Discus water change help

[Ashton.quigley]

Hello, I am planning a 75 gallon discus tank. This is going to be my first time owning discus, and the amount of information is a bit overwhelming. I have most things figured out, but I'm not sure how much water to change and how frequently to do it.

I am planning on adding 3 captive bred discus, and I am not sure how often and how much to change the water. I have searched around online and have gotten no definite answer. The tank will be lightly planted with a thin layer of flora max substrate, and some non-dense plants like Madagascar lace plants. I may also add a thin piece of driftwood. It will be filtered with a cascade 1000 canister filter. The temperature will be 83 degree F, and will be lit by a Beamswork 48 inch light for 6-8 hours a day. The Ph should be around 7.5, and the water will be quite hard. What I have learned us that this is okay as long as you keep up with water quality, but I'm not sure how much to change.

A few moths after the tank is established I may also add 6 congo tetras and a leopard bush fish, and any help on how much water to change then would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time

[Pices]

Hi Ashton,
I was not successful in keeping discus until I found this site. Glad you found it before you bought fish. Water changes should be done daily unless you have adult discus. The minimum amount is 50% daily. My adults get every other day water changes of 75-80%. The more you can change, the better. I did 80-90% daily water changes when they were young. They also need to be kept in groups. For your sized tank, you should start with 6 discus rather than 3. I would read threads here at the beginners section if you want to be successful.
Discus are sensitive to pH swings. Test the pH swing by testing your tank water, test the pH of your tap water, check to see if the pH varies in your tank and by how much in 24 hours compared to your tap water. Many people here age their water for 24 hrs adding an air stone and heater and add a dechlorinater such as Prime to the tank just before refilling with fresh water. They do this due to pH swings or micro bubbles. If there’s no difference between the tap water and tank water (after 24 hrs) you can use tap water that matches the temp of your tank. 83 is a good temp.
Because any healthy discus has been kept in pristine water conditions, they are susceptible to many things when new fish are introduced. Be sure to quarantine any new fish prior to mixing them with discus. Best of luck and welcome to SD.
Patty

[Ashton.quigley]

Thank you for the help it is greatly appreciated. My LFS sells mostly adult discus so would that change any of you recommendations?

[LizStreithorst]

Don't buy from a LFS. Their Discus are generally overpriced and of lower than average quality.

[matt2426]

https://youtu.be/VXe3VKh7qF8 check this video out very good video for the beginner discus keeper Al the administrator of this forum made this video alot of good info on it but the main thing with the water changes is you want everything to be stable.its hard to determine how many per week different amouts work out for different tanks. i personally do five 50 percent water changes a week with aged tapped water good luck

[14Discus]

I'm not a discus expert, but to get the new fish to eat faster, I'd suggest a higher temp of 87 or so. I did this and it has worked nicely. As a matter of fact.....I keep my tank at 87.3 all the time. The times I tried lowering the temp w all the fish eating well to 84, my fish went into a breeding frenzy which I did not want. Just my thoughts. Others out there may not agree.

[Pices]

Liz is right. Buying from a local fish store was another mistake I made. They aren’t healthy. There are many great sponsors here with excellent reputations. Kenny’s Discus, Hans, Chicago Discus. Check out the sponsors section, but have a paper towel handy to catch the drools. Ha ha Discus are not like any other fish and are worth the extra care. I had no clue what I was doing, but the people here turned me into a good fish keeper, Liz included.
Patty068820DF-58DA-4F2D-8884-54E5B7B4920D.jpg

[snxtif]

I'm a discus newbie, these are info I have learned for this past few months.

1. Bare bottom tank will save you from headaches in long run. Plants on woods might be the best compromise here.
2. Buy as many as you can afford (space/money) because it's kinda pain to add some more fish later (QT/compatibility/hierarchy reset etc.)
3. Bright light for 8 hours might stress them.
4. not sure if 83F is just a few degrees too low? I'm keeping mine in 86F
5. pH 7.5 should be fine, as long as you can keep it stable. Mine is 7.4.
6. Congo tetras might be ok, but also, might be a bit too "busy" fish for Discus. Depends on your school and tank size I guess.
I have a school of 8 (4 males 4 females) in 67g, they keep chasing each other all the time, but maybe I have 1 too many male I guess.
Also, they are quick and rather aggressive eaters, your discus might not get enough food.
Cardinal tetras, Cory, BS might be better tankmates.

[eugenefish]

Liz is right. Buying from a local fish store was another mistake I made. They aren’t healthy. There are many great sponsors here with excellent reputations. Kenny’s Discus, Hans, Chicago Discus. Check out the sponsors section, but have a paper towel handy to catch the drools. Ha ha Discus are not like any other fish and are worth the extra care. I had no clue what I was doing, but the people here turned me into a good fish keeper, Liz included.
Patty068820DF-58DA-4F2D-8884-54E5B7B4920D.jpg

[CammieTime]

- Bare Bottom Tank
- Buy from a Sponsor of SD (I had great experience with Discus Hans)
- Make 110% sure you have a fully cycled filter (otherwise you will get ammonia, problems, and stunted fish)
- 50% daily water change until the fish are adults
- Feed freeze dried blackworms (not messy, fish love them, keeps tank clean)
- 95% water change once per week when fish are adults

[Filip]

Hi Ashton and welcome to discus and this forum.
Most of the advices you've already got are sound and reasonable .
I will just add that you can not keep less than 6 discus in a tank due to aggression problems and potential stress diseases caused by the agresion.
Also if you buy adults and you feed them dry food lightly only once or twice a day you can probably get away with +50% WC twice or maybe even once a week , but its always better to start with more , get to know your discus and than slowly adjust the routine to yours and their needs .
Good luck Ash. and keep us updated with your progress.