Best filter

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Howdy,

Im setting up a new display tank for my Discus babies. Do you think plecos are good starters?

Which filter is the best filter (Canister, power filter, ect.)?

Which brand of heater do you recommend? I've been using jager (which is great), and theo heater (which is garbage)

Any test kit recommendations?

On-hand chemicals or medications?

Your advice will be greatly appreciated, and help a rookie out plenty :p

[rickztahone]

canister filter-wise you can go with rena xp3 or any ehiems and your golden. heater wise you are fine with Jagers. test kits go with liquid instead of strips. API makes a good master kit. as far as meds go i like to keep metronidazole, kanamycin, epsom salt, levamisole, praziquantel among others.

HTH

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Great advice! You seem very experienced and on top of your game. So many meds and chemicals....any common ailments I should be looking out for?

[Harriett]

How big is the tank you are trying to set up, how big are the discus babies, how many do you have, is this ito be a longer term grow out or are you projecting a shorter term with a move to a larger tank during grow out?

What are they in now, what equipment are you currently using?

Thanks,
Harriett

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Thank you for asking...I love to talk Discus!


1. Water parameters
A) Temp:
88-90 F
B) PH:
6.8-7.2
C) GH:
75-150
D) KH :
100-180
E) Ammonia Level: 0
F) Nitrate: 5-10
G) Nitrite: 0
H) Water Changes:
Every 2-3 days, 30-50% depending on test results
I) Testing Schedule:
2 times a week

2. Tank set up
A) Tank(s) sizes:
40 gal display
10 gal hospital
18 gal QT
55 or 75 gallon planned for near future, not set up yet
B) Substrate:
Bare Bottom
C) Filter:
Display- Whisper EX 40 Power Filter
Hospital- sponge carbon filter. Currently no carbon (treating with medication)
QT- sponge carbon filter. Currently no carbon (treating with preventative)
D) Decor:
artificial wood and plants
E) Tank age:
all 3 months old


3. Occupants:
A) Discus and behavior:
Display- 4 Juveniles (2-3 inches), Red Melon and blue diamond seem to love each other, but Blue diamond hates everyone else in the tank. Cobalt gets picked on, and my Brilliant Blue terrorizes everyone. I was forced to capture and contain in a quarter of the tank separately. All 4 very active and eat 3-5 times a day.

Hospital- 1 Juvenile White Dragon. Slightly active and slightly eating 1 time a day

QT- 6 juveniles. All seem to be establishing pecking order at the moment. New to tank so still hiding, but slightly active and eating 1-2 times a day.
B) Tank mates:
Display- 2 juvenile Plecos and 1 adult male Pleco
Hospital- none
QT- 1 adult male Pleco
C) Last New Fish Added:
Display- Filter cycle matured with 3 Pleco and mature filter material, then added 3 Discus, waited 2 weeks and added 2 more, disease occurred and one discus was removed

Hospital- One Discus added 12 days ago, no Pleco

QT- Filter cycle matured with one adult Pleco, then 3 Discus added, waited almost 3 weeks and added 3 more this weekend! :D





3. Problems or Symptom Description (if any), and action taken:

Display- Some White spots on fins developing into tears and shreds. Suspected fungal and/or parasitic outbreak. Treated with Tetra's "Lifegaurd, halo shield all in one treatment". (supposed to cover bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections, open wounds, and also used as a preventative). Medication worked very well! Display tank almost 85 percent healed. 3 -4 days left of treatment.

Hospital- Treating same symptoms as display tank but more severe. White dragon occupant was near death, removed, and placed in hospital tank. Full recovery 50% achieved.

QT- Red Leopard Discus arrived via mail with scrap on side of body, some others have frayed fins. Treating with Life guard, healing present. 3-4 days left of treatment.



My plans were to raise my Juvi's in the 40 Gal until Thanksgiving. Then Place all eleven in a 55 or 75 gallon, let them pair off, then separate. All of my plans were detoured when I had the breakout described above. For a while I was panicked, but I found this miracle med! hopefully everyone will get well soon and be together in one tank. Wish me luck! :p





Pictures coming soon!

[rickztahone]

ok, a few things to get out of the way first. you can not keep 6 discus in an 18g or anything less than 55g if they are over 1 inch and you said they are. secondly, having the temp high might not be the best thing for your plecos. it also might not be a good idea if you have an internal bacterial infection. pictures would help a ton. you also mentioned you have 4 discus together in another tank. 4 is not a great number to keep them in since they take out the aggression (which is what you are seeing) on each other. if there were more then they would distribute the aggression evenly. so, first and foremost the best thing to do might be to set up the 55 or 75 ( i would go with the 75) and after you are done treating put them in the 75. it seems that the stress in being in a cramped tank might have weakened their immune system and they fell victim to parasite/bacteria or something else. again, pictures might help. even after you are done with the medication i would not put the carbon back in the filter. many on here do not find the need for carbon (me included). hope some of this helps, and let us know if you have any more questions

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Wow, so there is no difference between carbon and no carbon? Ok, what is the ideal filter media? Just sponge and canister?

I totally agree with you on the size of my aquariums. I never wanted to house discus in my smaller tanks, but unfortunately the outbreak detoured my plans. The treatment is almost finished, and my Discus will then undergo a strict water changing schedule (as they have been, except under med treatment) until placed in the 75 gallon. The Juveniles in the 18 gal QT tank do not show signs of infection. When the remaining Juveniles in the display tank fully heal (about 2 more weeks to complete), I plan on placing the qt discus into the display to help with aggression.

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Ok dudes, a lil update....

I started off with a Rena XP4 FilStar Canister Filter...after a month during my cycling, it broke down! :mad: Well, you can imagine the labor involved in setting it up, tearing it down, then setting another up again.
I'm a ferm believer in "things happen for a reason", so I'm mighty happy no Discus were involved, or casualties for that matter.

Now, I'm using Eheim Pro III & loving it! You get much better quality for your money. Much easier to handle, and 2 intakes vs 1! I'm happy and now my babies are happy. Thanks for all your advice!

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Has anyone else had a problem with Rena Filstar?

[rickztahone]

Has anyone else had a problem with Rena Filstar?

i must admit that that is a first. or at least i haven't came across such an incident on SD. my 2 xp3's run like a champ. like i previously mentioned i do not use carbon at all. all i have is the black sponges in the bottom tray, ceramic rings in the middle and filter floss in the last tray. how did yours break down? did you run it dry? it needs to be primed the first time and can get tricky if not done right. please let us know.

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

i must admit that that is a first. or at least i haven't came across such an incident on SD. my 2 xp3's run like a champ. like i previously mentioned i do not use carbon at all. all i have is the black sponges in the bottom tray, ceramic rings in the middle and filter floss in the last tray. how did yours break down? did you run it dry? it needs to be primed the first time and can get tricky if not done right. please let us know.

Primed? Your talking to someone who knows nothing about keeping large tanks. RO, CO2, Sump, Overflow, Primed is all new to me. :o

Do I have to "prime" my eheim?

I followed the instructions to the T. It just stopped pumping as hard...going from a normal spray bar to a trickle over night. I guess I just got a bad unit. It shipped cross country, so anything could have happened. I was wondering because Rena is a good company.

[akumastew]

Do I have to "prime" my eheim?


I have a Eheim 2180 Pro III, and I only needed to prime it, using the priming button at start up.

Haven't had to do it since.

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

ohhhhh....yes I primed my Rena. I knew this one. I need to get down to the lingo...still stuck on words like "Thingy" :p

[poconogal]

Has anyone else had a problem with Rena Filstar?
My XP3 has been running for 3 years now, never a problem.

[SheTankerDiscusChick]

Where can I get cheap Eheim parts? ie Spraybar and intake tube.