Hi all Thanks 4 the great site

[calgarydiscus]

my name is nick and i have been keeping discus for about 3 months now. have had cichlids (that breed) and many other various fresh water fish. I currently have 3 discus all purchased from the same store a BD and a maui red i think, (the asian fellow selling the fish told me thats what it was...) or was that rio red i cant remember... and a turquoise snakeskin witch has stress bars and is much more aggresive than the other 2 . I think that the BD has parisites because he is loosing color from the back of its top and botton fins (thay are going transparent) and they are blackening at the tips i raised the temp from 86 to 88 (also had free floating worms in the tank), ph 6.5, 80/20 RO/TAP. in a 25 gallon with an aquaclear 30 an ceramic airstone.
what should my hardness be?
should i use blackwater extract ?
should i use discus buffer? witch brand?
should i add salt how much?
should i use peat?
should i have drift wood?

Also who ships to canada or where in canada could i buy decent breeding stock?? also i cannot find metro bits or prazi bits in canada??
the fellow at the LFS also said that the little holes where not hole in the head and they where vent holes lol...
fish seem happy a little skiddish but theres only3

[discus_newbie]

Welcome to Simply!!! I'm not professional YET so I'm not going to give any advice (incase they're wrong) but I'm sure members here will help you very soon. Again Welcome !!!

[Patr1ck]

Welcome to Simply as well. First off I think that you need more filtration in your tank, maybe an aquaclear 50. I tend to go with a filter that is rated for a tank twice as big as the tank that its going on. Discus like O2 so the airstone is a good idea. I wouldnt worry about parasites yet. The worms are planarian worms, they are a sign of a tank that needs better housekeeping, ie. wiping down the glass, cleaning the filter more often, vacuuming the gravel, and changing more water or water more often. They could also be there from overfeeding. Dont worry we've all had them at one time or another. They dont hurt your fish, they are an indication that the water that they are in could. Also 3 is usually a bad number for a group of discus. I would recommend getting a 55 gallon tank and going with 5. Of course you could go with a bigger tank but remember the rule of thumb of 10 gallons/1 adult discus.
Dont worry about the hardness unless you are going to breed them.
Dont worry about the ph as long as it is stable.
Dont worry about Black Water Extract, Discus Buffer, or peat.
Drift wood is not necessary but if you want it, get it.
A little salt wont hurt but it is not necessary either.
April is a sponsor here and she is in Canada, she also has discus from time to time. http://www.petsbeautiful.com/
What is your water change regime?


HTH,
Pat