back into discus...after 5 months

[Eti]

Hey guys,

So here is the story:

I had a 75G tank with 6 discus about 6 months ago. I was doing 50% wc change everyday with aged water, feeding twice a day beefheart and flakes/bloodworms…Everything was going great for months until I added 2 discus (at the same time) from a different supplier (who is a sponsor here) and boom! A day later, my fishs were acting funny, 2 weeks later, my whole tank got wiped out, everyone was dead….
Discouraged, I decided to stop discus, after all the efforts + money I invested, I felt I could never keep this fish again.
So I decided to get into the saltwater tank world..Super easy compared to discus, but man, do I miss the King of freshwater!
So I want to give it a shot again.

My question is:

Should I keep this equipment or would you recomment something else:

75G tank
Fluval canister 405
Emperor 300
UV sterillizer 25w
300W heater



How do I make sure that this time, a thing like that does not happen? I just want healthy and happy discus…

Thanks a lot!

[Ryan]

You learned the importance of quarantine. Unfortunately, you learned it the hard way.

Your best bet to prevent something like that again is to buy all your fish at once from the same source, and never add anything else to the tank unless it has been fully acclimated and quarantined by you. If everything was going well before the disease issue, I'd say just keep doing that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[strawberryblonde]

I'm so sorry you lost all your discus Eti!

I went through the same thing last August when discus from a new source killed nearly all of my discus that I'd worked for a year to grow out. I only just made the decision to cull the killer discus two weeks ago and now I've started over with a fresh tank full of GORGEOUS discus from Discus Hans! =)

The equipment you have sounds fine to use so long as you sterilize it before beginning to cycle the tank. I used bleach on all of my equipment and put in new filter media.

To be sure that you don't have another disaster, buy all of your discus at the same time from the same sponsor.

I love looking at all the pretty discus on here, but I've made up my mind that from now on I'll ONLY purchase from one source. My discus can still get sick, but if they do it will be because I didn't care for them properly and not because I contaminated my tanks.

[camuth8]

and now I've started over with a fresh tank full of GORGEOUS discus from Discus Hans! =)

The equipment you have sounds fine to use so long as you sterilize it before beginning to cycle the tank. I used bleach on all of my equipment and put in new filter media.

To be sure that you don't have another disaster, buy all of your discus at the same time from the same sponsor.

I love looking at all the pretty discus on here, but I've made up my mind that from now on I'll ONLY purchase from one source. My discus can still get sick, but if they do it will be because I didn't care for them properly and not because I contaminated my tanks.

Same with me!

[Gene]

How do I make sure that this time, a thing like that does not happen? I just want healthy and happy discus…

Thanks a lot!

QT

[dkeef]

+1 on QT.

[LindaM]

Is salt water really easier than discus?

[dkeef]

Is salt water really easier than discus?

no its not...no way...ive done saltwater FO and reef for 20 yrs. discus is way easier...

[blueluv]

Hey Eti

+1 on the advice that Ryan and strawberry blonde have given you. Instead of the EP 300 , I would go with an AC 110. Discus food sounds good but imo I would 86 the blood worms and maybe add a type of granular food. Good luck!

[Eti]

Thanks a lot for our answers guys, really helpful as usual!

[hillbillyamber]

One thing I misunderstood about Qt was that they just sat in the tank for a few weeks and observed them. I had angels with no issues alone for 6 months. Then wham! SO I suggest maybe doing some meds to clean them out in a bb tank.