A beginnner needs help......

[tlum]

I am new to discus and is now building a rake to hold 2 55g and 3 29g tanks. The rake will be finished this weekend. Before I buy any fish, I want to make sure my water parameter is OK. I know that many people had asked similar questions. However, I will feel much better if I can get answers specific to my water parameters. Here are my tap water parameters:

ph fresh out of tap: 7.4
ph after aging for a day: 8.2
GH: 267 ppm
KH: 231.4ppm
Chlorine is added to my tap water by the city.

From what I have learned from the forum:
1. I need to remove chlorine from my water using chemical
2. I need to age and heat my water for a day or more to keep a stable ph for water change. A drip system directly from the tap (after removing chlorine from the water by carbon filter) will not work in my situation.
4. My current water parameters are OK for growing discus. However, breeding is another issue.
3. What I learn from RandelB is that I need a RO for breeding and raising fly.

My setup:

For 55g BB tanks: one spongy fileter with power head, one 250W heater, one biowheel 330 power filter.

For 29g BB tanks (use for water storage now and hopefully for breeding in the future): a 250W heater and a spongy filty with air pump or power head.


Other questions:
How many jevenile fish can I put into a 55g?

My plan:

I am interested in solid colors: Red (Red Melon or Mandarine Passion), yellow/gold, and blue (BD, Blue Knight, etc). I plan to buy 6-10 juvenile fish for each color (graduately buildup my stock overtime). And hopefull, have 2 pairs for each color for breeding a couple of years from now.

Quesitions:
Any suggestions on the best red color strain? MR, RM, MP or other strain that I missed?
Any suggestions on the best blue color strain? BD, BN, violet reflection or other strains that I missed?
Any suggestion on the best yellow/gold color?
Any suggestion on the high fin or high body strain of these color? do they have a better look than the traditional body shape?

Any other suggestions on my setup and plan will be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Terry

[Cosmo]

Terry,

A very ambitous plan :) Best of luck in putting this all into place..

First thought that strikes me is, you're going to need quite a few more tanks! As for how many juveniles in a 55, depends somewhat on your water, filtration, and your maintenance routine, I've never approached it this way so I wouldn't hazard to guess and mislead you. Keep in mind, when they grow to adults you're looking at about 5 of them in a 55.

As far as what's the best color and body shape.. except for you're wanting to avoid football shaped fish, the colors and whether they're hi fin or not is pretty much a subjective issue... if not entirely subjective..

It's kind of like buying a piece of art.. buy what you like, not what you think will appreciate the most... you have to live with it (them in this case) and it/they should provide pleasure to you.. If you're successful as a breeder, there will most likely be a market for any of the strains you mentioned and more so long as they're healthy and round..

Know this may not much, but ...

best of luck and keep us all posted on how you progress

Jim

[Ardan]

Imo the best gold yellow color that I have had or seen are the golden yellows and golden melons that Cary at Gld breeds and sells and also gets from Roy. I had some and they were very nice. :)
Barb Newell is also raising some nice ones now, but I think they are a different strain???

You could keep 8 small discus in the 55 for now. Keep up the wc's.


Yes aging the water is best for you to stabalize the ph.

hth

[tlum]

Jim & hth,

Thanks for the responses and encouragement. I alway appreciate people care enough to take their time to response to other people questions. It is what make the simply such a great place to learn.

Yes, the plan is ambitous ;D, but it is a plan for many years to come. I do hope I have the energy and $$$ to excute the plan. I will starting with something small, 2 X 55g and 2 29g tanks, and hopefully, I can graduately (over many years) build my fish collection and fish room.

If 8 juvenile discus (3+ inches) are OK with a 55g tank. May be, I can start with 2 colors/straines.

Any input on water parameters? Particularly on the hardness and the ph. I am concerned that a ph of 8.2 is too hige for discus.


Terry

[Ardan]

Hi,
Ph of 8.2 is fine for growing discus as long as its stable.
Hardness is also fine for growing them.

hth

[Cosmo]

I have one of Cary's Golden Yellows and even though he's still just a little guy of about 2.5in, he's perfectly shaped and already looks like he'll make a beautiful adult. A friend of mine is in love with the Yellow Crystals from Discus Fantacy, though the only pic I've seen so far wasn't of the best quality to really tell. Personally, I like a mix of solid colors, stripes, spots, etc and will let them cross breed strains at will... who know's maybe I'll get something really cool out of it.. in the meantime, makes for a great display :)

Best of luck in your endeavor

Jim

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Terry,
What I noticed in your post is that you have a 250w heater in your 29gal. I would change that to a 50w or 100w. Less likely to cook your fish.

I just finished building an additional rack to my fishroom that hold 3 29gal on top and 2 55's on the bottom.

As far as stocking density depends on your husbandry. I over stock my 55s but I also do large waterchanges daily.

Lastly, color strain will depend on what you like. I suggest not to buy every color in the rainbow. If you plan to breed in the future, I would buy 6 to 10 of each of your favorite. Not one this or two that. Don't rush into buying. Do your homework on who has the good reputation. It's best to buy locally where you can pick out your fish but if that's not possible buy from a reputable breeder/importer. Don't always go where you're getting the best deal. Remember you get what you pay for.
Always start with a good stock because you will do the same amount of work in doing the w/c plus with sickly fish you'll be battleling dieseases soon as you get them.

HTH(hope this help)

dan

IM me if you want suggestion on who to buy from.

[aggie_67]

Terry,

If you age your water (w/ aeration and heat) it will remove the chlorine, no additional chemicals are needed.

Also consider a large aquaclear filters, with extra sponge inside, and sponge prefilter for your HOB instead of a biowheel.

I started out wanting many colors, etc. but as I gained experience changed to wanting to do one or two colors well! Buy as good and large of a fish as you can afford, it cost the same to raise an average fish as it does a winner.

Also suggest reading the forums and learning who to listen to and who to ignor. Problem with internet is "anyone" can post with out any qualifications. I favor Carol's advise and Cary's even tho it is not as frequent.

[Dave C]

Your water isn't great but it's ok for growing out Discus. I think you're confusing Chlorine & Chloramine. You don't need chemicals to remove Chlorine, you do for Chloramine. Aging for 24 hours will allow the Chlorine to dissipate. And you could use a drip system with your water, just run the water line through a carbon filter first, then on to the tanks. Since you'd be constantly adding water to your tank the pH would be stable.

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Terry,

If you age your water (w/ aeration and heat) it will remove the chlorine, no additional chemicals are needed.

Also consider a large aquaclear filters, with extra sponge inside, and sponge prefilter for your HOB instead of a biowheel.

I started out wanting many colors, etc. but as I gained experience changed to wanting to do one or two colors well! Buy as good and large of a fish as you can afford, it cost the same to raise an average fish as it does a winner.

Also suggest reading the forums and learning who to listen to and who to ignor. Problem with internet is "anyone" can post with out any qualifications. I favor Carol's advise and Cary's even tho it is not as frequent.


I agree. Especially from a person thats only been doing discus for 4 months.lol

Dan

[tlum]

Thank you for all the input. I will buy a few lower watt heaters for my 29g tanks.

Terry

[tlum]

One more question:

I need to make a decision on where to put my tank rack (2 55g at the bottom and 3 29g on top). I have two choices:

First, I can put it in my basement, against a wall near the patio door. My basement is also our family room. My kids like playing there a lot of time. I do have a large walkout. Pros: I can watch my fish comfortably in my living room. My kids and wife may also enjoy watching the fish. It makes breeding fiscus a family hobby. Cons: human traffic and activities may scare the fish. I just got a few discus from a hobbist locally and the fish seem to be scared when we are moving around in the basement. I hope this is a temporary phenomenon when they are settling in their new home.

Second. In my utility room. I have abut 150 square feets in my utility room for the fish rack. Pros: less traffic, easy water change (I can build a drip system with easily in the basement), not affecting the normal activity of my family room. Cons: It is not present to spend long time in the utility room to watch and take care of my fish; isolated from family, fish may never learn to accomodation people moving around.

Any suggestion? If you were me, Where will you put the fish rack? Is human traffic a concern? Will discus learn to ignore human traffic and activities in the family room? Where do you place your fish rack/tanks.

Thanks.

Terry

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I choose the utility room. You'll be changing lots of water and lack of human traffic. Discus spawning dislike too much disturbance. You can always set up another tank as a show tank.

Check out my fishroom in the garage.

http://www.gulfcoastdiscus.com/id2.html

Dan

[tlum]

Thanks. I think it is a good idea to put it in the utility-room. Terry