New to Discus, but not new to planted tanks.

Hi there,
My name is Amy and I have had a 75 gallon low tech planted tank now for a couple of years. I have wanted to have Discus for a really long time! Since way before I even set up this tank I have known that Discus would be a part of it eventually. All in all I am glad that I waited to get the Discus. My tank is very stable at this point and I have made my fair share of mistakes over the past few years. First and foremost was buying fish from my LFS. I will not be doing that anymore! Luckily none of my LFS's even carry Discus or I probably would have bought them a long time ago and killed them off.
A few months ago while thumbing through craigslist I saw a post for 3 Discus for $50.00. I jumped at the chance and now have 3 adult Discus in my tank. 2 of which are a pair and spawn every week like clockwork. Here are some pics of them.
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Sorry for the crappy phone pics btw. I do have a DSLR, just haven't taken the time to download any photos form it yet.
Amy

Looks good.How often are you doing waterchanges?

That's exactly how I got into discus! Unfortunately, my discus failed to thrive in the planted tank like other fish I owned. I ended up having to revamp my entire tank and my approach to fish keeping to accommodate them. Hopefully you don't come up against all the barriers for success that I did. Luckily this forum is full of great info for those just starting out with discus so def check out the stickies etc and keep posting updates on your tank!

Pic of my tank makeover:

Attachment 113278

I found a pic of my first few discus from Kijiji! They were so small and adorable. Do you plan to add any more to your tank?

Attachment 113279

My current water change schedule is 50% once a week.
I am thinking that I should be doing more.
Kyla-I do plan on adding more discus. I already have 4 juveniles in a 30 gallon bb grow out tank.

Amy,

I know you are trying and are learning, but you really have a lot to learn to save what you have or get anywhere with them. I am sure I don't have to tell you, the few fish I see are stunted or not growing accordingly...

50% once a week in a dense planted tank, sand bed, all that is not ideal for discus...

Are you willing to make some changes or move the fish?

If you read through my post you would have seen that I got these fish as adults. They are not stunted due to my care. Quite the opposite, they have flourished since I got them. I do realize that I need to do more water changes and clearly stated that in my post right before your comment. So the answer to your question is yes I am willing to make some changes, and if moving the fish is warranted then yes I will do that.

I can read thank you very much and I did read your post. I never accused your care of causing the issues. But you say you had them for months and one looks really thin and the forehead looks pinched.

We are all here offering advice and trying to help. If you don't want it or want to do your own thing by all means enjoy.

Thinking about doing water changes and doing them are very different things.

Good luck to you.

I did come here to learn. And I did come off as very defensive in that last post. I appologize. I would like nothing more than to have healthy fish.
I'm having a very hard time understanding why I would need to do so many water changes when my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all are at zero. That is why we do water changes correct? If I am wrong please enlighten me.
The fish you are referring to is very thin and has a pinched head, I agree. But he looks better than when I first got him. He was so dark I could only see that he had stripes, no color. Really thought he would die that first week but amazingly he survived and eats like a little pig now. I also posted in introductions. There is more info there. Didn't want to repeat myself here but seems as though I probably should have.
Amy

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Originally Posted by Naturegirl

I did come here to learn. And I did come off as very defensive in that last post. I appologize. I would like nothing more than to have healthy fish.
I'm having a very hard time understanding why I would need to do so many water changes when my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all are at zero. That is why we do water changes correct? If I am wrong please enlighten me.
The fish you are referring to is very thin and has a pinched head, I agree. But he looks better than when I first got him. He was so dark I could only see that he had stripes, no color. Really thought he would die that first week but amazingly he survived and eats like a little pig now. I also posted in introductions. There is more info there. Didn't want to repeat myself here but seems as though I probably should have.
Amy

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Phil like the rest of us only have your best interest in mind

Keep in mind there are other intangibles, other than the water parameters you listed, which are also reasons for frequent water changes. DOCS, bacteria, etc.

True your fish is very thin but good to hear he is looking better. The stripes you are referring to are stress bars.

Keep reading, keep learning and continue to ask questions. This is a great resource for new and seasoned members alike

Docs?

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Originally Posted by Naturegirl

Docs?

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Dissolved organic compounds.

There are things that affect your quality of water that you do not physically test for

Hi Amy,

Glad you're here, and welcome. Keep reading various posts, especially the stickies in the Discus Basics for Beginner's section to expand your knowledge. I've been keeping Discus full time now for over a year and still learning.

When I first brought my discus home I was of the same mind - no other fish needed the "excessive" water change schedule all "those crazy discus keepers" ranted about... I had kept fish since I was 12, and the advice I was getting seemed totally contrary to everything I had learned along the way. I was stubborn, but was sort of forced to make changes because my fish just wouldn't thrive in my tank. I lost discus because I was so skeptical and slow to change my maintenance routines. I even potted up all my plants and tried that for a while!! Multiple wc a week just seemed ridiculous.

Attachment 113324

but eventually I simplified everything about my tank and routine, got a 150gal water aging barrel and a pump for wc refills, and started to really slam those wc. My guys are finally happy. You don't have to go to the extremes I did, but I honestly can't see your fish doing well long-term in your set up without more water changes. What is your current water change set up/routing like? Eg what steps are a part of the process and how long does it take? Making this task as easy and efficient as possible will really be the key to success. There are a ton of threads about this specific subject on the forum, lots of great ideas. Wc used to take me forever, but after revamping my whole system they are a snap now. This will be even more important once you add more bioload to your tank with the discus in QT.

Ps I really liked this video, it's fairly long but I watched it during a wc and learned a ton, worth the watch for sure:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...TCH-THIS-VIDEO!

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Originally Posted by Kyla

When I first brought my discus home I was of the same mind - no other fish needed the "excessive" water change schedule all "those crazy discus keepers" ranted about... I had kept fish since I was 12, and the advice I was getting seemed totally contrary to everything I had learned along the way. I was stubborn, but was sort of forced to make changes because my fish just wouldn't thrive in my tank. I lost discus because I was so skeptical and slow to change my maintenance routines. I even potted up all my plants and tried that for a while!! Multiple wc a week just seemed ridiculous.

Attachment 113324

but eventually I simplified everything about my tank and routine, got a 150gal water aging barrel and a pump for wc refills, and started to really slam those wc. My guys are finally happy. You don't have to go to the extremes I did, but I honestly can't see your fish doing well long-term in your set up without more water changes. What is your current water change set up/routing like? Eg what steps are a part of the process and how long does it take? Making this task as easy and efficient as possible will really be the key to success. There are a ton of threads about this specific subject on the forum, lots of great ideas. Wc used to take me forever, but after revamping my whole system they are a snap now. This will be even more important once you add more bioload to your tank with the discus in QT.

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All true words Kyla, and the experience is similar to many here, myself included. I too kept many different types of other aquarium fish since my early teens and this made it hard for me to accept Discus' needs. I'm thinking I would have been more successful initially without all my previous experience.

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Originally Posted by adrian31@outlook.com

All true words Kyla, and the experience is similar to many here, myself included. I too kept many different types of other aquarium fish since my early teens and this made it hard for me to accept Discus' needs. I'm thinking I would have been more successful initially without all my previous experience.

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I too, like Kyla, started off with my fish in a planted tank. After I saw less than acceptable results in growth and appearance I made the difficult changes.

For instance I have a cobalt as well. Mine showed that very dark blue color. After making the changes his blue is a beautiful vibrant color. Same with turk. Bars completely went away and colors more vibrant.
If you have a few moments you can take a look at my tank journal and the difference is night and day.

Discus in planted can be done but it is much more difficult.

Amy, I know not a small task but ditch the gravel and switch to sand if you want to keep substrate. Everyone on here so far from what I have seen has given you great advice. I am a member who goes against the grain and constantly learn the hard way. Check out some of my older post. Bare bottom with a lot of dedicated gallons of freshwater per day per fish of course is the best case scenario but I like having a show tank and I can't always afford to adults although yours look to be adults yet not small but not big. Hell I have a few in my tank right now that I got when they were only one inch. They may never make it to be 7 in or bigger butt I like keeping track of them and posting on here for folks to learn. I do want to get them to at least 6 in. We shall see. In the end though get rid of the gravel. Too much crap falls on the Cracks with gravel. I live by the beach so I might have taken a little bit of sand from the beach :antlers:

I have tried the 20% daily wc and 50-75% weekly. My tank is approx 200gallon built-in, lightly planted with gravel substrate. I use the vacuum to change the water. My discus get extremely stressed out. I am down to one Pigeon Blood Discus. I have been doing this for 7 years now.

How are you folks changing the water without stressing your discus and how often do you vacuum your tanks ?

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Originally Posted by brddthomas

I have tried the 20% daily wc and 50-75% weekly. My tank is approx 200gallon built-in, lightly planted with gravel substrate. I use the vacuum to change the water. My discus get extremely stressed out. I am down to one Pigeon Blood Discus. I have been doing this for 7 years now.

How are you folks changing the water without stressing your discus and how often do you vacuum your tanks ?

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I have a water aging barrel where I aerate and heat between 120-150 gals of water for 24hrs before I use it to do a wc on my 180gal. The discus love wc, swim happily in the current and bite at my hands looking for food. They still don't like when I bang around and make a lot of noise vacuuming but as soon as I quiet down they are content again. When I used to do wc straight from the tap the microbubbles would irritate them and they would shed excess slime and flick their fins and rub their sides on decor. I filled a large tube with foam and attached it to the wc hose output to strip most of the bubbles from the water as it entered the tank and that led to a noticeable improvement. But there was still a bit of a ph swing from straight tap wc, and using an aging barrel has really been the best method so far. I use powdered Safe during wc as well.

How long have you had your fish? They may just be adjusting to having your hands in the tank more frequently, if they are fairly new.

I had two fish when I bought the house. The previous owners were only changing the water every month. I started changing the water every week when we bought the house in 2010. Eventually, the two discus died. I purchased 4 more discus and they lived for about a year and a half. Two years ago, I purchased 10 discus( all babies) and only have one left. I have two 45 gallon cans that I age and warm the water. They freaked out once I started cleaning the tank. They would hide under the log and turn sideways and start changing color. Within the last month, I removed a 5 gallon bucket of the gravel. I am planning on removing all the gravel and replacing with sand. Doing a bare bottom tank is not an option as the tank is a built-in and is a focal point on one of the walls. I use RO water for my wc. I am wondering if Discus are not for us and the built-in tank, I have read that they do not like sudden movement and this would be a problem with the built-in tank as there is privacy for them, both side are open to separate rooms and the living room there is always movement.

I would recommend to put all that info into a dedicated post to get some tips from others. My discus were very scared at first but now if I even peek just my head around the wall at them they rush towards the front of the tank lol, so there could def be other issues than just movement in front of the tank

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Originally Posted by Kyla

I would recommend to put all that info into a dedicated post to get some tips from others. My discus were very scared at first but now if I even peek just my head around the wall at them they rush towards the front of the tank lol, so there could def be other issues than just movement in front of the tank

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+1

Start your own thread so you will go more attention and can have all of your own questions answered.

Discus can be skittish at first but over time should be accustomed to movement as Kyla said. My tank is in a very high traffic area. They a bit skittish at first but after some time my son can be running passed the tank and no issue. Also as Kyla says they should recognize you and come to you so you potentially could have other problems.