Had to aerate....

[swinters66]

Odd...I did a WC yesterday and later fed my guys. This morning I noticed they were breathing harder than normal. I had cleaned my one of my filters about a week and a half ago and I was still scratching my head so I decided to do another WC. I also added a tad of aquarium salt, shut the lights off and let them relax and de-stress. They were all sort of hiding toward the back of the tank.

Well later on I turned the lights on and they were still breathing the same. My husband suggested adding an air stone. So, I did and now they are fine. I am happy now that they are breating fine again and ate and are now all swimming around like usual.

Should I keep the air stone in the tank? I had read on different sites that discus dont like the water being bubbly like that but mine seem to be oblivious to the air bubbles. So, will it be ok to leave it in the tank?

I am waiting on a new impeller for my eheim canister. When I got the tank and filter, the guy told us the impeller had broke (???)and he had to rig it but the filter still ran. And it is. But we didnt want to take the canister filter apart to clean the filter pads, just in case this guy was right (my husband however, says if the impeller did break the filter would NOT work) and then we couldnt get the filter to run again once we cleaned it. Better safe than sorry. So I should be getting the new part early next week, then Ill be able to rinse out the filter pads (yes... in treated water). That canister hasnt been touched since we set the tank up. I have another filter hanging on the back of the tank, for extra filtration. Ive never had a problem with lack of aeration. So, once the canister is maintained, maybe that will help and I can take the air stone out. Does that seem possible?

Does that sound like an ok thing to do? Keep the air stone I mean?

Thanks as always!!

[Elite Aquaria]

I assume you use tap water to do your water changes.

Does your water have Chlorine and/or Clorimine?

What do you use to treat your tap water?

Do you age your water or go directly into the tank when you do WC?

How much WC do you do at once?

What is the PH in your Tank?

What is the PH from your Tap?

Knowing some of these parameters will help to isolate your potential problem.

Dan

[White Worm]

I assume you use tap water to do your water changes.

Does your water have Chlorine and/or Clorimine?

What do you use to treat your tap water?

Do you age your water or go directly into the tank when you do WC?

How much WC do you do at once?

What is the PH in your Tank?

What is the PH from your Tap?

Knowing some of these parameters will help to isolate your potential problem.

Dan
Good questions. When you do a wc, do you let the water splash into the tank? IE; surface agitation? I always have air in the tank but I run a few sponge filters with stones inside for plenty of surface movement and to keep seeded sponges. Lack of surface agitation seems to cause lack of oxygen...especially if you are doing a large water change from tap. So, if you did 2 large wc's, you have not given time for Co2 to gas off. The discus will not care one bit about bubbles in the tank. Run a couple air stones and they should be fine. I used to have a bubble bar going all the way across the back of my 85g tank and I swear they would line up and take turns running through the bubbles. Same with water current (myth) mine actually will play in any current and even when i pour buckets, they will hang out right under where the clean warm water is coming in.

[swinters66]

I usually siphon water from the tank, and yes I use tap water. The PH is 7.7. I dont have a fancy water changing system like a lot of people here...I use a good ol fashioned bucket and a gravel vac. Its a 60 gallon tank, so its not a difficult job to change the water, plus the bathroom is next to this room. The temp of the water has been 85-86 degrees...around there.

I use Stress Coat and add that to the bucket, let it sit for a few minutes then add it into the tank. I have used Prime before also but currently its the stress coat.

I do small water changes. Maybe 25% every other day. I have alot of filtration like I said before.

They are still looking fine this morning and ate a few minutes ago. I feed them again before I leave for work and later once I get home. I don't over feed though. I add a little food at a time, let them eat it, then give a little more. Ill sit in front of my tank for a good half hour sometimes, slowly feeding them, and stopping once they sort of lose interest in me and the food.

Ill keep the air stone, since it's helped and they dont mind the bubbles.

Thanks guys!

[pcsb23]

I have airstones or air driven sponges in virtually all of my tanks. In some I also have quite a lot of flow, apparently discus don't like moving water either ;) Good job they can't read books :)

Its perfectly allright to have an airstone in with your discus.

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Steph ~ I have oodles of bubbles everywhere! And my filters are like a wave maker! They do not mind in the least....where the phrase came from...."discus like slow moving/paced water"....umm......that'd be a no! lol!


Mine are totally indifferent to it ~


Marie~:angel:

[steve.ryall]

Steph,

Sometimes you can get a thin film on thesurface ofthe water, specially if you do not have much surface movement. Not sure where this film comes from, but might be from some foods, or even hands (oils in skin....ladies hand creams :p ) If this was the case, you can normally see it, it looks a little like diesel in the rain. it can be removed by laying kitchen paper on the surface for a few moments, then removed....and the surface is clear again.
The film can stop the oxygen being disolved into the water, hence the use of an airstone/sponge filter.
HTH

Steve

[swinters66]

OMG Steve...I have seen that film on the surface of my water!! I figured it was from the beefheart....

But they dont seem to even notice the bubbles!!

Thanks everyone!!

Marie...oodles of bubbles....lol I like how that sounds!!

[White Worm]

I always have air in the tank but I run a few sponge filters with stones inside for plenty of surface movement Lack of surface agitation seems to cause lack of oxygen. Run a couple air stones and they should be fine.

Many bubbles breaking the waters surface is what you want. You could even get yourself some of those decorations that you hook air to if you didnt like the sight of plain stones. Just hide the stone inside or behind something. A bubble bar behind driftwood is a nice look.

[Sharn]

steve- are you talking about protien films?

[Marinemom]

Airstones and discus mix very well togather. I do not have it in with my discus because my discus are in a fully planted aquarium and the plants do not like all the bubbles and the surface aggitation. The discus do not seem to care one way or another.

Diane

[ahmad]

Hi swinters66

That good to add air stone in you tank that is help to add oxygen in you tank.

but try to make the bubbles very small and soft.

Thank

Ahmad

[swinters66]

Well I dont know if the bubbles are soft...its in the back corner of the tank, inside a terra cotta pot...but the discus don't seem to notice the bubbles...sometimes they swim behind the bubbles!!

I got the new impeller for my eheim...so tomorrow I get new media and finally clean that bad boy out! I think its clogged full of gunk, because it doesnt seem to be running as strong as it was a few months ago. So, a good clean out and all should be well. Dont know yet if I will keep the air stone...maybe.

[Timbo]

"That good to add air stone in you tank that is help to add oxygen in you tank"

just to reiterate: :) its not the bubbles themselves that help very much with O2/CO2 exchange, as a matter of fact, the bubbles themselves do very little in that regard. its the surface agitation aspect that is important.

[ahmad]

Hi Timbo.

You are true but the air stone is help also.

Thanks

Ahmad

[wolfbane]

Hey Steph, I use air stones too! This Houston water is weird, sometimes they switch from chloramine back to chlorine, then back again. They don't always tell us what's going on, lost a 29 full of tropicals 30 mins after a water change once.
If you are doing the "bucket brigade" may I share what I use?
I have a gravel vac, and I bought another 15 feet of same size clear hose, got a splicer, now I clean and run the hose out the window to the yard. For fill ups, I use a RV water hose hooked to my kitchen sink faucet via adapter, no more buckets for me!

[White Worm]

Just did the same thing. After months of bucket brigade....lol...I just picked up 10' of new hose today and I will just have my old one for drain and the new hose for fills.

[Apistomaster]

Hi,
On the subject of what happened to your discus that is the topic. There is a drop in dissoved oxgen temporarily partly from the chemical reactions the water conditioners cause and the water fresh from the tap is low in dissolved oxygen. Ideally it would be nice if we had room for a reservoir of pre -conditioned water but a clean garbage can work and areate and heat to tank temp 24 hours and there will be no temporary drops in oxygen. Back to the real world:
1.Do buy a 25 ft RV type water hose, faucet adapters and a few PVC pipe fittings and build your own drain and fill system. Buckets went out with black and white TV's. About $20 will do it and it's a better system than the specially made commercial gadgets that are so overpriced. Just reverse the hose to fill or drain mode. The PVC fitting are all 1/2 inch. Take 2-90degree elbows, 1 garden hose threaded coupler and a little PVC pipe to construct an upside down U that allows the hose to hang on the side of the tank when in use. A nice added touch is to make a end piece attached to another elbow that has plastic window screen over the end so you don't have to watch out for curious tetras who like going down the drain to see what's out there.
2. Discus like water with high oxygen levels. Saturation is temperature dependent so what is saturated at 86dF and great for discus would be too hot and to oxygen poor for a fish from a fast flowing cooler stream.
Discus like areas of both calm and faster flows. Allow them to choose by providing both. My rearing tanks are always overcrowded by any standard but even if they aren't here is how I have set them up. 1 sponge filter-air driven, 1 sponge filter-powerhead driven and one airstone per tank.
All flows can be adjusted to suit the age and number of discus per tank
3. Show Tank: I have a Huge DIY wet/dry filter, 1 Eheim#2217, and 1 powerhead ddriven sponge filter. I pump air to the venturi input port on the powerhead because of the depth of the tank is greater than venturi suction alone will work without assistance. So, I have a spray of bubble loaded water coming from the sponge/power head. This and the wet/dry provide the highest possible oxygen levels.
The Fish: 10 Heckel Discus, 5 wild Peruvian scalare, 12 Trifasciatus Pencilfish,
8 King Tiger plecos L66, 8 Leopard frog Plecos L134 and a large (huge) pair of common BushyNose Plecos for algae control. All the fancy plecos find all bottom food missed by the discus so I have left out Corydoras and they also prefer the same temperature as the discus. Only a few Corys handle 86dF water for long.
Larry