Tell us about yourselves....Please

[Aquamom]

Hello,

I'm Christine, my husband and I live in Ventura County Calif. We have 2 mostly grown children, 1 still at home in college. I have been keeping fish off and on since the 80's. One of my first jobs was working at a local fish store. I learned so much critical information during that time, and am crazy grateful for that experience. We currently have 7 tanks going. We are breeding German Blue Rams, mostly because my husband loves the little ones! It has been challenging and also rewarding.

I have on order a 120g acrylic aquarium that I would like to set up as a discus tank. I have never personally kept them, but have been doing as much research as possible.

We have a RO system set up just for the fish tanks. 2 Brute trash can holding tanks with heaters and a submersible pump. Our RO system is in line after our water softening system. We have mostly well water, but mixed with city water. Our water is crazy hard coming out of the tap, which is why the water softener etc.

I do not typically add anything to the water for our fish, just straight RO water. I'm not sure if this will work for Discus.

I'm excited to try this new avenue and learn as much as possible.

I have tried to grab a picture of some of our GBR babies in the grow out tank, but they are speedy.

Thanks for reading.

[Aquaman218]

Welcome to Simply! I have a few German Blue Rams as well, not breeding though. My daughter loves them, she thinks they look like punk rockers with the black spike at the front of their dorsal fin.

Robert

[Iminit]

Rams are great fish. Also they go well with discus. So if your keeping rams discus should be fine. 9C92C670-F964-42D5-A052-09D9B0D4D553.jpg. Water conditions are the same. They’re not as hard as you think. Just time consuming when your new to them. The 120 is a good choice. What make of tank? I’ve got the clear for life and an old clarity plus.

[LizStreithorst]

Yes, welcome. It sounds like you've got what you need as long as you can deal with the amount of WC necessary for Discus. Most people here suggest adding minerals to the water but both I and Willie have kept and bred Discus in straight reconstituted RO. I'm of the opinion that the fish get their minerals from their water rather than their food.

Best of luck with your new project

[Aquamom]

Rams are great fish. Also they go well with discus. So if your keeping rams discus should be fine. 9C92C670-F964-42D5-A052-09D9B0D4D553.jpg. Water conditions are the same. They’re not as hard as you think. Just time consuming when your new to them. The 120 is a good choice. What make of tank? I’ve got the clear for life and an old clarity plus.

Your tank is beautiful, happy, healthy fishes! This is similar to how I was thinking of setting up our tank, minimal substrate, driftwood with either attached plants or plants in planters.

I'm in the northern portion of Southern California, so I went with a Clear for Life 120R @ 48" x 24" x 24" Their manufacturing center is down in Los Angeles. I have a weird thing that if the aquarium is over 20 gallons, I need an acrylic tank. I have seen too many leaks, cracks etc. I have not experienced them but many friends have. I just can't do glass over 20 gallons, it's a weird phobia, kinda like spiders.

I am going to run a FX6 as filtration at first and see how that goes, modify or change as needed.

Thank you Everyone for the warm welcome!

[Iminit]

I have an fx6 on one of my 125s but I’m just not happy with it. I’ve got a eshopps 100 wet/dry now running with it and an odyssea 350. This tank has been running for 3 yrs. just seems the fx6 get weaker and weaker. Not impressed! EE11344B-AC1F-4F7E-97B1-DB21FD0551BE.jpg the other tank has an aqua-link wet/dry for a 150 g. It runs much cleaner.
I too am done with glass tanks. Had a 200 crack and drain on me and filled my basement with water. I’ve got 5 acrylic tanks now .

[Charlyc11]

Welcome to the forum and discus I am in the process of breading my pair of gbr's and if I can only stop them from eating their egg or wigglers. This weekend will be try number 3 I plan on removing the female after the finish and see if that works or use a divider.

[Nazara 2]

Hello there,

New to the forum. I'm starting the set up of a Discus tank. I'm starting with research first and intend to plan quite a bit before getting the expensive stuff. The idea is a display tank, but it's always nice to think of possible breeding on an external tank in the future. My plan is below, but if there is one question to the community is:

Has anyone measured with a power meter the real electric consumption of the heater on room? I'm surprised to see so much debate of theoretical consumption, but no one taking a 15 Eur power meter and actually confirming. Electricity in Belgium is around .35E (0.4 $US) per kWh, so many times more expensive than US. I'm an engineer and disagree with many of the calculations I've seen.


Either way, accepting that this is an expensive hobby, the plan so far is:
350l (75USG) corner aquarium.
German Stendker Discus. Probably 8 , depending on the size, (6.5 or 8 cm / 2.5 or 3.2 "). (Breeder recommends 12!)
White sand.
Probably black background, at least one side.
Thermal insulation on the two wall sides.
One big driftwood centerpiece.
Some small anubias or java f.
Perhaps some external plants with the roots in to help with maintenance.
I'm hestitant with the number of discus per strain. Probably two of each strain. Preferences (Melon/Malboro - PigeonBlood red- Checkboard - Solid Red Fire- Cobalt / Solid Turquoise)
Perhaps some Cardinals and Blue Ram.
Bristlenose plecos (2?)
Coridoras
Snails?
Siamese Algae eater or similar.
Starting with bought beefheart - granules, perhaps later on home made.
I have hard water with a house softener. I'll make some more tests today to confirm nothing extreme.


I had smaller tanks in the past and will have a sink very close.


Thank you all very much, this forum has proven very useful even before starting.

[Nazara 2]

Update: Water test. Gh very low ((under 3 deg) KH very high (15 deg = 260ppm). Anyone sees a problem on this? Thanks.

[IanH]

Hello there,
Just joined today, I live in Australia,I'm retired & after a 6 year hiatus have just returned to keeping Discus again. I have a modest setup but keen to continue.
Ian

[jeep]

Welcome to the forum Ian!!

[blzimme]

Name is Blake. Used to keep a chiclid community tank years back but had to let it go when the family and i relocated. Been married for 18 yrs to high school sweetheart. 2 kids...one just moved out a week ago to college. I have been around fish since my teenage years. Ready to get back into the hobby and ready to dip my toe into the the discus world. I wasn't really looking to find a tank and get going yet, but was taking the daughter to the pet store and "there she was", standing in the corner a tank deeply discounted because a few things were missing. (the filter and the guy wanted it gone.) I figured the son just moved out and the wife has her cats. So here I am.

[jeep]

Welcome Blake!!

[Bart_NL]

Hi there, I am Bart, 58 years old, living in the The Hague area of the Netherlands.

The country with the best drinking water in the world (dare to go without primer and other chemicals) and also with the highest energy prices in Europe due to the ongoing war.

Here's a not so great picture of my first discus grow out aquarium, 12 juveniles from a local breeder., 4 pigeon blood, 4 turquoise and 4 leopard skin if I remember correctly

In the living room I have a 150cm Juwel 450 aquarium they will move to when they outgrow this one, currently this is still full of cichlids.

I come here looking for tips on growing out these fish, will be posting questions if I can't find what I am looking for.


IMG_20220821_192035583.jpg

[LizStreithorst]

Nice to meet you, Bart. The fish look great. Just do as we always suggest here. Feed them often and change water every day. I hear on the news what y'all in Europe are going through with Russia denying you gas, and the outrageous price of energy. I hope it resolves soon, but it doesn't look like it will. Stay save and warm.