Wild Discus Setup

Mostly I keep to my homestead but I do browse here quite often and noticed there have been a lot of people getting into wild discus and asking a lot of info. I by no means is an expert but have had some success in raising them. So I'll post what I did/do and my water parameters in the hopes that others will share also and let the future reader decide on what route they want to go.

I have been keeping my wilds about a year and a half now. I initially started them off 4 at a time in a 40B for QT purposes and eventually moved them (11/12... 1 died) into their current home a 125G.

Water Parameters/Conditions:

pH 6.0 API test kit and Pinpoint electric meter
gH 2 drops on the API tester to turn green
TDS 60-70 DA TDS/EC meter

For over the past year I have been using pure RO/DI remineralized with Replenish and Discus Essentials. In the past I did a RO/Tap mix but I wanted to replicate the Amazon as much as I could and AZ tapwater is well over a 8.0 pH and the RO/tap mix I couldn't get it lower than 7.5. Is 6.0 a must... I highly doubt it. There are several people on here that keep their wilds in pure tap with no issues. I even talked to John C. at freshwater tropicals (snookn21) and he keeps his at 7.5-7.8. I choose 6.0 because everything for the most part have been going right for the last 1.5 yr of care and if it ain't broke don't change it. Plus as i lowered the pH the reds/yellows/oranges/blues seemed to pop a little more. Additionally I have been lucky enough to have a lot of breeding going on. Unfortunately I let nature take it's course and the fry get eaten every time.

Water Change Regime:

During QT I did 50% daily water changes. My first group of Tefe Greens arrived in terrible condition. If you care to read please see link below. Along with the daily 50% I added salt for about a month till their wounds healed.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...65-Tefe-Greens

With the next 8 I just stuck to daily %50 until I moved them to their current home.

In the 125G i stuck to 30-50% every other day till I settled with a 50% every 2-3 days (more often 2 than 3). If most don't know I actually temporarily live away from the fish and my mom has been taking care till I return. She's 70 so we bargained and she does WC every 3 days

Equipment/Decor:

Filter - Fluval FX6 Canister/Sponge with a Whisper AP150 pump
Media - Fluval/Eheim mix
Heater - 2X 300W Eheim Jager heaters connected to a Inkbird ITC-306T temperature controller set to 82F
Lighting - Current LED+ 48"
Substrate - Pool Filter Sand (Quickcrete from Lowes)
Decor - Manzanita Branches (California) Rocks (local)
Breeding Cone - Barb Odgers
RO/DI Unit - Spectrum 180 GPD I store water in 2 heated 55 gallon food grade drums

In hindsight I would've went with a sump. Canister filters haven't done me wrong or anything but they are just a PIA to clean. Get a grain of sand in the impeller and you have to take it apart.

Stocking:

4X Tefe Green from Discus Origins (Mark Chen)
4X Tapajos Blue for Freshwater Tropicals (John/Snookn21) - 1 died to a bout of whirling or possible flukes
4X Nhamunda Red Selection Line from Discus Origins (Mark Chen) - prior yr WBSabby shipment

My other threads/Stuff I found informative:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...89-Wild-Discus
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-Discus-update
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...efe-Green-pt-2
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...eua-Collection
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-Mark-WB-Sabby
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ll-Wild-Amazon
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...olour-of-wilds
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...cus&highlight=
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...672#post677672

A lot of these are what turned me to wilds. There's a wealth of information on here

Of course I got to add a few pics...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...D0E0ED0DCF.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...130C77E05C.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...3396D18833.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...0D272C53FF.jpg

Like I said from the beginning. I'm not a wild expert, this is just what has worked for me and I encourage other that have had success or even disaster stories share their experiences. Any questions/disagreements/advice feel free to post/pm me

Thanks for reading - Paul

Nice setup, nice fish. Thanks for the info. Surely helpful for those of us that are just starting out with Wilds

Thanks for the links Paul, love seeing your fish and hearing your stories. So jealous of all your wilds spawning.

Hi Paul, which fish have paired up?
Pat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat

Hi Paul, which fish have paired up?
Pat

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The same two green tefe. I have a red that's showing breeding bars bit nothing from that yet

Beautiful fish and great info. Thanks for taking the time to share. I appreciate when someone can share what they do and why rather than using the opportunity just to tell others what to do simply because they "know more" than them.

Really was hoping for more people to add to on how they care for their wilds on here. They seem to be getting quite popular on here last wild season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by woopaul5

Really was hoping for more people to add to on how they care for their wilds on here. They seem to be getting quite popular on here last wild season.

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I think you need a different title on your thread Paul if you wish others to share their stories. So I created a new thread and retitled it for you Paul http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ur-Wild-Discus.
Pat

Thanks Pat