New 72g Bowfront :)

[Jen]

Hello :) I am not new to Simply, but I just purchased a new 72g bowfront today, and i was wondering how often i should change the water in it....I know that larger tanks take less upkeep, but i need to know how much less.....I have a 54g bowfront corner tank right now that i will be upkeeping as well, and i change it every two days and do 35-40%.....Any ideas ?
:)

[Arjunpun]

U want your discus to grow fast and look at its best shape then do it everyday. But if u are busy person do at least 3 times a week. This is just my opinion. I may differ from other ppl way of handling their discus. Enjoy your hobby.

[Jen]

Thank You so much for you input, i greatly appreciate it....I am a busy person and i like to do my water changes either every other day, or every two days....I do about a 20g water change on my 54g every two days....The nitrates in that tank are always below 5ppm.....How many discus do you think i could put in the 72?

[Arjunpun]

It depends on how many filter ; how much water change and your discus keeping experience. Like here everyone says 10 g per adult discus. So if u follow that theory its 7 discus.

[Harriett]

Is this going to be BB or a planted tank? What is the filtration in it? Most importantly, what size discus are going in, as in juvies, subadults, or adults? [are they 3" or 5" or what].

To be safe, esp since you are busy and looking to do fewer water changes, I would say stick with 6-7 discus for sure. When you do your water changes, it takes only a couple extra minutes to turn that 35-40% change into a 65-80% water change--it can make all the difference in the world on tank water quality. Go for larger water changes. The frequency of the water changes is dependent on how many fish and how frequently you are feeding. Give more info and I can give you a better formula.
Best regards,
Harriett

[Jen]

Right now i have a 54g bowfront corner tank.....and i have 6 sub-adults in it...plus a royal pleco, two khuli loaches, and two zeebra loaches......I hope on getting a small batch of fry to put in the 54 and move all of the older fish out into the bigger tank....so at most after i grow out the fry i would have 7-8 in the 72 and probably 5-6 in the 54.....The 72 will have a finer substrate than the med gravel i have in the 54....its a course sand i guess....I will not be doing a planted tank...just fake plants and real drift wood.......

[ZX10R]

Welcome to Simply Jen,

I have a 92 corner tank and I have double the filtration on it that I need but I do a 40% to 50% WC every three days. But I may start doing it every two days since I have just added a few more fish. I have fake plants and substrate just like what you are planning in my tank also.

Good Luck
Sean

[Harriett]

Right now i have a 54g bowfront corner tank.....and i have 6 sub-adults in it...plus a royal pleco, two khuli loaches, and two zeebra loaches......I hope on getting a small batch of fry to put in the 54 and move all of the older fish out into the bigger tank....so at most after i grow out the fry i would have 7-8 in the 72 and probably 5-6 in the 54.....The 72 will have a finer substrate than the med gravel i have in the 54....its a course sand i guess....I will not be doing a planted tank...just fake plants and real drift wood.......

You should do well with that set up, but again, wondering what your are filtering with, do you use prefilters on the intake pipe, how often and what do you plan to feed in the 72?

[Jen]

I bought a 110 Aqua Clear HOB filter I plan to layer like my 54 ... Sponge on bottom, then filter wadding, then biomedia.....I will have a prefilter sponge in the intake valve to save the sponge in the filter a bit......I plan to feed live black worms....my discus love them....I feed pelet as well, but my pleco seems to like them better than my discus....i have a clean reliable source for black worms, and i have never had any problems with disease :)

[Jen]

Will the 110 HOB be enough for a 72?

[Arjunpun]

With 1 filter and feeding blackworm live. U have to do more waterchange. If I were u I would add one more filter. Thanks.

[Jen]

Ok thank you all so much for you wonderful advice :)