Help With Tank Move

[tim5780]

Hi everyone

First post from me, although I have been reading for a while!

I have recently purchased an entire Discus set up - :D

I have kept tropical fish for years and always admired discus with a longing for my own and when this opportunity came up, it seemed too good to turn down. I have bought a 190l tank with 6 discus, all around 12-18 months old and I am using RO water with mineral additives.

My intention has always been to transfer them over to my jewel 260 vision, but now having got my confidence up with the water change schedule and things, I am really nervous about how to go about moving the discus between the tanks - hence the post.

At the moment the jewel has one large gibiceps plec, two large silver sharks, a shoal of rummy nose tetras, 6 tiger barbs and two clown loach. These are currently just in dechlorinated tap water.

So I guess my main question is how to transfer the discus across. I am assuming that the tank will need completely emptiying? Are any of the previous occupants ok tank mates? What about the filters on there, could they be used with the discus?

I am sure there is plenty I havent told you that you need to know!?

Thanks

Tim

[troysdiiscus]

Hey and welcome tim 5780 to the discus family. As you know there are ALOT of wonderful and experienced people on here that will guide you through your endeavor. Start with tank mates, rummy nose are fine, however the tiger barbs, pleco, silver shark not so much. Discus are very fragile and those are aggressive and nippers. The BN pleco is fine to have. (bristle nose) Alot of questions I have about what type of filteration you are using and what you are using in them (media). My feeling are, and others can correct me cause they know more than i do, is you have to break down your non discus tank and clean and steralize it so not to cross contaminate.

[Jeff O]

Drain the tank. Take out the gravel. And paint it white LOL. Tetra are ok. Pleco ok. The shark & Tiger Barbs, I would say no. If you literally wanted to know how to move the discus from one tank to the next heres what I do, as long as you do daily water changes, the temperature is identical or very close, I just move them directly into the other tank. Its the exact same water. I couldnt help but ntice that you are using RO water, Why? RO water is completely unnecessary unless you are breeding. A consistent PH is all that you need.
-Jeff

[Trier20]

I would break down the tank remove substrate if you have it. Shop vac works great if you want be using it again. This way it's all out and you don't have to worry about leftovers. I'd give it a good once over and like Jeff said I would paint the bottom. Either white or a light pastel color. Rolling on is easier if you ever get an itch and want to change colors. Then add water dechlorinate and add discus. If all fish in the tank now are healthy you don't necessarily have to get new media but if it bothers you, you can get new media and cycle the tank again. HTH

[tim5780]

Thanks Jeff and Troy for your replies. I had kind of figured out that the barbs and sharks would need to go.

The reason I am using RO water is that I bought the entire set up, including the RO filter and the fish were already living in RO, so I dont want to change things there. To be honest, I live in a really hard water are, so not sure the water coming out of my tap would be any where near suitable.

Filter wise; at the moment, on the discus, there is one 300 l/hr external cannister filter with both sponge and ceramic media. On the jewel, there are two external cannister filters, both around 300 l/hr. My intention is to have two running with the discus, the one that is currently running plus one that is on the jewel now. Any issues with swapping a filter over, providing I give it a good clean?

[tim5780]

That does help, thanks Trier.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Welcome to SD.

You can move the filters over to your other tank with no worries. I would however give the media a good rinse in aquarium water before draining it. This will protect the biological media. If all things are the same, it should be fine.

Pictures when done would be appreciated!

[troysdiiscus]

No problem, good luck in your switch I am about to do the same from 55 grow out to 110 gallon. I wouldnt worry so much about the hardness of water unless you are looking to breed, the ph and the other parimeters are mostly important. If your ph aged is higher than what they are used to and you want to use more tap water, then slowly over time decrease the RO water, not to swing ph to soon. Pics when done, here is the driftwood I just bought for my 110, like mentioned paint the back and bottom white or a mild pastel, I did mine already. Good luck

http://s1337.beta.photobucket.com/user/troyndeb/media/002_zpse1e1f8f8.jpg.html?fromLegacy=true#/user/troyndeb/media/002_zpse1e1f8f8.jpg.html?fromLegacy=true&_suid=1361220687391042477660949652435

[tim5780]

Thanks everyone. Troy, that piece of bog wood is awesome! I will share some pics once its all good.