Quote Originally Posted by TankerEasy View Post
Obligatory "first time posting here". A little back ground, I'm not new to fish keeping and have several well established, prosperous, mid size (50, 60 gallon range) community tanks. Ive kept a broad range of different fish, but like we all know Discus are the tip top of fresh water fish keeping. I'll be moving to a larger house within the coming weeks which will allow me to finally have to room to expand into a much larger tank, and I have my eye on a Pro star 200 gallon setup to be my center piece display tank. I've leaned towards jumping into starting a reef tank, but the cost to gather everything has really turned me away, plus dealing with the even pickier water parameters needed for keeping coral really burst my bubble. Now I want it to be clear I have done my research into keeping discus, between youtube, reading around the internet, and browsing the forums here, I've got a good grasp on keeping them.

Some of the questions that have been raised: Why is it some of the more well known Discus breeders (jack Wattley for example) on youtube are saying you can get by with one water change a week? but yet on here im seeing multiple post of people doing the Discus dance of multiple water changes a week if not daily water changes? Is there anyone on here that has a less stringent water change schedule and gets by just fine? My next question, does anyone use a sump for filtration on their tank? I know sumps arnt exactly common for fresh water, but the tank I'm eyeing comes with a fully plumbed sump, which I don't see would be an issue. At the end of the day as much as I want Discus, I refuse to play the game of an extreme maintenance schedule, with daily, or even every other day water changes. I mean, if I could get an auto change system set up, id definitely give it a shot, but I feel like that's kind of unheard in keeping discus. I understand that tank size, and stocking amount all play a part in a water change routine. If someone says it cant be done, again id have to retort with why are well known breeders even saying you don't have to have some crazy water change schedule? Also once Ive moved, my new house will be getting a whole house filtration system installed, not ro/di, but a good carbon filter, and maybe even a water softener (haven't decided yet), is anyone using a setup like that?
I would say research is your best bet, if you have kept freshwater fish successfully your half way there ,many folks get caught up in the myth of keeping discus and have very strong beliefs, so it goes back to research find out as much as you can about the species you are keeping and try to replicate as best you can and I believe you will be successful

Jeanne