Water Quality Questions

[erikhendrix]

I know that water quality is very important in keeping and raising discus fish. Since I am new to keeping this type of fish, I am looking for some guidance in keeping them. This is how I have my tank set up. I have a 75 gallon tank with two canister filters on it. The filters are a Cascade 1500 and an aquatop cf500. I am running tons of aquachargers in them along with some course and fine pads to catch the debris. The tank itself has some pieces of driftwood to help naturally soften the water along with some artificial plants. There is a 200W heater keeping the temp at 84 degrees and a coral life light. I keep my Ph around 6.5 and religiously check my ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The mainstay of my water I use in my tank is 33% city and 66 % R.O. I also use a water conditioner to remove any chlorine or other contaminates from the city water.

My biggest question is the frequency of water changes I need to do. I have had varying information given to me and I was wondering if this is a good rule of thumb to follow. Since my biological filtration should keep the ammonia and nitrites in check - is it okay to just do water changes when the nitrates get high? Assuming I keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrites as well?

I am planning on having 6 discus fish with no more than 8 cardinal tetras and 6 - 10 other smaller tank mates... Any help and guidance is appreciated.

[John_Nicholson]

It depends on the size of the discus that you are getting. If you are getting small discus this setup will not well very well. If you are getting fully adults fish( 6+ inches ) you can probably make it work it you are careful with your feeding. If you get midsized fish consider it a sliding scale. The closer to adult size the better luck you will have. Even with adults I would probably suggest more WC's than you want to do. I would be prone to do at least one a week of at least 20%. More would be better.

-john

[ROOK45]

No, you don't want to check your parameters and changes your water when nitrates get high. They should never get there to begin with. Just do frequent water changes. Like John said is your getting adult fish you don't have to do them as much. When I had adult discus I would just do 2-3 50%-75% WC a week. But with grow outs I do at least 1 WC daily of 75%-100% depending on how much time I have. Since you new to discus like me just keep up with the WC and its pretty simple. Clean water will prevent headaches later.


Jon

[k7prz]

Discus like fresh water. If it's a problem making enough RO water, you might change your
proportion of tap water to RO. My PH out of the tap runs about 8 or higher. The
discus don't seem to mind. I change an average of about 20% per day of aged tap water.
Each discus has about 10 gallons. I have 26 medium or larger discus.
I use Aquaclear and sponge filters. I have a couple canister filters but it's a hassle
to do a weekly rinsing of the media. I try to keep the poop out of the system as
well as I can. All tanks are bare bottom.

That's my story.

Dave

[erikhendrix]

Thanks all. I am learning that Discus do require a bit more attention than previous fish I have owned. About 15 years ago I had 100 gal african cichlid tank. They did not seem to require quite as much attention - but i go tired of them destroying my tank and re-arranging it...