My discus like high flow? Anyone else agree or see this in theirs?

[ericatdallas]

From time-to-time I see people post that Discus like calm waters... anyway, recently I put a powerhead in my tank to agitate the water and help put more oxygen into the water. This originally was temporary while I was trying to figure out why my discus were sick.

However, I've kept it in there b/c the Discus really seem to like it.

MJ-1200 (295 GPH)
Fluval 405 (340 GPH)
Whisper 60 (330 GPH)
air pump

According to MFG specs, I'm looking at nearly 1000 GPH in a 75 gallon tank.

i have all the devices discharge in the back corner of the tank to allow the option of calmer waters but all the discus hang out there.

During water changes, a few of them swim right up to where the hose is discharging.

Even assuming my devices are only working at half the spec'ed amount, that's still quite a lot of water turning over.

[strawberryblonde]

Mine don't seem to object to the faster currents, so long as they aren't pointing straight at the top of the water or right in the middle/front of the tank. I have a VERY small spray bar in the top corner in order to oxygenate the water. It actually shoots the water up and out before it hits the top of the water. They will NOT swim up into that corner...not even if a tasty hunk of FDBW's floats over there!

But, the spray bar down the back corner of the tank creates a pretty big current near some plants and driftwood and they absolutely love swimming in that section. Two of them even sleep in that corner! I've been thinking about adding a powerhead to eliminate any possible dead zones and haven't figured out where best to put it yet, but I'm thinking that back corner would work. Maybe even two of them. One to blow food down into the water column so I don't have to turn off my sump every 4 hours, and another near the bottom to push water out and up so it doesn't stagnate down there. LOL

So, to answer your question...nope, mine don't mind a lot of current at all. Swimming under the incoming fresh water during WC's is their favorite thing to do.

[Scott293]

Wow! My fish have never swam under the fresh water in my water changes. They always hide when it's water change time. Maybe I should take a better look at my "fresh water". But they don't seem to mind the high currents at all. If they spawn in my community tanks they never have wigglers. I thought this was because they're young and male shooting blanks. If they didn't eat them first then they would quickly turn white. I just moved a pair to a 29 gallon 3 weeks ago with a small whisper filter and a sponge filter. The first spawn they ate on the second day and I did see a few white eggs. The second spawn I shut off the water filter and only had the sponge filter going. The only water agitation were the bubbles from the sponge filter. In 48 hours there were (2) white eggs out of the whole spawn and they are all wigglers at this point.

The way it appears to me so far is that the currents are not good when it comes to fertilizing a spawn. Also they may have to chase the food that gets in the current. But what's wrong with a little exercise. I have have some that even sit in the current waiting to chase that chunk of food that comes darting by.

[Scott293]

Anyone else?

[dadecountyalan]

i have a 70 gallon marineland filter on my 55 and they seem to like it. plus when i do water changes they go right up to where i throw the water waiting for me to give them food afterwards.

[Hsunami]

A few of my old stock did that to. At the discharge they would constantly try to swim over it. It was really cute to watch them fighting their way to the current and after a few secs of trying they just stop and swim away. Then a few minutes later they try again. Its cute i think they are exercising Its their water treadmill. Some discus like to be "fit" not big and round. LOL

and they did swim to over to the hose when ever i was adding fresh water. They like the shower i guess

[jball1125]

I dont think my discus mind it. However I do, I hate the way discus look in the current.

[Darrell Ward]

First off, I don't think you really have as much flow in your tank as you may think unless your run your filters with no media in them. Most, if not all, Mfg. test their filters empty, because it shows a higher flow rate. Second, I think your fish probably enjoy the increased oxygen levels at the discharge points. Many people would probably be shocked if they tested the total dissolved oxygen saturation levels of their tank. Some can be quite low, especially if their primary filtration is from canisters, which are sealed tight to prevent leakage. Powerheads can certainly help with this, but airstones that put out lots of fine bubbles are best at raising oxygen saturation levels. By raising the oxygen levels, most people notice increased activity in their fish.

[damtrees]

1 have 2 fx5 running on my 150 1 pointing down with nothing on it to keep the bottom clean the other is at the top pointing randomly at the frount of the tank and i can catch them swimming in the flow all the time

[ericatdallas]

First off, I don't think you really have as much flow in your tank as you may think unless your run your filters with no media in them. Most, if not all, Mfg. test their filters empty, because it shows a higher flow rate. Second, I think your fish probably enjoy the increased oxygen levels at the discharge points. Many people would probably be shocked if they tested the total dissolved oxygen saturation levels of their tank. Some can be quite low, especially if their primary filtration is from canisters, which are sealed tight to prevent leakage. Powerheads can certainly help with this, but airstones that put out lots of fine bubbles are best at raising oxygen saturation levels. By raising the oxygen levels, most people notice increased activity in their fish.

How much do you think the media restricts the flow? Especially the power head which doesn't even have a sponge filter at the intake. I imagine 50% is a conservative estimate and 500GPH on a 75G is still a lot.


Even assuming my devices are only working at half the spec'ed amount, that's still quite a lot of water turning over.

You make a good point about the O2. That's certainly possible. I don't think there's much difference in behavior, just where they like to situate themselves. They're still the same happy and active fish they've always been though. I'll have to keep that in mind though when if I decide to pull the MJ-1200. My plan is to use it for water changes and you have to reconfigure it for air or pumping needs. I have two right now but when I setup my other tanks I will want to repurpose it.

[discolicious]

It's easy to interpret an animal's behavior in terms of "liking" it. They may do it for reasons that we don't understand, or because it creates a sensation for them that actually does trigger a "pleasure" response in their brain. Most of the time, it's related to their survival, and most often their reproduction. What we sometimes know about an animal in the wild, may not be relevant in the tank. While it is known that wild discus only inhabit limited areas of certain rivers, almost always back waters where there is very little water movement, it may not mean that they don't find moving water in a tank in some way invigorating. It was discovered years ago with tank raised fry, that too much water movement would cause the fry to become caught up in swimming against it to the point that they would exhaust themselves and die. This is probably a good clue to why discus stay in slow water areas. But that doesn't mean that adult discus may not get an O2 "high" or an "exercise rush" by getting in a fast moving stream of aquarium water.... kind of like me and roller coasters!:)

Tom

[Sean Buehrle]

LOL

The new fish i just got love it in the high current at water change time. They go straight to the spot that i fill it and wait.


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[tardis]

my discus do the same thing and i siphon my water in so as not to agitate my substrate and as soon as they see the big green hose they all swim in it.

[DonMD]

When I'm replacing water after a w/c, using a hose with a spray nozzle, they come right up and stick their bodies in it. But I think they're hoping I'll accidently feed them at the same time ;). I think as long as they can get away from the strong flow, they may enjoy it.

[annj]

My 6 love the current. They acutally play in it. If not the current, then my bubble stone. They like to swim up and down in the bubbles. Crazy huh?

[Matt0matic]

Whenever i see threads regarding current I always watch the Lucky Tropical 'fastest water change' video and wish I had some water changing system like that! The fish don't seem to mind the high flow..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWMnPZKJWaE

[REC]

Whenever i see threads regarding current I always watch the Lucky Tropical 'fastest water change' video and wish I had some water changing system like that! The fish don't seem to mind the high flow..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWMnPZKJWaE

LOL man I need to step up on 95% daily instead of 75% thats crazy^ Speaking of the flow issue although I've only had my group for a few days they seem to enjoy the high flow of my 75g. They are very active and don't seem bothered by it one bit.
Filstar XP3 (Canister) 350gph
Magnum 350 (Canister) 350gph
Emperor 400 (HOB) 400gph
Emperor 400 (HOB) 400gph
2x Rena 300 Air Pumps

[walt3]

i recently added a ac70 and power head to my 75 in addition to the 2217 and everyone is very happy.

[PhishNFilly]

My juveniles love to be in the flow area, I over filter a bit and they seem happy playing there. Julia

[ericatdallas]

I can't help but keep thinking how dirty the water in that first tank was compared to the other tanks. At first, I thought, maybe they were using some additive (i.e. peat moss) but it looks like it's connected to the same system based on the refill...

Also, that's where I want to get my system, but I don't have floor drains. This is what is making it so hard for me right now is figuring out the plumbing.

I guess if I ignore the bottom vacuuming, I might be okay...