap" or get off the pot in Discus land.... provided my husband doesn't die from how much it will cost to order and ship the fish here i'm pretty sure now that i will do it.. well i think, i hate to waste all those rocks that i alreay paid for...

[Remora]

3 or 0.3?

+1. I'd also like to know if it's 3.0 or 0.3. If that's the case, then I can forego ageing and just use tap. Mine comes out of tap at about 7.2 - 7.5, and ages at 6.0-ish. That's a pretty big difference. :p

[darkknight87]

You can always put the black gravel in a coupel cheap bucketts and save it for a day that you may want to do a planted tank.

I had no problems with a grow out tank that had some fake plants. IMO having something in the tank with them is abit of a stress relief. Ofcourse many many people have bare bottom tanks with NOTHing in there and they do just fine...but I know id rather have a few decorations in my room than nothing at all.
Don't be so terrified of it..honestly they really aren't that hard to keep if you know what you are doing.

[hayliekay]

thanks for that boost of confidence.. (and i guess i could set up a betta tank to use some of the gravel..)
the next issue is can i really afford to purchase 8 juvies and have them shipped.. i believe it will cost me around $160 for 6 juvies (under 3") not including shipping.. sound about right?
PAUSE
I guess i can pull my gravel and get my cucle going... Can i have too many fake plants in there?

[waters10]

thanks for that boost of confidence.. (and i guess i could set up a betta tank to use some of the gravel..)
the next issue is can i really afford to purchase 8 juvies and have them shipped.. i believe it will cost me around $160 for 6 juvies (under 3") not including shipping.. sound about right?
PAUSE
I guess i can pull my gravel and get my cucle going... Can i have too many fake plants in there?
Regarding the prices of juvies, it really depends. If you go with the newer strains (mostly albinos) they are much more expensives. But if you go with more traditional strains like turks, blue diamonds, cobalts and pigeon based strains, it's significantly cheaper. Regardless of strains, get from a reliable source (read, sponsors), because the money you save on the juvies will most likely be spent on drugs and dead fish replacement.

Fake plants. It's all personal preference. They'd serve the same purpose as driftwood or rocks, meaning places for the discus to hide. As a suggestion, look into driftwood or even some potted plants instead. But since you already have the fake plants, you can use them if you like.


Im thinking it's time for me to "crap" or get off the pot in Discus land...
You've been lurking here since 08, so hell yeah! Jump in!

[mmorris]

+1. I'd also like to know if it's 3.0 or 0.3. If that's the case, then I can forego ageing and just use tap. Mine comes out of tap at about 7.2 - 7.5, and ages at 6.0-ish. That's a pretty big difference. :p

I don't think she meant 3. :)

[darkknight87]

It all depends on how much you want to pay per fish, and who you order them from.


thanks for that boost of confidence.. (and i guess i could set up a betta tank to use some of the gravel..)
the next issue is can i really afford to purchase 8 juvies and have them shipped.. i believe it will cost me around $160 for 6 juvies (under 3") not including shipping.. sound about right?
PAUSE
I guess i can pull my gravel and get my cucle going... Can i have too many fake plants in there?

[Turbofx98]

Hi,

I will share with you with how I manage my new discus tank. I try to do the best I can for my discus while making things as simple as I can for myself that way I am able to get it done. I just recently started a new tank about 3 weeks ago (75 gallons) with 4 Dicus under 2 inches.

I have a bare bottom tank which makes cleaning a lot easier. These guys are tiny and the tank is too big so it makes it harder for me to feed them. What I did was I sectioned a third of the tank off with some plastic egg crate from home depot. This way they are confined to a smaller space and it makes it easier for them to see the food and easier for me to feed them without having the food go over all the place and ruin the water or they won't get enough to eat. They still benefit from the larger water volume, and makes life easier for me. Cleaning is a lot easier this way as well since most of the mess accumulates in a small area.

The other 2/3 of my tank houses a canister filter, 2 sponge filter, and I have an overhead filter. I know OCD. My tank currently looks like a giant filter with a small section for these 4 little fishes. So far they are doing great and I have started to move the egg crate to 1/2 the tank to give them more space. I will eventually remove the egg crate entirely. It was just a great way to help me get started.

As far as water change is concerned I try to do 10-20% water change twice a day if I can, but sometimes only once a day. It would take a lot to pollute that large volume of water. I do not use aged water, or any other fancy water. I don't do anything to my water, but use it straight from the tap. From my personal experience and I have tried it several times until I got it right for me. As long as I don't change over 20% of my water at one time then my discus are fine with straight tap water. After the water change they will continue with their business without being affected. If I try a larger volume like 40% and up like most others then they will have a problem. They will get stressed out for a few hours and not eat, but will eventually get back to normal. Stress is what you want to limit during their growth period. I don't have RO water or have space or the desire to age the water so this works for me.

With Regards to plants. You can still have some live plants and a bare bottom as well. In my adult tank I have a piece of drift wood which I drill holes into. I placed several Cabombas into the driftwood and they grow nicely. They help provide oxygen for the discus and the discus keeps them green with CO2. It would probably work for other types of plants as well. It makes my tank not so plain looking, but still keeps it easier for cleaning.

As long as you can find a simple way for you to keep the water clean and warm and feed them properly then Discus are not difficult to keep. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stud) :D

[LizStreithorst]

I don't think she meant 3. :)

No, I didn't mean 3:o

[hayliekay]

Its ok Liz i knew what you meant! Well i guess its time for me to find a sponser (cali probabaly the closest) and talk about prices with them...

[waters10]

Its ok Liz i knew what you meant! Well i guess its time for me to find a sponser (cali probabaly the closest) and talk about prices with them...
Don't limit yourself by location. Shipping will have to be overnight anyway and it does not vary that much per distance. I have fish from 3 different sponsors, each at very different locations, and shipping was not very different on all my 3 orders.

Pick the fish you want for the price you believe it's worth it. Shipping will be overnight anyway, so they will spend about the same amount of time in the bags.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[hayliekay]

thanks... i will.. hehe i'll look around right now