Drip WCs and Cycling?

[chrisc]

Hi all,

Im loving the community here! Ive spend a few hours today searching for answers with no luck and am turning to all of you!

1.Im bringing in 8-12 2-3" discus in the next few weeks here and have been looking at the best way to prepare for them. If i set up a drip system that is basically doing a 200% water change daily, do i need to cycle the tank and get it "established?" Seems like it wouldnt be much different than if i just filled it up and threw in the fish.

2. I do have very gassy water. After filling my community tank the glass will be covered in bubbles every time. I know its not great for the fish but in a drip system is that something i really need to worry about? I could age the water but that complicates things a lot if its not that big of a deal in the first place.

3. What are all of your thoughts on a "best" strain to start with? Im getting into the hobby because ive found it to be very relaxing, assuming i have some breeding success, I'd like to at least start off on the right foot and have the best shot at having the addiction pay for itself. Im trying to weigh; marketability, sellability, consistency of original strain in the offspring and whatever is new and exciting.

Thanks all, looking forward to being a part of the community.


Chris

[Filip]

Hi Chris and welcome.

How big is your planned tank for growing 10 baby discus ?
Is it going to BB growout by the book or do you plan sand , plants and decor in it too ?

No one can tell for sure , but I think that you might have problems with microbubbles and outgassing the new water at 200% daily rate . That's a fast rate of adding new water and I'm not sure if you'll be able to outgass it even with very strong surface movement .
What about dechloration ? Is it going to be a straight tap or do you plan to dechlor via Carbon blocks or RO units ?
What about the temp. of your added water , is it going to be adjusted to 82-84 F before it enters the tank ?

About having the addiction thats paying for it's self , it sound like a sweet idea , but many experiences shared here says that investments in finance and time growing discus often exceed the earnings .

[chrisc]

Hi Chris and welcome.

How big is your planned tank for growing 10 baby discus ?
Is it going to BB growout by the book or do you plan sand , plants and decor in it too ?

No one can tell for sure , but I think that you might have problems with microbubbles and outgassing the new water at 200% daily rate . That's a fast rate of adding new water and I'm not sure if you'll be able to outgass it even with very strong surface movement .
What about dechloration ? Is it going to be a straight tap or do you plan to dechlor via Carbon blocks or RO units ?
What about the temp. of your added water , is it going to be adjusted to 82-84 F before it enters the tank ?

About having the addiction thats paying for it's self , it sound like a sweet idea , but many experiences shared here says that investments in finance and time growing discus often exceed the earnings .

Hi Filip, Thanks for the response! Its very appreciated! I plan on doing a 55 gallon grow out tank and have 4 40 gallon tanks to separate them into if and when they start pairing off, plus a 120 gallon community tank for those that never do pair off.

What about the need to cycle a new BB tank when youre dripping high volumes. Seems like the idea is to cycle often enough that a cycle never has the chance to start, hence making it unnecessary to pre-build the micro-biology. It will build on its own naturally. Am I understanding this concept wrong?

It will be a completely bare BB tank. I can slow the drip rate to whatever i want, i just figured the more clean water the better. Its straight tap water. Our city has uses mountain water direct from the source and it remains un-chlorinated unless theres a water main that breaks. The water is ideal in all parameters other than hardness. Its pretty hard water but from what i understand they can adapt to that fairly easily.

On the temp, Ive been doing some testing and so far my heater is able to keep up with the cold water drip without pre-heating the incoming water.

On that last note, Im going into this because i love it and my kid loves it. I dont "need" it to pay for itself but it would be fun to try. If and when it turns into a money pit like most of my other hobbies thats ok! I just want to start with some strains that are new. Seems like the all red or all yellows or all blues are popular as are the leopards. Maybe theres not any one "most popular." Anyway, thanks again for the response.

~ Chris

[Filip]

I would start and cycle the tank and filters properly with botteled bacteria or doing the amonia fishless cycle. Its always safer when you have heavy bio filtration to keep Ammonia and No2 always at 0 levels .
There are farms for discus (mostly in Asia) that use no filters at all , just an airstone for oxigene but they change 90% water 2-3 times per day , as far as I'm familiar .I doubt that your 200% daily drip(which is equal to less than one 100% regular WC ) can mimic their routine and keep ammonia constantly in check .
And you have gasess there too , to be weary about.
So I would most def. go with proper biofiltration along with your daily drip and if I encounter micro bubbles problems I would adjust the drip rate
acordingly.

On the other acount , there are no most popular strains IMO. Every keeper has its own preferences and taste when it comes to strains and colours .

We mostly agree that "rounder", and "bigger" are the most popular discus categories

[Cosmo]

I knew a successful LFS once that used a drip system with water right out of the tap, no dechlor or anything. It always amazed me his fish were healthy! Whenever you cycle a tank, what you are really cycling is the bio filter, not the water. Even with a drip system I'd think you'd want a biofilter. Dripping 200% of a tanks volume does not equate to a 200% water change since the drops don't replace tank water on a 1 to 1 basis. Your better bet, especially since you want to breed is to use a BB tank and do DAILY water changes of 75 to 95 %. Since your water is gassy, yes, you'd have to age it and yes, it is a pain, but you'll probably get better results with the daily massive water changes. Just IMO