Share How You Care for Your Wild Discus

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

I moved Paul's first post to this new thread hoping more wilds keepers will share what they do to be successful wilds keepers.
Pat

This will be another inspirational thread, looking forward to all the input

Before I write this post, I like to inform you this is the first time I am keeping wild discus. I get my wild discus from Hudson.

Here I am sharing my details:

Tank Dimension: 48-18-18
PH: 7.2
TDS: 60-65 (TDS meter)
Temperature: 27-29 Degree Celsius

Water Change Schedule: I use pure RO water in my tank. Daily I siphon wastes & perform 15-20% WC with RO water.

Equipment/Decor:

Filter - 1 X Eheim 2217, 1 X Eheim 2215
Media - Seachem Matrix, Seachem Denitrate, Zeolite, Filter floos, Lava Rock
Heater - 1 X 300W Eheim Jager heater
Lighting - 3 X 8 W CFL
Substrate - Inert sand
Decor - Driftwoods, Broken Leaves

Stocking: 6 X Alenquer Red Cuipeua semi royal & Alenquer Red Solid


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Beautiful fish bubun!!! Hopefully one day I'll have an opportunity to get some of hudsons wilds.

In hopes of keeping this thread active, current and full of responses, as a wild keeper myself, I'd like to post here and share my set-up and routine in hopes to help others who may want to keep wilds.

I will add this disclaimer before I begin. I use the KISS Method and things, thank god, knock on all wood, has been going quite well lately for me! Wilds are no diffeent, harder, easier to keep. Like any and all fish, proper care and due diligence is needed, but consistency is key!

Tank Dimension: 72 Bowfront 48 x 18 x 22
PH: Mid 7's 7.4-7.5
TDS: I do not test for this
Temperature: 83.5-84.5 Degrees Fahrenheit


Water Change Schedule: I use aged water for my waterchanges. I store a 55 gallon drum, depending on how much water I remove or if I preform sump maintenance, I sometimes supplement another 10-15 gallons of straight treated tap into the aged water as it is filling. I change water 2x sometimes 3x a week, never back to back days.

I will say that prior to this tank, I was the king of overstocked headache tanks, the type that I had to literally schedule my week around water changes to stay up on. God forbid an issue arose and I had to miss a WC, i'd be a mess. This tank could not be more opposite than that. I guess since I am not maxed out, have a nice big filter, feed properly, this tank can easily go with missed WC if needed. I don't encourage it, nor do I really ever miss, but it sure is nice if I have to and there is no stress.

Equipment/Decor: Some thinner Branchy Drift Wood attached to some slate bottoms as well as cichlid stones, hollow real looking rocks that make nice discreet homes for my pleccos and corries.

Filter - 29 gallon 3 compartment sump with over flow.
Media - Bio Balls, Big Sponge, Ceramic rings, Hydro v sponge running in middle chamber.
Heater - 2 x 250 w Eheim Pro Heaters
Lighting - Current Satellite Plus Freshwater LED 36-48 Inch
Substrate - PFS


Stocking: 2 X Pure Cuperia 2x Semi Royal Alenquer 4x Green Teffe

My thread on this tank and many more pics and info can be found here : http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ght=phillydubs

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask here or PM me directly, always happy to help as best I can!