Bare is best first, then dress up....

[brewmaster15]

Bare is best first, then dress up.......the tank, that is.

Okay Heres a discus tip for anyone new to the hobby. Bare glass, no substrate, good filtration, mulitiple feedings of a diverse diet... Lots of water changes(dailey!) with clean, aged, stable pH water.

..... equals big healthy discus....


Master this first, then add things to the tank if you want....substrate can wait, plants as well.. The less objects in the tank the better when feeding heavily. It just makes it easier to clean, and the dirt is so obvious that you want to clean it....!!!!!

hth,
al

[Carol_Roberts]

Here is one of my favorite analogies. . .

If you want to raise big, brightly colored, healthy discus it's best to raise baby and juvenile discus in a bare bottom tank.

Think of the tank as a glass feeding trough.

For best growth you have to heavily feed a diet of fresh and frozen "meaty" foods such as California Black Worms, frozen blood worms, beef heart, etc. These foods quickly foul the water. Food fragments can hide in gravel and under decorations.

Discus require very clean water. To combat the the dirty water from the "meaty" foods you should siphon the bottom of the tank and change at least 25% of the water everyday - more if you can. Wipe down the inside of the tank at least once a week.

Then, when your discus are done growing, you can put them in a planted tank if you so desire.

Carol

A clean tank with healthy foods, make LOTS of Happy Discus!!
You will find out that it is easier to clean and keep clean bare bottom tanks. And enough can not be said about WATER CHANGES!!!!!! The more the better.

Miles

[Smokey]

I'll show mine..If you show me your's.

Bare Bottom
Bare bottom
Bare bottom
How many times have I heard this.
Thing is; it is deffienttly the way to go.

Carol, I like your analogy .... glass feeding trough...
you are so RIGHT !!! Discus have no table manners .


Smokey
( time to sloop the hog, ah, I mean Discus ).

[krislewis3]

I have a thin layer of white sand. I guess this is a no no, however, the debri is sooooo visable on the white sand, perhaps more so then bb. What do you think?

[shoveltrash]

Bare is best first, then dress up.......the tank, that is.

Okay Heres a discus tip for anyone new to the hobby. Bare glass, no substrate, good filtration, mulitiple feedings of a diverse diet... Lots of water changes(dailey!) with clean, aged, stable pH water.

..... equals big healthy discus....


Master this first, then add things to the tank if you want....substrate can wait, plants as well.. The less objects in the tank the better when feeding heavily. It just makes it easier to clean, and the dirt is so obvious that you want to clean it....!!!!!

hth,
al

this should be pinned up at the top of the SD webpage

[Bill63SG]

This should be a "terms of agreement" to be a member.

[mcishaque]

Flashing neon sign that reads "Bare bottom dancing females inside". That's my tip of the day for the sponsors.

[ktm4us6]

Until i had a bare bottom tank, i never realized how much waste was accumulated down there. Now i finally know. Keep the bottom cleannnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!

[yim11]

this should be pinned up at the top of the SD webpage

This should be a "terms of agreement" to be a member.

^ This.

[rubinsteinnyc]

Bare is best first, then dress up.......the tank, that is.

Okay Heres a discus tip for anyone new to the hobby. Bare glass, no substrate, good filtration, mulitiple feedings of a diverse diet... Lots of water changes(dailey!) with clean, aged, stable pH water.

..... equals big healthy discus....


Master this first, then add things to the tank if you want....substrate can wait, plants as well.. The less objects in the tank the better when feeding heavily. It just makes it easier to clean, and the dirt is so obvious that you want to clean it....!!!!!

hth,
al

so i want to start with 6 adult discus:
whats the minimum size tank?
What's the BEST filtration you suggest?
lightning?
food (type and frequency)?
what kinda automatic feeder?
how to condition the water?
I think i know the answers to majority of them, (been on this forum reading for a while now plan on getting my feet wet in the next 3-4 months) but maybe for noobs like me such basic list of order would help them excel faster

[Orange Crush]

I think i know the answers to majority of them, but maybe for noobs like me such basic list of order would help them excel faster

The answers you are looking for are already posted in the beginners section. Read the "stickies" there.

[rubinsteinnyc]

mmmkay

[discus daddy]

yes agree with it.our earnest endeavour is to make a feel good environment for discus,then we can decorate the tank likewise.but if there is no good set up for them then the whole work will not be appreciated...

[Eward]

Ok, so the general consensus is "bb for babies" ,
but I just set up a 70 gal tank with the intention of putting 6 juvies in it. It has a lite layer of gravel ( about 50 lbs sounds like a lot, but it is a big tank) and several z fake plants as well as some drift wood. I thought it would be good to give them places to feel "safe". I also put a small school of neon tetras, and golden tetras in there since I read somewhere that schools of other fish would help them.( It also helped cycle the tank ). So I have a quandary. Should I start the babies in another tank- one that is bb? The only other tank I have is 20 gal and it has lots of gravel in it. I could pull all the gravel out , but would it be big enough?
Why do discus get stunted in a planted tank? Or is it the size of the tank that stunts them?