New to discus wanting info

[ratbones86]

Hello!

Im jeremy. I just joined this forum and this is my first post. Reason im here is because my wife likes the look of discus. I keep african cichlids and my wife isnt to fond of them but she seen a picture of a discus and she loves them. Well Im trading off a 135g tank for a 75g full set up and im wanting to do a discus tank in the 75g. Heres my questions. Can i do this with no co2 deifuser and some low light plants like anubis ad java fern and some moss's or do i have to have the co2? And how do you buffer your water to make it soft enough? I live in indiana and our water here is very hard. Im trying to figure out how to go about doing this the right way and get all the info i need before trying anything to make sure i dont screw up lol. Dont feel like waisting alot of money here. I've been loking at some of the posts but they all are bare bottom 55g starter tanks and i was wanting to do it in a 75g tank with some drift wood and some plants. Nothing crazy on the plants or anything. Mainly a pretty much open tank a few pieces of wood and plants covering them and along the painted black background. Any help would be appreciated and put to good use! Thank you in advance for all your help! Happy Fish keeping!!

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Welcome Jeremy!

As you browse this forum, you will find a lot of valuable information in each section (read stickies too). In your case, the planted tank section might be of value to you.

You can have discus in your tap water, but they prefer softer water that possibly getting an RO (Reverse Osmosis) system might help. You can use a 50/50 mix RO/Tap. This should get your TDS (Total Disolved Solids) under 200. This would be all the buffering you would need. If not, you can get yourself a 40 gal Rubbermaid Brute container for aging your water. Just put in a heater, air stone and small circulation pump. This helps keep your PH from swinging during water changes.

You don't really need CO2 for a low light planted tank (but it is better to have) as long as you have some good ferts or you can go on YouTube and do a simple DIY CO2 container.

Good luck with your transformation to discus. Once you're in, it will be hard to get out!

[Elliots]

Do not trade your 135 Gal. bigger is better! Discus can get quite big. I would guess a 75 gal tank is the minimum size. 55 I think is small for adults but good for raising small Discus. Discus school, the more Discus the better they do. The minimum number I have read that is suggested is 5, You will find on this site people who keep one Discus for every 10 or 15 gallons. I would suggest that your hard water is not a problem for keeping Discus. It is most important that Discus water conditions do not vary. If you decide to breed Discus that could change the water requirements. Spend a lot of time reading this site, maybe tens or hundreds of hours.