So many questions, so many different answers.

[wannabe68]

New to the forum and first post. Great forum, and I’ve looked at all of them.
Got bored last night, no football on the tube, and started reading a thread about one of the members just starting a new discus tank. The tread went forever and I was up til ?? when my wife woke up to find out if something was wrong with me. Finally, went to bed, and got up and couldn’t find the thread again. No biggy, many more to read.
As I was reading last night, I was making notes on all the “conflicting” information I have gotton from so many different sources. I’ve been keeping discus for about 6 months. Lost a couple, but all in all, doing pretty good. Am in the process of moving from a 42 gal to a 75 gallon. Maybe some of you could help me along, because I don’t think you ever become an expert on discus.
1. Water conditioners. I presently use Amquel Plus and Stress Coat. Have read enough to know that I am immediately changing to Prime. Is it really necessary to use Stress Coat in addition to Prime? Getting cost prohibitive. ( Currently have 5 tanks, going to six).
2. Unusual pH question. PH coming out of the tap is 7.6+++. Once it goes in the tank, pH registers 6.0 or less. Could that be combining Amquel Plus with stress coat? Or have I got other problems? I know discus like low PH, but that seems too low. The fish seem OK with it, but…….
3. I know discus require really clean water. I do W/C’s twice a week. I was reading that some of you feed 3-4 daily. I feed twice a day, and have temporarily cut back to once a day. Nitrates were rising. I’m a working man, and don’t have time to do a water change daily. For those of you feeding 3-4 times a day, how much are you feeding per meal? Can’t be much, or you are doing daily water changes. (I am not interested in breeding, just love to watch the discus.)
4. On the subject of feeding, I know beefheart is a must. I can not get mine to eat it. Have beefheart formula the breeder gave me, they won’t touch it, even with a little garlic on it. Also tried frozen, and they won’t go for it. They love the frozen blood worms and tetra pellets with a little garlic. When they are bored or just hungry, they will nibble at OSI flakes. How do I get them to eat beef heart, or shouldn’t I lose sleep over it?
5. In the thread I was reading last night, someone warned about cleaning the filter too frequently, for loss of biological media attached to the unit. On average, I clean my filter units once a month. Is that to frequent?
I guess I have rambled on long enough. Any insight would be appreciated.

[fishmama]

Hi Wannabe-

I'm certainly no expert but, I believe in order to answer your questions accurately the "pros" will need more info about your tank.

e.g. water parameters (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc), type of filter you are using, how many fish, what size, what else have you tried to feed, etc?

Good Luck!

[pcsb23]

New to the forum and first post. Great forum, and I’ve looked at all of them.

Welcome to simply, glad you like it :)



Got bored last night, no football on the tube, and started reading a thread about one of the members just starting a new discus tank. The tread went forever and I was up til ?? when my wife woke up to find out if something was wrong with me. Finally, went to bed, and got up and couldn’t find the thread again. No biggy, many more to read.
:D You can always subscribe to the threads you are interested in, or bookmark them!



As I was reading last night, I was making notes on all the “conflicting” information I have gotton from so many different sources.
Many ways to skin the proverbial cat!



I’ve been keeping discus for about 6 months. Lost a couple, but all in all, doing pretty good. Am in the process of moving from a 42 gal to a 75 gallon. Maybe some of you could help me along, because I don’t think you ever become an expert on discus.
75 is a good size, and I've kept discus for a long time, wouldn't consider myself an expert ~ yet ;)



1. Water conditioners. I presently use Amquel Plus and Stress Coat. Have read enough to know that I am immediately changing to Prime. Is it really necessary to use Stress Coat in addition to Prime? Getting cost prohibitive. ( Currently have 5 tanks, going to six).

Prime alone will do.



2. Unusual pH question. PH coming out of the tap is 7.6+++. Once it goes in the tank, pH registers 6.0 or less. Could that be combining Amquel Plus with stress coat? Or have I got other problems? I know discus like low PH, but that seems too low. The fish seem OK with it, but…….

If it isn't broke - don't fix it! I doubt its the water conditioners, likely that the water has low carbonate hardness so might be worth testing that.



3. I know discus require really clean water. I do W/C’s twice a week. I was reading that some of you feed 3-4 daily. I feed twice a day, and have temporarily cut back to once a day. Nitrates were rising. I’m a working man, and don’t have time to do a water change daily. For those of you feeding 3-4 times a day, how much are you feeding per meal? Can’t be much, or you are doing daily water changes. (I am not interested in breeding, just love to watch the discus.)

Depends on the age of the fish, young fish I feed a minimum of 6 times a day, sub adults at least 4 a day, adults that I'm not conditioning for breeding twice a day and those that I am 3 or 4 times a day. I feed quite heavily too. If you keep adults in a moderately to lightly stocked tank with decent filtration then 2 w/c per week of around 33 to 50% each time will be fine and they can be fed twice a day.



4. On the subject of feeding, I know beefheart is a must. I can not get mine to eat it. Have beefheart formula the breeder gave me, they won’t touch it, even with a little garlic on it. Also tried frozen, and they won’t go for it. They love the frozen blood worms and tetra pellets with a little garlic. When they are bored or just hungry, they will nibble at OSI flakes. How do I get them to eat beef heart, or shouldn’t I lose sleep over it?
Don't lose sleep over it, if your feeding FBW, and quality flake/granule then their diet is adequate imo. BH is by no means essential.



5. In the thread I was reading last night, someone warned about cleaning the filter too frequently, for loss of biological media attached to the unit. On average, I clean my filter units once a month. Is that to frequent?
I guess I have rambled on long enough. Any insight would be appreciated.
Difficult to tell, I clean my sponges at least once a week, usually twice a week they get a good rinse out. On my cannister filters I clean the media monthly, my sump as and when.

[Ardan]

Hi and welcome,
Personally I don't like stress coat, I don't use it, past experience.

You can get along well without beefheart if they don't eat it. they do fine on frozen blood worms, tetrabits, live red wiggler worms...

might be a good idea to age the water in a bucket overnight and then check the ph and see if its not stable (without the fish adding to it)
you may have to age water for water changes.
I like prefilters on power filters and clean the prefilter daily.
Sponge filters are cleaned every other day in aquarium water, but once the sponge is well seeded and feels a bit slimy, the bacteria stay in it.

hth
Ardan