Ordered from Kenny yesterday-yippee I'm taking the plunge! Question:

[Pices]

I currently have 5 LFS discus in my 75 gal. They have been doing great since I found this site. Kenny says I can do a 90% water change after moving current fish in preparation for his. I am anxious to get my current batch out and get ready for my new batch, but how do I keep my good bacteria going with no fish? I read somewhere here to put flake in? How much? I want my new babies to do great so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My other option was sterilizing 75 gal but I haven't had any health issues in the 75 since I learned about those frequent water changes 6-8 mos ago.

[Wes]

The fish in your tank are use to the little things in your tank and filter but the new fish wont. You are paying good money for the new fish. Start them off with the best chance not to get sick, no cross contamination.

[Pices]

Thanks Wes! That wasn't really what I wanted to hear, but it is exactly what I needed to hear. Now I'll look for a sticky on how to properly sterilize a tank . Any ideas on how to establish good bacteria quickly and safely once sterile environment is successful?

[Akili]

Thanks Wes! That wasn't really what I wanted to hear, but it is exactly what I needed to hear. Now I'll look for a sticky on how to properly sterilize a tank . Any ideas on how to establish good bacteria quickly and safely once sterile environment is successful?Ask Kenny to send you a seeded Sponge with your order,when it arrives add to the sterilized tank and add the fish.

[Neptune]

So you have an established tank with fish, you want to take them all out and then drop in a group of Kenny's?

[Pices]

Yes. I have 5 LFS discus in there now, but just ordered 9 beauties from Kenny.

[Pices]

Excellent idea! Thanks! You guys are the best!

[Akili]

Yes. I have 5 LFS discus in there now, but just ordered 9 beauties from Kenny.Not a good idea to take out the fish from the local fish store and add a group from Kenny.

[Pices]

Excellent idea! Thanks Akili. Also caught your advise on sterilizing tank. Getting excited now! You guys are the best!

[Pices]

Alkali, if I sterilize tank it's okay right?

[Wes]

How to sterilize a fish tank?


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?109979-How-to-sterilize-a-fish-tank


cycling a tank with ammonia


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122275-cycling-a-tank-with-ammonia

[Akili]

Alkali, if I sterilize tank it's okay right?There is no reason why it should be a problem. Follow the links Wes provided .By the way when are you getting the new fish from Kenny?

[Pices]

Thanks Alkili
I just ordered them Monday. They are in quarantine till mid month. I was originally worried about killing all that good bacteria and have never cycled a tank with fish in it- let alone expensive fish like these. Kenny suggested sterilizing tank or if fish have been healthy the last 3 months I could just do a 90% water change once they are gone. The best thing I've learned here is to COME HERE for expert advise
I would really appreciate your input Alkili. From what I'm hearing I should definitely sterilize the whole set up. And let it dry out. I'm going to put 10% bleach into my running tank and let it run for 24 hrs. Empty all the water, fill with fresh water, run for 24 hrs. Empty and fill with aged heated water and treat with prime. I spoke to Kenny and he is sending me 2 seeded filters. He recommended doing 80% water changes daily for a week. If water doesn't get cloudy ( my stomach just flipped at THAT thought) then all is well. What do you think? I again appreciate all advice from you seasoned experts out there.

[Phillydubs]

Do you have anyway to break the tank down and wipe it all down with bleach and then do your process of adding bleach and letting it run?

What type of filters do you run now? Can you replace those or the media and just start fresh there?

[Pices]

Hey Phillydubs I was hoping you'd chime in! I have 2 Eihem Professional 3's with pre filters attached to the intake filters inside the tank. All the above are very possible. The pre filter pads are on back order from Dr Foster until November! I know you SD peeps bought them all (that's where I got the idea)! Anyway that's a great idea. That with the 2 seeded filters from Kenny. I already have a pump to run those with double air flow lines. Any recommended biological media as long as I'm starting new?

[Pices]

By the way Phillydubs, it was you who advised me get rid of my current batch and at the time I couldn't do it...then I saw Kenny's Sept shipment and all of a sudden I'm not so attached to my stunted peppered pretties anymore. I'm like that Allstate commercial: You loved Brad. You could never get rid of Brad. Then You have a little accident and after Allstate paid you, it's so long Brad!

[Ryan925]

Hey Phillydubs I was hoping you'd chime in! I have 2 Eihem Professional 3's with pre filters attached to the intake filters inside the tank. All the above are very possible. The pre filter pads are on back order from Dr Foster until November! I know you SD peeps bought them all (that's where I got the idea)! Anyway that's a great idea. That with the 2 seeded filters from Kenny. I already have a pump to run those with double air flow lines. Any recommended biological media as long as I'm starting new?

Kennys fish are top notch and as you have found already so is his customer service. He will be a great resource to you, as well as the forum, on your journey.

I am running an eheim pro4+. I am using the eheim bio media as well as matrix. I'm using the two types of eheim that came with the filter. I had a it if a mini cycle after removing my gravel substrate but the bio caught back up pretty quickly. I also use an eheim pre filter on my intake. I removed the fine filter pad from my canister and am bypassing the other so that the canister is strictly for bio filtration.

[Phillydubs]

Glad I could help that always makes me happy! You never have to wait for me to chime in. My pm box is always open and I welcome messages so feel free to get me that way.

As for my advice. Often times it's the harsh truth some just don't want to hear at the time. I'm not trying to be a jerk just help out the way I see best. I recall now your story and I stand by my advice. I would never mix those fish. If you don't have the heart to get rid of the originals which is good on you and says a lot about you but most will not spend their time but if you choose then put them in their own tank and clean the heck out of the old tank. Toss all filter media and start fresh. You are way ahead of the game with your seeded media from
Kenny and high quality stock. Many experienced keepers here have started from scratch and cycled tanks with fish by doing big daily water changes. If you do big daily changes and you have the established media you will be just fine.

Going bare bottom to start ?

[Kyla]

just checking that u have some sort of test kit so u can monitor levels of ammonia and nitrite for the first month or two? even with daily wc i would monitor levels in a tank when adding a bunch of new fish.

[Pices]

Thanks Phillydubs- I am looking for a good home to my current batch and with all this help, I feel I can do this successfully. I do have test kit, but thanks for reminding me to check the ammonia and nitrite levels daily! I will do it. Thanks again for your help. I am planning on going bb Phil. I plan on painting the bottom ( outside) while I have it broke down. This is another first- painting the bottom. Lots of firsts here and excited!!! I may be posting a lot the next few weeks- hopefully pics of some beautiful discus!

[Pices]

Update. I found good homes with experienced discus keepers for my precious peppered pretties. Turns out there are people who like peppering! I traded 3 discus for 6 electric blue Rams that I put in my other 125 gal tank.
I bought new hoses, and replaced everything in the filter, painted the bottom of my 75 gal tank. Soaked everything else in bleach water, and dried it in the Florida sun. This afternoon, put it all back together and have a 10% bleach/water cycling overnight. Tomorrow I'll do 100%water change twice and let it dry. Next, fill with water and double dose it with prime.
My delivery is set for next Fri, the 23rd. 1 week from today. So....am I forgetting anything�� I have test kits at the ready. I bleached my wood piece after removing Anubis and will let it get a Florida tan before I reattach plants. probably going to hold off putting it in as long as I can . Thanks for the tough love- lol. It's so much more exciting now with your expert advice. You're like a best friend- always there when I need you! Thanks for giving me the confidence I needed!

[Ryan925]

Look forward to seeing your group from Kenny. Mine have just gone through their 3rd, 4th, ugh not sure rescape lol.

They have handled all my mistakes and changes beautifully.
Look forward to seeing yours

[Kyla]

you may have already done this, but dont forget to bleach your buckets, nets, cleaning tools etc and even the hoses that are used for wc. i just fill all my wc hoses with the bleach mix and let them sit for a bit before emptying them, then run clean water thru them, then run the dechlor + water thru them.

[Kyla]

the experts here helped me to make some tough decisions about sick stunted discus too. it is comforting to have access to support and assistance from ppl who have seen and done it all before :)

[Pices]

Thanks Kyla. I bought a new Python since I have 2 tanks. I tend to forget about the net until I'm reaching for it. I'll do that and the buckets right now before I forget.

[Pices]

Ryan, I've been following your posts- love the difference in your fish with the lighter substrate. Hope mine do as well as yours are doing. They are beautiful and I've learned through your questions/posts so thanks to you as well. You seem to be well above the learning curve.

[Ryan925]

Ryan, I've been following your posts- love the difference in your fish with the lighter substrate. Hope mine do as well as yours are doing. They are beautiful and I've learned through your questions/posts so thanks to you as well. You seem to be well above the learning curve.

Thanks Party. I'm sure your discus will do great. You obviously have put in the time to do the research and ask the questions.

Can't wait to see them

[Phillydubs]

That's great news !!

What did you order from
Kenny ?

[Pices]

This Fri I will be the keeper of one: Neon Sappire, Super Checkeboard Pigeon, Koi, Tiger Carnation, Fiji Red, Golden Lollipop, Blue Diamond with deep blue gene, Classic Leopard and Red Eagle! Kenny was out of a couple types in only 24 hrs! He suggested the Koi and Classic Leopard which are just as sweet IMHO. I spelled them out for the other newbies out there like me who haven't master all those abbreviations...
I have drained and refilled the tank 4 times, then double dosed with prime. I previously bleached and dried out entire set up minus hoses, filter pads and bio medium which I replaced with brand new. After all this, is it really necessary to drain and dry out again? It seems a little redundant at this point, not to mention time consuming.

[DanDiscus]

Why you replaced your biomedia ?

Aren't there the bacterias you need ?

What is your biomedia ?

Sorry for all these questions but that comment trigger them.

Cheers and Enjoy those beauties. Take care of them !!!

[Pices]

Hi Dan, I had some discus that I rehomed and learned here that sterilization was the way to go. I was worried about good bacteria too. The solution is seeded sponges from Kenny which I will put in the tank with my new fish. Then 80% water changes daily while I wait for new bacteria to accumulate. I will do daily water changes anyway for as long as I can. I think once I see them growing and thriving I will be even more encouraged to keep it up. I've had LFS discus. Now I want the ones I see here! They are guiding through and I've learned to trust their sound advice.

[DanDiscus]

Oh...I see.

I remember now reading that in your thread. But yesterday I though that you already have done that part and you were just waiting the new Discus.

Sorry for my confusion.

All will go OK.

Enjoy them. I have my Discus tank already for a month. All is running smoothly....so far (always keep finger crossed ). I have Stendker Discus, so I am following Stendker guidance. They have plenty of articles at the German site telling you how to care of their discus. Basically is the same that you find all around, with the exception of WC for adults. Nice to read with tons of info well organized.

In my tank I did a mistake. I got 3 LFS Discus + Stendker. After that I read about the risk of mixing Discus from different sources.

It is done, so now I enjoy them and hope nothing bad happens.

This is my tank and I added many pictures yesterday.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?125539-Daniel-s-75-G-20-G-sump-DISCUS-TANK

Short video :

https://youtu.be/M7qVU2D_Jlc

All the best !!!
Daniel

[Pices]

Beautiful tank Dan. Looks like a lot of upkeep, but beautiful. I'll be following your posts with interest. I'm new at this too and hope we are able to keep our fish happy and healthy. Best of luck to you- I'll post picks of mine when I get them.