Planning a discus tank... newbie here...

[dennt503]

Hi guys,

my name is ardenn. I am from toronto, canada. Lemme start by thanking people who run this forum. Lots of very helpful stuff!

Here goes my story...

I have kept discus and other freshwater back in the Philippines when I was a teen (about a decade ago). I would say I had some success (kept them alive). Now i wanna get back into fishkeeping. I've considered some other fish (mbuna among others), but i keep on thinking about keeping Discus. I currently have a 90 G and plan to keep adults for display (i dont intend to breed) only. I also intend to keep it bare bottom.

But here's the thing. Due to my job, i'd only be home 4 days in a week. and would only be able to do water changes 2 x/week max. But my dad would be able to feed the fish everyday...

Pls tell me what u think guys. I really really wanna keep discus. But do u guys think my schedule could work somehow? Thanks

ardenn

[Scribbles]

Welcome to Simply Ardenn! As long as you don't overstock and feed cleaner types of food you shouldn't have any problem with 2x a week water changes.

Chris

[csarkar001]

alternatively, you can invest in an automatic water changing system.

[dennt503]

i dont think i can afford automation at the moment..

[dennt503]

Thanks, CHris! what type of filtration would be good for a 90g considering I'd only do 2 water changes a week?

[Scribbles]

You have lots of options, it just depends on what you like. You could go with sponges, hang on back (HOB), or a canister. IMO these 3 are the easiest to set up. If you get a drilled tank and have the room you could set up a sump.

Chris

[zamboniMan]

Something with carbon or purigen is my sugestion... As long as you change it out every 3 to 4 weeks you don't have to worry about it leaching impurities back into the water. I only change water 2 to 3 times a week myself.

[dennt503]

hey samboniman,

what kind of filtration do u have? how big is your tank? How many discus? and doesn't carbon cause discus illness? at least that's what I have read...

[zamboniMan]

I've been keeping discus for a couple years and I have around 20 tanks.

5 Killie Tanks (All 5 gallons or less)
15 Discus Tanks (30 gallons - 75 gallons)

I use wet/dry/sumps on all my discus tanks along with Magnum 350's.
I use HOB's or sponge filters on the Killie Tanks (Sponge filters on the breeder tanks, activated carbon on the grow out tanks).

I haven't had any problems with using Carbon but I never let it sit for more than 4 weeks. Most people who have problem with Carbon let it sit too long.

Alternatively Seachem makes a product called Purigen which can be recharged with bleach several times.

I use activated carbon because it works for me. I know it's not standard anymore but it was back when I came into the hobby and it's always worked for me so I've seen no reason to spend the extra money on something else. I'm one of those "If it aint' broke don't fix it" kinda guys.

Good Luck