How to prep my current tank for discus...

[brands24]

I currently have a 75G with three fantail goldfish and two plecos in it for about 4 yrs. I'm planning on giving these guys away and getting discus in a month or so. My question is how should I prepare my tank for the discus to ensure I'm not going to contaminate them? Is there something I can treat the water with that won't destroy the nitrifying bacteria or is better to empty and disinfect and completely recycle?

[Second Hand Pat]

If you wanted to be totally safe doing a deinfect and complete fishless cycle is a great idea. Are you planning on BB, sand or gravel? Sand works better than gravel because it is easier to keep clean. BB is better than sand for the same reasons.

[jarret8x]

I just went through the same thing I chose to disinfect the tank and do a fishless cycle I didn't want to take the chance

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[Keith Perkins]

If you're going to get your discus from a sponsor, I'd ask them about buying a cycled sponge filter from them and place it and your new discus into a thoroughly cleaned tank. That's by far the safest and quickest way to get set up.

[Darrell Ward]

Goldfish are notoriously nasty fish, no offense, that can carry all sorts of nasties harmless to them, but deadly to other species. I've seen 18" peacock bass fall ill to bacterial diseases from eating pet store goldfish. For safety, it's probably best to bleach everything that will be reused for the discus setup.

[brands24]

Thanks, will do. I plan on using sand and buying from Hans.

[Foxfire]

You didn't say the type of filter - are you getting a new one (best.) Tubes are hard to clean well (can be done). Reseeding and growing a new filter is going to be a problem - this takes at least six weeks and often longer. Your one month time frame does not look doable.

[Keith Perkins]

Hans will definitely have some cycled sponge you can buy to restart the tank.

[strawberryblonde]

I just went through this with a used tank that I purchased for housing my discus. I tossed ALL of the equipment and substrate, took it down to BB and then bleached and scrubbed the heck out of it. (you don't wanna know how bad it smelled when I started removing the gravel...ewwwww)

Once that was done I rinsed it well in a mixture of 1 cup of prime to 5 gallons of water, then filled it with water and added another cup of prime. I let that sit for 48 hours, then drained and rinsed again, and again, and again.

After that I filled the tank and cycled it with a cycled bio-wheel from another tank that I trusted.

Oh, and I did buy a new filter. On top of not wanting to deal with any crud that might be in the old one, I also wanted more oompf than the old one provided since discus are more demanding.

SB