WC Frequency for Adult Discus in a 190 gal tank

[Thomas79]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if I can get away with a 50% water change every two weeks if I plan to keep 5 adult discus (all male) with some community fish like cory catfish and some tetra in a 190 gallon aquarium with a 40 gallon sump.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Thomas

[warblad79]

No, for me I won't do it. Regular WC is better than filtration. Don't take your chances or else you'll lose precious fish.

[sdrexler078]

I agree. I have 12 in a 230 with 55 gallon sump and I notice a difference in their behavior if I skip more than 2 days. They don't get sick but they just dont seem as happy

[Bill63SG]

I have a 180 and I try to do atleast 90% once a week but I prefer to do it twice a week.

[Reesj]

Will depend a lot on what you feed them and if the tank how much plants and cleaning crew you have!

[XAnhLe]

The rule I use is 5 gallon per fish per day. For 5 fish, you would need to change 25 gallons of water per day. 50% of 190G would be 95 gallons, so you can probably get away with 50% every 4 days. Assuming you are not feeding beefheart because that stuff is messy, so daily water change is necessary.

[Andy27012]

I started out doing weekly wc's until I. Started doing wcs every couple of days. Now I do them as often as I can, I have a pair of snake skin pigeon bloods, before they were standard orange with white striations. Now after upping the wcs they have the same orange color with dark black fins and blue fluorescent lines. My point being no one on this forum can tell you if they will be ok, the only real way to tell is to do bi daily wcs for a couple of weeks and see what the fish should look like. Then back off wcs, once they start losing vividness you know you need. To up wcs. I would bet this happens before the two week mark.

[Reesj]

BTW get some good plant growth going with decent substrate with good clean-up crew. Also a nice sump system going with the 40 gallon you have and you can easily pull it off! Specially considering you have only 5 discus and they are adults. But rememberer to feed them with stuff that are not that messy. I'll just leave this video here . Check how often he clean his display tank!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdrtVYBQDY&t=423


PS:- People here feed junk that dissolves in water and keep things on very safe side even for adults. Heck you can do even 100% water change 2x per day. But is it really necessary ? Not really if you can observe and get soem idea of the fish!

[Second Hand Pat]

Yup, seen that video. Question to ask is what the turnover of discus is in that tank. :p
Pat

[DiscusRob]

"PS:- People here feed junk that dissolves in water and keep things on very safe side even for adults"

Reesj, what food are you referring to? I'm curious.

[DiscusRob]

"PS:- People here feed junk that dissolves in water and keep things on very safe side even for adults"

Reesj, what food are you referring to? I'm curious.

[Reesj]

I'm referring to beef heart mix! Specially once that people don;t even put gelatine in! I know how much it pollute water specially since I started to feed mine a chicken heart mix(Few meals before water changing days) to cut back the costs! IT might be good in nutrients but it will pollute the water compared to many many quality discus food you can purchase.

[DiscusRob]

I'm referring to beef heart mix! Specially once that people don;t even put gelatine in! I know how much it pollute water specially since I started to feed mine a chicken heart mix(Few meals before water changing days) to cut back the costs! IT might be good in nutrients but it will pollute the water compared to many many quality discus food you can purchase.

That's why the water change routines that are recommended by the advanced hobbyist/breeders here should be followed, beef heart can/will grow out some beautiful discus, I'd prefer to listen to the people who do and have grown out some very awesome fish. JMHO

[Reesj]

That's why the water change routines that are recommended by the advanced hobbyist/breeders here should be followed, beef heart can/will grow out some beautiful discus, I'd prefer to listen to the people who do and have grown out some very awesome fish. JMHO

AS I said before you can do even 100% water change 2x per day even! I say go for it.

[rickztahone]

Everyone, please try to keep conversation civil. There is no need for name calling one another.

[warblad79]

Some people chose to feed beef heart mix simply because they are cheaper and high in protein. the downside is, it pollute the water easily and can be smelly but with high tech water changing system that won't be no problem. There are some alternative food that won't easily pollute the water, I fed my discus premium beef heart flakes with blackworm even for few feeding the water is not very smelly and does not cloud the water. I'll probably stay away from frozen beef heart mix if WC is an issue.

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: Everyones routine is gonna vary cause no one has the exact same situation. What is necessary for one setup might not be as critical for another. I've narrowed my routine to 80% every 4 days & it works just fine. Nitrates stay super low, water is crystal & discus are well. "T"

[MKD]

You can choose not to do frequent WC , it's up to you. To me, its very important how my discus look like when full grown. I had trouble feeding BH with 2x 80% per week on my 300gallon bare bottom with 75g sump. Ihave to wc and feed little less to balance my schedule. I like a member suggest to start with frequent WC,then slowly adjust it but you pay close attention to every single one.