"55g with 1x per wk WC, Discus stock levels can be 15 to 18 adults"

I change about 350 gallons of water daily, using 2 Pythons and 3 pumps. The whole thing takes less than 90 minutes, with the last 30 minutes just refilling the reservoirs. Most of the time, I'm multitasking with crossword puzzles. Everybody does it differently. For me, the top tier of tanks are for keeping fish, the bottom tier is for conditioning water.

I'm semi-retired now, but did this for the past 7 - 8 years while fully employed. Like anything else, it's easy when you develop a routine. Over the past 5 years, I've missed an average of one day per year when I'm home. I know my discus always achieve its full genetic potential.

Willie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LizStreithorst

I have an inline pump for putting in water. I actually have 2 250 gallon water storage tanks to age my tap because I used to have a full fish room. I have 2 55 gallon drums for RO for pairs. I use the RO for my Ram breeders as well. Right now it is more than I need, too.

I used to use a pricey in line pump for draining and vacuuming but since I killed it, I drain by gravity. It's fast enough because it's all down hill.

I read around here back in 2001 and learned what was necessary to keep the fish happy and healthy. When I plumbed my fish rooms I knew how to change all that water without killing myself. If you have to kill yourself to get something neccessary done, you don't do it religiously and eventually the fish get sick.

I agree with you, Danny. Eugene's fish are always beautiful. Maintence is the way he accomplishes it.

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I can't agree more about maintenance is the easy and the best ways to accomplish the best shape and colour discus :) :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danotaylor

I use a transfer pump as well...2 x 125 gal tanks w 50% out and in, 1 hour max.

Oxboy it already sounds like perhaps you're already cramped for time...if you really don't have time for large frequent water changes then perhaps discus aren't for you? Not being critical at all, but being realistic. When discus get sick through poor water quality it is heart breaking, and then time/finance consuming to try to save them. There's a few crew here that have successfully navigated a more minimalistic approach to discus maintenance, but many have succumbed to discus nightmares d/t not being able or willing (time/finance/additional equip purchases) to maintain good water quality consistently. They're reasonably expensive fish if you buy quality, so just think it through fully before you move on it. Success will minimalism is not the norm.

I ended up selling my beautiful discus because I couldn't give them what they needed...
Peace :thumbsup:

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Daniel, you are absolutely right. Keeping discus is an expensive hobby. A good shape and healthy adult discus (5") will easy cost you more than $200 .

Even I do huge amount of daily WC for my discus, my group of discus do get sick a few time between their baby stage to full grown adult. It is totally heart breaking watching them all hiding at the corner and fight for their lives. Now think about people keeping discus in poor water quality..... :( :(

I thought I would bring this back up since I trashed advice from Mac .
I was just sent pictures of some beautiful German discus and when I searched the site I was astonished ..I think it make Mac look good ?
They are a Canadian supplier of Stendker discus and claim , well I will just paste some of their info ..
From their site ;
The perfect Discus for beginners
Forget everything you think about Discus, your fears or bad experiences.

- Résistant -
Much easier to keep than other Discus. They are robust and resistant with a very good immune system are high because They are raised without antibiotics.
They support up to 100 mg / l nitrate and grow normally.
No need to clean the tank every day.

The high quality Discus.
Ultra resistant perfect for beginners
With our Discus, you are sure to have the best in the world coming directly from Mr. Stendker’s breeding in Germany.

Our Discus

- The need a water change only 10-20% per week or 30% every two weeks.

I have to say the pictures of the fish they have are outstanding but this info they present really puts me off .

I know why no one offers guarantees as people would just be ignorant and many do not keep water quality proper IMO but these claims seem to need some type of proof ?
He claims the Volker Stendker showed him his own tanks in Germany with 100 nitrate ???
Here is the site as I am sure some one would ask ;
http://www.discusparadise.com/en/

I know I am tight but I really disapprove of misleading people ..
None or little of this info could really be correct IMO ???
Their water change recommendations don't even match up with advice some average keepers on the 'Kids site '..
For me that was the last straw of bad info ...

Wow I am so impressed. Looks like I need to pull out the special vehicle I modified a few years ago and drive to Canada. Added the turbinator vortex to the intake, increasing mileage 25 %, engine oil additive increase of 25 %, gas additive increase of 20%, transmission additive increase of 15 %, special low friction tires increase of 10%, and finally the device that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen increasing mileage 10 % and power 30 %. Only problem is that at 105% I keep having to stop and pump gas out of the fuel tank and with all that power get tons of speeding tickets.......What was it WC Fields used to say?




"You can fool some of the people some of the time -- and that's enough to make a decent living."

WC Fields said some of the best things, also some of the funniest. My favorite movie he made was My Little Chickadee with Mae West.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by coralbandit

I thought I would bring this back up since I trashed advice from Mac .
I was just sent pictures of some beautiful German discus and when I searched the site I was astonished ..I think it make Mac look good ?
They are a Canadian supplier of Stendker discus and claim , well I will just paste some of their info ..
From their site ;
The perfect Discus for beginners
Forget everything you think about Discus, your fears or bad experiences.

- Résistant -
Much easier to keep than other Discus. They are robust and resistant with a very good immune system are high because They are raised without antibiotics.
They support up to 100 mg / l nitrate and grow normally.
No need to clean the tank every day.

The high quality Discus.
Ultra resistant perfect for beginners
With our Discus, you are sure to have the best in the world coming directly from Mr. Stendker’s breeding in Germany.

Our Discus

- The need a water change only 10-20% per week or 30% every two weeks.

I have to say the pictures of the fish they have are outstanding but this info they present really puts me off .

I know why no one offers guarantees as people would just be ignorant and many do not keep water quality proper IMO but these claims seem to need some type of proof ?
He claims the Volker Stendker showed him his own tanks in Germany with 100 nitrate ???
Here is the site as I am sure some one would ask ;
http://www.discusparadise.com/en/

I know I am tight but I really disapprove of misleading people ..
None or little of this info could really be correct IMO ???
Their water change recommendations don't even match up with advice some average keepers on the 'Kids site '..
For me that was the last straw of bad info ...

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From the Stendker web site regarding nitrates. "Nitrate levels should be tested three or four times a year, just prior to a water change. If nitrate levels are over 380 mg per 3,8 liter / 1 gallon, it is advisable to exchange more water and/ or carry out water changes more often, to ensure healthy growth for your fish."

I wonder how many folks are following the 100 ppm limit and how their outcomes are, either with Stendker Discus or other?

Must be some variance depending on where you are looking. This is what I found from the translated discus manual https://diskuszucht-stendker.de/en/Diskus-Handbuch/ water changing instructions https://www.diskuszucht-stendker.de/...sswerte_en.pdf

Actually the entire thing makes for fun reading regardless of whether I agree that 30% per week in a 180 L tank with 12 discus with a target of under 50 ppm nitrates makes any sense.

Waterchange
Changing water and cleaning the aquarium
For an aquarium containing 180 litres (with c. 12 discus fish and companion fish)
changing 30 % of the water in the aquarium once a week (take cold water).
The reason for changing the water is to keep water values within the normal range, i.e.
a pH value above 5.0 and a nitrate value less than 50 mg. If the fish display unusual
behaviour (e.g. breathing rapidly), it may be necessary in an emergency to change 90
% of the water. You should measure the water values regularly, as described in detail in
the section "Water values and water chemistry".
A overview of values:
pH value to be measured once a week. Normally the pH value is above 7. If the pH
value should drop below 6 as a result of feeding and a very good filter, change the
water. If the value is still around 7 after one week, you can delay changing the water by
one week.
Nitrate should be measured every 2 months before changing the water if the filter is
functioning well (unless the fish display unusual behaviour).
Ammonium, ammoniac and nitrite should be measured daily in a new aquarium until
the filter reduces these values to practically zero when feeding normally. Thereafter
these values need only be measured if the fish display unusual behaviour.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dspeers

I wonder how many folks are following the 100 ppm limit and how their outcomes are, either with Stendker Discus or other?

Must be some variance depending on where you are looking. This is what I found from the translated discus manual https://diskuszucht-stendker.de/en/Diskus-Handbuch/ water changing instructions https://www.diskuszucht-stendker.de/...sswerte_en.pdf

Actually the entire thing makes for fun reading regardless of whether I agree that 30% per week in a 180 L tank with 12 discus with a target of under 50 ppm nitrates makes any sense.

Waterchange
Changing water and cleaning the aquarium
For an aquarium containing 180 litres (with c. 12 discus fish and companion fish)
changing 30 % of the water in the aquarium once a week (take cold water).
The reason for changing the water is to keep water values within the normal range, i.e.
a pH value above 5.0 and a nitrate value less than 50 mg. If the fish display unusual
behaviour (e.g. breathing rapidly), it may be necessary in an emergency to change 90
% of the water. You should measure the water values regularly, as described in detail in
the section "Water values and water chemistry".
A overview of values:
pH value to be measured once a week. Normally the pH value is above 7. If the pH
value should drop below 6 as a result of feeding and a very good filter, change the
water. If the value is still around 7 after one week, you can delay changing the water by
one week.
Nitrate should be measured every 2 months before changing the water if the filter is
functioning well (unless the fish display unusual behaviour).
Ammonium, ammoniac and nitrite should be measured daily in a new aquarium until
the filter reduces these values to practically zero when feeding normally. Thereafter
these values need only be measured if the fish display unusual behaviour.

---

Only fun reading if you know what you're doing beforehand and have a good sense of humor.

This was a confusing subject when I first started researching roughly a year ago. Stendkers site said some pretty opposite things from what I learned on here, and in the end I decided to go with my gut and listen to the SD forums and did 90% WC every day. But that didn't work out as you guys remember. Still, I would not do so little as 30% weekly, maybe 30% every other day depending on nitrates to keep them >10. I will try this with some more LFS angels and see if they survive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shan_Evolved

This was a confusing subject when I first started researching roughly a year ago. Stendkers site said some pretty opposite things from what I learned on here, and in the end I decided to go with my gut and listen to the SD forums and did 90% WC every day. But that didn't work out as you guys remember. Still, I would not do so little as 30% weekly, maybe 30% every other day depending on nitrates to keep them >10. I will try this with some more LFS angels and see if they survive.

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If you have soft water like where I live in Vancouver, Canada. Our water has KH < 2. If I am not keeping up with the W/C, the ph can go down to as low as 6 from 6.7 in a few days. If the discus are constantly experiencing ph changes, they will not happy and eventually they will get sick. This is a good reason to why WC is so important to keep the ph as constant as possible.