illumnae
03-17-2024, 09:35 AM
I'm not exactly a beginner, but I have not kept domestic discus in over 15 years, and last kept wild discus probably 10 years ago. In the interim though I have kept wild caught South American cichlids, went into reefing for a number of years and most recently kept Tanganyikan cichlids for the past 2 years. However as far as the latest trends in discus keeping go, I'm probably as good as a beginner and that's why I am posting here.
I recently had to empty out my custom 600 gallon (7 x 3 x 4 ft) aquarium as it suffered a fault and had to be repaired. After getting the repairs done, I decided that I wanted to go back to keeping discus again - my first love in fishkeeping. The plan is for a hardscape heavy "flooded forest" theme planted tank with hardy plants like amazon swords, crypts and epiphytes. I do not enjoy sterile bare tanks. Unfortunately for me, when doing some research for my tank by speaking with discus breeders, discus importers (from overseas breeders) and Facebook groups, it seems that the latest buzzword is "cross contamination" and I'm being told that at the very least I need to keep my tank in absolutely sterile conditions and more extensively I am only able to purchase 1 batch of discus from 1 breeder and never be able to add any other fish (discus or otherwise) without a high risk of tank wipeout due to cross contamination. Some tell me that the very bare minimum is to employ the "hero fish" method after completing quarantine but be prepared that even so, the risk of tank wipeout is still high if I am unlucky. Basically I'm being told that unless I intend to have a sterile bare tank, don't bother keeping discus.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for proper quarantine procedures. I've kept enough highly sensitive marine and freshwater fish to know better, including true blackwater species like altum angels and uaru fernandezyepezi which usually arrive with barely any immunity system developed due to most pathogens being unable to survive in the low pH blackwater that they originate from. My usual quarantine process includes prophylactic treatment with metronidazole, praziquantel and levimasole for internal parasites and Waterlife Parazin for external parasites. I use antibiotics as needed if the fish displays symptoms of bacterial infections, or prophylactically in the case of blackwater species to aid in developing their immune systems (of course a different process is used for marine fish). My quarantine tanks are disinfected with a bleach compound between batches of fish (I'm considering switching to pp for cost reasons). My main tank has been disinfected with hydrogen peroxide after being emptied out (I can't use bleach or pp in the main tank due to my 3d background not being able to tolerate both chemicals). I also run a uv at sterilization levels 24/7 to reduce pathogenic levels (yes I know it doesn't eliminate them). I have never employed the "hero fish" method and I don't intend to in this case as the combination of a 4ft tall tank, heavy hardscape and a 3d background makes it almost impossible for me to catch healthy fish from the tank without tearing it down first.
The aforementioned safeguards I have in place have been sufficient for me to keep highly sensitive and delicate fish species as mentioned above, including long ago when I used to keep domestic discus in a planted tank (discus acquired from different breeders) and wild discus in both planted and biotope style tanks. I know that some people may say that I've just been lucky, but it's hard to believe that it's just luck when the practice has been sustained for almost 20 years.
For full disclosure, my plan is to either keep wild tefe green discus, or a mix of albino red covers and albino panthera (that's another thing I've been told, that I need to keep albino domestic discus only as non-albinos will turn black or pepper in a planted tank). In both cases, the fish will come from the same importer but may come from different sources (for the wild discus) or breeders (for the domestic discus). I will definitely want tankmates with the discus like tetras and cories, and I am likely to add more fish in the future to replace unplanned deaths or just because another fish caught my fancy. All fish whether discus or otherwise will go through the quarantine process I described above. To me, this just seems to be normal fishkeeping wants and are not unrealistic or unreasonable.
I just wanted to check in on whether my plan is really as impossible and doomed for disaster as I have been told? Have discus really developed into such weak and zero immunity animals over the past 15 years? or is this a case of exaggeration creating misinformation being spread over the internet? Aside from the "hero fish" method are there any other recent best practices that I can add on to my quarantine process - for example I was advised to add a bath using Discusfood Discus Protector as the final step just before any fish goes into the tank after completing my usual quarantine process.
I recently had to empty out my custom 600 gallon (7 x 3 x 4 ft) aquarium as it suffered a fault and had to be repaired. After getting the repairs done, I decided that I wanted to go back to keeping discus again - my first love in fishkeeping. The plan is for a hardscape heavy "flooded forest" theme planted tank with hardy plants like amazon swords, crypts and epiphytes. I do not enjoy sterile bare tanks. Unfortunately for me, when doing some research for my tank by speaking with discus breeders, discus importers (from overseas breeders) and Facebook groups, it seems that the latest buzzword is "cross contamination" and I'm being told that at the very least I need to keep my tank in absolutely sterile conditions and more extensively I am only able to purchase 1 batch of discus from 1 breeder and never be able to add any other fish (discus or otherwise) without a high risk of tank wipeout due to cross contamination. Some tell me that the very bare minimum is to employ the "hero fish" method after completing quarantine but be prepared that even so, the risk of tank wipeout is still high if I am unlucky. Basically I'm being told that unless I intend to have a sterile bare tank, don't bother keeping discus.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for proper quarantine procedures. I've kept enough highly sensitive marine and freshwater fish to know better, including true blackwater species like altum angels and uaru fernandezyepezi which usually arrive with barely any immunity system developed due to most pathogens being unable to survive in the low pH blackwater that they originate from. My usual quarantine process includes prophylactic treatment with metronidazole, praziquantel and levimasole for internal parasites and Waterlife Parazin for external parasites. I use antibiotics as needed if the fish displays symptoms of bacterial infections, or prophylactically in the case of blackwater species to aid in developing their immune systems (of course a different process is used for marine fish). My quarantine tanks are disinfected with a bleach compound between batches of fish (I'm considering switching to pp for cost reasons). My main tank has been disinfected with hydrogen peroxide after being emptied out (I can't use bleach or pp in the main tank due to my 3d background not being able to tolerate both chemicals). I also run a uv at sterilization levels 24/7 to reduce pathogenic levels (yes I know it doesn't eliminate them). I have never employed the "hero fish" method and I don't intend to in this case as the combination of a 4ft tall tank, heavy hardscape and a 3d background makes it almost impossible for me to catch healthy fish from the tank without tearing it down first.
The aforementioned safeguards I have in place have been sufficient for me to keep highly sensitive and delicate fish species as mentioned above, including long ago when I used to keep domestic discus in a planted tank (discus acquired from different breeders) and wild discus in both planted and biotope style tanks. I know that some people may say that I've just been lucky, but it's hard to believe that it's just luck when the practice has been sustained for almost 20 years.
For full disclosure, my plan is to either keep wild tefe green discus, or a mix of albino red covers and albino panthera (that's another thing I've been told, that I need to keep albino domestic discus only as non-albinos will turn black or pepper in a planted tank). In both cases, the fish will come from the same importer but may come from different sources (for the wild discus) or breeders (for the domestic discus). I will definitely want tankmates with the discus like tetras and cories, and I am likely to add more fish in the future to replace unplanned deaths or just because another fish caught my fancy. All fish whether discus or otherwise will go through the quarantine process I described above. To me, this just seems to be normal fishkeeping wants and are not unrealistic or unreasonable.
I just wanted to check in on whether my plan is really as impossible and doomed for disaster as I have been told? Have discus really developed into such weak and zero immunity animals over the past 15 years? or is this a case of exaggeration creating misinformation being spread over the internet? Aside from the "hero fish" method are there any other recent best practices that I can add on to my quarantine process - for example I was advised to add a bath using Discusfood Discus Protector as the final step just before any fish goes into the tank after completing my usual quarantine process.