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Thread: My first experience with Discus... 90G update

  1. #1
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    Apr 2019
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    Exclamation My first experience with Discus... 90G update

    Hey everyone its Jacob! It’s been a while since I’ve posted but i had a topic i wanted to discus with the experts so i had to stop by haha.. Ill start by saying I’ve been in the fish keeping hobby, both fresh and saltwater fish for about 15 years now and have kept just about every kind of fish. I always steered away from Discus despite their beauty because of how difficult i heard they were to keep, so i never tried it.. Until my fiancé fell in love with them, he then too started enjoying the hobby with me from that day on! Originally i stared out with three small discus in my original 55 gallon aquarium that i had running. They did great, i did everything just like i read. Water changes every other day, ph was at 6.5 temp was set to 86f and all water parameters were in perfect range. MY FIANCÉ one day surprises me after stopping by the Jack Wattley store in Miami with four new discus I was unaware of. So.. i had no choice but to acclimate the fish and add them to setup and double up on water changes. Anthony then learned a valuable lesson as he learned with 9 discus (3-6 inches) we had no other option but to upgrade to a 90 gallon with a built in sump filtration system.

    I spoke with Gabe from Jack Wattley discus in the Miami store who was jacks originals partner. The guy has been keeping and breeding discus for over 40 years. We selected all of but two of our fish from his store.. His selection is amazing! Anyways... he instructed me to stop trying to decrease my ph and let my fish adjust to my tap waters ph which is roughly 7.6, he said as long as its stable ph all you need is clean water and stability. Those words changed my experience with discus. My fish are thriving today in the 90 gallon nearly two months later and the only thing i do to my water is add prime. He even told me as long as i stick to the one discus per ten gallon rule ill be fine with once weekly 20% water changes. I didn’t believe him! But its what he does and he’s made his mark as one of the most reputable discus suppliers in the world.

    Ive read people on this forum who do daily 100% water changes lol. Is all of this really necessary or is less really more like it is for Gabe the breeder and supplier of some of Americas finest discus? I however cannot let that go due to my OCD lol. I change my filter socks every 1-2 days, and perform twice weekly 50% water changes. I feel live black works in the morning and blood worms and flakes in the evening. The aquarium houses nine discus, I’m hoping soon they begin to pair off and at that point i plan to rehome roughly half of collection and keep my favorite couple of pairs or so... I also had like 30 cardinals but now i have about ten since they mysteriously keep disappearing lol. I also have three small clown loaches (who would be gone if i could catch them), and one king betta who gets along with everyone. As i stated, I’m only running on my built in sump filtration with my UV sterilizer. I originally had a propeller to keep the white sand clean of debri but noticed the fish enjoy life so much more in Stiller waters, so i removed it and i deal with the debri..

    My main question is... how come everything i read about caring for discus, since i was a child for Gods sake seems to not be exactly necessary? I assumed this species would be a difficult one but they have been surprisingly easy for me and my experience. I’m so happy since switching from the predator hobby to the discus hobby and community with all of tankmate options! Ive always wanted to rescue a betta from a cup and give him a nice size setup lol. The discus are so interactive with my fiancé and i. They follow us through the room in a school formation and its adorable to me, they are very intelligent for “just a fish”.

    Anyways, let me know your opinions, comments, suggestions or your own experiences!
    Last edited by JacobFata; 06-01-2019 at 01:34 PM.

  2. #2
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    Apr 2019
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    5

    Default Re: My first experience with Discus... 90G update

    Trying to upload photos but I’m running into issues.

  3. #3
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    Mar 2008
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    B'ham, Alabama
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    Default Re: My first experience with Discus... 90G update

    Pictures can not exceed 2 meg.

  4. #4
    Registered Member
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    Jul 2009
    Posts
    551

    Default Re: My first experience with Discus... 90G update

    one fish per gallon is normally a dumb rule. its all about filtrations and water changes. you can have 20 discus if you wanted to in your 90 gallon. just gotta keep up with water changes. 100% water change is not necessary. but it def doesnt hurt to do it. i would only do 100% if i am raising juvies. you cant always believe what u read on the internet. gabe has his ways and other breeders/discus keeper have their ways. everyone does what works for them. in my opinion discus are easy fish to keep. i too have heard what u heard about how hard discus are and such and such. i visited his shop in miami last year or so, spoke to gabe for a lil bit. but wasnt impress with his stock. and welcome to simply discus

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