What is the nitrate tolerance for discus?

[Hans Kloss]

I have never said europeans can't raise discus.. Why suggest I did? Because I disagree with you?

I didn't mentioned it previously but there is a major difference between european and american style of discus keeping.
Most of polish discus keepers look rather after proper water parameters (low hardness and conductivity, low pH) than huge water changes. Seecher have found by himself the same method, which we proved some years ago to be correct. And because of it I tried to advocate his point of view. Of course his position is impossible to defend- monthly WC are far too low, water saving is definitely NOT A REASON for WC restrictions.
Our 50% weekly water change which I advocate for on my domestic forum (for not overcrowded tank) are considered to be huge, most people are doing 20-30% WC once or twice weekly. But most people (except breeders) keep discus in planted tanks.
Of course juveniles and youngsters are raised in BB usually with daily at least 50% WC to keep them growing as fast as possible.
But still with respect for water hardness and pH.

This is getting no where Hans, and you are making it personal now.

Nothing personal brew. I really think you are doing great job here. I'm reading this forum from 5 years keeping my mouth (or rather fingers) closed. Personally I consider your method of huge WC as fully correct and usually giving excellent results. But not always, not for every fish and not for everybody.

best of luck to you and your "Balenced Aquariums"

Thanks, I'll need it a lot.
With respect
Hans
PS. Try do read "Ecology of the planted aquarium" by Diane Walstad, even if you have bare bottom only. She is an aquaristic extremist and I cannot fully agree with her, but she is also skilled american biochemist and exploring fish keeper.
Definitely her thoughts and methods are worthy to be taken in consideration.

[brewmaster15]

Thank Hans,

.....on all accounts.

-al

[Darren's Discus]

There's nothing wrong with that. If that's how you want to treat
your discus... so be it, they are your fish. However, there is another
consideration and that's wasting huge amounts of water. But
everyone has to make those decisions for themselves.

What I object to is misinformation. We are lead to believe by some
people that discus have a very low tolerance for nitrate, under 10
ppm, which necessitates draconian water changes, this apparently
is not true. If folks want to be obsessive-compulsive about water
changes that certainly is their business, but don't pass on that
information to new folks as gospel. That's one persons opinion, for
what it's worth.

I believe after keeping discus for many years that regular wc do keep discus at their best, You become your enviroment remember the guy that only ate maccas for a month he felt like crap,Remember your fish depend on you,i'm shure you like to shower daily eat fresh food and change your clothes it makes you feel better,I know my fish love their daily water changes ! Greg great pics those spotted's look awesome.(must be the wc)


cheers

[kaceyo]

Hans,
I believe most, if not all of the people here were saying exactly what you just said. Raising juvinile discus works best when using a BB tank and doing daily wc's. Many of us take that further and continue with the BB tanks for adults as their goal is to keep the fish in the best possible condition. Working towards a tank thats as well ballanced and self sustaining as possible is another worthwhile goal and there are many others in the aquarium world. We can discuss, argue and dissagree over details and still learn. But, I think you'll agree, learning stops when people disregard every opinion that doesn't agree with their point of view.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your ideas, it's been interesting.

Kacey

[Kindredspirit]

learning stops when people disregard every opinion that doesn't agree with their point of view.


Kacey

How true this is!

[White Worm]

Lets keep it civil or I will have to close this thread.

[Adamski77]

As I'm exploring old stuff through the forum... came across this one. Maybe I shouldn't have said I'm Polish

... but at least I'm not nuclear engineer... sorry pharmaceutical chemist...

[brewmaster15]

As I'm exploring old stuff through the forum... came across this one. Maybe I shouldn't have said I'm Polish

... but at least I'm not nuclear engineer... sorry pharmaceutical chemist...

Lol.. Adam Definetly read and research all the old posts here as theres a ton of information here since the forum was started in 2002. However, understand that when you get a whole bunch of people together to talk about something...odds are arguements happen as opinions diverge. Theres still alot to be learned from it but it can be a tad heated at times.
Al

[Adamski77]

Thanks Al. Indeed tones of information and the best way to absorb them (at least from my perspective) is to go through ebs and flows after setting up a new tank. Obviously I started to encounter some small problems so reading tones and finding solutions and advises from more experienced people. I’ll be updating my “tank journal” soon… planning to do it every weekend … so you’ll see what’s going on

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Al. Indeed tones of information and the best way to absorb them (at least from my perspective) is to go through ebs and flows after setting up a new tank. Obviously I started to encounter some small problems so reading tones and finding solutions and advises from more experienced people. I’ll be updating my “tank journal” soon… planning to do it every weekend … so you’ll see what’s going on

An excellent way to go about it Adam, also do not be afraid to just ask outright for help,

al

[For100]

WoW….. I just read this entire thread. People can be firecrackers when defending their opinions. .
Just interesting how different views/methodology can be, even more so when you touch a controversial topic as water changes and planted tanks.
Anyways, fun reading. Learned few things….

For anyone interested and have free time, I posted a video few weeks ago about a German breeder. He advocates for more filtration and less water changes AND he does not recommend beefheart at all. Great two topics: Nutrition and maintenance.

[Iminit]

Lol yes people get excited! Nitrate is a GREAT instigator! Even the great guru came out of his pond to sell us his nitrate reducing media. Funny thing is 90% of the people checking nitrates with the API test kit never read the instructions. Nobody’s shacks the 2nd bottle and they all think their nitrates are 0. The other 10% do it all correctly but then look at the color chart and think they’ve got 100ppm!! Me I just don’t check.

[Discus Fever]

Me I just don’t check.

LOL I don't either

[Charlyc11]

I only check when I am doing a fishless cycle, besides that I change water to often to have any considerable amount..

LOL I don't either

[For100]

I only check NO3 for my planted tank. I used the EI method (limiting factor) to check consumption but I do 50% water change once per week to remove any potential excess. I keep NO3 at around 10ppm (using an all-in-one fertilizer), plants don’t need more as long as you keep it stable. Having a higher concentration does not mean plants will consume more.

And even with that minimalistic approach you MUST do water changes if you want to avoid algae.

Freddy