New member doing his research

[Gremi16]

Hello everyone! As the title says, I'm new here...but I'm not new to fishkeeping, just Discus. I've been keeping fish for 30+ years, from freshwater to saltwater (all kinds of cichlids from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika and just your basic common tropical fish. I from the US, but living in Japan now. The marine hobby is not as popular here as I thought. Currently, I have a 75 gallon saltwater reef tank, which I am strongly considering switching to a beautiful, lightly planted discus tank sometime in 2023.

So, I have the tank, I have a sump, and I have very good LED lights. I've done lots of research already, but I'm still taking my time and looking for any advice I can get from the experienced discus keepers. I've already read so much about the high temperature, pH, and water changes/pristine water requirements that I have that down now. No questions there.

My end goal is a lightly-planted 2 island setup with some rock, driftwood, and a sand bottom (no more than 2"). Though some bare-bottom tanks are quite beautiful, I really don't want to go that route...just a personal preference.

I look forward to talking with you all about this amazing hobby

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Gremi16 and welcome to the forum First thing to realize about discus is they are different from other fish. Many fish keepers who have kept other fish for years decide to keep discus and they fail due to not realizing that discus need and require clean water. As a starting point watch this video. This video features the owner of this forum Al who gives you good start of the basics of discus keeping (below). It is well worth your time. Also checkout the threads in the Discus Basics for Beginners section of the forum.
Enjoy Pat

[solasis]

Welcome to the forum. I've been researching for awhile now and am preparing to buy my first group soon. That video is very helpful. And yes, everything that I have gathered is CLEAN WATER. So make sure you have some type of water change system in place for them that is easy for you to do. Personally, I purchased a 100 gallon rubber maid tub to be able to change 50% daily. Also, you mentioned you have a sump? Personally, I stuffed mine with live plants and added a little light down there. Helps keep the water clean without adding to the difficulty that a planted tank and discus may bring.

[Gremi16]

Hi Gremi16 and welcome to the forum First thing to realize about discus is they are different from other fish. Many fish keepers who have kept other fish for years decide to keep discus and they fail due to not realizing that discus need and require clean water. As a starting point watch this video. This video features the owner of this forum Al who gives you good start of the basics of discus keeping (below). It is well worth your time. Also checkout the threads in the Discus Basics for Beginners section of the forum.
Enjoy Pat

Thanks for the video. I’ll watch it now. And yeah, I’ve read all about how clean the water has to be and I have no issues with that. I’m one of those aquarists that just might be considered “sick in the head”, because I actually enjoy the tank maintenance…I find it relaxing and very rewarding. I change my saltwater tank water twice a week…by bucket. I actually plan on hooking up an automatic water change system so I can follow the same technique, but this time, without the buckets.

[Gremi16]

Welcome to the forum. I've been researching for awhile now and am preparing to buy my first group soon. That video is very helpful. And yes, everything that I have gathered is CLEAN WATER. So make sure you have some type of water change system in place for them that is easy for you to do. Personally, I purchased a 100 gallon rubber maid tub to be able to change 50% daily. Also, you mentioned you have a sump? Personally, I stuffed mine with live plants and added a little light down there. Helps keep the water clean without adding to the difficulty that a planted tank and discus may bring.

I’m all set with water storage. I have a small fish room where I make and store my saltwater already. I plan on putting together an automatic water changing system so I can change the water several times a week.

I like your idea of plants in the sump. I read here in the “beginners” sticky about waiting for a while to put plants in the tank and I’ve already decided to keep plants out of the tank for now.

Thanks for the tips

[Iminit]

Welcome to the site. You’ll find the info you need here. First salt water tanks and discus tanks are apples and oranges. Had reef keepers come here and either give up or after reading what’s being done never started. Main thing with discus is you need to put in the time. Plants are a whole different thing. Easier than discus but a specialty side of aquarium keeping. Lots to know about plants. The pros spend as much time on there planted tanks than discus keepers do. So you need easy plants and how to grow them. You need to know your water. Does the ph change in 24hrs? What’s in it? Can you use tap or do you have to filter before adding to tanks? Again you’ll find lots of info here so check out the many threads.

[jeep]

Welcome to the forum. I'd like to see some pictures of your setup. Always looking for new ideas

Have you determined where you'll be getting your new discus and what size? It's a great learning experience to grow our some small ones to their full potential. If you go that route, I highly suggest you keep it bare bottom at least for growth curve. This will not only be a great break-in period for you and the discus, but it'll also give a little time to create the planted environment you really want. I would suggest a minimum size of 4" for planted a tank because no matter how efficient your filtration is, there's always a good chance for increased bio-load. Do avoid the cut-rate sellers - good discus aren't cheap and cheap discus aren't always good!

The video is great! Here's another great link that is very helpful http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-Are-Important

[Gremi16]

Welcome to the site. You’ll find the info you need here. First salt water tanks and discus tanks are apples and oranges. Had reef keepers come here and either give up or after reading what’s being done never started. Main thing with discus is you need to put in the time. Plants are a whole different thing. Easier than discus but a specialty side of aquarium keeping. Lots to know about plants. The pros spend as much time on there planted tanks than discus keepers do. So you need easy plants and how to grow them. You need to know your water. Does the ph change in 24hrs? What’s in it? Can you use tap or do you have to filter before adding to tanks? Again you’ll find lots of info here so check out the many threads.

Oh, don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying feef tanks are anything like discus. I just saying I’m not completely inexperienced with fish keeping. I’ve been reading a lot already and it has t scared me away…if anything, it’s drawing me in more, lol. I’m not afraid of maintenance. As for plants, that’s something that can wait…not something I’ll get into immediately. I’ve been checking into my water and so far, I checked with a TDS meter and I’m getting a reading of 26. I was actually wondering, with a TDS that low, will I have to dose trace elements?