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Thread: Hello and questions

  1. #1
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    Default Hello and questions

    Hi everyone. I am new to this forum but have been keeping salt water fish tanks, corals, etc. for 10+ years with great success. At my office I have have a 225 gallon drop off tank with my reef setup. I have a smaller 30 gallon reef tank at home and decided to move those fish to the office and try discus for a change of pace. I have read the forums heavily and have some questions/comments.

    I understand 30 gallons is on the smaller size but I have 75 gallon that is empty and if I needed to move things there later I could but my preference is to stick with the smaller tank for now. I will say my first impression from doing my research here is that the discus community might be less forgiving than the reefing community, even including the dreaded tang police, and it can make it hard to get a clear picture of how best to keep discus fish.

    Let’s discuss the amount of discus first. I understand they are a schooling species and 5 is ideal for a successful school. I understand pecking order from my reef fish but if I only had a couple because I don’t want to overload my size tank does it not work because one will kill the other? Or is the concern more that in the wild they are in larger schools? I know I can get a mated pair but since this is my first time with discus I am not sure I want to spend the cost of a mated pair when I am not familiar with caring for the fish.

    I want to review my equipment. I have a ghost overflow and sump below my tank. Because fresh water fish don’t like the flow like reef fish I have removed my MP10 and Tunze power heads. My reef didn’t need any filter media because the live rock did all the work. I have put a sponge, carbon, and the white discs things (can’t remember what they are called) in my tank for now. All of my equipment is controlled with my Apex so I can monitor a lot of the equipment remotely. Can I use the same live rock in the sump for the bacteria? I use only RO/DI water and I have seen mixed comments on whether you need to put additives back into the water. Can someone please clarify if I need to add nutrients back into the water? I have 3 dosing pumps that I can use to put additives back in if I need to do it more controlled. I was going to use a single heater but with the higher temperatures I will hook (2) heaters up to my apex for redundancy.

    I am going with a simple setup in the display. Thin layer of white sand, driftwood (cooked and aged in water for 2 weeks), maybe some live plants but based on comments might forgo this for now. This tank was bare bottom with my reef and I hated the look.

    Some people talk about lots of feedings and others don’t. I understand juveniles need more feeding to grow but once they are adults do you cut back on the feedings? Do you have to feed multiple times a day like Anthias in reef aquariums or can they do fine with once a day?

    So here is my controversial question/comments. As a reefer, I completely understand the importance of water quality because my corals either thrive or not based on the water quality. As I was reading the forums, everyone insists on daily water changes in the +50%. I was telling myself they mean once a week right, not everyday. So with the daily water change comments it is always followed up with you want your discus fish to be as big, round, etc. as possible, which requires perfect water conditions. These comments suggest that If your goal is not to have the most perfect version of a discus fish you are not an acceptable discus keeper. So here is my question, which I am sure is going to start negative comments if I haven’t already irritated some. If you perform a 95% water change once a week is that unhealthy for the fish? A less than perfect discus fish is not unhealthy, in my opinion. If it’s nice and fat and acting normal that is healthy to me. It’s not that I am unwilling to perform more water changes but I work a lot of hours and need to be realistic because every day or every other day is not going to happen. I have also read that if you go on vacation it’s okay not to feed them weeks. If that is the case why not feed them every other day or every third day to reduce the water quality issues and make the water changes more manageable?

    I am interested in everyone’s thoughts.

  2. #2
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    Ok my opinion. Forget all your reef stuff. This is fresh water. Yes these fish need fresh water. As 2-5” fish 50% water changes every other day. Daily is even better. In my opinion a 30 is only a temporary tank maybe 3 months. So set up the 75 and forget the 30. As young fish they need to be fed a lot. 6-10x a day. So that’s why the water changes. How is your tap water? It may be the better way to go. Ro water will need to be remineralized. Set up the 75 add a marineland 350 or tidal 110 as your filter. Heat to 84 degrees.

    95% water change once a week won’t do it. People do it with less and have problems.

    These fish are so removed from wild they can’t even be considered the same. These are tank raised fish going back 30+ generations. So schooling and all of that shouldn’t even be considered. Everybody says you need 5 or 6. You don’t you can do it with 1,2 or 3. The group of 6 is a sellers gimmick. So if your just looking to try these fish. Yes do a pair or 3 in the 30. But once they get to 4” they will need a bigger tank or continue doing daily 50%water changes. Into a bigger tank and you can go every other day. When 5” you can go 2days. It’s not just getting the perfect fish (that needs daily bigger water changes) it about keeping your fish healthy. That’s the way these fish are bred and kept. So when the water starts breaking down the fish themselves start breaking down. I keep 5 freshwater tanks now. One discus tank. Water hardly maters in my other tanks 50% weekly water changes is fine all do well. This would never work in my discus tank. I’ve tried. After 3 days a few of my fish develop pimples. 3 water changes and the pimples are gone. Just there sign the water quality is going away.

    A buddy of mine has a reef tank. He’s got the system he can control from his phone. Nice! Forget it with discus or fresh water in general. He likes my fish but doesn’t have the commitment. Two different worlds.

    My tank is a planted tank so that’s just steps up the game another step. It can be dome it’s just up to you. Good luck .

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    I appreciate the comments. Not using RO/DI is something I have to think about. It keeps my other fresh water tank minimal with algae. I assume if I go to tap water I either need to let it sit for 24 hours to evaporate the chlorine or use dechlorinators.

  4. #4
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    Yes either let it sit with an aerator for 24 hrs or use prime. I use an under counter filter that removes chlorine. Run the water through that into tank. The thing with tap is the ph is more stable. Makes for quick easy water changes. Again with all the water changes algae is rarely a problem. Even in my planted tank .

  5. #5
    Registered Member pastry's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    Summary (my own):
    50-100% daily WC will get you that average size of 6.5"+ (let's say 10 gallons per each fish once 3.5-4.5")...

    My 70% WC 2x a week (in planted tank; starting with 9 discus of 1.5-2.5" in 150 gallon) yielded an average length of 5.5-5.75" of that group after 2 years.

    Big difference when it comes to the "Ah-factor" between 6.5" discus and 5.5".

    The life span of mine are also about 5 years (if I don't do something dumb). Much shorter than they should be. Sure, I've had discus spawn & raise little ones in my community tank... but that has nothing to do with this subject.

    Okay, now that I've berated myself, I'm going back to my corner to lay down and curl back up in the fetal position.
    Last edited by pastry; 04-13-2020 at 01:09 AM.
    -Elliot

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    If most people are doing 75-100% water changes per day is the filtration system really doing much work? I know when I use the TTM for new fish I don't need any filtration because they are getting new water every 72 hours max. Not a fully stocked tank but the principal should still apply.

  7. #7
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello and questions

    It’s how you do it. Most with bb tanks are just using sponge filters. All the new water Does away with the filter. Than you go to a planted tank or a regular tank with substrate and even though your doing lots of water changes you will still need a good filter. Plants and gravel add more area to keep clean. My discus started at 1 2/2 to 2inch. 6 were bought at lfs so not the greatest fish but I only lost 1 and 4 of the 5 grew to 5.5-6”. One was a runt from the beginning. The next 6 were from Hans and they were 2” but all grew to 6”.

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