Discus Help

[sanjay337]

I Want To Start A Discus Tank But First I Wanted To Be Educated About Discus Fish
I Have A 55 Gallon Tank And Looking To Have 3-5 Small Discus
My PH Is Usually 6-7

What Are Things I Will Need To Know?

[Trier20]

My advice is to start in the beginners section and read the stickies from the top down and use the search feature, it can be your best friend!

[Elliots]

Your pH is good. You need to learn everything else by reading on this site.

[Poco]

Welcome to Simply!

You can start by reading the stickies below.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/forumd...-for-Beginners

[sanjay337]

Thanks

[sanjay337]

My current arowana tank temperature is 82. Ph-6-7 ammonia-0.25

Tap water 6.5-7
Ammonia- 0.00


I understand that for my discus tank my temperature will face to be around 85
Ph around 6.5
Ammonia 0.00
And I will have to do water changes 1-2 times a week

Questions
1. What are the benefits of Having bare bottom?
2. Feeding schedule for juveniles 2-2.5 in
3. How can I probably acclimate my discus?

Most likely I will get a total of 6.
3 blue diamond
3 turquoise

[Moon]

Do your research and get educated before you start.

[matt56]

Hello sanjay and welcome to simply, i am a fellow novice to discus, had mine for about 3 months now so ill give you the best advice i can.

1. What are the benefits of Having bare bottom?
A: A bare bottom tank makes it so debris cant build up in a substrate, makes it allot easier to see and vacuum. This is especially important with discus as keeping the water quality as high as possible is a must. Cleaner substrate=cleaner water. You can have a substrate when raising discus in fact there's a user right now raising a group in a planted tank but it is much more tedious on the maintenance part and imo not worth it when you can just grow them out bare bottom then switch to a show tank.

2. Feeding schedule for juveniles 2-2.5 in?
A: That i dont have much experience in. As with most fish more feedings in smaller amounts is the way to go. Right now i have 4 inch juvies that im feeding 6 times a day. From what ive seen id say 5+feedings a day would be ideal for discus fry.

3.How can I probably acclimate my discus?
A: You'll have to do some research and ask around on this. It depends on your situation. I got my discus from a stendker distributor about 2 hours from me so i didn't have to worry about ammonia in the bag and i could take my time drip acclimating. If you order and have them shipped there is the problem of ammonia in the bag and for that its probably best to ask the person you are buying them from for a recommendation. The basic method of drip acclimation is floating the bag unopened for 20minutes to get the bag water at the same temp as the tank, then putting the fish with the bag water into a bucket, then running airline tube into the bucket and starting a siphon from the aquarium and tying a knot in the line. Tighten the knot until you get a steady stream of drops. Do this for 30minutes, take out half the water in the bucket, and drip for another 30minutes then plop em in the tank.

Six is a good number. Really don't have to worry about ph at all, unless its extreme.This brings up the importance of aging water. Simply get a food safe barrel like a plastic garbage can, fill it up put a heater in and bring it up to the same temp as the tank, then aerate it with an airstone for 24 hours. You might be surprised how much your ph shifts. My ph is 8.4 after aging and my guys have been doing great for 3 months now almost growing 2 inches. Now my best advice is to just read all you can of the stickies on this forum. Probably the best resource for discus. Also since this is your first attempt at discus you might want to consider larger fish. I started with 3 inch fish and wish i had saved a bit more and gotten 4 inch. anything under 3 inch i think you need to have some experience in discus, they require multiple water changes a day and lots of feeding in order to achieve their full potential. And hey if you can afford it go with 5+ inch fish. You will be guaranteed to have an excellent fish and you can always try growing out discus later. All this info can easily be found in the stickies and more. If you have questions feel free to pm me but as i said read the stickies and you will be set .

[sanjay337]

Thanks For The Help

[sanjay337]

What About Lighting?
How Long Should I Keep My Lights On?

[Trier20]

I run mine for 16 hrs a day. 10am-2am. It's a preference thing. Mine are on that long bc that is what my life schedule allows. Yours may allow for less time which would be fine.

[sanjay337]

so from 8am - 8pm is ok

[Trier20]

Wouldn't see why not.

[sanjay337]

What Advice Can You Give Me?
Whats The Hardest Part Of Keeping Discus?

[Poco]

Keeping them alive j/k

There is nothing hard about keeping discus, I enjoy doing the daily maintenance and if someone doesnt then it becomes a chor which is hard.

It is all about lots and lots of clean water and good nutritional food.