moving fish

[Jason K.]

how should i go about getting a tank ready for my discus, i currently have 3 in a 40 gallon all juvies 2-3 inches i want to move them to my 55 or 75 gallon tanks, these now house africans which the water perameters are very hard. do i need to remove the substrate completely or can i just adjust my water before moving them. and yes my others will be removed first. any tips?

[Larry208]

how should i go about getting a tank ready for my discus, i currently have 3 in a 40 gallon all juvies 2-3 inches i want to move them to my 55 or 75 gallon tanks, these now house africans which the water perameters are very hard. do i need to remove the substrate completely or can i just adjust my water before moving them. and yes my others will be removed first. any tips?

I did basicly the same thing you are tring to do and if you want to do it right and be safe then take everything out of the tank and start new. You will definately need to remove the substrate because it can hold in any nitrates and nitrites. ( I was raising Frontosa`s) You will need to wash out the tank that housed Africans in to get all the salt residue out and then start fresh to get your water parimaters right. I am new to raising Discus but I had recieved advice from a veteran member on the site and this is what he advised me to do and I am glad I listened to him in the long run. It was much harder to do it that way but a lot better.

Hope this helps Just a thought.

Larry

[Jhhnn]

I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but keepers of africans commonly use buffering substrates to keep water parameters where they're supposed to be for africans, and that's not where they're supposed to be for discus, at all...

If that's the case, or if you don't know the composition of the substrate, then it's gotta go, so you might as well drain and scrub the new tank, seed it with water and sponge filters from the old tank, proceed from there...

[Jason K.]

the substrate in the tank is just natural gravel, and i do not buffer the water at all i simply use straight well water that has a naturally high ph. in my area. i use a mix of ro/well water for the discus thats wy i would drain the 55 down first and add the mixed water to it.

[Jhhnn]

I follow the herd wrt young discus and barebottom tanks- it just works.

OTOH, if your africans are truly healthy, then you'd probably be OK to vacuum the gravel thoroughly in the process of draining the tank, refill with water from the current discus tank and fresh water, go from there. Everybody's comfort level there will be a little different.

It's really a lot more work maintaining gravel than bare bottom, if you want to give the fish the water quality and the amount of food they require to grow out well...

[Armandi_Fishcarer]

Personally I would take everything out & a small amount of bleach, wipe tank down. Gravel would be rinsed & baked in an oven on a tray(foil covered) on full heat for 3-4hrs. All other equipment would be wiped/flushed with bleach, no need for long days chore as the longest should be the oven baking. Fill tank up half/full & run for a while 1hr+ empty & refill and run. :D

As Jhhnn remarked, it truly is upto the personal preferance of the individual & how well he/she knows their tanks! :D

Regards
Ahmed ;)

[Scribbles]

I would tear down the tank and disinfect it with a bleach solution and rinse well with water dosed with Prime. I would get rid of the old substrate then transfer the discus and their filter. Just my 2 cents.

Chris