Hi from So Cal, new to forum and Discus

Good morning to all from what is expected to be a hot shiny day here in So Cal.

As an intro this may be longer than normal, but I figure lay it on the table first.

I have a 150gal reef tank that is coming down. And I’m about 95% sure it’s going to turn into a Discus tank. NOTE: I also have a 120gal tank that is (or will be after my stand is built) a planted Angel tank.

Discus have always fascinated me, and I think it’s a great opportunity to make a switch.

I’m watching Al’s video/talk on keeping discus fish and have started researching here over the last couple of days.

The tank has a 50gal sump. And it’s controlled with an Neptune APEX and InkBird dual 300w heaters. Also has an ATO already working. Oh and it’s all fed via a 7 stage RO/DI set up. Lights are Radion XR 15 gen 5s. There’s three of them.

I have 3 QT on a rack in the closet of my fish room/office.

Oh, the whole house is on a 2.2kw back up generator in case of another of our frequent(thanks so cal Edison) power outages.

I think that’s the salient facts, but I’ll be delighted to answer any questions on my current set up.

I’ve read that dealing with local people for livestock is the best, but I don’t know of any Discus outlets/breeders in So Cal (So West Riverside county specifically)

Anyway, any start up advice or anything else greatly appreciated.

Well welcome. Read a lot of the threads here. Probably won’t need a lot of your reef equipment. Lights may be to much. Rodi may not be needed. How is your tap water? What size are your qt tanks? There are a few discus seller in Cali. As to how close to you I don’t know. Glolden state discus is recomended.

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Originally Posted by Iminit

Well welcome. Read a lot of the threads here. Probably won’t need a lot of your reef equipment. Lights may be to much. Rodi may not be needed. How is your tap water? What size are your qt tanks? There are a few discus seller in Cali. As to how close to you I don’t know. Glolden state discus is recomended.

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Tom, thanks for the welcome.

It looks like Golden State is up in Sacrament area so not so close.

If I have the Ro/Di system already what would be the decision points to not use it?

Regarding the lights, they are multi spectrum LED with the ability to run from barely on to serious bright. Again what kind of decision points would I need to watch to replace them?

Well rodi may not be needed if your tap is ok. That would save the whole cost of using rodi. No adding minerals no waste water and cheaper on electric. As to the lights. Yes they can be dimmed down. But reef lights are usually expensive and costly to run. With discus as a beginner it’s best to go bare bottom so the lighting is just for the fish. Resale on your reef lights may give you money for other equipment or fish. A good discus light will be much less than $200.
Having discus delivered from good sellers will be better than buying local. That was just one shop there are others on the west coast. Check out the sponsor page here.

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Originally Posted by SKMoss

...Anyway, any start up advice or anything else greatly appreciated.

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Welcome to the hobby, Steve. I just want to point out some fundamental differences between keeping reef versus discus.

1. Reef is a technology driven specialty and it's not surprising that most of your introduction dealt with equipment. Raising discus is the other end of the spectrum. My discus tanks have 1 - 2 heaters and sponge filters. My investment is aimed at high quality fish. Most people here have a similar approach because that's what works.

2. I admire reef tanks, but they seem to be an exercise in restraint. Anything you put in (food, light, fertilizer) requires massive technology to take out. In contrast, a discus tank is like a pig pen. Dump in a lot of food, then hose it out. Water changes are absolutely critical to success and you're going to need to set up a simple way to do them. Filtration is no substitute for fresh water, although the opposite is true.

3. Tom already mentioned this, but I'm not sure you caught the significance. Discus grow fast and tanks have to be sized to the fish. They naturally school when young. You'll likely need a 40-gal tank to start them off, change lots of water, move them to a 75-gal, change more water until they get to ~5", before moving them to the 150-gal. They will not survive if you just drop them directly into the 150.

At fish shows, discus guys often congregate in front of the reef tanks and reef guys usually ask about my discus. So we both like absolutely spectacular displays. But getting there is completely different.

Good luck, Willie

Welcome to this forum. Looking for local Discus sources? May want to contact some of the club members on this forum under Southern California
Discus Club, check on Craiglist, there are or were people selling or

breeding at one time they were Don at American Made Discus, Ceylon Aquarium, Doug at Discus It, Young at Sunset Tropical, wholesalers Dolphins and Persiden. Go north theres a ton of Discus for sale.

Gentlemen,

Thank you for all the responses. I think in having looked at more research that Discus be something that I admire from a far. Though gorgeous as they are, like beautiful women, they are way to much maintenance for me. I guess I need the no make up, go out camping, kind of fish.

I hope you dont mind if I check in and check out the cute pictures once in a while.

Wow that was quick!! Are reef tanks that easy? I alway thought they were hard to do!

Discus are much easier to take care of then Stoney coral reefs. I use most of my reefing equipment in my discus tank. Including the lights. The computers help you keep an eye on the water parameters and that's a plus. Discus go down much slower than SW. Disease and parasites are much easier to treat in fresh than in salt water and you don't need to maintain all the fauna and flora as you do in the reef.
The major problem with Discus is that as a result of being so highly inbred (not the wilds), they have very poor resistance to disease when things aren't perfect. And costs, my reef was ten times the cost than my discus.

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Originally Posted by Iminit

Wow that was quick!! Are reef tanks that easy? I alway thought they were hard to do!

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Not easy at all. But were not putting 2” fish in one tank, then into another and another as they grow. Ya’ll rock if that’s the level of effort you’re willing to go through to keep healthy happy fish. The need to do 50% water changes several times a week is outside of my allocation of time. I barely keep up with 30% once a week in the reefer.

The other half of this is that I don’t like and wont consider a bare bottom tank. I like aquascaping and would want a moderately planted tank to go along with the fish and as I hear it (even in Al’s video) that is a recipe for stunted sickly fish. Not fair to the fish.

I have 2 large tanks. I’ll set up one with the planted tank I want and see how I feel after that. Once everything is stabilized, I’ll revisit Discus in the tank.

You don’t have to go the many tank route. You can buy your discus big 5-6”. These will be adult discus. Once you add your first group of discus you will need a qt tank for future fish. Now with adult fish you can scape your tank. Gravel plants wood... whatever you like. Many do claim to just do one big water change a week. But it is time consuming. Hey it’s a hobby.

Welcome to this forum! A lot of people here are really knowledgeable about Discus.

Steve, growing out discus is a labor of love, many of us have neither the time nor interest/energy. You already have an Apex, easy enough to design an automatic water change system. You buy adult fish and let apex do the water changes and you will have a group of fish that only look like Divas, but are actually pretty much campers.