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How do I set up my first discus tank?
Here is how I grow out juvenile discus
Equipment
55 gallon bare bottom tank.
Aqua clear 500 (two internal sponges - one prefilter sponge on the intake)
250 Watt heater and thermometer. Temp 84 degrees
Siphon hose to clean tank
Water storage container (pump and hose optional)
Discus
6 - 10 healthy juvenile discus from a reputable breeder
Care
50% daily water change with aged (dechlorinated, warmed, aerated) tap water.
Wipe down inside of tank with paper towels at least every week.
Rinse prefilter daily, sponges and internal filter once a month.
Food
Feed juveniles 4 - 6 times per day. (Quality flakes and bits, black worms, beefheart) Don't overfeed.
Grow out the juveniles in this tank with no additions. You will have to remove some discus as they grow. These can be sold to other hobbiests or the local fish store. A 55 gallon tank will hold 5 or 6 fully grown discus.
Later, when you get other tanks, especially large show tanks, remember . . . Quarantine all new fish and plants 4 - 6 weeks before adding to your existing stock
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
This is great information!
Nice post Carol! I put a sticky on it for now, hope you don't mind. :)
WC's are very important. SO is stability in water parameters.
Check for ammonia, and nitrite often in new tanks. They should not be present or should be kept near 0.
hth
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Excellant post , Carol. keep them coming.
I use a ''dedicated'' foam to wipe down the insides of my tanks. Foam - on - a - stick. Home made , of course!!!
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Hi smokey:
How do you make your homemade sponge on a stick?
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
AHHHHHHH, I love the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method of raising discus. Simple and to the point Carol :thumbsup:
GARY
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Excellent advice Carol for us newbies Carol.
Smokie I am also interested in your sponge on a stick.
Karen
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Very sound advice! good job Carol!
Smokey I will have 2 sponge on a sticks, one with bbq sauce the other with tomato and mustard thanks ;D ;D ;D
Chong
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
LOL Chong.
Carol, i always wondered why you use paper towels for the wipedown? Transferring something from one tank to another?? I'm using a dedicated algae scrubber just specific to my discus tank. Isn't that OK? ??? Jen K.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Take a piece of wooden dowel or what ever; a piece of foam - A/C 300 spongers work well. Stick the dowel into the foam and glue. silicone or even super glue will work .
Actually , mine are held on with a rubber band!!!
Been using the same one now for 5 years.
Works for my tanks.
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
A dowell and a rubberband . . . I think I can do that, lol.
I use paper towels because the tan diatoms on the galss cling to it and can be thrown away. Spnges are better for scrubbing the algae spots you can see, but just knock stuff loose rather than remove it from the tank.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Very good information indeed, especially for a beginner like me, what is the size of your 55 gal carol?
thanks
Andy
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
55 gallons tanks are 4 feet long . . I think that is 120 centimeters long and 220 liters?
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Andy / Carol: A Hagen tank is - 36'' L x 18'' W x 20'' High.
Remember - the size of the tank is not a true 55 G. You would have to measure the inside dimensions - to get the actual ''TRUE'' volume.
ex: - a 50 G. tank using 3/8'' glass, with a raised bottom has an interior measurement of - 35.375 x 17.375 x 18.875 has a volume of = 50 gal. us./ 190 Liters. Actual water volume is only 47 us gal. / 177.6 Liters.
{ a tank is never filled to the top ].
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
You are right Smokey, 55 gallon tanks come in different dimensions. My favorites are the standard All Glass that are about 48 long x 13 wide x 21 high. Easy to reach into to clean and give enough swimming room
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Carol,
Do you ever have problems with paper towels coming apart and leaving tiny tiny pieces floating in the water. I tried it once and had a mess. I use sponge now, but you are right I just feel like it moves the dirt around
Karen
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
I buy the expensive rinse and reuse paper towels like Viva.
Your husband can leave them in his pockets and they will still be in one piece after a trip through the washer and dryer. It is worth it to me to pay an extra dollar a roll so that I will never have to pick shredded pieces of paper towels out of me washer and dryer again. ;)
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Carol
What thickness glass does AllGlass use on their 55 unit ?
How do they compare in cost compared to Hagen's???
curious
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Is that an engineering question Smokey? Lol, I don't know and I can't find it in my All Glass catalog. I don't own a Hagen, so can't compare the two.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
use a tape measure ... you know that thing with all the asending numbers on it. LOL
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Hi all,
I have a 45 gal (36"*12"*24) tank. Is it good enough to keep 6- 8 discus?
Do you know that is Marineland Emperor 400 filter is good enough for my tanks
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Howdey xpotato;
Depending on their current size [ under 3 - 4 inches] sure!!!
I would also suggest adding some large air driven bio-foam filters. Just for the added biological bacteria to settel in. Set them at the opposite end, away from the Emperor. This will increase the water circulation, eliminate any ''dead spots'' and increase the oxygen. Every bit helps.
Just keep on top of the water quality ! W/C W/C W/C. Good rule of thumb - try and keep the " NITRATES ' below 10 ppm. Optimally -below 5 ppm's.
Two to three 5 gallon buckets daily will surfice. lol... Don't over feed. I find feeding them smaller portions 2 to 4 times daily is better than 1 large feeding. Just like us !!!
AND - they associate people with food. A good thing.
NOT like mine --- they know were the frigde is .. and help themselves.
Caught one trying to order a seafood pizza !!!!
Take care
Smokey
Smokey
Discus like clean water.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Thanks Smokey.
Do you know is a power filter and a sponage filter together are better than one canister filter?
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
I hate canister filters and do not use them any more. Hang on the back power filters like aqua clear (or emperor) and sponge filters are much easier to clean and maintain.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Smokey,
are you sure that was a seafood pizza that was being ordered?? not a beef heart pizza?
;D
I think one of many great things about Discus is their interaction. My son was most upset when ours did not want to take food initially from him. Although he pretends to not care, he is obviously please now that they acknowledge him!!!!
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Hi Smokey my 55 gallon and 29 gallon tanks have 1/4 inch glass
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Carol - up here in Canada -= the 55's are made of 3/8'' thick glass. I guess we hace to compensate for when the water freezes and expands. hahahaha
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
xpotato - it is not so much that one is better than another; YES IT IS !
CLEANING - if access is difficult - cleaning is a pain in the a@s, or gets over looked. NOT GOOD!!!
Aireation - oxygen is necessary for the bacteria to survive. Enclosed [sealed] filters tend to be O2 deprived. AND if they lose power - they can become death "BOMBS".
Capaicty - I am refering to the bio-logical load a filter can carry. CANISTERS may have an advanatage - IF the foams were not full of "GUNK". [see cleaning].
COST - canisters can be expensive[$$$.$$], where as large hang- on filters may be the fraction of the price.
Large submerable foams - very inexpensive, easy to clean, easy to place, supplies O2, etc.
IMPORTANT - try not to ask one filter to do everything. Both mechanical filteration and biological filteration are necessary. Try and set up so both can be incorperated.
MASS - in this case bigger is better. ex; a BIO-TOWER utilizes 120 cubic inches mechanical filteration AND 240 cubic inches bio logical filtration; minimum!
A A/C 500 has only 80 cubic inches of combined mech/bio.
filtration. One foam.
A canister - well if they could be filled with only bio-logical material , ok. Still the aireation situation !
HTH.
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Lesley - sounds like the discus are "TRUSTING" your son. Let him interact with them; NO MILK , PLEASE. LOL
Persons learn that trust works both ways. Be nice to them and they will be nice to you. A life Lesson.
They bite me once - ok . They bite me twice ... look out; I'M COMING IN !!! [ or leaving quickly] ha ;D ha.
NOPE - it was definately a sea food pizza - shrimp; plankton, alage, salmon, sprinkled with tetra bits and garlic. Mmmm mmmm good!
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Carol; refering back to the post #15; how dare you suggest we men leave stuff in ower pockets.
WELL, maybe the receipts from the last trip to the discus store. But that is besides the point .
That is why we get married in the first place; so the wife can clean us out. Errh, I mean the pockets. I"M in trouble now, aren't I. hahahhaha
O.K. I leaving now, foot is stuck in mouth mumble mumble mumble.
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Just to make a slight correction, and also to add some other common weights
55 US gallons = 208 litres (approx)
29 US gallons = 110 litres (approx)
1 imperial (UK) gallon = approx 1.2 US gallons
1 litre = 0.2641721 US gallons
1 US gallon = 3.7854118 litres
This site is a super converter
http://www.onlineconversion.com/
James
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Hey guys, the best way for an approximate tank volume capacity is to simply times the width by height by length. I know this works for cm to litres so i assume it works for inches to gallons. This is a good method if you want to work out what volume you have in a tank that is not entirely full :)
PS James or Lesley, do you have discus you are selling/breeding at the moment? I see you are from Australia and I am from New Zealand, transportation is therefore a lil more viable than from here to America!
Cheers,
Luca.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
To be honest with you Luca, i've got no idea about exporting to another country, or what importation laws you might have in NZ.
post a question in the general discussion forum at
www.sydneycichlid.com
There is a big importer who operates up in cairns, who ships to any capitals inOZ, but i'm unsure about NZ. In anycase his site is worth a look. I've bought some off him before and he's a good bloke. His range discus on offer are superb.
http://www.users.bigpond.com/donr2/index.html
James
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
:wave: Hello Luca
I am very new to Discus and do not have any breeding pairs; maybe it would be only fair to warn you that being a discus owner appears to be an obsession ;D
It is good to see more Discus people at this end of the world.
Good luck with your Discus.
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
I would like to know that do you ppl use Power head or air pump for your sponge filter?
Which one is better for 55 -75 gal bb tank?
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Air pump.
I really like hang on the back power filters for grow out tanks. The water column stays much cleaner than with air driven sponge filters
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Yup, go with the air pump. A lot less turbulance. and you get nice water.
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
be sure to get one of those flow valves that prevent water from flowing back to your pump, it rarely happens but when it does it can be a real mess.
john
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Good advice - John. A airpump full of water is not good !
Or mount the air pump way above the highest tank.
Smokey
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
I have another question?
How can I soft my water? use peat?
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Re:How do I set up my first discus tank?
Two questions . . .
1. How hard is your water now?
2. Why do you want to soften your water?
Peat may soften it a little or a lot depending on the hardness of your water.
Reverse Osmossis removes minerals and softens the water. Juvenile discus need minerals.