Water change

[phonics69]

Just wondering what people think about how many water changes i should do a week? I have 4 smallish discus arriving on friday (my first ones) I have about a 50 gallon tank with a juwel filter which has kept the water crystal clear. I will be picking up an external filter in the nxt few weeks. The tank is not planted but has a thin layer of sand. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Phonics:
With 4 small discus in a 50 gallon I would aim fo 25% water changes daily. Your discus will get used to you quicker and it's good to interact with them on a daily basis. As your discus grow you will increase the % of water changed per day.

[angel12]

Bud if you are getting an external filter to add to this tank .. then unless you realy want to get one do as I did with My Jewel tank get a large sponge filter and power it by an Air pump much cheaper and just as effective as Bilogical medium .. .. Choice is yours but Cheaper also easy to just pop out and clean in the waste tank water should you wish to .. if you look most of the Tanks with Pictures have a sponge filter in them i just clean mine every few days to get any trapped food of it due to mine tank being planted .. Just an idea but its up to you pal

:)

[phonics69]

Thanks for that angel. I asked about this at the suppliers and they said for extra bit of cash it was worth getting an external one. I think it was around 50 quid for an external one. What sort of money did u pay for your internal filter m8? 2 more days till i get my discus :-)

[phonics69]

Thanks carol :)

[angel12]

I paid £8 for mine bud :) no were near £50 like I said its up to you Got mine from Steve Punchards just stick an Air pump on the end of it and off you go ... the Good thing about externals is that you can put different Things in the compartments and it doesnt take space up in the Tank .. Bad thing IMOH is that it has to be put somewere accesable otherwise its a pain getting the top off and then cleaning inside it also you cant see how much debris is inside it until you take a look

As for the sponge I just rinse it when it looks like it has become dirty and pop it back in 1 min of a job ..

im sure wichever way you go it wil be the right choice for you ..

HTH