1-2 questions before finishing tank setup...

[Mando]

I don't like canister filters. they work fine until you forget about them and they kill your fish. I think you will find a lot of people on this forum prefer Aquaclears or just simple sponge filters. I use sumps loaded with sponge.

How often are you supposed to clean these? I run a canister for my ponds waterfall and I have not cleaned it in over 8 months. I do clean the 55gallon drums (2 of them) weekly. I think the canister helps maintain the bottom cleaner than the skimmer does so I was about to add a canister to my tank/sump setup.

[TheLankster]

Sounds like these are your first discus. You want to purchase quality stock (look here for a solid listing) and the largest fish you can afford. The costs are more because you are paying for others to grow them out. I would recommend 4.5+ inch and 6 discus. Learn proper care and then, later you can decide if you want to grow out smaller size discus.

Was planning on getting my discus from discus hans. have seen good things..

Currently i have my tank up and running, i filled it with my new python today. Have the AQ-110 running w/ eheim pro heater. Im going to go to the LFS tomorrow and see about some starter bacteria and getting one of their old filter sponges to help kick start the process. I was hoping to get the fish in before xmas i saw something about throwing a couple tetras in the tank just to get the levels right

I will update pic of my tank setup in a minute, its nothing special.

[TheLankster]

I think ultimately i will end up going for the 4 inch fish from hans. As someone already alerted me i should buy at least a handful so they feel comfortable. I cant afford buying a handful if they are 6 inches + lol. My local fish store probably has some but i dont trust them. Even though they are reputable.

5 of them comes out to $340 before shipping thats quite a hefty investment . Was planning on asking for them for christmas now seems like it might be too much.

[TheLankster]

So first I want to say that I'm new to the discus world as well. I bought sick Quasimodo fish because I didn't do my research on the breeder. I did my research on how to take care of discus but still wasn't really prepared for the work load; you definitely want to take your time and do this right. I have 2 Fluval canister filters (one 306 for my 55gal and 406 for my 65 gal) that I personally haven't had any issues with. I also have 2 cheap aquaclear over the backs for my smaller tanks that also don't give me any problems. That being said, theoretically you only need a sponge filter for your discus as long as you are doing your proper water changes. I personally have a sponge and a canister as a back up with my Discus. I bought my babies at about 2", feed them 5+ small meals a day and do 30-50% water changes DAILY. This means some one has to be home during the normal work day or try your luck with automatic feeders (I cant get ever get them to work right), they are very time consuming. If you're not ready for that then you should buck up the few extra dollars for the larger ones.
Originally I had a designated Discus 5 gal bucket I didn't use for any other tank to not transfer cooties, suck and dump then fill in the tub, dechlor and readd back. Whats nice about the bare bottom is if you get your flow just right the waste will gather in one spot. Sick of buckets I just went to the local hardware store and made my own "python" for $20. I attach a mini subpump to the hose, aim it out the back door to dump then reverse the action by putting the sump in your aged water and pump it back into the tank. You can easily age your own water in a large plastic trash can, make sure you add an air stone or a mini subpump and a heater. Again $10 at the hardware store and I Y off of the washing machine into my trash can, 24 hours to sit and dechlor with out spending money on the dechlor chemicals any more! You mentioned that your tank is upstairs so I would consider making space in a closet or bathroom for the aged water can.

lots of good advice thanks.

I definitely will buy them a bit larger as i posted definitely more than 2 inches.

Im home quite often feeding shouldnt be an issue..or water changes. I should figure out how to start aging water though its tap. My closet should have some room for some sort of ager. just dont want it to smell funky

[TheLankster]

Tomorrow i plan on going to the LFS and picking up some tetra safe start/some type of tank starter.

I will put it in the tank to get the bacteria going. After levels get okay in a couple of days ill throw some tetras in.. then in a week or so right around xmas, put 5, 4-inch discus in.

Does this plan sound okay? I know its risky with the tight time fram and i definitely wouldnt purchase any fish without my levels just right. I just dont want the filter to overload. 4-inch discus might be a big difference from 3-inch. but i wouldnt know ha ha . please lmk thoughts

[danotaylor]

It is not necessary to put tetras in, and I would advise against. Anytime need additions are made, it is possible to introduce pathogens your precious discus aren't immune to. The QT process is slow but necessary to protect your investment. I would (did myself) just start with the discus.
I would not use muck water or media from an LFS as that could introduce pathogens into your tank which may make your discus sick or even kill them.
My advice is to slow down, cycle your tank properly with a fish less cycle using ammonia as your starter. You will need a complete test kit to monitor your water & cycle progress. Once you have a properly cycled filter (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and the presence of nitrates) add your discus.
Rushing it, not doing due diligence and not doing a proper start up cycle is the main reason many new comers to discus have a disastrous experience...that and adding discus from different sources or to an existing tank of other species without the proper quarantine measures.
I'm not trying to make life difficult for you. Discus really are amazing fish. I went through all of this when I got mine about 10 weeks ago. They are happy and healthy and I am glad I took the time & effort to do it right. You will be too!

[TheLankster]

It is not necessary to put tetras in, and I would advise against. Anytime need additions are made, it is possible to introduce pathogens your precious discus aren't immune to. The QT process is slow but necessary to protect your investment. I would (did myself) just start with the discus.
I would not use muck water or media from an LFS as that could introduce pathogens into your tank which may make your discus sick or even kill them.
My advice is to slow down, cycle your tank properly with a fish less cycle using ammonia as your starter. You will need a complete test kit to monitor your water & cycle progress. Once you have a properly cycled filter (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and the presence of nitrates) add your discus.
Rushing it, not doing due diligence and not doing a proper start up cycle is the main reason many new comers to discus have a disastrous experience...that and adding discus from different sources or to an existing tank of other species without the proper quarantine measures.
I'm not trying to make life difficult for you. Discus really are amazing fish. I went through all of this when I got mine about 10 weeks ago. They are happy and healthy and I am glad I took the time & effort to do it right. You will be too!

Hmmm..yea I was going to pick up some of those starter bacteria from the LFS. Tetra brand. You say use straight ammonia?

Is there difference in the end or just better? I will be testing levels either way every day. Tetras I can leave out I just knew they would be good for cycle and they can live w discus

[Paul Sabucchi]

Follow Daniel's advice, forget the tetras or any other luttle fish for now and do a proper fishless cycle with ammonia as suggested, both because of the possibility if introducing pathogens but also because it is a far more reluable method. If you rely on the waste produced by a few little fish the filter eill eventually grow enough bacteria to deal with just that, so when you put in 6 or more medium size discus the filter will be woefully inadequate to deal with the increased load.
If you put no little fish in the tank but add ammonia between 2 and 4 ppm (or mg/l) and keep topping it up as it gets transformed, once you notice that within 24 hours of topping the ammonia it has dropped to 0 and there are no nitrites either but just nitrates you are good to go, bug water change and you can put in as many discus as is sensible for that size of tank. This process usually takes 4-6 weeks but can be shortebed if you add some bacterial starters. Mature sponges would be a more effective way of speeding up things but I would only use a sponge from the place you are getting your fish from (Hans?) to avoid the possibility of bacterial cross

[TheLankster]

Follow Daniel's advice, forget the tetras or any other luttle fish for now and do a proper fishless cycle with ammonia as suggested, both because of the possibility if introducing pathogens but also because it is a far more reluable method. If you rely on the waste produced by a few little fish the filter eill eventually grow enough bacteria to deal with just that, so when you put in 6 or more medium size discus the filter will be woefully inadequate to deal with the increased load.
If you put no little fish in the tank but add ammonia between 2 and 4 ppm (or mg/l) and keep topping it up as it gets transformed, once you notice that within 24 hours of topping the ammonia it has dropped to 0 and there are no nitrites either but just nitrates you are good to go, bug water change and you can put in as many discus as is sensible for that size of tank. This process usually takes 4-6 weeks but can be shortebed if you add some bacterial starters. Mature sponges would be a more effective way of speeding up things but I would only use a sponge from the place you are getting your fish from (Hans?) to avoid the possibility of bacterial cross

Hmm.

So is there any benefit to starter bacteria? i def wont have access to a sponge from hans or kenny.

Then following ammonia method?

I was gonna pick up the Tetra Safe Start -- http://www.tetra-fish.com/products/w...tart-plus.aspx

Im really not in a rush. I was just gonna ask for the fish as a christmas gift so if its not ready in time i definitely wont risk losing the fish or my money ah ha.

[TheLankster]

here is my tank.



I put prefilter sponge on after this pic

[Pices]

When I bought my discus from Kenny, I asked him for a seeded sponge since my tank wasn’t cycled. He sent it with instructions to do huge 80-90% wc daily. Kenny said to do huge changes 90% until cloudiness cleared up, but I wanted them big and round so I kept it up for a year. There was a charge for the sponge, but I didn’t have to do a fishless cycle, so money well spent.
The ammonia is added to mimic fish waste. The good bacteria will help jumstart the cycle by converting it if that makes sense.
What are the dimensions of that tank? It looks tall and maybe not enough surface area for 5-6 discus. Hope someone will chime in.
Patty

[danotaylor]

Hmm.

So is there any benefit to starter bacteria? i def wont have access to a sponge from hans or kenny.

When I was in contact with Kenny he offered large mature sponges for $10 each. You do need the hardware to fit it to though. A great investment to get you started...

OOppps, I just read Patty's post...LOL

[TheLankster]

When I bought my discus from Kenny, I asked him for a seeded sponge since my tank wasn’t cycled. He sent it with instructions to do huge 80-90% wc daily. Kenny said to do huge changes 90% until cloudiness cleared up, but I wanted them big and round so I kept it up for a year. There was a charge for the sponge, but I didn’t have to do a fishless cycle, so money well spent.
The ammonia is added to mimic fish waste. The good bacteria will help jumstart the cycle by converting it if that makes sense.
What are the dimensions of that tank? It looks tall and maybe not enough surface area for 5-6 discus. Hope someone will chime in.
Patty

Not positive on the dimensions but when i originally bought the tank i made sure it was at least 50 gals. It is tall and wide--somebody told me Discus like to swim up and down. I can double check and make sure i was right, but too late to change the tank now--i have already put the starter bacteria in. At minimum its 45 gal.

My plan was to buy 5 discus for this tank. Start by growing out 3-4 inchers from Kenny/Hans whoever has the strains atm. WC shoudnt be too big of an issue just want to get the cycle right. Eventually i do plan on moving them to a nicer planted tank which ill buy a new tank for.

I plan on calling Kenny tomrrow, i will talk to him about the sponge. Just wondering the sponge will fit in the AQ 110. Or if it is about ringing the sponge into the aquarium, lol. I am young in this game.

[TheLankster]

When I was in contact with Kenny he offered large mature sponges for $10 each. You do need the hardware to fit it to though. A great investment to get you started...

OOppps, I just read Patty's post...LOL

I plan on calling Kenny tomrrow, i will talk to him about the sponge. Just wondering the sponge will fit in the AQ 110? Or if it is about ringing the sponge into the aquarium? lol. I am young in this game.

Also, will starter bacteria i put from Tetra have any negative affect on introducing sponge now? I dropped some bits of frozen brine shrimp as well to jump start ammonia.

[danotaylor]

The starter bacteria won't affect adding the seeded sponge. I believe Kenny has the ring shaped sponges. If you get 1 or 2 from him you may be able to cut it into strips or cubes and put it into your HOB and use it like that. As long as tank water flows thru the sponge I don't think it matters in what form or location it is in.