Growing out discus on Ohio water

[Fish Tank Travis]

Hello everybody.

I keep getting a lot of mixed answers from other sources and want to hear what you discus enthusiasts have to say.

First off, I live in Ohio and my water is at a ph of about 8.4. I know this is high compared to the acidic waters discus are native to but I have heard many times that as long as the water is consistant, they will be fine.

So, I don't have a means to set up an RO unit at this time, but I do have barrels that I can age and heat water in. I will be able to do quick water changes several times a week.

Now to my question, do you all think this setup would work to grow out discus from the 2.5-3" range into good healthy adults or is the water really going to be a problem?

My goal is to grow out the discus in a smaller bare bottom tank until they are 4-5" and then move them to my 220 display tank. I would like to grow them out because I really like the idea of having raised them myself. However, if you all think I will be better off getting adult discus and putting them straight into my 220 then I will explore that route.

Thank you all for your help.

[RogueDiscus]

The pH of your water is not a problem. I raise my fish in well water with a pH around 8 with tds well over 200ppm. I would recommend testing your water for nitrates, nitrites, as I've read some folks have some of that in their tap water. Many recommend getting used to keeping discus by getting adults first, but if you have done your homework on how folks raise juvies, with frequent water changes in particular, then you have a good chance of being successful with that.

[Fish Tank Travis]

That's great news. I don't think water changes will be a problem but feeding six times a day might be. I can probably do three to four times most days though.

What is the best food to use with juvie discus? I would really like to use some flake and pellet foods but if some higher protein foods are necessary as well then I would like to hear what you all recommend. I would really like to get all/most of the discus up to at least 6". I will probably only keep them in the grow out tank until 4-5" and then move them into my 220 after that.

[RogueDiscus]

There are different opinions on feeding, like everything, but one long time member here (John) feeds all his fish, fry to adults, twice a day. I feed my fry three, sometimes four times a day, but I'm retired and home so I can do that. My adults get twice a day. One idea I've read is that the fish get more out of the food in fewer spread out feedings, while others point out they graze in the wild. Many folks use a beefheart mix or flake version. You can search that in the food section. I use Al's (the forum owner brewmaster15) Freeze Dried Blackworms (FDBW) and a discus pellet food. Many folks use the FDBW and their fish love them.

[two utes]

My goal is to grow out the discus in a smaller bare bottom tank until they are 4-5" and then move them to my 220 display tank. I would like to grow them out because I really like the idea of having raised them myself. However, if you all think I will be better off getting adult discus and putting them straight into my 220 then I will explore that route.



I can probably do three to four times most days though.

What is the best food to use with juvie discus? I would really like to use some flake and pellet foods but if some higher protein foods are necessary as well then I would like to hear what you all recommend. I would really like to get all/most of the discus up to at least 6". I will probably only keep them in the grow out tank until 4-5" and then move them into my 220 after that.

Welcome to the Hobby.
Growing juvenile discus is very satisfying but a bit more work involved than starting with larger Discus. What you are proposing with work, providing you keep up your water change schedule. Start with good quality fish from a reputable dealer/breeder, and you will be starting on the right foot. Feed your juveniles beef heart, and l strongly recommend Freeze dried black worms. Four feeds a day will work as long as you fill their bellies. Maybe consider purchasing an autoamatic feeder to help you when you're not around.
Good luck!

[Fish Tank Travis]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'm really glad this turns out to be possible.

I will definitely look into getting fdbw and probably beef heart flakes (hopefully they will be less messy). I will probably start out with whatever they are being fed at the place I buy them from and then try to change them over, if needed.

I plan on growing out four juvies at a time in a 29 bare bottom (wish I could go six in a 55, but my wife is already stressing about the tanks I have) until the are around the 4-5" mark. Then, I will move them over.

Any reason you guys can see why the 29 will in no way work?

[adrian's fish]

Get your fish from Hans , the stendker discus are raised in tap water . i got all my discus from him he's a great guy to deal with , my ph is about 8.2 and all my fish are doing grate after 6 months also you can buy beef hart from him my fish love he's stuff.

[Hart24601]

What is the source of your water and is it an agricultural area?

Here in Iowa pH is the least of our problems, the average nitrate is right under the legal limit of 10ppm and spikes above that after storms, but the even larger issue are other organics that come in the water many of which are not even tested for. We even get ammonia in the water supply directly from anhydrous ammonia sprayed on fields after storms. I use only RO/DI water for all of my systems now.

When I started with discus I did the normal big W/C schedule that many use but after having nothing but problems I narrowed it down to the tap water here and the amount of organics in the water that are not routinely tested for. Just something to keep in mind as ironically using so much bad tap water did far more harm than good.

The water company does pass the tap through a lime filter to reduce organics (giving the water a pH above 9) but it doesn't get everything by a long shot.

[Fish Tank Travis]

I have checked nitrates, nitrites and ammonia and all are zero for my tap water. When I get the water straight from the tap the ph is around 7 but after 24 hours it comes up to about 8.4. I have not tested that in over a year so I will test it again and post back with the results.

[Hart24601]

Sounds like you are golden! As others have said the pH isn't really important. Lucky!

[Fish Tank Travis]

I did test some of my aged water and some water straight from the tap and the aged water has a ph of 8.2 while the water straight from the tap is 7.6.

[Fish Tank Travis]

Do you guys think that the ph swing of 7.6 to 8.2 over 24 hours is something to worry about? If not then I may consider just using straight tap water during water changes instead of aging the water.

[Hart24601]

Sounds like you have some co2 in there. I will let the discus experts answer, but that pH range is less than what many planted tanks and reef tanks experience overnight.

[Neptune]

Do you guys think that the ph swing of 7.6 to 8.2 over 24 hours is something to worry about? If not then I may consider just using straight tap water during water changes instead of aging the water.

If you can, age that water. There are lots of benefits to aging other than just stabilizing pH.

[atlantadiscus]

Do you guys think that the ph swing of 7.6 to 8.2 over 24 hours is something to worry about? If not then I may consider just using straight tap water during water changes instead of aging the water.

I would look a little wider before answering that and want to know what the actual ph of the water in aquarium is before the water change and what % of water you will be changing.....without knowing those two variables,hard to say as both those values will affect final results greatly.

[Fish Tank Travis]

I will have to check the ph in my current setup in order to figure out what the ph might be a few days after a water change. However, this tank is set up with sand, fake plants and a UV sterilizer in the canister. The setup for the discus grow out tank will be bare bottom, no decor and will probably be filtered using HOB filters. The closest I can get to that right now is to test my aging barrel which has had a powerhead in it and has been aging for 3-4 days. That is where I measured the 8.2 ph.

As far as the water change schedule, I am hoping to do 75-100% water changes 3-4 times per week. This will be with four discus in a 29 gallon bare bottom tank.

What are some of the other benefits to aging the water, besides ph?