Discus Tank Help Please...!

[Bigdave]

Thank you for the reply.. Actually adding the rays idea is still pending. But i like to get more experiences from different species. Specially from the advanced fish types. I learned lot of things from the discus.

Hi...how's the fish?

[Willie]

Thank you for the reply.. Actually adding the rays idea is still pending. But i like to get more experiences from different species. Specially from the advanced fish types. I learned lot of things from the discus.

It would make a lot of sense to keep discus and ray separately before keeping them together.

[Bigdave]

It would make a lot of sense to keep discus and ray separately before keeping them together.

Yes that is very true ��

[Bathi]

Lot of things happened these days . COVID situations, every works getting late because of the lockdown. Still house renovation works In-progress.
Government limits the import items. So no rays shipment for this year. Once i build the fish tank , i will update this thread.

[Bathi]

Lot of things happened these days . COVID situations, every works getting late because of the lockdown. Still house renovation works In-progress.
Government limits the import items. So no rays shipment for this year. Once i build the fish tank , i will update this thread.

Hello everyone, let me give you an update on this thread.
Finally, two years later, I built the tank. However, some items still require updating. will share the images too.

Why two years?
There were other reasons why this project took so long. Covid, Economic crisis in my country, restrictions on imports, a decrease in interest in discus*and an increase in focus to the planted tank, and other issues.
I gained a lot of knowledge about planted tanks and aquascaping during that time. I built my first hightech*planted tank and kept it for at least six months. I've realized I'm not suited for high tech. So, I switched it to low tech and was able to maintain it for almost a year. I truly liked this scape.

I started to lose interest in discus during this time. only kept nine discus and sold seven. To be honest, I ignored Tank. feeding daily*and changing the water once a week. The entire tank surface is covered in plants, and algae is also covering the front glass. I lose two of my discus during that period, and three of them show signs of swimming bladders.

After the 180g tank build
Once I've built the 180g tank, I'm searching for options other*than discus. Aurantimaculata, Ray's, and Altums are on my bucket list. I also want to fill the tank with plants. Ray is difficult to keep with plants during research since they require a larger bottom surface in order to swim. I hate having bare-bottom tanks. I made the decision to look at my other options. There are very little and very high-priced atabapo*altums that I found. I'm still not comfortable taking such a big risk. I also realized that I could keep aurantimaculata in my 4*1.5*1.5-foot aquarium if I moved my discus to the larger tank. My discus also deserves a comfortable home*after all these years.

Currant Planning ?
I currently plan to maintain ten to fifteen discus in a low-tech planted tank. I already mentioned ,*three of my discus show swimming bladders. Preparing to start treatment after separating them into a 20-gallon tank. I also purchased six 5cm discus. I put them with adults. However, after the weeks, just two of them were still eating pellets. The other 4 aren't really eating much. so I planned to train them to eat*the pellets after separating them too.

Final Goal
Stock List : 10-15 Discus with schooling tetras.
Plants : Low tech easy maintenance plants
Tank Size : 180g
Sump : 60g

[brewmaster15]

Hello everyone, let me give you an update on this thread.
Finally, two years later, I built the tank. However, some items still require updating. will share the images too.

Why two years?
There were other reasons why this project took so long. Covid, Economic crisis in my country, restrictions on imports, a decrease in interest in discus*and an increase in focus to the planted tank, and other issues.
I gained a lot of knowledge about planted tanks and aquascaping during that time. I built my first hightech*planted tank and kept it for at least six months. I've realized I'm not suited for high tech. So, I switched it to low tech and was able to maintain it for almost a year. I truly liked this scape.

I started to lose interest in discus during this time. only kept nine discus and sold seven. To be honest, I ignored Tank. feeding daily*and changing the water once a week. The entire tank surface is covered in plants, and algae is also covering the front glass. I lose two of my discus during that period, and three of them show signs of swimming bladders.

After the 180g tank build
Once I've built the 180g tank, I'm searching for options other*than discus. Aurantimaculata, Ray's, and Altums are on my bucket list. I also want to fill the tank with plants. Ray is difficult to keep with plants during research since they require a larger bottom surface in order to swim. I hate having bare-bottom tanks. I made the decision to look at my other options. There are very little and very high-priced atabapo*altums that I found. I'm still not comfortable taking such a big risk. I also realized that I could keep aurantimaculata in my 4*1.5*1.5-foot aquarium if I moved my discus to the larger tank. My discus also deserves a comfortable home*after all these years.

Currant Planning ?
I currently plan to maintain ten to fifteen discus in a low-tech planted tank. I already mentioned ,*three of my discus show swimming bladders. Preparing to start treatment after separating them into a 20-gallon tank. I also purchased six 5cm discus. I put them with adults. However, after the weeks, just two of them were still eating pellets. The other 4 aren't really eating much. so I planned to train them to eat*the pellets after separating them too.

Final Goal
Stock List : 10-15 Discus with schooling tetras.
Plants : Low tech easy maintenance plants
Tank Size : 180g
Sump : 60g

Bathi, I'm glad you updated this thread and have decided to stay with Discus. I am looking forward to Pics I'm a little concerned about your current discus health issues..Its really not typical to have multiple swim bladder issues in several discus. Its also really not good to mix 5 cm discus with adults. Very stressful for them. I think you may be setting yourself up for problems.

al

[Adamski77]

All I ever get is a film on my glass, I don't ever get any algae growing on my glass or in my tank..I have a fluval aquarium light and I can adjust each color light spectrum were I only get my plants growing and no algae. It took my awhile to get the spectrums just right..

I know it's been posted a very long time ago... but could you share your optimal light spectrum please. I still have minor algae problem... but also have lights that can adjust each color... so would be helpful to understand what works for you. My current one is around 6.3K kelvin... so little bit more red than blue.

[Bigdave]

I know it's been posted a very long time ago... but could you share your optimal light spectrum please. I still have minor algae problem... but also have lights that can adjust each color... so would be helpful to understand what works for you. My current one is around 6.3K kelvin... so little bit more red than blue.

I have the first generation led fluval aquasky 35watt 3000 to 25000k light. I have different light spectrums adjusted according to different times of the day. for me what I notice was the whites and blues were the biggest cause of algae and brown algae, so my highest percentage for WHITE is 35% and that's 12noon and 5% for BLUE also at 12 noon, that's the only time blue spectrum is on that high. RED is 62% and green is 37% at 12 noon. from 6:30 in the morning my RED spectrum is at 16% GREEN is at 16% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 10%. at 9 o'clock my RED is 33% GREEN is 20% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 25%, 12 noon I already stated at the start of this post. at 3:05 pm RED is at 45% GREEN is at 30% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 27%. then at 9pm lights turn down to RED at 1% GREEN at 1% BLUE at 1% WHITE at 0%. midnight all light spectrums are 0%. 5a.m. spectrums turn on and are at 1% for RED GREEN and BLUE and WHITE is 0%. 6:30 in the morning it starts all over again. also in keeping my white spectrum low I find the discus seem happiest also keeping my plants growing well, so its a balancing act between the two. keep in mind my tank depth is 31 inches deep and my water is crystal clear at all times. the clarity of my water allows me to turn down my light spectrums. hope this HELPS you and anyone else. (this percentage of light spectrum makes the colors of my discus and plants really POP). I plan on turning down the White spectrum to 33% at 12 noon not sure how that's going to look or react, so I will be testing that out today 12 noon, if I don't like it I will raise the white back to 35%. lastly, GOOD to see you back BATHI

[Bigdave]

3 discus with swim bladder disease not good, if you have substrate and its not properly cleaned bacteria builds up, and they will just get sick all over again. discus feed off the bottom when you feed them picking what food is left, that would be the time for your discus to suck up a lot of bacteria with their food. bacteria infection can lead to swim bladder disease. that's my opinion. based on 3 discus with the same issues. which is the number 1 reason I got rid of my substrate and painted the under side of my tank bottom white. since doing that my discus been way healthier. I too was against bare bottom, but I put my discus before my preference for substrate. and I'm glad I did. I had nothing but problems when I had substrate. again I am not against substrate I am just for the health of my discus before my choice. hope your discus recover fast.

[Adamski77]

I have the first generation led fluval aquasky 35watt 3000 to 25000k light. I have different light spectrums adjusted according to different times of the day. for me what I notice was the whites and blues were the biggest cause of algae and brown algae, so my highest percentage for WHITE is 35% and that's 12noon and 5% for BLUE also at 12 noon, that's the only time blue spectrum is on that high. RED is 62% and green is 37% at 12 noon. from 6:30 in the morning my RED spectrum is at 16% GREEN is at 16% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 10%. at 9 o'clock my RED is 33% GREEN is 20% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 25%, 12 noon I already stated at the start of this post. at 3:05 pm RED is at 45% GREEN is at 30% BLUE is 0% WHITE is 27%. then at 9pm lights turn down to RED at 1% GREEN at 1% BLUE at 1% WHITE at 0%. midnight all light spectrums are 0%. 5a.m. spectrums turn on and are at 1% for RED GREEN and BLUE and WHITE is 0%. 6:30 in the morning it starts all over again. also in keeping my white spectrum low I find the discus seem happiest also keeping my plants growing well, so its a balancing act between the two. keep in mind my tank depth is 31 inches deep and my water is crystal clear at all times. the clarity of my water allows me to turn down my light spectrums. hope this HELPS you and anyone else. (this percentage of light spectrum makes the colors of my discus and plants really POP). I plan on turning down the White spectrum to 33% at 12 noon not sure how that's going to look or react, so I will be testing that out today 12 noon, if I don't like it I will raise the white back to 35%. lastly, GOOD to see you back BATHI

Dave (I hope ) ... thank you so much for the answer... super comprehensive. Before we get to details as I feel the discussion will become complicated here is my few initial questions/clarifications:
1. the %s you provided is: (A) % of that color intensity (out of your 35W) or (B) % of that color in overall light spectrum? If I calculated properly at noon this doesn't up to 100% so I would assume (A)
2. you have 150G tank... 31 inches deep... 48 inches long and you run 35W on it? And at max (at noon) you have red at 62%, green at 37%, white at 35% and blue at 5%. That would translate to what? 20W?
3. my lamps only have R/G/B... no white... I assume that wouldn't change much, other than maybe taking aways some Watts as I exclude white %

Upfront apologize for all these questions... I'm not new to hobby but first time went that deep to the lighting topic so I'm kind of half/full idiot on this. I hope my questions make sense. If they do than I allow myself to question little bit more upon your answer.

Thank you.

[Bigdave]

Dave (I hope ) ... thank you so much for the answer... super comprehensive. Before we get to details as I feel the discussion will become complicated here is my few initial questions/clarifications:
1. the %s you provided is: (A) % of that color intensity (out of your 35W) or (B) % of that color in overall light spectrum? If I calculated properly at noon this doesn't up to 100% so I would assume (A)
2. you have 150G tank... 31 inches deep... 48 inches long and you run 35W on it? And at max (at noon) you have red at 62%, green at 37%, white at 35% and blue at 5%. That would translate to what? 20W?
3. my lamps only have R/G/B... no white... I assume that wouldn't change much, other than maybe taking aways some Watts as I exclude white %

Upfront apologize for all these questions... I'm not new to hobby but first time went that deep to the lighting topic so I'm kind of half/full idiot on this. I hope my questions make sense. If they do than I allow myself to question little bit more upon your answer.

Thank you.

good day Adam, the information I provided you is for the fluval aqua sky, I don't think it will work out to well on your RGB lighting. not knowing what light you have will make it difficult to help, I don't want to HIJACK BATHI thread so I will make this short. don't get caught up with wattage for aquarium lighting, wattage only provides how much electricity is used. par is what you want to pay attention to. led lighting that I have provides a lot of intensity and having crystal clear water makes it that more intense. fluval also makes a plant version of the aqua sky that's more intense. try it out you will be surprise at the intensity this light provides.
(SORRY BATHI), Adam im sure there's a lighting section here where you can post your lighting question and get answers from much more advanced members. good luck Adam hope I helped

[Adamski77]

good day Adam, the information I provided you is for the fluval aqua sky, I don't think it will work out to well on your RGB lighting. not knowing what light you have will make it difficult to help, I don't want to HIJACK BATHI thread so I will make this short. don't get caught up with wattage for aquarium lighting, wattage only provides how much electricity is used. par is what you want to pay attention to. led lighting that I have provides a lot of intensity and having crystal clear water makes it that more intense. fluval also makes a plant version of the aqua sky that's more intense. try it out you will be surprise at the intensity this light provides.
(SORRY BATHI), Adam im sure there's a lighting section here where you can post your lighting question and get answers from much more advanced members. good luck Adam hope I helped

Thanks… agree… let’s not hijack the thread. I’ll go read some more. Appreciate your patience.

[Bathi]

Thanks… agree… let’s not hijack the thread. I’ll go read some more. Appreciate your patience.

No problem, guys

[Bathi]

Bathi, I'm glad you updated this thread and have decided to stay with Discus. I am looking forward to Pics I'm a little concerned about your current discus health issues..Its really not typical to have multiple swim bladder issues in several discus. Its also really not good to mix 5 cm discus with adults. Very stressful for them. I think you may be setting yourself up for problems.

al

It is my responsibility to keep this thread updated; otherwise, the commenters on the thread wouldn't know what happened to this guy.

Yes, there were face this issue time to time. To be honest, I don't think it's related to the food-induced bloat. I believe the poor quality of the water is to blame. as I haven't focused on the tank for the last few months. Anyway, those discus*are still acting in the same way after the treatment.

As you mentioned, more problems appeared. Two of the six discus are eating pellets.*It looks like four of them*are not eating pellets. But they seem to have full bellies. They constantly eat something made of driftwood and sand. I*don't*know what they are eating.
trying to catch those four and train the pellet after separating to another tank.

[Bathi]

3 discus with swim bladder disease not good, if you have substrate and its not properly cleaned bacteria builds up, and they will just get sick all over again. discus feed off the bottom when you feed them picking what food is left, that would be the time for your discus to suck up a lot of bacteria with their food. bacteria infection can lead to swim bladder disease. that's my opinion. based on 3 discus with the same issues. which is the number 1 reason I got rid of my substrate and painted the under side of my tank bottom white. since doing that my discus been way healthier. I too was against bare bottom, but I put my discus before my preference for substrate. and I'm glad I did. I had nothing but problems when I had substrate. again I am not against substrate I am just for the health of my discus before my choice. hope your discus recover fast.

Yes, it seems that these are the reasons. hoping to maintain*good water quality for an additional two weeks before dividing and treating them once more. Currently only have one free tank, and before treatments, I want to train my young discus to eat pellets.