The move to Discus (again)

[QiKsilver]

Hi there,

I'm going back into Discus (I had a few a couple years ago) so i'm getting rid fo the africans and going with 2 adult red turquoise (not a breeding couple).

My tank is 33gal, filter is a Fulval 303 loaded with carbon(yes i'm getting rid of it but i just changed the carbon yesterday so i'll take it out in about 2 weeks) and one bag of Fluval biomax (those small white tubes) and 2 fluval sponges. Tank has been running for a year now so it's well cycled. Substrate is sand.

So well i'm not really worried about the setup, i'm worried about water hardness and PH.

My GH is 140ppm, KH is over 80mg, and my PH is 7.6. The LFS PH is around 7, and the GH is under 20 ppm (I wonder how he keeps a stable PH with that but he's got a few breeding couples and babies so I guess he's doing it right).

My tap water out of the tap is 7.0 but bounces back to 7.6 after 24 hours so my plan was to just go with my tap.

I'm worried about the move from 7.0 to 7.6 but still since it's movin up in the PH ladder instead of down I read somewhere that it should be ok as long as I do it slowly.

But what about the water hardness, could it have a bad effect on the fish?

Please help, thanks!

[RyanH]

Hi Qiksilver,

Welcome to Simply!:)

It is a myth that Discus require soft water to do well. Your water is fine. I would probably just throw them right into the tank.

If you want to be cautious, you can acclimate your fish in a 5 gallon pail before adding them to your tank. Empty their bags into the pail and slowly add tank water to the pail. I just use airline and start a slow syphon. Give it 20 minutes or so and then reach into the pail with your hands or a large, soft net and pull them out. Don't add any of the water from the LFS to your tank.

hth
-Ryan

[QiKsilver]

Yup i read what you are saying abuot soft water and low PH.

What worries me is the sudden switch from very soft to relatively hard. I'm sure they would do great if they had been slowly brought to hard water but now is not the case.

Sorry for my poor english i'm french canadian but do you understand what i'm trying to point out? And do you think they will still be ok?

I'll post pics of 'em when i get them :)

Thanks!

[RyanH]

Your doing fine. Your English is far better than my French!!:D

I understand your concern. I dont' think that a large difference in hardness will harm your Discus as long as it's not accompanied by a large difference in pH.

As I said, if you want to be cautious, just acclimate them slowly to your water in a pail and you should be fine. If you have more questions on how to do this, feel free to ask.

And yes, I'd love to see some pics.:)

-Ryan

[Anonapersona]

Moving from hard to soft is not a big deal, I think, but moving from hard to soft is. But, I am not an expert, so we would be better off to ask around about that, to be sure that is correct.

[RyanH]

Moving from hard to soft is not a big deal, I think, but moving from hard to soft is. But, I am not an expert, so we would be better off to ask around about that, to be sure that is correct.

Any drastic changes in water chemistry can potentially be harmful. That is why I recommended the acclimation method that I did.

[QiKsilver]

I'll get a bucket and arrange a slow syphon from the tank into the bucket then move them into the tank. I was thinking a period of about 1hour.

I'm also upping the tank temps to 84 and might move it a bit higher for the first few days to accelerate their system and encourage them to start eating soon if they stop as they did in my previous experience.

[RyanH]

Sounds like a good plan. Keep us posted. :)

[Cosmo]

If you're going to leave them in the bucket that long, you should consider adding an airstone, and, be aware of the water temp in the bucket. Tank temp. of 84 should be the minimum for Discus..

Jim

[QiKsilver]

Thanks for the advise Cosmo, I'll be heating the whole room so the temp won't change that much.

As for my tank the africans are still in so i'm not upping the temps anymore until the discus are in and the africans out. When i'm done fishin the africans and i'll up the heather so that the temps are around 85-86 when i come back with the beauties :).

[RyanH]

If you are putting Discus in a tank that housed other fish recently, I'd strongly recommend that you empty the tank and sterilize it before adding the Discus. If the Africans could have been carrying a disease that didn't bother them but could easily cause problems for Discus.

JMHO
-Ryan

[QiKsilver]

Empty it, get new sand, soak the wooden branch in bleach then rince it off 400 times, then again if i want to sterilize it i have to disinfect the filter, the filter media, get new hoses, all accessories, tank cover, remove the sillicone from the tank and apply new sillicone, rocks and then re-cycle the tank and wait 2 months...

No way... i'm taking the risk but thanks for the advise, i'll be warned.

[QiKsilver]

Discus are home, hiding in a corner but now breathing normally which is a good sign.

They didn't like the trip in the bag but hey i wouldn't like it either....

Tommorow, let's see if they eat and maybe some pics :)