Tank Setup Questionaire

[Second Hand Pat]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

[Chicago Discus]

Great job pat this will be good for new people that just start out on the Forum I like it............Josie

[discus day]

you worked fast on the project =] glad to see this up!

[roclement]

Pat! I am glad you ran with the idea! Great job and if used, will save everyone a lot of grief! Now lets sticky this in the beginners area so we can all refer to it!

Rodrigo

[Second Hand Pat]

Hey guys, This was a group effort between me and Paul (discuspaul) with inputs and approval from Al. Al will sticky it when he gets a chance. Glad you guys like it. :)

Pat

[discus day]

hey i would just like to add shoouldnt you also have a question as to where the tank is located? ive notice that discus (any fish really) thats expose to alot of traffic is alot less skittish than those that arent.

[Second Hand Pat]

My experience is different. The 230 in the family room has a group of nice wild Tefe's and a pair with wigglers. The tank in the living room has 10 Cuipeua and hardly are the fish spooked in either tank. Now my little fishroom which is fairly quiet is where I spook fish daily :(

Once a person fills out the questionaire you can always ask more questions. :) Also if we make filling the questionaire a chore people will not bother in MHO.

[discus day]

My experience is different. The 230 in the family room has a group of nice wild Tefe's and a pair with wigglers. The tank in the living room has 10 Cuipeua and hardly are the fish spooked in either tank. Now my little fishroom which is fairly quiet is where I spook fish daily :(

Once a person fills out the questionaire you can always ask more questions. :) Also if we make filling the questionaire a chore people will not bother in MHO.

my experience are as yours maybe i word it wrong? those that are expose alot more arent as shy correct? anyways true if its a chore not many will fill it out lol smart thinking ;)

[pcsb23]

... Al will sticky it when he gets a chance. ...Nah he won't ;) I beat him to it!

Good job guys :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks Paul :)

[Disgirl]

Well done Pat, thanks for doing this! Hopefully it will be used and make things easier at the forum.
Barb

[brewmaster15]

Thanks again Pat and discuspaul for the work here and Rod Clement for the suggestion. Now we just need to direct novices to this list and those trying to help them will have a better idea of what the novices experiences levels,details are and what their goal in this hobby is....That should make it easier to fit the help to problem or question.

Theres more to come as well, but we still hammering that out. This is a good start.

-al

[Larry Bugg]

Great work guys. Thanks

[Darrell Ward]

I plan to blow the dust off, and set up a 75 gal. sometime next week , or the following, soon as I round up all the gear. I could probably detail the the setup with some pictures. Perhaps that could also be helpful to some.

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks guys, definitely a team effort here.

Darrell, great idea :)

[williemcd]

Ya left out ONE very important consideration. Where/what thread would you like to see our resume's posted? Bill in Va.

[Second Hand Pat]

Bill, copy and paste into a existing or new thread.
Pat

[timmac69]

Great idea!

[Rummy]

I like this new form. Great idea.
Darrell, I like your idea as well. Sounds like your suggesting a pictorial atlas of a tank setup. Like a recipe with lots of pictures? That would be great.

[dprais1]

got a 50gal tank with 2 aquaclear 70's running at low setting. is this too much current?

[discuspaul]

That should be just fine.

[Darrell Ward]

I like this new form. Great idea.
Darrell, I like your idea as well. Sounds like your suggesting a pictorial atlas of a tank setup. Like a recipe with lots of pictures? That would be great.

I need to get off my butt and get it done! :D

[bullzi]

Hi all,

I just joined this forum today, I have gone through some stickies here and they are really really helpful. I am going to have a new tank soon and have some queries regarding it:

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Ans:- I am totally new in fishkeeping, I have no previous experience.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

Ans:- I have gone through some stickies on beginners guide, I am continuing reading more threads, I have read some threads in other forums, I have ordered Baro', pet manual for Discus.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

Ans:- My tank is a new one, 48 * 20 * 20 - it will be a display tank.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Ans:- I am not sure about it, but I have read BB is the easiest way to go.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

Ans:- I am totally confused here. I know people who keep discus change 30-40% water every other day/3 days per week. I also know people who does 200% each day. :(

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Ans:- I have bought Eheim 2217 filter, will also add a sponge filter additionally.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

Ans:- Tank is yet to be set up. Water will be from tap. I will buy test kit and post water parameters here.

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

Ans:- I wish to keep 5-6 discus max. You suggest if I can add any fish later.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Ans:- I can feed max 3 times/day. Beefheart/Goatheart really needed as diet for discus to make them healthy happy?

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

Ans:- My goal is to enjoy my discus in leisure hours and make them happy as well.

Hence, please advise can I plunge into this hobby or it is impossible to keep discus for beginners? Also, I will be keeping angel fish for the first 4-5 months, then change to discus. Is it doable?

[Shahlvah]

Hello guys, I am new here and I have the questioner....where do you want me to answer, posted?

[Shahlvah]

Hello all, (again, I guess here is the best placed to place the responses to your questioner, so here it goes:

I just joined this forum about 15 minutes ago, I am setting a 240g aquarium for my discus, the tank is cycled or almost cycled but we'll ge to that point in a minute when I get to that question so here I start:

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

- I ma kind of new and kind of old, I used to have fish tanks when I was young, then for years I did not. Now my sweet and loving husband is deployed in Afghanistan he gave me a 100 gallon tank to keep my mind busy and out of the thought of the war and it has work wonders. I set this tank as a Malawi Cichlid all mbuna tank, only rock dwellers, and that is my blue fish paradise, all my fish in that tank are blue.
Then I thought that I needed another tank, so many species, and in the begining I wanted a discus tank, the first time I saw one I was completely mesmerized by these amazing creatures, so I though, a 125 gallon will do the trick..and I start looking so far so good, until an opportunity to get a 240 gallon came along, I went ahead and got it, and after a lot of trouble to bring it home I start working on it.
Everything in that tank has been planned with discus on mind, the filters the heaters, the sand, the plants, the rocks, the background, where the aquarium is located in my home, and all the additional equipment that I have gather to make this happen.
So now the tank has been running for about a month, I seeded it with media from my 100 gallon and I also got some of Dr. Tim's One and Only to put beneficial bacteria in there, I have added some companion species first, cardinal tetras, harlequin rasboras, some glow light tetras and some diamond tetras, I also have 2 cory cats and 2 plecos (rubber nose)...no discus so far but I want to make sure everything is right before I bring them.
2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

Ans:- I have read a ton of material and pair with people that have experience keeping and breeding discus, but mostly is the research on the internet, and no, I have not buy any books...yet.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

Ans:- My tank is a 8 feet X 2 feet X 2 feet. It is a 240 gallon and it will be a display tank. The tank has been running for about a month now, it was seeded with media from my 100 gallon + Dr. Tim's One and Only beneficial bacteria. I will said that the tank is almost if not already cycled, my parameters are good and I don't see many if any spikes on the numbers and when ever I have one they are minimal, a good 25%-30% water change usually control that.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Ans:- Even though everyone said that a bare bottom is easier to maintain, I like to work...I guess, I have ceramic coated quartz sand, fine light beige in color that I like very much because it is round in shape, the fish like to swift through it and push it around (at least my mbuna does, this is inert sand so it won't change the PH (raise) on the water. I have some pieces (large) of driftwood and I know, shame on me....plastic plants, and let's not forget, some Colorado river rocks.
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5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

Ans:-I am going to be truthful to you, I do water changes 2 or 3 times a week, usually I do 25% to 30% but I still don't have discus, I know that this might change depending on the demanding of my new fish. So I think I will be able to do either way larger water changes, or more frequent water changes, I will not do a water change twice a day, I do hold a job and I work good 10 hours a day, most times from home, but still I can't just take off and do a water change while working. The maximun I am planning and I hope this will be enough is every other day, once per occurrence and up to 40%.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Ans:- I have a 90 gallon sump and a Fluval FX5 configured to eliminate ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites,I have biomedia in my upper and lower trays and fine filter pads and polishing pads I have also added Peat granules in my filter to help with the ph naturally. I have 3- 250 Aqueon Pro heaters in the sump that has maintained the temperature at 82.2 steady, I can raise the temperature if necessary, I have added to the sump a coralife 36 watt UV system that is running in an independent summergible water pump This to prevent disease and free floating algae. My sump pump moves 1000gallons per hour.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

Ans:- My water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 20
Nitritites (this morning) .25
PH: 7.0
Temperature: 82.2 F

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

Ans:- I am planning to house anywhere from 11 to 15 discus. I have companion fish 40 cardinal tetra, 14 diamond tetra, 17 harlequin rasboras, 14 glow light tetras. If any I will plan t bring more cardinals. I love how they school all together.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Ans:- I am feeding 3 times a day, right now to the stock I have I feed Omega One and Full Life Spectrum granules and flakes, because the main of my stock are vegetarian, I bring now and then the brian shrimp and I can bring some other frozen food that the discus would need, I have a very well supplied Local fish store where I live

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?


Ans:- My main goal with my discus is to have a show tank, to be able to sit and enjoy the beauty of the creation of God in these gorgeous creatures, also one of my main reasons for setting this tank is to give my husband a hobby where he can really focus into something so beautiful and rewarding and forget about what he is living in the war at his return, something we can enjoy together. He is kind man with deep love for all creatures, and so far he is very excited with the whole setting of the tank.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi bullzi and Shahlvah, welcome to simply and please allow me to suggest that you post your completed questionaires in a new thread you can create under "Discus Basics for Beginners". This will allow other members to answer your questions and comment in your threads.
Pat

Beautiful tank Shahlvah :)

[bugsandalphabet]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
Hello, I’m Miranda and I don’t have a whole lot of experience with fishkeeping. We have a 75 gallon tank with gravel on the bottom, artificial plants and other aquarium decorations. Currently in our tank we have: 1 cherry barb, 5 green tetras, 1 rainbow shark, 1 blue high fin platy and 3 Dalmatian mollies. Prior to this tank, we have each only had minor experience on our own. My husband and I maintain the tank now together and have been wanting to move toward Discus for awhile. I have heard and read many different things on how to progress toward a Discus tank if you already have other fish in the tank, so I wanted to come here to get the best advice before I took action.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I have done research in the way of reading through websites and checking out YouTube videos and I recently stumbled upon this forum and website, which appear to be much more in depth than others I have seen.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
Our tank is a 75 gallon with a filter system rated appropriately from a local pet store (charcoal, I believe, which I now know must be changed), heater system, and air flow system (not sure of the actual name, but we had difficulty properly cycling water in the tank and since adding this, have no had any difficulty). The fish currently in the tank are listed in my answer to question 1.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
The décor in our tank is gravel with artificial plants and decorative items that we purchased at a local pet store. The person I’ve spoken with locally said that this would not be a problem if we were to move toward a Discus tank and recommended that we do a top planted tank and use peat granules to regulate the water or acclimate it prior to adding Discus.


5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Typically we have done about a 10% water change every week (1x) and we use tap water and a gravel vacuum during this process. We have been advised to buy a reverse osmosis pump in addition to the setup we have right now, but being that I have so many questions, I have not changed anything yet.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I am unsure of which filtration we will be using, because I was unaware that we could not use our current filtration system. We have standard lighting, a heater rated for our aquarium size and a small pump that improves water circulation.


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 78-82

- tank ph 7.2

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 8.4

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0-0.5

- nitrate reading 20

- well water N/A

- municipal water N/A


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

Our current stocking levels are listed above in question 1. I am unsure yet of how many discus, because I thought this forum would be an authority on making a suggestion regarding stocking, as well as a few other things. We would like to have as many as is possible, as our final destination was to have a Discus tank. Our proposed source for getting Discus would be someone that deals with a local shop called Fishtopia. https://www.facebook.com/FishtopiaKC?fref=ts

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Our current feeding regimen is to feed 3 x per day, although they eat tropical fish flakes and we know that this method would more than likely change once we change our tank.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? In this hobby, our ultimate goal would be to have a something nice in our home that we could enjoy caring for and looking at. Is it imperative to have a bottom planted tank?

http://tinypic.com/r/28ujvh5/6
http://i49.tinypic.com/212615u.jpg

[drob85]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with. Hi all,

Hello my name is Dustin
I just joined this forum two days ago, I have gone through some stickies here and they are really really helpful, but the more I read the more I realize the more I don’t really know about discus beside the basic of keeping them alive and healthy .

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself.

Answer, I have had a tank just with 20 black tetra and a friend gave me 8 discus of different sizes because he got station overseas at first. And was told the basics

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

A)48.5" x 18.5" x 21.2" it is a display tank It has been set up for 10 months now.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

The tank has some décor 4 medium size peaces of drift wood with gravel bottom

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I do 50% R/O water changes every other week

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc

. For My filtration I use API NEXX for a 100 Gallons I also have a 100 gallon heater and lighting is aqueon colormax T8

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 82

- tank ph 7.0

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading .25

- nitrate reading 7.0

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I have 8 discus 4 are 5-6inchs 4 are 3-4inchs and 20 black tetra 1 bushy noise pleco

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Twice a day frozen blood worms

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus?

Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? Right now I have them in a somewhat community tank but will like to become a hobby breeder and enter shows if the opportunity and right fish comes by

http://i1323.photobucket.com/albums/u585/Drob85/photo_zps06f4cd7f.jpg

[musicmarn1]

Hi im Marnie and new to Discus !~ found this forum after a few months of reading and researching and came back to it just now to get darn serious about Discus. I have dreamed and plotted about a fully planted tank and finally got a 55g i know thats small potatoes for Discus but i will get larger later on so for my first set up im happy.

What other material would you recommend?

My main challenge is that i live in a remote area with well water, i have driftwood seasoned in the dirt planted tank, with eco complete and flourite dark on top of miracle grow organic dirt as per Dustins fish tanks you tube.

I have 3 filters, cannister, undergravel, and millenium 3000 hob and i need to change the lighting i was thinking 2 t5 x 54, 48" am researching madly to change that since my plants will need it. i have easy to moderate plants to start i bought 48 from aqua bid and they are healthy, i have not yet added CO2 and will not do so for 6 months.

the tank is already established bacteria wise, its cycled but the plants are new and that will need another while fishless in case i have to change things to help out plants i think....stop me at any point - its nerve wracking to think how horribly wrong i could be doing everything !@

My LFS has the SAME water as me so i was thinking of getting his three discus, though he charges horribly, they are young and dark but they have nice red eyes and i have visited them every week for a couple of months they are small and dark still and way to many fish in there with them but at least i know he doesnt even try and do anything special for them i think he only feeds them flakes! it would be a good fish to get for me because i KNOW i can do better than a 30g tank stocked with rainbows, congas, electric blue rams, german rams, a large chichlid peaceful but i forget the name, bala sharks and discus !!! sheesh but they are ok

my tap water is ph 8 (cringe) and the tank with driftwood and at 84 degrees is 7.4 im hoping to do some peat maybe in the cannister and the dirt will help ph come down too. but again he has none of that, though i would like to get 5 fish so they have a good group to make them happy so will buy two more,. should that be after the other fish settle in or at the same time ? i WOULD like to put my rainbows in there i just want them to be as happy as i can make them and will not do it until i get the much larger tank if that will make them worried. again still learning so feel free to pick me apart and put me back together :)


plants, i got a selection i got 24 java ferns, and a pick of 20 from this list Amazon Swords TALL, Ludwigia Peruensis or Broad Leaf, Cryptocoryne- Red, Bronze, Lutea, Ciliata, Spiralis, Undulata (pinkish), Anubias- Nana, Barteri, or Coffeefolia, Java Fern, Java Moss. Saggataria Chilensis or Subulata, Cabomba Purple or Green, Vallisennaria, Wisteria.

so i need to find where to order lights 48# and im ready to go i hope !

[Fish from Philly]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hello there! My name is Barry and I have been in the hobby since last December (about 18 months now). I have kept a tropical community with tetras, rams, apistos, plecos, shrimps and snails, and have a 55 gallon planted tank now with a school of rummynose, cardinal, emperor, plus a headstander, GN pleco, BN pleco, and GBR.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

Read hours upon hours and have decided I am upgrading to 150 gallon low tech planted discus tank

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
150 gallon, 6 foot standard display. It's been up with current owner almost a year.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. Currently have dirftwood and amazon biotope in my 55 and plan on replicating the same but will change the neon green gravel (forgive me, my first tank!) to a sand substrate with carribsea eco complete planted substrate under the sand in certain sections that will be more heavily planted

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I currently do 1 to 2 w/c per week about 30% each time. I do not age water and simply treat with tap water conditioner, let sit for 10 min, then add to tank in buckets. I bought a python and plan to use this for the 150

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

The new set up will have (2) 300 watt heaters, (2) Fluval F5, (1) Fluval 406. Rather than running a sponge, I was thinking to attach sponge to the intake of the 406. Also included in the package are double bright Marineland LEDs. I do not intend to use CO2 just yet.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____ neutral

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I plan on increasing my current schools to 30 cardinals, 20 rummys, keep the 12 emperors (unless I find more females then I will get them since I have double the amount of males now) adding a few octo or maybe 6 small sterba corys plus of course, the KING of the Aquarium - eventually a dozen or so discus (more like 6 to start)

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. I feed every other day flake food, and various frozen foods like blood worms, daphnia, baby brine. I also feed live brine once or twice a month

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

I plan on keeping a planted discus show tank


Thanks everyone!!

[discuspaul]

I'm finding the recent developments in this thread to be a touch confusing to me, so I guess I need some sorting out.
It appears to me that a couple of earlier posts (other than those mentioned below) may not have been responded to.

Have any of you, i.e.- drob 85; musicmarn1; or FishfromPhilly - had your questionnaire posts responded to yet - perhaps elsewhere, on another thread you may have begun ?

If not, please say so, and I'll be happy to respond when I can.

[musicmarn1]

no not yet, thankyou so much for offering !

main concern is well water and aging, i cant seem to age my water because it gets full of dog hair and cat hair (training in my home and rescue/rehabilitate shelter dogs so about 15 dogs a day) its just in the air from all the vacuuming and i will have to get a large tall container drill a hole in the lid fill it up with a hose and use a sump pump? (need to know how to set this up so water goes into the tank and how i switch this off if anyone can help there) to get water into the tank, and a heater and agitation.

my well water from the tap is 8 and then 7.6 in the tank the next day, GH was 8 bh was 5, i have 11 dime sized fry, they are now growing past that, some are huge and some are teeeny and yet all are active and eating well and no bullying yet. i have three 3" and i have 2 LFS discus that are not sick but were totally and utterly starved to death and rescuing them feels like the best thing i ever did. if they die they die but at least they are eating and happy.

so ANY help on how to get my guys the absolute best care i can give them, im feeding about 6 times a day, small portions until its pretty much all gone im doing two 30% -50 or even 60% percent WC a day (does that mean the pH is staying more stable the test gives me the same blue reading each time meaning 7.6 BUT its not as precise as a ph meter so im not sure how much it changes since i keep replacing lots of water that should make it more stable right?)

i keep the temp at 86 right now, had some minor fluctuations and heart palpitations from water-changes, why im desperate to get a tank set up to store age, agitate and heat water before it goes in the tank, i had a python but id rather ruin my wood floor with bucket changes than risk the fluctuations from the tap.

i have a fluval c4 HOB with ceramic nodes, a carbon, filter pad and bio screen and a marineland hob i just stuffed full of sponges and filter floss, i got a seperate sponge filter just in case but not set that up yet. got java fern and moss driftwood and rocks but bare bottom, put in an amazon sword in a pot and they love it.

So im getting a 100 gallon tank for them, will be bare bottom to start then planted when everyone ready and healthy, im more concerned about making my water just right and keeping them growing, id like to grow my own white worms and make my own beef-heart seafood mix. ill add some pictures, excuse the quality and i know the LFS little ones are horrible i couldnt stand another week waiting for them to die !

[QUA1L]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

1.A) My name is Taylor and I currently have a 75 gallon oscar tank with a lone oscar in it. The oscar was originally purchased by my wife 8 years ago and has been with us the entire time. I currently run 2 Eheim 2215's with sponge pre-filters, 2 Fluval C4's with sponge pre-filters, and an Oxygen Plus 2 Sponge filter hooked up to a Whisper 100 air pump. I clean the filters once per month on rotation. Every week a different filter gets cleaned. For cleaning filters I drain some tank water in to a 5 gallon bucket and gently clean the media. Tap water would destroy a large portion of my beneficial bacteria colonies. For that tank I perform 2 water changes per week, 80% on Sundays & 50% on Wednesdays. If I notice a lot of excess poo I may just do a 5 gallon syphon to get that out of the tank.



2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

2.A) No experience with discus. I've been doing some massive research for a couple of weeks which is what led me here. I've been reading through the stickies in the beginner sections as well as several other posts/threads.



3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

3.A) I have a spare 55 gallon tank (48"x12") and stand sitting in my garage. I'd use that and it would be a display tank. It's not currently set up and would need to be cycled. I know how to do a proper fishless cycle and that would be done before placing the fish in to the tank.



4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

4.A) I would do a BB 55 gal tank with a large piece of drift wood for decor. No plants. Keeping an Oscar meant I could never have live plants or they would have been destroyed by her. So having no experience with planted tanks and reading the several threads advising against it, Im going to take heed and just do the driftwood. I have driftwood in my Oscar tank, Im aware it needs to be boiled and soaked for several weeks before being put in to the tank.



5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

5.A) My water change practices for my Oscar tank were outlined above. For the discus I am aware that Im not going to be able to put the water straight from the tap in to my tank with my Python. For the record, I don't just put tap water in the Oscar tank at any temp. I treat the tank with my Prime and then add water of the same temp to ensure there is no stress to the fish. Im aware that with the discus I will have to invest in a large container to age water for 24 hours, and then pump it in to the tank during my water changes. I also understand that daily water changes will be normal for a discus tank. Minimum of 3 large changes per week with daily poop cleanings (25-50% change on those days).



6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

6.A) I will use two Fluval C4's with sponge pre-filters (no carbon, I NEVER use carbon. I add an extra pad instead). I don't currently have a heater that is suitable. I need to purchase one that can maintain a constant temp of 84°F.



7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

7.A) The tank is not setup, but here are the params for my oscar tank

- temp - 79°F (too low for discus, I know)

- tank ph - 7

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap - 7 (I do not treat for pH as 7 is right in line as acceptable for Oscar keeping)

- ammonia reading - 0

- nitrite reading -0

- nitrate reading - generally >10ppm. I do enough water changes and have enough filtration to never see a spike

- municipal water



8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

8.A) I'd stock 5 discus in the 55 gal tank. I would buy them as juveniles and grow them out. No proposed source as of yet, I just know it will NOT be my LFS. No dither fish.



9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

9.A) A quality frozen shrimp/blood worm/krill as well as Hikari Discus Bio Gold. After using Hikari products for my Oscar they have made a life time customer out of me. Feeding would be 4-5 times as juveniles with decreased feeding as they grow and age.



10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

10.A) I have no desire to be a breeder or compete in shows. I just want a tank to put in my family room that has discus in it. I won't be planted and my main goal is not to breed. If I hapeen to have fish that breed, great. If not, that's fine by me. Discus are just great looking fish and I'd love to have a tank in my house dedicated to them.

[discuspaul]

You are obviously well prepared, Quail, so you should do well with discus.
Go for it & best of luck to you.

[strawberryblonde]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

3.A) I have a spare 55 gallon tank (48"x12") and stand sitting in my garage. I'd use that and it would be a display tank. It's not currently set up and would need to be cycled. I know how to do a proper fishless cycle and that would be done before placing the fish in to the tank.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

5.A) My water change practices for my Oscar tank were outlined above. For the discus I am aware that Im not going to be able to put the water straight from the tap in to my tank with my Python. For the record, I don't just put tap water in the Oscar tank at any temp. I treat the tank with my Prime and then add water of the same temp to ensure there is no stress to the fish. Im aware that with the discus I will have to invest in a large container to age water for 24 hours, and then pump it in to the tank during my water changes. I also understand that daily water changes will be normal for a discus tank. Minimum of 3 large changes per week with daily poop cleanings (25-50% change on those days).



7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

7.A) The tank is not setup, but here are the params for my oscar tank

- temp - 79°F (too low for discus, I know)

- tank ph - 7

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap - 7 (I do not treat for pH as 7 is right in line as acceptable for Oscar keeping)

- ammonia reading - 0

- nitrite reading -0

- nitrate reading - generally >10ppm. I do enough water changes and have enough filtration to never see a spike

- municipal water



8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

8.A) I'd stock 5 discus in the 55 gal tank. I would buy them as juveniles and grow them out. No proposed source as of yet, I just know it will NOT be my LFS. No dither fish.



9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

9.A) A quality frozen shrimp/blood worm/krill as well as Hikari Discus Bio Gold. After using Hikari products for my Oscar they have made a life time customer out of me. Feeding would be 4-5 times as juveniles with decreased feeding as they grow and age.


Hi Taylor and welcome to the forums! This place is awesome and gave me the knowledge to start raising and keeping discus a couple of years ago so you came to the right place. =)

I quoted the portions of your post that might need a little tweaking on your part.

First up is the size of the tank. It's AWESOME for growing out discus, but might end up being too small once they reach full adult size, so just keep it in the back of your head that you might need to upgrade in a year or so, ok? I know that it's usually 10 gallons of water per adult discus, but just so you know, if you raise them right they might surprise you and end up being just plain too big to fit comfortably in the footprint of a 55.

5.A) So long as your tap water doesn't undergo a pH shift over the course of 24 hours of aeration, there's really no reason not to just use straight tap water for water changes. Mine doesn't shift, so I've never aged it. I do stuff a chunk of foam into the end of the python siphon during refills just to solve the micro bubble problem. One other note, for juvies you'll want to do at least one LARGE water change per day and possibly one smaller one in the mornings. (I can't promise that the second water change will produce jumbo discus, but that's what worked for me)

7.A) The only thing I see for your Oscar tank that isn't optimal for a discus tank, especially for growing discus, is the nitrate levels. An ideal level would be zero, but if you keep it to 5ppm or less you'll do just fine. =)

8.A) Definitely on the right track with this one! Check out all of our sponsors, ask lots of questions of people who have purchased from them and then make your choice. I can vouch for Discus Hans in the sponsor section. He's wonderful to work with and has GORGEOUS healthy discus. Others here can tell you about Kenny's Discus, Chicago Discus, Florida Discus and NJ Discus just to name a few. I love them all, but have never purchased from them.

And that's it! You sound like you have a good grasp of the essentials and are ready to get started on cycling your tank.

Oh wait...just reread your post and noticed the bit about foods. The Hikari foods are great, but if you can skip the bloodworm, shrimp/krill thing altogether your discus will thank you and you'll thank yourself when you don't have to wean them off of it. Instead, plan to feed frozen beefheart, freeze dried blackworms or bloodworms and a quality discus flake food. They love variety and if they're like mine they'll become addicted to freeze dried blackworms (lots more protein in them than frozen bloodworms/shrimp and krill).

[QUA1L]

Hi Taylor and welcome to the forums! This place is awesome and gave me the knowledge to start raising and keeping discus a couple of years ago so you came to the right place. =)

I quoted the portions of your post that might need a little tweaking on your part.

First up is the size of the tank. It's AWESOME for growing out discus, but might end up being too small once they reach full adult size, so just keep it in the back of your head that you might need to upgrade in a year or so, ok? I know that it's usually 10 gallons of water per adult discus, but just so you know, if you raise them right they might surprise you and end up being just plain too big to fit comfortably in the footprint of a 55.

5.A) So long as your tap water doesn't undergo a pH shift over the course of 24 hours of aeration, there's really no reason not to just use straight tap water for water changes. Mine doesn't shift, so I've never aged it. I do stuff a chunk of foam into the end of the python siphon during refills just to solve the micro bubble problem. One other note, for juvies you'll want to do at least one LARGE water change per day and possibly one smaller one in the mornings. (I can't promise that the second water change will produce jumbo discus, but that's what worked for me)

7.A) The only thing I see for your Oscar tank that isn't optimal for a discus tank, especially for growing discus, is the nitrate levels. An ideal level would be zero, but if you keep it to 5ppm or less you'll do just fine. =)

8.A) Definitely on the right track with this one! Check out all of our sponsors, ask lots of questions of people who have purchased from them and then make your choice. I can vouch for Discus Hans in the sponsor section. He's wonderful to work with and has GORGEOUS healthy discus. Others here can tell you about Kenny's Discus, Chicago Discus, Florida Discus and NJ Discus just to name a few. I love them all, but have never purchased from them.

And that's it! You sound like you have a good grasp of the essentials and are ready to get started on cycling your tank.

Oh wait...just reread your post and noticed the bit about foods. The Hikari foods are great, but if you can skip the bloodworm, shrimp/krill thing altogether your discus will thank you and you'll thank yourself when you don't have to wean them off of it. Instead, plan to feed frozen beefheart, freeze dried blackworms or bloodworms and a quality discus flake food. They love variety and if they're like mine they'll become addicted to freeze dried blackworms (lots more protein in them than frozen bloodworms/shrimp and krill).

Thank you for the replies as they are much appreciated.

If I can find a 75 gallon cheap I would just skip the 55 altogether to prevent myself from having to change over. I've read that 4 discus is the minimum amount you would want in a tank but I see a lot of people saying 6 would work in a 55. I've also read 11 gal per adult. I know some people say you can keep an Oscar in a 55 gallon but I think 75 gallon is the minimum. So I understand the thought, don't always go with the "minimum".

My pH does not shift whatsoever. It's 7 everytime I test out of the tap and 7 everytime I test prior/post water changes. Perhaps Im lucky there? Im more than ok with large water changes everyday, especially on a bare bottom tank. Maybe Im sick and twisted, but I love doing water changes and keeping a prestine tank. It pays off when people come over and comment on the purity and cleanliness of my Oscar tank.

My nitrates honestly rarely go above 5. I would be lying if I saw it's never happened though. I have never seen it above 10 however. Nitrates are a silent killer. In the Oscar world less than 20 is the acceptable mark although 0 is always preferred and I try to be as close to 0 as possible. I want my test as yellow as it can be. haha. I find it incredibly frustrating when I hear LFS employees telling people that 300 (yes, 300!!!) is an acceptable number.

I don't feed my Oscar frozen anything. I was under the impression that frozen krill/shrimp/etc.. was needed for their diet. If it's not that is more than ok by me as I've never found them to be vital for my Oscar. I feed the oscar insects that have not been treated with pesticides. That's her "snack" and the Hikari is her staple food source.

Thank you again for the responses.

[strawberryblonde]

Ahhh, so glad you're not married to the idea of bloodworms and shrimp! =)

You can order the freeze dried blackworms from one of the sponsors on this site. My discus are super picky and insist on only having Al's FDBW's. (Al owns these forums so I feel good about tossing my money his way). For the flake foods mine get a variety of Discus flakes including a new one by Cobalt brands that is endorsed by Discus Hans, Ocean Nutrition Discus Flakes and a Spirulina Flake. For the frozen beefheart I just buy San Fransisco Bay Brand and I buy it online in BULK! The shipping cost is the same no matter how much I order, so lemme tell ya, I save some major bucks by purchasing at least 12 packages at a time and it keeps well in the freezer.

A 75g would be perfect for 6 discus. I'm just guessing here based on how you filled out the questionnaire, but I'd bet that you're going to grow out some larger sized discus. I was new to the hobby 2 years ago and didn't know any better, so I followed the advice on these forums to the letter (2 daily water changes and feed 6 times a day) and ended up with a tank of jumbo discus! There's no WAY I could ever fit them all into a 55g tank. In fact, I just recently had to put 3 of them in my 55g for a week and the poor guys barely had room to swim. LOL

[Powerphoto]

Awesome, I am new to this forum coming from reef tanks, I will fill it out thanks for the info!!!

Shane

[Powerphoto]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

My name is Shane and I have kept saltwater tanks and reef tanks for the past 15-20 years, I have bred and raised clownfish. I currently have a 30 g reef clownfish tank.
I have a empty 120 g sump setup I would like to turn into a planted discus tank

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have no previous experience with discus but have read all the stickies and have done a bunch of research.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I have a empty 120g tank, I believe it's 6 feet long by 24 inches high, it has two over flows. Right now it is empty, I am looking to turn it into a display discus tank with live plants.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

I would like to have pebbles as a substrate, wood, rocks, and plants.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

Coming from a ref tank I would do a 25-50% water change either weekly or bi weekly

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

I have a sump pump set up, with heaters of course and I have many different types of lighting, compact mostly


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I would like to have 10-20 discus , a bunch of neon tetras for the kids and some plecos, suggestions greatly welcome, and I do not have a place to purchase the discus, suggestions also greatly welcome.


9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Suggestions??

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goals for this tank are to setup a amazing viewing tank and experience for my kids and my family to enjoy, I would in the future as I did with the clownfish is to try and breed successfully ..


Thanks

Shane

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Shane, As you may know most here go by one fish per 10 gallons so 20 is a little overkill but 10 should be perfect. Also please consider upping your WC schedule especially if you do not get adult fish, best to grow those out in a BB tank. I would also suggest sand as a substade over pebbles. Pebbles will collect a lot of junk. Please check out the sponsor section for your discus.

[arielfe]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with: My name is Ariel Ferrer, I have about 20 years experience with fish keeping, Never Discus, during the past 10 years I did NOT have an aquarium since I did not have the time to dedicate, now I am coming back to the hobby, I am starting a 72 gal. tank, NO FISH at the moment, I am conditioning the water and the plants first, I also will like to have 4 to 6 Discus only plus the cleaning crew...

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? I already read two books one for Discus only and another one for Chichilds, plus I have being reading in this Forum for the last three weeks.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. My tank is 72 gal. Bow Shape, for display, it is in the set up process during the last month, I have a ph monitor, a Digital Temperature sensor with alarm and schedule for filtration and other changes.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. An small driftwood with Java Moss, yesterday I plant Java Fern, at the back of the two flat walls so fish will have a place to hide, substrate: Top layer Eco Complete Planted Brown Aquarium Substrate over marine sand stone. and in the center an "S" road with small river stones as boundaries for the white sand where nothing will be planted.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. 20 % with RO water every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.. Aqualife light with one 10,000K lamp and another 6,500K with two independent timers to mimic sunrise, midday and sunset, Fluval 305 new sponges inside, already with the following media: carbon, ZeroCarb, Peat, Bio MAX.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;Tank is NOT set up yet ph still high 8.3, total solids and hardness still high, this coming week a Discus buffer will be added.

- temp _78 F__

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _8.5____

- ammonia reading _Zero___

- nitrite reading _Zero___

- nitrate reading _Zero___

- well water _No___

- municipal water _Yes, but will be using RO water___


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?. Planning to have 4 to 6 Discus of the same size, I am already quoting in different sources including this Forum...No Fish at the moment.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. No fish at the moment will follow the recommended Feeding Regimen of my Discus Book. Not only flakes but worms and if possible an special treat on weekends.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? Only Discus in my tank, plus the cleaning crew, too early to think about being a breeder or to be in shows. Since genetics are so important to the shows..... I think always Mother Nature will beat anyone with an undiscovered wild Fish we don't know about ;)

[Powerphoto]

Hi Shane, As you may know most here go by one fish per 10 gallons so 20 is a little overkill but 10 should be perfect. Also please consider upping your WC schedule especially if you do not get adult fish, best to grow those out in a BB tank. I would also suggest sand as a substade over pebbles. Pebbles will collect a lot of junk. Please check out the sponsor section for your discus.


Thanks Pat,

I will up my water changes to at least a minimum of twice a week, or as needed and will not use pebbles, I will use a sand type,

What is the best substrate for plants??

[Redmelons]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
Hi my name is Joe i live in Darwin NT Australia
I have always kept large fish and large tanks fairly successfully and recently set up a planted tank and then got bitten by the discus bug

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? I have read alot on this site and it has been very helpful

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
Display tank 30" high 60" wide and 24" deep it has been set up with angels and tetras and is fully cycled

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
i am have 2 large pieces of driftwood and 2 large anubius 4 amazon swords floating water lettuce about 2" deep natural black substrait and some rocks

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. I am using rainwater/borewater the ph is 6.6 from my rain tank the bore is 7.1 i change 50% twice a week

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I have 2 led light bars and a fluvial fx6 with the outlet modified to keep turbulence in the tank down to a minimum i have a venturi into the inlet for aeration

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __31 oc___

- tank ph __6.6___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __6.6___

- ammonia reading __0 ppm__

- nitrite reading ___0ppm_

- nitrate reading _0ppm___

- well water ___7.1_

- municipal water ____i dont have municipal water where i am from

[lx2077]

Hello my name is Bobby I am totally new to this forum and 2 fish keeping I decided one morning I wanted to try a new hobby and fish was it I have read a lot about it and went to buy a tank I purchased a 55 gallon long 48 inches 18 wide 21 high I started with sand for my substrate however I just recently changed over to gravel due to high pH I have a digital pH meter which reads constant levels it was quite expensive however I heard if you're serious about discus that's what you need I have also purchased every possible chemical just in case I have a fluvial G3 filter a digital thermometer, LED tank lighting, A 100 gallon a day RO Filter, python gravel vac,(2) 200w Aquion Pro heaters placed horizontal and 1 inch above sea level as I read it is not good to keep it vertical as discus might try to lay eggs if it is vertical I also installed a 1 kilowatt stand by generator in case I lose power only because I am A electrician which my wife wasn't too happy about because I did it for the fish and not for the family lol. I found this forum and I love it you experts have such good advice for us beginners my ultimate goal is to get my discus to breed at least just once then I know I my water is perfect and I did something right okay now for some help I am having a high PH problem currently my PH is 7.6 and am trying to get it down to 6.8 to 7 I just recently installed the RO filter and have
20-30% to change out before my water is 100% RO it seems to be working however slowly because my water used to be at 8 I also just recently removed all sand substrate and I'll be putting the gravel in the this week I have imitation coral along with 3 Amazon sword plants and 2 medium sized pieces of drift wood as far as fish goes I have to medium sized Blue Diamond Discus and 1 pigeon blood I also have 2 angelfish 1 iridescent shark and 2 gouramis I'm looking to purchase 2 more Discus 1 or 2 placos and 1 small bottom feeder is this OK or would that be considered overstocked thank you for all your help and advice I greatly appreciate anybody spending the time to critique my tank and situation I'm mostly concerned with my ph level I look forward to your response sincerely bobby

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[lx2077]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/18/u8yqeta4.jpg

This is before I removed the sand


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[lx2077]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/18/py5ebu9u.jpg

2 of my discus

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[GiantsAlwaysWin]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fish keeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Andrew, and I have been keeping pretty simple fresh-water fish for the last couple years now. I am starting to get into the more difficult kinds to keep.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I have read the stickies and done quite a few hours of research and reading.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
It is a 75G show tank, 48x18x18, display, it has been set up for a few months now as a low-populated aquarium. I am looking to add adult Discus and live plants

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
It has some onyx sand as a bottom layer, and gravel as a top layer, planted. Has a fake tree stump, rock overlay, fallen log

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
I will be doing 30% bi-daily, once I have 6 adult Discus added. I have been doing 25% weekly, with the few fish that were in it. I will be aging my water, no R/O as of now.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I have a Fluval 406 Canister, and a Fluval C4 as a HOB, I plan on adding sponges to both intakes to allow easy removal of large debris. I have a solid 300W Hydor heater, as well as a AC50 Power Head. Lighting I have an Aquasun LED and also a 48'' T5 with a glass canopy.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 86

- tank ph 7.6-7.8

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading trace

- well water Yes I am well water.

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
In my 75G I will have 6/7 Adult Discus, 4 Dwarf Gouramis, a small school of Rummy-nose Tetras, a half dozen albino bushynoses, as well as 2 cray fish (red/blue). I also have a Black Ghost Knife Fish, an Elephant Nose, and a red-tailed Shark i will be trying to keep in there as well. Throw in a few shrimp to see how long they can last :)

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
I will be feeding an alternate schedule of mixed foods, including but not limited to...HQ flake food, blackworms, bloodworms, soaked HQ pellets, frozen beefheart mix

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? Right now I do it for the pure curiosity of biology, I live in a small 1BR apt with a 170 pd mastiff so not much room now but I do hope to breed fish/shrimp/inverts in the future!

[Wilbick]

I am knew to the Discus world. I have owned different kinds of saltwater and freshwater tanks through the years but got out of the hobby about five years ago do to life's demands. Now time has opened up for me to get back into it. My freshwater experience in the past was with African and South American cichlids.

My tank is a 92 gallon corner. I have been tossing around the idea of using a vertical garden as the filtration for the tank (a type of auquaponics). I have been researching this off and on for the last two years and love the idea.

Do you have any thoughts to the idea? Or any experience with auquaponics and its pros and cons?

[1.0reef]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
I have had a few years in the marine hobby, I believe I started when I was 9-10 years old, I've kept clownfish, chromis, basslets, dottybacks, and gobies in various marine setups. I currently have a Nanocube 28 HQI reef, but due to our very recent move that happened very quickly, my 2 mated clownfish and chromis died.... Hopefully my corals survive.
For Fresh, I started around a year later with a crazy awesome craigslist deal, the tank was 20 x 10 x 18, odd dimensions. Then I got a 56 gallon which was a marine but I disliked the setup for salt, so now its a fresh tank, a great one to! Currently before the move I had in it:
3 Three Stripe cories
1 Awesome black angelfish
3 Aussie gold rainbowfish
5 Cherry barbs (Was thinking about adding more)
5 Cardinal tetras (Again wanted to add more)
5 Serpae tetras
Various sword plants, cryps, etc
15 gallon sump with various media and Eheim pump
Current Satellite led
2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
Just starting!
3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
36 x 18 x 20, around a year+ old
4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Planted, looking for a Amazon deep forest look, hence it's name "Umbra Silva" Amazonian ADA substrate with cheap gravel
5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Usually once a week, smaller, if I ever get discus I know I'll have to do more!
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
Sump all the way! Heaters are 2 50w and one I think 250w, something like that I think.
7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters; Last time I tested, PH was I think around 6.3-6.5, KH is around 2-5, tank is usually in the mid-high 70's, I used to test GH until, well long story, it blew up lol
I was thinking to do research for a few years until my angelfish dies (And most of the smaller tetras) before even considering discus.
Thanks!

[erndog1001]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
Hi i'm Ernie I've been keeping fish of one sort or another for 25+ yrs. Currently I have a 400 gal reef tank that I call successful on good days lol .


2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I'm just getting started here but I've read several articles on water chemistry. Also had a couple of extensive conversations with my favorite LFS employee.


3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
125 gal 72X18X23 It'll be a DT It was setup as a reef tank until about 5 mon ago so needless to say it needed a good cleaning which I have just finished.


4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Substrate will be a combo of fine gravel and quartz sand. Planted Beyond that I haven't decided yet


5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Ro for sure Thats all I ever use The rest is still in the works


6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
Undecided and open to suggestions. But I'm pretty sure I'll have a canister in there someplace


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
Undecided

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
Undecided

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?


Atm Just to keep them alive and healthy

[1.0reef]

Oops forgot Nitrate lol
Usually around 5-10, right now it spiked during the move, Nitrite and Amm are always 0

[bhound2]

Hi all. Have kept fresh water fish for about 25 years but this is my first attempt at a planted show tank with discus. I have kept community fish, african cichlids and SA cichlid tanks in the past. I read a good bit about planted tanks and discus tanks before this attempt. I even learned that one of my local pet stores purchases their discus from Discus Hans. So, all of my discus come from them(Animal Jungle in Virginia Beach, VA).

My tank is a 50g acrylic, 36x15x20. I cycled it with the overgrown cichlids I traded at Animal Jungle. Then added some new fish. Waited a week, added some more. Waited a week, added some more. Done adding fish. Done adding plants unless I experience plant loss but so far so good.

Tank is planted with several hardy types of common plants like swords, dwarf hair grass, micro sword, anubias, and some others for which I forgot the name. It has a few pieces of drift/bogwood and rocks that form small caves for those fish that enjoy them. The substrate is 40lbs of black flourite sand and 35lbs of black Tahitian Moon sand mixed.

Currently, 10% water changes 2x weekly seem to keep the water stable at 6.8 PH and no ammonia buildup. I use city water that comes out of the tap at about 7.0 though lately it has been at 7.2
I have an aquaclear 110 HOB and a Eheim G160 cannister for filtration. I have a Marineland 200w steath pro heater set at 82 and a cobalt neotherm 200w set at 84. 2 Hydor nano 425's for water movement and 3 airlines that emerge under the rocks into airstones. I have a 36" Marineland Planted Aquarium LED light system and still have my Marineland Double bright LED light as a backup. 2 thermometers at opposite corners checked regularly confirm stable 84 degrees. I need to obtain a freshwater nitrite and nitrate test kit apparently.

Tank is set up as an active show tank so is overstocked with small fish. I have no plans on becoming a breeder or showing fish. This is just for my enjoyment and relaxation. Other fish in this tank include 2 fish from the previous 30g tank, a green phantom pleco and an inspector pleco. New fish include a total of 8 2.5" discus (Hans), 6 rams, 12 cardinals, 6 rummy nose, 2 clown loaches, 4 cory cats, 6 small angels. In the 2 weeks I have had the tank, I lost 1 blue ram on its first night. The store replaced that ram and all seem to be doing fine so far.

I feed a variety of foods, flake, pellet, sinking and floating. sinking wafers. Frozen beef heart cubes. SInking algae wafers for the plecos. I feed small feeding several times daily with the algae wafers only after the white day lights turn off and the blue moon light is on.

I know from reading the forum, there are mixed feelings on this type of setup. I also know that the knowledge here is off the hook and if I am to succeed, it will be in large part due to the advice received herein.

[bhound2]

Picture of above tank

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[bhound2]

Nevermind, can't add pics yet.

[jgalen0025]

1) Hi, Everyone! My name is Jeff and I have been keeping fish for about 5 years. The last 4 years have been keeping hard to keep/rare marine fish and maintaining a small polyp stony 180 gallon reef with all the bells.

2) I have done a little research here on the stickies and on youtube. (Discus Hans is only 2 hours from me)

3) My tank is a 120 4ft tank that I couldnt sell and I have always wanted a planted discus tank. It is empty at the moment but it will be filled and
the cycle started soon

4) Planted, with dirt bottom, mostly discus and a school of tetras

5) I would do a water change once a month depending on bio load and feeding regimen. I have an ro/di unit that will be used to fill the tank unless told otherwise

6) I dont want a sump so I would like some suggestions as to the type of filtration that is recommended

7) City Well water with no chloramines just Sodium hypochlorite

8) Money is not an issue so I plan on treating this tank like my reef tanks, pack as many rare and expensive fish as I can do without degrading the animals living conditions

9) I feed my reef 3 times per day: frozen and pellets(live for my predator tank)

10) With everything I get into, I do it because I love keeping fish and I LOVE a challenge so if breeding is the ultimate challenge then that is what I will probably end up doing.

Please give me some feedback, it is greatly appreciated!
Jeff

[ericNH]

I'd say even with great filtration you should consider a significantly more vigorous wc regimen. Great size tank for keeping discus; if you do it right it can be absolutely stunning! Good luck!

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum, Jeff.
Regrettably, a once a month water change routine will be far from ideal for keeping discus, even adult fish and with good filtration. The ensuing water quality & conditions will no doubt be lacking in what discus need to thrive and remain healthy.
I believe you should do more research before delving into discus, which would tell you that a recommended minimum wc regimen, even for adult fish, would be once weekly - and a fairly large quantity at that - say 50% or more.
Even once weekly though, would be insufficient for raising smaller juvie discus.
Best of luck to you.

[polishreject1]

hi, i was given a 150 gallon tank. it was used for salt water fish. i have a 60 gallon salt water tank now and it has been set up for three years. My wife and i have always loved discus fish and would like to set up this 150 gallon tank as a discus tank. i am over 70 years old and have had fish tanks most of my life. the tank has a little giant pump with a sump tank,an hob return box. i have no idiea what type of lighting system or filter system to use.i have an RO/DI filter system now for my salt water fish,is that good enough for the discus fish. i have read and watched you tube videios for several weeks now and i am getting more confused now. it is going to be a bare bottom ,drift wood tank. with a picture of plants on the back of the tank. i want to know what water flow ,heaters i need (house temp is 71 degress).is it better to keep HOB filters spounge filters. I have a thousand questions to ask Ilive in north Florida(near Jacksonville would like to talk to someone that could answer some question thanks

[DiscusRob]

Hi Larry, welcome to the forum, I'm new to discus too and love this place, the people are great the knowledge that is available is over the top. I'd start a thread in the beginner section here you will get more comments and suggestions there. Just call it Larry's 150 build:):).

Oh, and read all the stickies, there is an incredible amount of information there as well.

Again, welcome to the forum

I'm in Jacksonville too:)

[tnoble]

After keeping community planted tanks for many years on and off, had an oscar in 250L for 10 years and currently have two aquascapes 40L shrimp and a 60L both with pressurised co2 high light ect... I have finally got hold of a nice big 900x450x800(high) 320L tank for my first discus setup it is being setup and filled in the next week or two as I have been getting together all the equipment for it.

Has two cannisters one 305 fluval, one ehiem 2217, will have peat moss as on layer in both any other media you would reccomend they both currently have ceremic, volcanic stone and fliter pads. I also got a powerhead venturi today which I will use to airate the water however I am not sure if i need this now and am worried that I will have to much current and flow in the system?

Heating have a shogun 400w and an eheim 150 using two in case one fails and also to take the load off one (is this a good idea/should i just use the shogun?)

Lighting wise have a 4 bar t5 39w globes (a blasst is currenlty broken so only 2 bars work and considering only using 2 due to the plants im considering are low light and would the discus prefer less lighting?) 2 large pieces of driftwood, plants will be java fern, annubius, amazon swords, vallisneria, piggmy chain swords and some crypts. substrate is red fluorite and white sand (still considering which sand saw one that helps cycle the tank/keep water around 7?)

Have a 200L drum to age my water and another 400w heater for it, did not plan on airating the drum now considering using the powerhead venturi in this drum? It previously had malaossoe syrup in it so obviously food grade and dont' think the sugars from that should affect the water. Initially I planned to do once a week 60% changes but after more reading thinking would be better to do twice a week 30 or 40%?

Plan on running a temp of 28 or 29? Just bought a ph probe so can let you know more exact numbers on that and ammoina nitrites ect... in the next couple of weeks.

I plan on having 8 discus from a local breeder and maybe 20 or so tetras most likely rummy nose or glowlight that I will have in the tank for a few weeks before I introduce the discus while I stabilize the tank. Feeding wise still figuring out but probably twice a day before and after work could probably do another before bed mix of flake, bloodworm, beef heart?

Will see how things progress this year I don't plan on breeding and just want a really nice aquascaped discus display tank where everything is happy and healthy.

I have spent countless hours reading forums and books, talking with shops, breeders and although get some conflicting "advice" generally quite similar, clean water water changes with aged water, don't worry to much about ph/hardness, just keep things consistent. I think my biggest challange will be I love my aquascaped tanks and really don't want to go bb however it will be heavily planted so hopefully that will help the tank/fish more then hinder. Any suggestions hints/tips much apprecaited I am here to learn and eventually help, thanks

Tnoble

[aravind90chan]

Hey guys,
I have been an aquarium hobbyist for a long time now.
Having worked with angels all this time, I would like to explore having discus fish.
I have an ~60g aquarium which am planning to stock with 4-5 discus and cardinal tetras.

1. I have to purchase filtration equipment (canister) and driftwood for my BB tank. Any suggestions for this in terms of websites/ tips/ used items listing will be appreciated greatly.

2. In addition, I would also like to know the approximate cost of maintaining the tank with discus per month.
Am a graduate student and I don't want to go broke trying to pursue my hobby. Please let me know.

Regards,
Aravind.

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum.

Suggest you start with 5 discus rather than 4 to dissipate pecking order aggression, which can potentially get testy when keeping less than 5 discus. Good to hear you'll be doing a bare-bottom tank, since if you also plan to keep some Cardinals as tank-mates - say perhaps 15 to 20 or more, your tank's bio-load will be approaching an acceptable limit.

You'd be wise to get discus of a near adult size, preferably around 4" or more, obtained from a known reputable source for supplying good quality fish. The forum's sponsor group here are all in that category.

Your filtration need simply be sufficiently adequate to provide a reasonable flow of water through the tank. A large HOB (e.g. AC 110), a supplier recommended canister for your tank size, or a couple of sponge filters would do the job satisfactorily. Craig's list might produce suitable used equipment if you wish to save some $$.

As for costs of keeping 5 discus in a 60 gal tank, that depends a good deal on the cost of water and electricity in your area, and to a lesser extent, on the types and quality of the food items you want to feed your discus.
Suffice to say that it shouldn't cost you more than you've traditionally spent keeping Angel fish, with the possible exception of a slightly higher cost of water, as you will likely need to do more frequent & larger wcs than you may have done with Angels.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck to you.

[DiscusRob]

+1

[Stickgal316]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Years ago, I had a small tank with a few tropical storm, one of which was an Oscar. He promptly ate all the other tank mates. He grew to about 7 inches and remained a pet for five years until a hurricane kept the power out for three weeks and he died. I didn't keep fish again until a year ago when I had a 100g saltwater reef tank. I researched setting up and running one for about a month before beginning my process. The tank was successful for about six months when my husband asked me to sell it as the constant upkeep of such a large tank took both of us almost full time. We agreed that when we got our new home, I would get a smaller freshwater setup so that I could handle it myself.

2) no prior Discus experience, but my saltwater experience has prepared me for what it takes to care for these beauties. I have spoken often to employees at my Lfs and have read a lot on Internet sites regarding proper care of Discus.

3) I have a 46 gallon bow-front display tank, that's approx. 36" wide and is 18" deep. It has a hob filter made for a 70g. and I recently purchased an LED light set that has 6,500k white lights and multiple colored light settings.

4) my tank has smooth black gravel substrate. I have currently 2 large pieces of driftwood, and several white rocks with holes and caves. I have three plants - a dwarf hair grass, a regular hairgrass and an Amazon Sword, along with 5 moss balls. I plan to add a couple more plants and more driftwood.

5) I have tap water in there now, but plan to do a major water change, adding RO water to the tap water. My water changes will be once a week at 25%, incorporating RO with my tap. My tank is cycling right now, so the only parameter I'm keeping an eye on is ammonia, which I check every other day. It stays between .50 and 1. I have 3 crayfish and 5 Buenos Aires tetras in the tank, so I know my cycle will take longer as I'm doing water changes to keep my fish as comfortable as I can.

6) i have an HOB oversized filter with bio media, sponge and a space for carbon, which I removed when I read carbon is harmful to Discus. I will replace it with other media when I find what is best for them. I also have a large heater and a thermometer.

7) See #5


8) I have 3 dwarf orange crayfish and 5 Buenos Aires tetras and plan to add 4-5 Discus, 3-4 Cory cats, a couple of bristle nose plecos and some snails. I'd like to add a few rainbows, but I'm afraid that would overstock the tank.

9) Right now I'm feeding a freshwater frozen mix, color flakes and pellets. However, I plan to purchase some high quality live food when I get the Discus.

10) For me, fish are pets just like my fur babies. I plan to have a beautiful tank, of which my discus' will be the focus, and in which they will be happy and healthy.
I am open to any and all comments/suggestions.

[discuspaul]

Hi Vicky, welcome to the forum.
Recommend you consider 5 discus of not less than 4" in size.
With that though, your intended livestock load is on the high side for a 46 gal bow-front, and your proposed wcs of 25% a week would likely be insufficient to keep the discus healthy & thriving.
Suggest you, at the very least, omit the Buenos Aires Tetras, and up the wcs to at least 2 or 3 X a week of 50% or more, and your chances of success are improved significantly.
And for heaven's sake, do yourself a favor, don't buy your discus from a LFS, get them from one of the sponsors here on SD.
All the best of luck to you.

[Stickgal316]

Discus Paul,
Thanks for replying! Will take and use your suggestions. Didn't mean I'd buy them from there, just got suggestions from them.

[discuspaul]

Discus Paul,
Thanks for replying! Will take and use your suggestions. Didn't mean I'd buy them from there, just got suggestions from them.

Super - glad to hear that !

[strawberryblonde]

Hi Vicky and welcome to the forums! =)

To set yourself up for success with your first discus tank I'm going to make a few suggestions. Once you have the routines down pat and you're sure everything is well under control, then you can move on to the more complicated parts of discus keeping - like plants, substrate, other tank mates, etc.

1) For now, remove the substrate and plants. Only one piece of driftwood so that cleaning the tank is easy for you. The easier it is, the more likely you'll do it. :D

2) No tank mates - especially the ones you currently have in the tank. Later on it will be ok to add a small school of corydoras catfish or a small school of compatible tetras.

3) For water changes, you don't need to use RO unless you have a problem with your tap water. Domestic discus don't require the low pH that wild discus prefer, so stick with plain tap water, ok?

4) A 46 gallon tank is actually quite small for a discus habitat, so plan to only have 5 of them (they need 10 gallons of water per adult discus).

5) Buy the largest discus that you can afford. I bought 4" discus for my first try and they grew nicely in a 50 gallon tank.

6) Plan to do daily water changes till your discus are adult sized (at least 6", possibly more). Discus take about 18 months to grow to full size. The daily water change should be at least 70%, more if possible. The more fresh water they get, the better their immune systems and the better they grow.

7) Make your water changes as simple as possible. I use a Python water change system and run the hose out to my garden so that my plants get the benefits of the nitrates in the tank water. For a 46 gallon tank, a 90% water change with a python changer takes about 30 minutes.

8) Discus poop a LOT when they are growing, so be sure to vacuum the bottom daily. Since you will have a bare bottom tank (no substrate) this will be very easy. Give the sides and bottom of the tank a quick wipe down with a clean cloth or scrubbie at each water change to remove any discus slime that builds up.

9) To make the tank more comfortable for the discus, paint the outside bottom of the tank with white or beige paint. That way they won't see their reflection when they head down to eat and won't frighten themselves.

10) Ignore anything you heard from a LFS about discus care! Most have no clue and are just repeating any odd bits they've heard second hand or worse, giving "general" advice that they feel works for all freshwater fish.

My last bit of advice is about foods. Discus need high quality, high protein foods and need several feedings a day while they are growing. You can use a variety of foods like Discus flakes, pellets, frozen beefheart, spirulina (flake or frozen) and freeze dried blackworms. Al, the owner of this forum, sells the blackworms - we all call them FDBW's for short and discus LOVE them!! They come in cube form and are easy to stick to the glass so that your discus can munch away and graze on them.

For 4" discus, aim for 5 - 6 small feedings per day and if you use frozen beefheart, feed it just before your daily tank cleaning so that you can vacuum up any leftover bits - it fouls the water fairly quickly.

And that's it! The simpler the better till you get the hang of raising and keeping discus. Many people on here have tried to do it "their way" in the beginning and ended up in the disease section within a month or two. I'm hoping to help you avoid that. :D

[Stickgal316]

Wow! I'm struggling with how plain the tank will be. I'm going to take a bit to decide if this is really something I want to do. I know my tank is small and I don't want to do anything to make any fish miserable. I may wait till I get a bigger tank. But thanks for the advice!

[tommy_rosalee]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and Facebook page so thanks to Al and everyone for adding me. First time on a forum of any kind so will do my best. Figure this is better than filling up the Facebook page with a million questions and posts.

1. My name is Tommy. Been in hobby in some way for about 20 years. Have kept primarily african cichlids. Also kept south american cichlids, and several community tanks in the past. Currently have african cichlids.

2. Have done quite a bit of reading and interaction with other discus owners about keeping discus. Have owned a few over the years but not significant time. New to the forum so still exploring it.

3. My current tank is a standard 125 gallon 6 foot. Display only, no breeding. Tank has been running continuously for about 14 months now.

4. Tank decor is about a 50/50 mix of driftwood and creek bed rock. Substrate is Caribsea Cichlid mix sand. My goal is primarily a biotope type discus tank with some plants (anubias, sword type) but definitely biotope like in appearance.

5. Current water change practice is every 3-4 days. Typical wc is always 60-75%. Tap water.

6. Equipment currently in use and planning (hoping) to keep after transition to discus.


Filtration

Two Fluval FX6 canister filters. Each canister has identical media. Top tray: fine filter pad and polyester filter floss. Center tray: Seachem Matrix. Bottom tray: 200 mg’s Seachem Purigen, and (2) Chemipure Elite 11.74 oz all in one filter media by Boyd Enterprises.

Heating

Primary is an Eheim Jager 300 watt

Backup is a 200 watt Marineland

Lighting

4 36” Current USA Freshwater LED strips
2 36” Current USA Freshwater + LED strips

Misc

2 Aqueon 500 powerheads currently running for water movement
Water is treated with Seachem Safe


7. Today's parameters:
Temp: 82'
pH: ~7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~10-15ppm
Use city water

8. Current livestock that are staying is three plecos. An L-18 gold nugget, an L-200 green phantom, and an L-191 royal. I am really hoping for approx 10-12 discus with other community tank mates like tetras etc. But the primary occupant being discus. I haven't decided on a source yet.

9. Current feeding is twice a day and exclusively New Life spectrum.

10. Goal is a discus display tank more leaning toward the biotope look with some community fish. No breeding.

Thanks for taking the time to read and offer any feedback.

[Megan111]

Hello! Im Megan,
I have kept tropical fish all my life, and currently keep African cichlids with good success. I have never kept discus, but it has always been on my bucket list. Ive been hunting the internet for the past several months and while most things appear to be law (clean water, low pH and expect them to try to die) lots of other topics get confusing, and different people have different ideas. I was hoping to keep few live plants, and some people are all for it, while others swear its a terrible idea. This is why Im here, before I start I want to learn!

I have a 115 gallon currently taking up my entire kitchen table. We built a stand, and Im getting ready to reseal it next weekend. I am in the market for a good canister filter. Once I have all my stuff, Ill set up and cycle the tank for a couple of months, Im not in a hurry.

We have hard water (pH usually over 7) so I want to decorate primarily with driftwood. I want to plant, but will probably go with simple stuff that can do well in a pot (swords). I like that plants help keep the water clean, but I think it makes it harder to keep the actual fish, and my research has leadme to believe these guys do better with less substrate. I think I will go with a very thin lay of sand on the bottom with a few potted plants. In this case if I need to treat the water with something that wont agree with my plants, I can remove the plants and put them in my quarantine tank or something. I want to make it as easy as possible, so any advice would be great! I would like to keep some loaches, and I have some fancy plecos I would like to include in the tank if possible.

I use tap water with my Africans, but they like hard water. I use prime water conditioner to manage the contaminants. Im happy to age my water. I plan to keep my 30 gallon running as a quarantine tank. It will be bare bottom, kept at the same temperature that I can put new or sick fish in. I could use this to age the water before water changes. I keep my tanks all at 84 degrees, which I realize is high, but my Africans do really well at this temp so I dont mess with it. I havent set up yet, so if I need to do it at another temperature, I can accommodate any changes suggested.

I would like to keep domestic fish since they are more likely to do well at a higher pH. For my 115, Im thinking 6-8 fish. Again, I dont want to overstock or find myself in a position where the work required is more than I can manage. I currently do 50% water changes once every 7-10 days on my very overstocked African tank. I realize with discus Ill need to do this more often, and possibly more water at each change. I was hoping to do it once every 3-5 days but some people say it needs to be done daily. I would like to avoid this. I go to conferences and would like to be able to leave for a few days without worrying about my fish dying while Im gone.
A reputable place for acquiring fish in my area is this supplier: https://www.facebook.com/kingfishimports but I havent decided if this is where I am going to get them. Again, Im here for advice. Again, I want to start with the easiest fish I can get.

Since Im new, Im not interested in showing or breeding or anything, I would like to set up a nice tank for my own viewing pleasure. I want it visually appealing and easy to manage once its setup and running. Im new and Im learning so I want to do it right without killing a bunch of fish, losing a bunch of money and getting discouraged. If its not something I can do right now with my schedule and financial situation, Im happy to hear it and do something else for now. Please be honest and patient with my ignorance!

[discuspaul]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and Facebook page so thanks to Al and everyone for adding me. First time on a forum of any kind so will do my best. Figure this is better than filling up the Facebook page with a million questions and posts.

1. My name is Tommy. Been in hobby in some way for about 20 years. Have kept primarily african cichlids. Also kept south american cichlids, and several community tanks in the past. Currently have african cichlids.

2. Have done quite a bit of reading and interaction with other discus owners about keeping discus. Have owned a few over the years but not significant time. New to the forum so still exploring it.

3. My current tank is a standard 125 gallon 6 foot. Display only, no breeding. Tank has been running continuously for about 14 months now.

4. Tank decor is about a 50/50 mix of driftwood and creek bed rock. Substrate is Caribsea Cichlid mix sand. My goal is primarily a biotope type discus tank with some plants (anubias, sword type) but definitely biotope like in appearance.

5. Current water change practice is every 3-4 days. Typical wc is always 60-75%. Tap water.

6. Equipment currently in use and planning (hoping) to keep after transition to discus.


Filtration

Two Fluval FX6 canister filters. Each canister has identical media. Top tray: fine filter pad and polyester filter floss. Center tray: Seachem Matrix. Bottom tray: 200 mg’s Seachem Purigen, and (2) Chemipure Elite 11.74 oz all in one filter media by Boyd Enterprises.

Heating

Primary is an Eheim Jager 300 watt

Backup is a 200 watt Marineland

Lighting

4 36” Current USA Freshwater LED strips
2 36” Current USA Freshwater + LED strips

Misc

2 Aqueon 500 powerheads currently running for water movement
Water is treated with Seachem Safe


7. Today's parameters:
Temp: 82'
pH: ~7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~10-15ppm
Use city water

8. Current livestock that are staying is three plecos. An L-18 gold nugget, an L-200 green phantom, and an L-191 royal. I am really hoping for approx 10-12 discus with other community tank mates like tetras etc. But the primary occupant being discus. I haven't decided on a source yet.

9. Current feeding is twice a day and exclusively New Life spectrum.

10. Goal is a discus display tank more leaning toward the biotope look with some community fish. No breeding.

Thanks for taking the time to read and offer any feedback.

Welcome to the forum, Tommy.
It's good that you've done some research into keeping discus properly.

Given your previous experience with fish-keeping, and that you intend to more or less maintain your existing tank set-up & aqua-scape along with your wc regime, I'd suggest you consider getting 8- 10 near adult discus (say 4" or larger) from a fully reputable source for supplying quality fish (any one of this forum's sponsors will meet this requirement).

It's best though, that you try to maintain nitrates @ 10 ppm or less, so you may need to up your wc quantity &/or frequency a bit.
Also, you should do a suitable quarantine and when done, keep an eye on your Plecos for a while to satisfy yourself they don't stress the discus by possibly taking a liking to the discus' slime coats as part of their diet. I hope these Plecos are currently not too large.
Best of luck to you & enjoy the forum.

[discuspaul]

Hello! Im Megan,
I have kept tropical fish all my life, and currently keep African cichlids with good success. I have never kept discus, but it has always been on my bucket list. Ive been hunting the internet for the past several months and while most things appear to be law (clean water, low pH and expect them to try to die) lots of other topics get confusing, and different people have different ideas. I was hoping to keep few live plants, and some people are all for it, while others swear its a terrible idea. This is why Im here, before I start I want to learn!

I have a 115 gallon currently taking up my entire kitchen table. We built a stand, and Im getting ready to reseal it next weekend. I am in the market for a good canister filter. Once I have all my stuff, Ill set up and cycle the tank for a couple of months, Im not in a hurry.

We have hard water (pH usually over 7) so I want to decorate primarily with driftwood. I want to plant, but will probably go with simple stuff that can do well in a pot (swords). I like that plants help keep the water clean, but I think it makes it harder to keep the actual fish, and my research has leadme to believe these guys do better with less substrate. I think I will go with a very thin lay of sand on the bottom with a few potted plants. In this case if I need to treat the water with something that wont agree with my plants, I can remove the plants and put them in my quarantine tank or something. I want to make it as easy as possible, so any advice would be great! I would like to keep some loaches, and I have some fancy plecos I would like to include in the tank if possible.

I use tap water with my Africans, but they like hard water. I use prime water conditioner to manage the contaminants. Im happy to age my water. I plan to keep my 30 gallon running as a quarantine tank. It will be bare bottom, kept at the same temperature that I can put new or sick fish in. I could use this to age the water before water changes. I keep my tanks all at 84 degrees, which I realize is high, but my Africans do really well at this temp so I dont mess with it. I havent set up yet, so if I need to do it at another temperature, I can accommodate any changes suggested.

I would like to keep domestic fish since they are more likely to do well at a higher pH. For my 115, Im thinking 6-8 fish. Again, I dont want to overstock or find myself in a position where the work required is more than I can manage. I currently do 50% water changes once every 7-10 days on my very overstocked African tank. I realize with discus Ill need to do this more often, and possibly more water at each change. I was hoping to do it once every 3-5 days but some people say it needs to be done daily. I would like to avoid this. I go to conferences and would like to be able to leave for a few days without worrying about my fish dying while Im gone.
A reputable place for acquiring fish in my area is this supplier: https://www.facebook.com/kingfishimports but I havent decided if this is where I am going to get them. Again, Im here for advice. Again, I want to start with the easiest fish I can get.

Since Im new, Im not interested in showing or breeding or anything, I would like to set up a nice tank for my own viewing pleasure. I want it visually appealing and easy to manage once its setup and running. Im new and Im learning so I want to do it right without killing a bunch of fish, losing a bunch of money and getting discouraged. If its not something I can do right now with my schedule and financial situation, Im happy to hear it and do something else for now. Please be honest and patient with my ignorance!

Hi Megan, and welcome to the forum.

Your introductory comments and intended plans were well laid out, and more or less confirmed that you have reasonable experience, you've done your homework, and you seem well prepared to keep discus successfully.

So I have similar suggestions as given to Tommy above, assuming you will maintain your tank with a light layer of sand substrate with just a few potted plants, and get 6-8 discus, namely: get your discus from a known quality source and of a decent size so you run little risk of stunting the fish - (say 4" or larger discus).
You should consider doing your wcs at least every 2nd or 3rd day regularly, in larger amounts than 50% - suggest 75% or so. (Don't leave it as long as 5 days or more).

Finally, carefully consider your discus' tank-mates - Plecos may or may not be a problem if there are not very large (think BNP's), and you may want to stay away from Clown Loaches, as they get quite large, are generally very active, and can be a source of stress for the discus.

BTW, your pH over 7.0 is just fine - no need to try playing with it - ok?
And re: your source - I'm not familiar with KingFish Imports - where are you located ? You may be near a well-known source of good quality fish - you couldn't go wrong with one of SD sponsors.

All the best of luck to you.

[Megan111]

Hi Megan, and welcome to the forum.

Your introductory comments and intended plans were well laid out, and more or less confirmed that you have reasonable experience, you've done your homework, and you seem well prepared to keep discus successfully.

So I have similar suggestions as given to Tommy above, assuming you will maintain your tank with a light layer of sand substrate with just a few potted plants, and get 6-8 discus, namely: get your discus from a known quality source and of a decent size so you run little risk of stunting the fish - (say 4" or larger discus).
You should consider doing your wcs at least every 2nd or 3rd day regularly, in larger amounts than 50% - suggest 75% or so. (Don't leave it as long as 5 days or more).

Finally, carefully consider your discus' tank-mates - Plecos may or may not be a problem if there are not very large (think BNP's), and you may want to stay away from Clown Loaches, as they get quite large, are generally very active, and can be a source of stress for the discus.

BTW, your pH over 7.0 is just fine - no need to try playing with it - ok?
And re: your source - I'm not familiar with KingFish Imports - where are you located ? You may be near a well-known source of good quality fish - you couldn't go wrong with one of SD sponsors.

All the best of luck to you.

Thank you! I was thinking yoyo loaches, and I have a royal pleco that Im really proud of. I live in Guelph Ontario Canada, close to Toronto. King Fish Imports is the one source everyone mentions around here for domestics. They are imported from I believe Germany, then acclimated to the hard Guelph water for some time before he sells them. Everyone Ive spoke with (local discus groups) indicate they have had really great success with their fish. You can usually get adults so you dont have to worry about growing up little fishes, and they often have great variety. They are brutal expensive, which is the one reason my husband and I keep debating back and forth. We are hoping to buy a place of our own and when we do we will move. Dave has agreed to set me up with a fish room with a sump and a drip system when we have our own home, so it might be better to wait until I have better equipment. Im not sure if Im ready to keep up with water changes every three days. Im a researcher, I work 10 hour days 7 days a week, I travel, I have horses, dogs and a parrot. It might not be the right time :(

[discuspaul]

Your thoughts of postponing your entry into discus until it better suits your circumstances is perhaps the best approach.

Sounds like King Fish Imports may be a viable source for good quality discus. Now that I think about it some more, I had heard sometime back that a buyer from that source had reported having a very satisfactory experience with them. Seems they may be an importer of Stendker discus. If so, and they import their fish directly from Stendker in Germany, then it is likely a very good source.

For what it's worth, I lived in Toronto for quite a few years and have a number of contacts there who have informed me that the best source for high quality discus near Toronto is Bob Garside of Upper Canada Discus, near Barrie, Ont. You can google for his website. I've spoken with Bob a couple of times by email over the past few years, and he seems to be a real stand-up guy.




Thank you! I was thinking yoyo loaches, and I have a royal pleco that Im really proud of. I live in Guelph Ontario Canada, close to Toronto. King Fish Imports is the one source everyone mentions around here for domestics. They are imported from I believe Germany, then acclimated to the hard Guelph water for some time before he sells them. Everyone Ive spoke with (local discus groups) indicate they have had really great success with their fish. You can usually get adults so you dont have to worry about growing up little fishes, and they often have great variety. They are brutal expensive, which is the one reason my husband and I keep debating back and forth. We are hoping to buy a place of our own and when we do we will move. Dave has agreed to set me up with a fish room with a sump and a drip system when we have our own home, so it might be better to wait until I have better equipment. Im not sure if Im ready to keep up with water changes every three days. Im a researcher, I work 10 hour days 7 days a week, I travel, I have horses, dogs and a parrot. It might not be the right time :(

[jdseph1]

Hello,

Currently just finished a fishless cycle on a Marineland 75G. Making my way back into the Discus hobby after 5 years exclusively keeping/breeding Tropheus and Frontosas.

Tank-Marineland 75G

Filtration-Eheim 2217 and AC110 with prefilter sponge

Heating-Eheim Jaeger 300w and a back up Jaeger 200w

Substrate-.5" silica sand

Decor-One Manzanita branch.

Lighting-48" Current USA Freshwater+ LED

WC Schedule-Every other day 40% plus pre-filter cleaning.

Temp-84.5

Tank Ph-8.0

Tap Ph-8.2

Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-5-10ppm

Livestock-Hoping to buy 6-7 4" Santarem from Hans + 10-15 Rummynose

I plan to sell my remaining Tanganyikan livestock and return full time to the Discus hobby. Glad to have found this source, my father who had been keeping fish for 40+ years was my sole source of information regarding Discus and now that he's gone I've only got you guys!

Thanks,
John

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum.
Sounds like you're ready to discus-keep properly.
Your every 2nd day wcs could be increased to 70% or more to lower the nitrates even more, and suggest you lower the temp to 82-83.
Best of luck to you. Show us some pics when you're ready.

[jdseph1]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be sure to post a new thread once I receive the livestock.

[cedar]

I am a newbie here and I think the tank setup questionnaire will help a lot

[BADFISHY]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

HI Boys and Girls. I'm Kevin. Just getting back I the game as I recently re-acquired one of two 125g Marineland tanks with stands and canopies that I made about nine years ago. Sold them a few years back and now that I have my own home again I went looking for an aquarium on Craigslist and what do you know, one of my very own aquariums happened to be for sale. This particular tank was intended for mbuna cichlids and her sister tank was a amazon community planted tank with mostly jungle vals. I was going to do mbuna cichs again but got the planted tank bug after seeing some awesome tanks. Basically I think I would get bored with mbuna cichs as I am a equipment junky. I also like the variety of a community tank. With African cichs, you order a bunch of fish and throw them in the tank. No romance, browsing, shopping, or feeling of ecstatic joy when you find some crazy pleco hiding under some wood at the fish store.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

No, Some [working on it]

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

72" x 18" x 22"/ display/ no water yet

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

This will be a heavily planted tank with peat under eco complete under Tahitian moon sand. I was shot down already on dark substrate with discus although I refuse to believe it,lol. Not decided on c02 injection yet but it is a good possibility for down the road. See how the algae goes.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I'm going to set up a fifty gallon aging tank on the back porch at some point which should yield a ball park fifty percent water change every week, unless I can set up a refugium under the show tank , in which case water changes will be far less.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Lighting will be a 60 or 72" Build My LED 6300k with controller. Heaters are twin 200w Cobalt. C02, maybe. I have two fx5 filters that came back to me with the tank. Waiting on impellors as they were making all sorts or racket. They are nine years old now. If they don't work properly i'll look into a sump and refugium set up. Still pondering a refugium with or without the fx5's. This stand was designed to be able to hold a 55g tank underneath as the rear center brace is removable. Canopy has a cut out for a small exhaust fan if the lights get to warm. I don't expect I'll need one. Will also ad an air pump for night time oxygenation. Brand...they all suck so probably a basic Whisper.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

NA...no filters or lights yet. I'll be working with hard Florida water...joy!!


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I'm thinking 6 discus, a couple oddball smaller plecos, 10 corys for bottom clean up, and lots of cardinal and/ or rummy nose or scissortail tetras. Possibly a small school of red/blue tetras or something of that sort. Not sure where to get the discus from yet.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Twice daily and whatever is recommended when I get around to adding the discus. They will be last to inhabit the tank.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goal is to have a show winner of a tank so I can post pics everywhere and have total strangers tell me how awesome I am. No breeding plans, but its a possibility.

Below are old pics of my twin girls and one pic of the tanks new home.

[lakshmimahas269]

very thanks guys. Nice tips to keep the fish tank so clean. I have bought a fish tank recently. These tips will definitely help me.

[pmui]

Hello everyone,
I’m not new for keeping fish. I’ve kept fish for most of my adolescent years, and into my adult life. I’ve successfully kept and bred Angel fish, has a gold fish tank for 10+ years, and had a 120g reef tank for 5+ years. I am going back to freshwater, and always wanted to keep Discus because of their peaceful and beautiful colors. My current setup is a 45g bowfront, with HOB filter, gravel, live plants, driftwood, UV sterilizer, RO filter, 200w heater. The tank has been setup for about 3 weeks, and is going through it’s cycle, right now it’s in the Nitrite build up, and waiting for it to go back to zero.
Temp. 84
Water from faucet Ph. 8.4
Tank is ph 8.4 (do you use Seachem discus buffer, or tetra blackwater to lower the Ph?)
Ammonia – <.15
Nitrite – 2
RO water – ph 7.0 – I did not use RO water when I first filled my tank, but will use it when I start performing water changes.

I will need to do some reading on the types of Discus that are available nowadays, when I first saw discus the only ones available was turquoise and pigeon reds. There are now so many variation, its amazing. I wanted to learn more and be able to breed them someday.

[quovadisjean]

Hi all,
I am quite new to discus. HAd a few tanks years back mostly with community fish but since I have now finally stoped moving and set up my own place I have taken the opportunity to set up a new tank. My name is Jean-Paul and I live in Malta (relevant in so far as in summer the water temperature of the tank goes up to 31degrees celcius with no heater on!).
So my tank is a 180litre Juwel Trigon. It is running with its internal filter as well as an extra external canister filter, Sicce whale 350, which brings the flowrate of 1800, slowing of course cause of the media.
Substrate is gravel, with a small sand area and it is a planted tank. I attach a picture.
The Ph is at 7 and I use tap water, and maltese water is quite hard. Am investing in an RO system to reduce the hardness of my tap water.
The tank mates of the discus are: 3 small corys, 3 boesmani's rainbows, 2 ramirezi, 2 and 4 glass catfish, 2 Indian algae eaters ah yes and one small hatchet fish and one snail!
So I had a few questions:
So far I have 3 4-5 inch discus. I started off with one discus and then added a second which was being bullied. So I added a third tankmate a bit of a bigger discus and this has helped reduced the bullying but the she is still shy and stays hidden a lot in the corner. Also she is a snakeskin discus but her colouring and pattern is only visible in the front half of her body while the second half is very 'faded'. Is this because I bought an unhealthy specimen or is it because she is quite young? How many discus could I keep in such a set up? Am hoping more discus could also help reduce the bullying.
Any opinions and advice would be appreciated..will try to snap a shot of the elusive discus if shes ever out long enough for me to snap a shot!
Thanks all! great forum!!!
9040590404

[Liz_0401]

1) Please introduce yourself and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
Hello everyone my name is Liz. I’ve been keeping fish for around 3 years which is not a long time in this hobby. I use to have three pairs of angels on parent raised and two pairs I had to pull eggs. I’ve bred gbr, bn plecos, multies (shell dwellers), and then your simple guppies. For display tanks I have had a ten gallon betta tank, a 45 gallon hex with angles, a heavily planted 29 gallon tank with zebra cories, neons, bn plecos, dwarf gourami, and then a 55 gallon planted tank with angels dojo loaches and cardinal tetras. I’m not even going to list all of my grow out and breeder tanks. Never had a tank crash and very minimal losses. I had a little girl back in June so I had to sell off most of my fish due to a few moves in the past month and not being able to keep all of them. I still have my multies and am still breeding them. I still currently have my 55, but am getting bored with it and would like to convert it to a discus tank.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I do not have any previous experience with discus, but I did watch Al’s lecture on How to keep discus and it was very helpful! I have not read any of the sticky sections yet. I have done a little research online, but have found a lot of conflicting information.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
My tank is a standard 55 gallon I believe that would be 48x12x18. It will be a display tank and it has been up in running for a year now. Fully cycled test parameters every week and has never had an issues with it.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
I would like to have a fine layer of white sand in the bottom around ½”. I plan on having plants such as amazon swords, ferns, and anubias. The anubias will be tied to driftwood and the swords and ferns will be in pots.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

Water is tap water with prime. I do two water changes 25% a week and I am willing to age and up water changes as needed.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I will be using a sponge filter and a hob filter currently have a marineland 55-75, but want to get a different filter as we aren’t impressed with this one. Open to suggestions willing to switch to a canister. Also need to upgrade my filter to allow for the high temp also open to suggestions. Lighting will be lights that I used on the 29 gallon planted tank to give it medium light. So it will probably be low light in a 55 gallon tank.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;
We just moved this tanks is currently still at my parents will be moved within the next couple weeks and I will post parameters then.

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
6 discus starting at 4” willing to go down to 3” hoping they mature at 5”. Around 12 cardinals, two bn plecos, and 3 dojo loaches.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
Feeding twice a day frozen brine shrimp and tetra omega flakes. Open to suggestions on better feedings for good growth in discus.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
I want to start out with a planted community, but I do hope to someday breed discus. I’m not familiar with fish shows, but would like to be.

[discuspaul]

Hi Liz, welcome to the forum.
If you wish to be successful at keeping discus, planning to start with a planted 55 gal community tank set-up with other species of fish as tank-mates, and doing only 1 water change a week while keeping 3" juvenile discus, is not the way to proceed.
Regrettably, that is pretty much a recipe for failure and disappointment.

Suggest you do a lot more homework, starting with reading through the Stickies in the Discus Basics for Beginners section.

Unless you get nothing less than 5 adult or near adult discus from the outset, and commit yourself to doing 3 or more large (50% or more) water changes per week in your 55 gal lightly planted containing no other fish, you should seriously consider starting out with 5 - 3" fish in a bare-bottom tank, and doing large daily wcs until they reach well over 4", at which time you could consider adding some sand substrate and doing a light planting.

We wish you all the best.

[Dappled]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hello! My name is Lilly and I have been keeping fish for close to 10 years now and I love it! I've kept betta fish, siamese algae eaters, rainbow sharks, gouramis, angelfish, tetras, and kuhli loaches. I currently have 2 tanks set up and running, with all the fish listed previously besides the angelfish.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have been reading lots on the care and keeping of discus, as well as watching videos and asking the experts.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

My tank that the discus will be going into is a standard glass 75 gallon (48 X 18 X 21). It is going to be a display tank, and has just finished being cycled.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

The substrate in the tank is sand, and the tank will be planted.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I was thinking 10% in the middle of the week, and then later, 30% or so on the weekend. I use a mix of tap water and RO to keep my pH down, because my tap water is fairly high. If necessary, I can do 10% water changes ever other or every day.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

I have an emperor 280 and well as a 400 filter going. I will soon add a second heater to get the temperature where it needs to be. Lighting is standard and is on for around 6 hours a day.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __78-80__

- tank ph __7.6__

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.8__

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water __N/A__

- municipal water __N/A__


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

My plan so far is to get 5-6 discus in their juvenile stages, and add the siamese algae eater, the rainbow shark, the betta, the kuhli loaches, and a blue phantom pleco.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

I have freeze dried blood worms and high quality discus flakes, but I am not sure how often to feed them.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goal for now is to keep a planted community tank, but if some of the discus happen to pair off, I would love to try my hand at breeding.

I also had a quick question. I've heard that Boesemani rainbow fish are too quick and energetic for a discus tank. Is that true? I would love to have some with my discus. If not, are there any other rainbow fish that can be kept with discus?

[FishFanMan]

Welcome, I'm no expert here but rethink your plans for a discus tank. You're planning a planted community tank which is not an ideal setup for discus juvies. If that's what you want, get 5 or 6 4-5" discus from sponsors and up your WCs schedule. And since you'll be doing very big WCs, look into properly dosing frets for your plants that are column feeders. Ideally, you should start as simple as possible. Discus with some dither fish in a non-planted tank with a thin layer of sand and 50% WC maybe few times a week based on nitrate level.

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum Lilly.

I don't think you have done quite enough advance homework on discus-keeping, Lilly.
If you proceed with your plans above, I'm afraid you'll be setting yourself up for disappointment.

Please carefully read the 6 discus rules below - and read it a second time just to be sure you fully understand your needs & all the limitations you face as a novice to discus.

Follow these rules, and you have a great chance of succeeding. Ignore them, even one of them, and your risks of failure will be quite high.

Best of luck to you.

-----------------------D-I-S-C-U-S - 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR NEWBIES TO FOLLOW

First I'd just like to mention once again that discus are hardier than many people think, and are not difficult to keep, so long as one is prepared to accept and adhere to a few key practices that will provide the best chances of success with discus.

This listing is recorded more or less in order of importance:

1) - D - Do your homework well before delving into discus. Read and research all you can beforehand. Googling will certainly help, as well as spending a good deal of time reading the posts and threads on the simplydiscus.com forum, particularly the stickies in the 'Discus Basics for Beginners' section, which will provide you with much of the material you need to digest.

2) - I - Investigate and learn of the best sources to get your discus stock. Find those breeders &/or importers that are long time, well-experienced, responsible, reputable, and known to supply high quality, healthy, and well-shaped discus. Buy your discus from one of these sources in order to insure that you get off on the best footing possible.
This is the single, most important factor in succeeding with discus.
The simplydiscus.com forum has a sponsors section which lists a good number of high quality discus suppliers in North America. Check it out.

3) - S - Set up and plan to follow a strict regular routine of fresh water changes, tank wipe-downs and cleansing, vacuuming of wastes, and regular filter and media cleaning, changes, replacements, and maintenance. Be fully prepared for the kind of commitment it takes to produce and maintain the highest water quality and conditions that you can.

4) - C - Carefully consider the type of tank set up you start with. Make sure the tank size is ample enough to start with 5 or 6 discus. Don't be tempted to begin with a tank of less than 55 or 60 gallons, and don't try to justify going smaller by just getting 1, 2, 3, or 4 discus for cost or other reasons.
Wait till you have sufficient resources to get a proper-sized tank, and the suitable size and number of fish to insure continuing good health and harmonious discus sociability.
Do not start with small, undersized, very juvenile fish which have not yet developed a more mature immune system, are more demanding to raise properly, and much more prone to health problems and other issues. Get fish of at least 3.0" in size, preferably larger. This size of fish should receive large daily water changes.

5) - U - Undertake to start off with a bare bottom tank, unless you're getting fully adult fish and have previous good experience with fish-keeping generally, and maintaining a planted tank in particular. If you must have some decor, limit yourself to a very thin sand substrate layer, and perhaps a piece of driftwood with just a couple of small plants attached, or one or two potted plants.
Once you gain several months' of experience getting to know your discus' traits & behavior, and your discus get larger, then you may proceed to an aqua-scaped environment, to possibly include some other species of compatible discus tank-mates. Feed a varied diet, several times a day, and learn which foods will achieve a nutritious diet, by researching.

6) - S - Simplify. Keep things as simple as you can to start. Don't complicate your start with discus, at least at first, by placing them in a heavily planted environment, using CO2 and a strict fertilization regime. Make sure your tank is fully cycled before adding the fish, and don't be tempted to alter or change the pH of your water, or modify your water conditions and parameters by using chemicals of any kind. No need to use RO water or adopt any other procedures that would tend to complicate what should be a simple start to your discus launch. If you plan on eventually having a community tank set-up, carefully research the species of other fish you'd like to keep with the discus, to insure they are able to withstand the higher discus temp of at least 82 F, and that they are fully compatible with discus.
And do a complete and proper quarantine before adding any such tank-mates to your discus tank.

Follow these 'rules', and there's little doubt you will succeed with discus !

[djdirte]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hi guys!! Everyone calls me "JJ". Ive kept saltwater fish-only tanks, a 55 gal reef tank and built custom built hood/lighting for it, as well as made a sump for it out of another smaller 20 gallon tank. Ive also kept a few different fish-only freshwater aquariums.

Currently, we have a 125 gallon freshwater community tank w various tetras, angelfish, loaches, plecos, mollies, etc etc.. it's running quite stable since we set it up in august. I made the mistake of putting juvenile discus into my community tank without any real knowledge of discus husbandry, etc. After much reading(especially here on simply discus), I tried consistent husbandry techniques(water changes, aged water, etc) pretty much toward failure.

Now i am looking towards starting a discus-only tank.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have read through pretty much everything in the beginners section, stickies and all. Watched that very informative video, and have pretty much familiarized myself with the regular husbandry requirements as far as keeping discus.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I was able to source a 55gallon tank for free. it is 48"Lx18"W. I forgot the height mesasurement though. I have yet to cycle it. I received it pretty torn up, so it will definitely need cleaning and a lot of prep before i can even begin to cycle. It didnt include a stand, so I will likely be building one for it. If anyone can possibly direct me to some solid information into building a stand- i have pretty much all the power tools needed, it would be helpful. OR if someone might be able to refer me to a good place to purchase one at a reasonable price, it might just save me a bunch of effort. Im located in southern california.

QUESTION I REALLY NEED AN OPINION ON - Along with the tank came some pretty beat-up filters- An aquaclear 70, and a Aquatech 20-40. They would definitely need to be cleaned, as they are pretty dingy n have been sitting for a long time. Are these worth using? I would need to buy new filter medium for them, if so. Also, what would be the recommended filter medium to set these up? If theyre not worth tinkering with, what would be a solid suggestion?

ALSO - The lighting is a basic flourescent. The housing is really bent to crap n it just does not seem in presentable fashion, so i will eventually find a replacement for it. is there anything that is suggested? I am considering adding potted plants to start n possibly embellish on it, if i can get my water conditions set up for it down the road.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Initial plan is to start BB. I am planning on growing out some juvies, n then possibly add a few live plants/decor once they have matured.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I currently have a 44gal brute trashcan which i use for aging water. airstone for agitation. 250w heater. Sadly, it seems my water comes out to about 8.4ph after it has aged(7.8 directly out of the tap). testing done using API liquid test kit. I ordered a Teika PH meter on amazon, which should be arriving soon, so i can get a more accurate idea of where my ph stands. I will likely be doing daily water changes for the full 44gal amount... so 80% daily while the juvies are growing. The level of the ph is still a bit of a concern to me, considering it being that high, but ive come to understand that consistent levels and consistent changes will ensure more success.

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I plan to have 6-8 discus in my tank. I typically buy from my LFS, but after really looking at the quality of the discus theyve been giving me, I will likely be looking for breeders to purchase my juvies from in the near future once my tank has cycled. Breeder recommendations will definitely be helpful. :)

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

I plan on feeding FDABW n probably looking to do one of the beefheart recipes ive seen here. feed 4-6 times a day until my juvies are grown. then reduce to about 2-3 times a day

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

I have been able to successfully raise every aquarium style ive set my mind on. discus are my new 'challenge'. Maybe hobby breeding, if things go well. But ultimately - i'd like to slowly go from raising some juvies in this tank, bare. and slowly transforming it into a community planted show tank.

[ericNH]

Very good djdirte, you've been doing your homework on the subject. I have no doubt you'll succeed. You mentioned something about a beat-up aquaclear filter that came with the tank. Aquaclear filters are super easy to use, and they do a great job pushing water through your filter media. I would definitely clean up that aquaclear and check it out before buying new. I just really like those filters - I run 3 on my tank.

You also asked for recommendations on a breeder. If your in California then I think Kenny's Discus is where you want to get your stock. He's in SD's sponsors list.

Good luck, and please share with us as you set your tank up and grow out your fish :)

[rockhead]

Hello All,

I am new to Discus and just got a used 150 gallon tank that I am going to clean up and use for these beautiful fish!! I have a 55 gallon of African Cichlids and want to try something new. I was in the hobby as a kid and just got back into it at the end of 2015 so this is my first go with a tank this size. I would like some opinion on filters and some recommendations on what I should use. I am going to have live plants in with the Discus as well and outside of that I'm still trying to figure out how I want it set up. If there are any questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks

[DiscusRob]

Hey JJ, based on your post of 48x18x??, you might have gotten a better deal than you think, those dimensions pretty much belong to a 75 or a 90 gallon tank. Major Dig.

Welcome

[rickztahone]

Welcome to the forum JJ. Cool story. I am thinking of setting up a SW tank, so we seem to be doing things in reverse order haha.

[djdirte]

correction - its actually a 48"x13"x20"H. its a 55gal. already looked into the specs for building my stand. seems easy. :P

so about the aquaclear 70 n that aquatech 20-40.... is that enough filtration? should i just use one? both? upgrade one or the other? Is there a certain way that would generally be agreed upon that i should set up the filtration media? im not so sure i wanna buy the ones that are designed for it.. definitely gonna use prefilter sponges, but not sure about what to do for inside. im thinking biomax, n another sponge?

[mdmccormick]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Mike, I've been in the fish hobby for quite some time, Almost all of my experience is in Pleco's, I used to try to collect them all almost like a baseball card addiction lol

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I have no experience with discus, I have been researching for several days about keeping them, I've always wanted to do a discus tank.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
Tank is not purchased yet, I think I have settled on one though, a 65 gallon the dimensions are 36.4" x 18.4" x 25", I plan on cycling it with a few tetras and cory's for a few months before purchasing discus.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
The wife and I know that we want to do a substrate, we aren't exactly sure if we want to do black, white, or like a salt and pepper. We plan on doing drift wood and pond rocks for the decor.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Our tap water comes from a natural spring near by, we plan on changing the water atleast once per week..roughly about 25% changes are what i'm used to doing in my tanks.


6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
I plan on purchasing a fluval 406 canister filter for this tank. I also plan on using 2 heaters to keep the tank in the mid 80's for the discus. Lighting we are still unsure of, the tank comes with a hood and light, but we know the light it comes with will not be great.


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;
N/A..But from what i've read, I know that I need to keep the tank slightly acidic.


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
We plan on doing around 12 Rummy Nose Tetras, 6 Emerald Green Corydoras and 4 Discus(when the tank is ready for them) we plan to start off with 2 1/2" - 3 1/2" discus

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
I normally feed fish 2-3 times per week...not sure if discus require anything different.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
The plan is just for a center piece in the living room.

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum, Mike
It appears you need to do a bit more homework to be sure you're doing all the right things to be successful keeping discus.

Did you carefully read through many of the Stickies in the Discus Basics for Beginners section ?

A few advices for you with respect to your plan.

- You'd be best served by doing a fishless cycle for your tank (using common household ammonia), and introduce the discus first, all at once, to allow them to get comfortable in their new surroundings before adding any tank-mates. But whichever way you go, you'll need to do a complete, thorough & proper quarantine to avoid any type of cross-contamination.

- And be sure you get your discus from an experienced reputable source known for supplying good quality discus. All of our sponsors here on the forum fall into that category.

- You should think about getting 5 or 6 discus rather than 4, which is not a good number for avoiding overly aggressive pecking order establishment issues.

- Once a week wcs won't cut it with discus, Mike, unless you get fully adult or near adult discus to begin with. Less expensive, but smaller juveniles (less than approx. 4.5") will need large (50% or more) wcs at the very least 3 X a week, preferably daily in a bare-bottom tank, in order to grow out properly without risk of stunting or developing poor shape.

- Be very careful with your choice of substrate if you opt to go with a planted set-up to begin with. Avoid gravel for sure, and seriously consider a thin layer of pool filter sand ( a light color is best), so that you're able to maintain a good tank cleansing routine, and god water quality & conditions. Keep things as simple as you can - plant lightly if you do, and give the discus a lot of swimming space - be minimalist with your set-up.

- Don't be fixated on doing anything chemically to alter the pH of your spring water. Anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0 will be just fine so long as it's relatively stable. Store your wc water in a safe barrel overnite to gas off if need be. Temp of 82 F will be just fine. And discus should be fed at least once daily if adult, and 2 or more X daily if youngsters.

- If you decide to proceed with your plan to get 2.5"-3" fish, you are strongly urged to keep them in a completely bare-bottom tank for a few months till they reach over 4" so they develop properly.

Hope this helps to set you on the right path to success with discus-keeping.
Best of luck to you.
Paul

[mdmccormick]

Paul, thank you for your reply. I kind of figured that there would be flaws in my plans which is exactly why I joined this forum. I have not yet read most of the stickies in the beginners section, but per your advice I will.

I will do some research on the fishless cycle, I've heard of the method but have not personally used it. I showed this post to the wife and we will be making changes to our plans based on your advise as far as starting
with the discus first before the tank mates, the wife is thrilled that you suggested 5-6 because she was having a hard time with just 4 because of how many color variations there seems to be, I was going with 4 only
based on fear of over populating the tank ( Is my original plan for 12 tetras and 6 corys still going to be ok with 6 discus? )

I am fine with doing the extra water changes as well, the extra work is worth the payoff of how beautiful these fish will be.

As far as substrate goes, originally we had planned on a substrate for planting in the future, based on your advice we will do bare bottom for the first few months as you suggest. The only other decorations we considered
were a few peices of wood, something with branches to mimic something they would have in their natural habitat and a few random pond rocks (smooth round)

As far as feeding goes, are there any recommendations on which food to buy, or should I get several types to see what they are willing to eat?

Again, thank you for the reply and advice.

[discuspaul]

If you plan on getting 6 discus for a 65 gal tank, then adding 12 tetras and 6 cories may be somewhat tight from a bio-load standpoint. Suggest you confine it to 5 discus only in that case, or even better yet, get a 75 gal tank instead, to give you more flexibility with dither fish numbers, along with 6 discus.

Food choices are numerous and I'm sure a number of members will chime in to help you decide, when you're ready to add the discus.

[Caleb.Steffler]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hello everyone my name is Caleb. I have owned fish when I was in school a 55 gallon fresh water just a community tank so about 6 years. I worked with marine tanks while I was in scouts and worked at different summer camps. When I moved out of my parents my tank was sold. If you ask my wife I'm a little bit of a spur of the moment kind of guy I font a beautiful 155 gallon bow front pre drilled tank that I'm working on setting up.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

For about a year I have been reading up on discus but only started reading articles on here this past month and its a lot better and more organized info.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

72 long by 24 by 24
Display
Still need to figure out what filter I want


4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Fine white quartz sand
Pirate theme
No sure what biotope means

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

It will be 50 percent weekly water changes once I grow my discus and put them into the 155
Not sure what you mean by aged water

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Either a sump or the fluva fx6
72 inch led light
2 300 watt heaters

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap ___6.4__

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water _X_


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

Really want a community tank
8 discus from discus Hans
5 angel fish small will trade for smaller when they get aggressive or bigger
10 Cardinal tetras
10 rummynose tetras
8 corydoras
2 albino bushy nose plucosomus

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

3 to 4 times a day when growing them out
2 to 3 when I transfer them to the 155

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goal is to just have a really beautiful tank and learn as much as I can with everything changing so much and learning so much it really gets me excited to own a beautiful fish tank again. I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys have to give.

Thanks in advance
Caleb

[mike0725]

I like the questionnaire. Here are the answers to the questions:

1) My name is Mike and I have kept fish my whole life, and I have had a lifelong fascination with aquatic life. I can't imagine life without fish. When I was a kid I started with guppies, swordtails and other live bearers. I have kept most of the traditional fish including angels, corys, tetras, various cichlids... I love schooling fish, planted tanks, South American biotopes, African cichlids, plecos and loricariids, and of course discus. I have bred many species as well, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. Right now I have a large, custom display tank that I have had discus in but have not had great success. Discus are the one species that continues to challenge and frustrate me.

2) I have read about and done research on Discus. When I have owned them in the past they've lived for as long as 18 months, but they should be living longer. I had a group of about 5 in my 175 gallon custom tank and one-by-one they've stopped eating and died off. I havent replaced any for about a year, but I want to do so again soon. More recently I have had some fish kills. Mostly from fish I buy at the store and they last about 5 days. Of the last 5 fish I have purchased, 3 died pretty quick. The LFS told me it must be me and my water, but I am not so sure. All my other fish are fine. My angels just spawned last week. So my water can't be that bad. I change my water at least weekly. My tank is lightly populated with Pristella Tetras, some corys, a few rummy nosed tetras and a couple of small plecos. Most of these fish have been in my tank for over two years. When I test my water it looks good. I use only RO water.

3) Display tank. 2.5 years old. 175 gallons or so. A sump filter system. RO water with a holding tank that pumps directly into the fish tank. When its time to change water I turn a dial and water drains out in to the sink. Then I push a button and water from the holding tank fills the aquarium. My big tank takes less time to maintain than my kids' 15 gallon. I would like this to be a display/community tank with discus, some pictus cats or corys, and some tetras. Some day when the tetras go I have considered adding an arrowana or a sting ray. I hesitate on the last two because I think they will get too big for my tank. My tank dimensions are about 28" tall x 24 inches wide x 55" long. Currently the tank houses 15 Pristellas, two corys, one pictus, 5 large angles which I am happy to move out, and a rainbow fish that magically appeared as fry in my tank one day, and two small plecos

4) Gravel substrate with some driftwood and plastic plants. I love a planted tank but thats more than I want to take on right now. I would like a South American biotope with driftwood and maybe some Java fern (technically not a SA plant, but I am not that much of a purist)

5) I change 1/3 of my water weekly and use RO water.

6) I have a big sump filter and use halogen lights.

7) Temp now is 78 but when I had discus it was 82-84. Ph is 6.5. Hardness is 0. Our tap water is hard and the Ph is high. We have municipal water and I dont usually test the water for ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite. Before I invest in more discuss I will get those numbers.

8) stocking levels - As described above except I would like to replace 3 of the large angels and I may move the other two to a breeding tank. They have spawned several times and the tetras really enjoy the eggs (to my dismay).

9) Planned feeding regimen for discus. I used to use a combo of live blackworms and frozen bloodworms, occasionally some brine shrimp. I feed the other fish pellets. Most of the time it was bloodworms and brine shrimp. In the future I am open to suggestions and would be OK with making my own beef heart mix.

10) My #1 goal is a large, gorgeous display tank with about 9 adult discuss plus the tetras and some cats. IF/when some discus pair off I would like to put them into a separate tank to spawn and raise the fry.

My discus did sometimes spawn when I had them before which tells me something was right. But I feel that they should live longer and do better. Now before I invest into another school of fish I want to be sure I am doing it right. I have the time and resources to have a really nice tank. Maybe this forum can help.

Thats my story. I am looking forward to hearing from others and learning more about how to care for these beautiful creatures!

[Akili]

Hi Mike Welcome to SimplyDiscus.As you have already kept Discus before so some of the things that go with keeping Discus should come to you easy. I suggest the you go through the stickies in the beginner section to refresh yourself about discus Next spend a little more than an hour and watch this video
https://youtu.be/VXe3VKh7qF8 also make sure you read this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86009-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Getting-Started-with-Discus
Discus aren't as hard as some folks might make it seem, just lots of fresh, clean, warm water. Aged Tap water with no pH adjustment works fine when you raising Discus, R O water is needed to breed them or if you keeping wilds.Your feeding plan sounds fine. A 1/3 of water change weekly is not enough.

[kyle walker]

It is such a great job for beginners. I also want to try this but for this I need perfect guidance. can you provide?

[Keith024]

Hi everyone I though I'd also fill out the questionnaire as I am new to the Forum :)

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with: I am new to Discus, I have kept and bred other tropical fish but never discus. I have been off the hobby for quite a few years and am currently setting up a 93 Gal tank which I plan to keep Discus in.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? : Yes been watching youtube videos for the past weeks and also read many stickies on this very informative forum. I am plan to keep on researching on this beautiful fish in order to get as much info as possible

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled: Size of Tank (with Sump filter) 93 Gallons and will be a display tank although if I am successful in keeping a discus community tank I would like to get at least a breeding pair and try breeding too in the future. The tank is currently being cycled (2nd day) I got some sponge filter media from my fish supplier and introduced it to the sump and also put a couple of dead frozen raw shrimp to help with the ammonia and aerobic bacteria generation. I have also purchased some ammonia from ebay and hopefully it will arrive by today or tomorrow were I will start dosing ammonia daily.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope: I know BB is best especially for beginners, however I really do not like the look of a BB tank. so I thought I put the least possible amount of sand and if I have issues with keeping it clean I will syphon it all out and keep it BB. The tank currently has less than 1/2 inch sand in the bottom, a medium size bog wood and I plan to put also a couple of live plants inside clay pots to facilitate cleaning.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix: I am using 100% RO Water with added (15mg per 100 litres preis Discus minerals). I have set up a 100 ltrs storage tank to store the water the RO produces, which will be kept aerated and heated to the same temperature as the fish tank. I plan to do 1 to 2 (30%) water changes a week depending on water parameters. Water will be aged for just around a day or two at max.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc: I have a 22 Gallon Sump filter, 2 300W heaters and Air pump. I am considering a UV steriliser hower not sure about that yet?

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters: Yes I filled the tank with RO water yesterday and added Preis Discus Minerals to it and measured parameters 30 minutes after

- temp: 28 degrees celsius (will put it up to 30 before fish are introduced)

- tank PH: 6.4 (RO Water with Preis Discus minerals)

- PH of the water straight out of your tap: 7.2

- Ammonia reading: waiting for API water test kit purchased from ebay. No ammonia test currently available

- Nitrite reading: 0

- Nitrate reading: 10-25

- TDS - 230 PPM

- KH - 0-3 degrees

- GH - >7 degrees


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus: Fish tank is currently being cycled with no fish. I plan to keep between 10 to 12 Discus and I think I will purchase them at around 4 to 5 inches size from one reputable local discus importer from Malaysia.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis: I plan to feed 3 to 4 times a day including beef heart, frozen worms and quality pellet food for discus, I am also considering feeding live mosquito larvae especially if I get to the breeding stage. This type of larvae is readily available in my area, I normally look out for mosquito cluster eegs in rain puddles, pick them up and let them hatch under a controlled environment, to minimise any unwanted bugs as much as possible...

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows: I plan to keep discus in community tank maybe with just a couple of corys and maybe some tetras or a pleko. I would like to try breeding them in the future if I manage to keep them successfully :)

Looking forward for your comments :)) Thank you !

[DiscusRob]

Nitrates are high especially for a tank in it's second day of cycling, shouldn't see any nitrates, test your tap water for nitrates. Also I think your tds is also high for ro water, membranes might need to be checked, for a community tank you really don't need the ro water. Also if feeding beefheart you are going to need to do larger and more frequent water changes. I wouldn't mess with the live mosquito larvae collected from rain puddles, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, too easy to contaminate the tank. I'm certain others here will chime in, I'm still a newbie, and learning.

Welcome to the best forum around.

[Keith024]

Discus Rob ,

Many thanks for your reply.

So during the day I received the API Master Test Kit (as previous tests were made with oldish test strips which I think were not that accurate) So the test results with the API Kit are as follows and are somewhat different from the test strips!:

Aquarium Water with 100% RO Water on the second day of fish less cycle:

PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrates - 5 PPM


While Tap Water straight from the Tap:

PH - 8.2
Nitrate - 30 - 40 PPM !

I think theses results for Tap water are too high especially the Nitrates! Do you still think I can go by with tap water? or better stick to RO water?

With regards to the TDS for RO water @230PPM was with added Preis Discus Minerals while before adding the minerals the result was 140 PPM. The RO and the membrane are all brand new.

Thanks for your recommendation about the mosquito larvae, they used to do wonders with breeding angel fish. As I said I always picked up only the unhatched mosquito egg clusters and then hatched them myself.

I guess I would need more water changes and more often!

Many thanks once again :)

Keith

[Keith024]

Discus Rob,

Thanks for your reply it is greatly appreciated.

The water parameters I gave earlier in my post were based on test strips which I have learned that they are not always accurate.

I have now purchased an API Master test kit and the new parameters are as follows (in fact are different):

Aquarium Water (100% RO water with Preis Discus Minerals added) on 2nd day of fishless cycle

PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrate - 5 PPM


Tap water straight from the Tap:

PH - 8.2
Nitrates - 30-40PPM


Arent the parameters for the tap water too high?

With regards to the TDS the reading of 230 PPM was after added the PREIS Discus minerals, while before adding them RO water read at . is this still too high for RO water? The RO system is brand new and the also the filters and membrane.

With regards to the Mosquito Larvae thanks for your heads up i will keep that in mind. I am learning that Discus are much more delicate then other fish!

Also will try to include more frequent water changes.

thanks once again :)

[Kyledamyen]

So this weekend I'm picking up a 125 gallon for $125, I have an empty 55 gallon currently that I plan to make a sump out of using glass from a few spare tanks. I plan on setting up a scaped discus tank using a bunch of driftwood and rocks I have laying around from old planted tanks and attaching a bunch of Anubias to it. This is my first discus tank so my question is how many discus would you recommend for a 125 with a 55 sump and what would be some (in your opinion) ideal tank mates for the setup?

[Filip]

Hi Kyledamiyen and welcome to the forum .

General and helpfull rule for discus stockin numbers is 10 gallons per discus . So you could end up with a maximum of 15 discus in your tank for the long run IMO .
But less bioload you have , its easier to maintain a proper water quallity , so that should be also taken in to consideration when stocking your tank.

Ideal tanknmates for discus are ussualy small and peaceful schools of fish like royal tetra , rummy nose tetras,harlequin rasboras , German blue rams etc.etc.

Good luck with your first discus , and keep us posted with pics when you are done .

[Pompadour Discus]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with: My name is Aja, I have about 20+ years experience with fish keeping, but never with Discus. I have a 30G tank now with Pictus catfish, black tail shark, small eel, Marble large Angelfish, and a couple different loaches. I have had larger tanks in the past with cichlids and an Oscar each in 75 and 80 gal tanks. I have zero experience in using a sump for freshwater but that is the route I would like to take with my new Discus.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? I found this forum through watching the King of DIY on YT. I have watched just about all his videos and I am so glad he recommended this site it has been the best source of information. I have been following a lot of YT on the subject of Discus and sump setups. I am also reading a couple books, one named The Perfect Aquarium by Jeremy Gay edited by Reader's Digest and the other book is titled Discus World by Chris Ingham. I am currently desperately searching for a step by step guide to building a 40 gallon sump and then plumbing the sump to an overflow box without drilling into tank. I have already purchased and waiting for delivery on a Eshopps overflow setup.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. I have a 75gal glass tank by Aqueon. Also a 40 gal tank I plan to use for a DIY sump. It is nowhere near ready for setup. I am still searching for a step by step guide or a YT video to help guide me through the build that has correct measurements for baffles, piping, and airhoses. Haven't found one yet and I have watched at least 50 videos so far. I am not exactly sure how many chambers I should use and I am still researching the media. I have purchased a pump rated 782GPH.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. While the discus are still considered Juvenile I plan on having a BB tank but I will tile the bottom. I already have the tile in mind and have ordered a rock background and will probable just have one piece of med-large driftwood in the center. Once they have matured fully I plan to have a nice planted landscape.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. I plan to aged water and Rooibos. I will use my regular tap. I plan to use aged water to perform 50% water changes 2/week.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.. I am still in the research phase for the aquarium lights, heaters, and the type of media I want to use. I have found some items on Amazon for Fluval that I like, but haven't narrowed it down to what I will need and what would be proper for this type of fish. I do plan like I stated earlier to build my own 40G sump.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters; Tank is not set up yet. Will be using my tap.


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?. Planning to have 6 to 7 Discus 4inches in size. I will be purchasing all 6/7 from Kenny around January. I do plan on having tank mates with the Discus but have not chosen breeds just yet.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. I am really interested in the type of food that stick right to the side of the tank that I have seen in YT videos. Haven't exactly figured out what type of food it is just yet but if you know and are reading this please please let me know. I was reading a few threads on here about someone named Al that sells premium Discus food, so I may give him a go. I plan to feed 2/day probably beef heart and black worms if I can't figure out what the other food is. I also wrote down a great recipe form king of DIY for Discus I would like to try as well.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? LOL is it greedy if I answer yes to all these questions!:D Eventually I would like to put them in a planted community tank but I am in no rush. I would like to become a hobby breeder, I know it will take a lot of work and time that I am ready to invest. Also in the near future I think it would be great to compete in shows, it would mean I could meet other hobbyist, share experiences and our mutual love for Discus. That would be incredibly fun, of course I would need to get a couple years experience under my belt but I can dream.

[discuspaul]

Sounds like you're ready to move in all the right directions to succeed with discus.
Welcome to Simply and best of luck to you.

[DiscusRob]

Hi Aja, here's a link that might help you out on the sump, in some circles he's the master.

http://www.melevsreef.com/category/articles/diy/sumps

Welcome to the forum

[Pompadour Discus]

I wanted to update with pics of my current tank but it just says file is too large, for all of my pics. Does anyone know the max size or mg allowed? maybe I can resize it

[RogueDiscus]

Hi Aja,
The max size for a pic is 2M. You can use various programs to resize them. I resize by selecting the pic and choosing to "share" it by email. The email program then asks what size I want. I choose medium. Once it's attached, I drag it out of the email to my desktop, discard the email draft, and then I can select it when trying to attach it to a post. Maybe roundabout, but I'm not familiar with other resizing programs.

[Pompadour Discus]

Hi Aja,
The max size for a pic is 2M. You can use various programs to resize them. I resize by selecting the pic and choosing to "share" it by email. The email program then asks what size I want. I choose medium. Once it's attached, I drag it out of the email to my desktop, discard the email draft, and then I can select it when trying to attach it to a post. Maybe roundabout, but I'm not familiar with other resizing programs.

Thanks I'm trying it now!!103862
103863
103864
103865
103866

[Ryan925]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with: My name is Aja, I have about 20+ years experience with fish keeping, but never with Discus. I have a 30G tank now with Pictus catfish, black tail shark, small eel, Marble large Angelfish, and a couple different loaches. I have had larger tanks in the past with cichlids and an Oscar each in 75 and 80 gal tanks. I have zero experience in using a sump for freshwater but that is the route I would like to take with my new Discus.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? I found this forum through watching the King of DIY on YT. I have watched just about all his videos and I am so glad he recommended this site it has been the best source of information. I have been following a lot of YT on the subject of Discus and sump setups. I am also reading a couple books, one named The Perfect Aquarium by Jeremy Gay edited by Reader's Digest and the other book is titled Discus World by Chris Ingham. I am currently desperately searching for a step by step guide to building a 40 gallon sump and then plumbing the sump to an overflow box without drilling into tank. I have already purchased and waiting for delivery on a Eshopps overflow setup.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. I have a 75gal glass tank by Aqueon. Also a 40 gal tank I plan to use for a DIY sump. It is nowhere near ready for setup. I am still searching for a step by step guide or a YT video to help guide me through the build that has correct measurements for baffles, piping, and airhoses. Haven't found one yet and I have watched at least 50 videos so far. I am not exactly sure how many chambers I should use and I am still researching the media. I have purchased a pump rated 782GPH.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. While the discus are still considered Juvenile I plan on having a BB tank but I will tile the bottom. I already have the tile in mind and have ordered a rock background and will probable just have one piece of med-large driftwood in the center. Once they have matured fully I plan to have a nice planted landscape.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. I plan to aged water and Rooibos. I will use my regular tap. I plan to use aged water to perform 50% water changes 2/week.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.. I am still in the research phase for the aquarium lights, heaters, and the type of media I want to use. I have found some items on Amazon for Fluval that I like, but haven't narrowed it down to what I will need and what would be proper for this type of fish. I do plan like I stated earlier to build my own 40G sump.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters; Tank is not set up yet. Will be using my tap.


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?. Planning to have 6 to 7 Discus 4inches in size. I will be purchasing all 6/7 from Kenny around January. I do plan on having tank mates with the Discus but have not chosen breeds just yet.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. I am really interested in the type of food that stick right to the side of the tank that I have seen in YT videos. Haven't exactly figured out what type of food it is just yet but if you know and are reading this please please let me know. I was reading a few threads on here about someone named Al that sells premium Discus food, so I may give him a go. I plan to feed 2/day probably beef heart and black worms if I can't figure out what the other food is. I also wrote down a great recipe form king of DIY for Discus I would like to try as well.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? LOL is it greedy if I answer yes to all these questions!:D Eventually I would like to put them in a planted community tank but I am in no rush. I would like to become a hobby breeder, I know it will take a lot of work and time that I am ready to invest. Also in the near future I think it would be great to compete in shows, it would mean I could meet other hobbyist, share experiences and our mutual love for Discus. That would be incredibly fun, of course I would need to get a couple years experience under my belt but I can dream.

The food you stick on the side are Als freeze dried black worms. Definitely a great food to feed.

As far as plumbing your sump I'd say keep it simple. Since you are using an external overflow box I am pretty sure the eshopps has 1" outlets. I will be doing the same. I was just going to use the eshopps 1" flexible hoses. No need to get crazy with hard plumbing imo and I have tons of plumbing experience so it's not the plumbing aspect that deters me. Again simple is great

[Pompadour Discus]

Thanks Ryan!! I could not figure the food thing out, and 1" pipes got it :)

[Lamarto]

I brought 2 new discus which are a little less than 2 inches without their fins. i have kept them in a 18 inches long and 10 inches tall aquarium which takes a lil more than 40 liters in it. i have a 200w heater , i set that to 30 degree but as my tank is small so the water became lil warm so now i have set that into 26 . i have a filter too and i change 2 liters of water in a day.. i was feed them dry food and live red worms... when i brought them their upper fins were straight but after 2 days i don't see their fins like before ,i find the fins relaxed. only the upper fins. and they do not 40% of the time i find them behind the filter..this is the picture of my fishes i couldn't upload with this caue of an error https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1124203497686855&set=a.673064422800767.1073741831.100002916450814&type=3&theater

[Filip]

I brought 2 new discus which are a little less than 2 inches without their fins. i have kept them in a 18 inches long and 10 inches tall aquarium which takes a lil more than 40 liters in it. i have a 200w heater , i set that to 30 degree but as my tank is small so the water became lil warm so now i have set that into 26 . i have a filter too and i change 2 liters of water in a day.. i was feed them dry food and live red worms... when i brought them their upper fins were straight but after 2 days i don't see their fins like before ,i find the fins relaxed. only the upper fins. and they do not 40% of the time i find them behind the filter..this is the picture of my fishes i couldn't upload with this caue of an error https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1124203497686855&set=a.673064422800767.1073741831.100002916450814&type=3&theater

Hi Lamarto and welcome to this forum.
It would be better if you fill up the Tank Questionnaire from the beggining of this thread and post your problem in a new thread in a disease section Subforum .
We can't help without any info on your keeping routines and other valuable info.

[carlII]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

I have about 5 years of experience with both Freshwater and Reef Tanks. I started with discus, went all saltwater reef nd now I am back to Discus. I want to do it right. I started with about 5 discus and had 1 2 years later.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I feel that I am new to actually learning to keep Discus.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
180 gallon reef ready. 72x24x24. 40 gallon sump.
It has been setup for 3 weeks now.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Heavily Planted. (High Tech)
Substrate - Organic potting soil, Eco-complete, and black sand substrate.


5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

40 gallons bi-weekly. Currently using tap water for the minerals and Seachem Prime to detoxify. I still have my RO/DI system from my reefing days.


6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Sump with various filter pads, Seachem Pond Matrix and Purigen.

2x300watt Hydor heaters.

72" Odyssea snake eyes LED fixture.


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __82___

- tank ph __7.28___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.6___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __0__

- well water ____

- municipal water __x__
8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
15 Discus from Discus/Angelfish USA (I got 4 from the LFS before I knew better, I lost one before I pulled them from my display and quarantined them)
2 Blue rams
15 neon/Cardinal tetras
10 Serpae tetras
4 Otos
6 Cory
Nerite snails
1 amano shrimp that keep getting into the sump.
2 Swordtails.
1 Betta


9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Pellets in an Eheim feeder 3x daily.
Various frozen foods fed manually. Blood Worms, Omega Carnivore formula, Omega freshwater formula

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

To keep Discus in a beautiful healthy planted aquarium. I love the natural filtration that plants provide.

[Filip]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

I have about 5 years of experience with both Freshwater and Reef Tanks. I started with discus, went all saltwater reef nd now I am back to Discus. I want to do it right. I started with about 5 discus and had 1 2 years later.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I feel that I am new to actually learning to keep Discus.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
180 gallon reef ready. 72x24x24. 40 gallon sump.
It has been setup for 3 weeks now.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Heavily Planted. (High Tech)
Substrate - Organic potting soil, Eco-complete, and black sand substrate.


5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

40 gallons bi-weekly. Currently using tap water for the minerals and Seachem Prime to detoxify. I still have my RO/DI system from my reefing days.


6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Sump with various filter pads, Seachem Pond Matrix and Purigen.

2x300watt Hydor heaters.

72" Odyssea snake eyes LED fixture.


7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __82___

- tank ph __7.28___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.6___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __0__

- well water ____

- municipal water __x__
8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
15 Discus from Discus/Angelfish USA (I got 4 from the LFS before I knew better, I lost one before I pulled them from my display and quarantined them)
2 Blue rams
15 neon/Cardinal tetras
10 Serpae tetras
4 Otos
6 Cory
Nerite snails
1 amano shrimp that keep getting into the sump.
2 Swordtails.
1 Betta


9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Pellets in an Eheim feeder 3x daily.
Various frozen foods fed manually. Blood Worms, Omega Carnivore formula, Omega freshwater formula

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

To keep Discus in a beautiful healthy planted aquarium. I love the natural filtration that plants provide.

Hi carlii and welcome to simply discus and discus fish keeping.
You have a great 180 G tankage that can fit almost everything you like , inside .
I would like to see some pictures of your current setup and discus in it , so please open a specific thread about your tank with pics and info in the planted subforum or in our tank journals section.
Good luck with your new fish and experience :-) .

[childofiam]

Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fish keeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

1) My name is Richard. I started in the hobby in my early twenties but I had to give it up when the kid’s got older plus I really didn’t know what I was doing back then. My daughter gave me a 20 gal tank two years ago and said that I needed to get back into the hobby. The 20 gal was replaced with a 37 gal cube tank with Tiger barbs being the main school of fish but after a heater malfunction that raised my temp to 90 deg over night everything died so I started over with Angel fish and a high quality heater. The 37 gal cube is a vivarium now with submerged and emerged plants, it is used to breed guppies for food. I have always wanted to keep Discus so I began to learn everything I needed to learn in keeping discus a year ago but I have a long way to go. After spending a year in research and practice by keeping Angelfish and breeding them in 2 dkh water with a GH of 4 I purchased my first Discus last month.
I have a unproven pair of Blue Dimond Discus in my main 75 gal tank and their tank mates are 5 Roseline Shark’s and 6 Black loaches.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have done research on how to maintaining high water quality. I have learned about ORP and the RH factor of healthy water. Now that I have found this forum I am hungry to dig into all of the knowledge here at Simply Discus.


3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
My main tank is a 75 gal. display tank. The inside dimensions are; 47.25” x 17.25” x 19.5”. Including the filtering system the total amount of water in the tank is 67 gal.
I also have a 75 gal. BB tank that is split into two separate compartments with a single external filtering system.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

I have a .5” of course rounded sand on the bottom. There are 2 pieces of Fake driftwood that covers the two heaters in each corner. A single piece of fake Driftwood log across the center in the back of the tank. This tank has been set up for over a year. There are silk plants.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
I do regular 25% water changes every other day. I use aged RO water I have in two 30 gal. Rubber made trash cans with lids. The water is heated to 82 deg and buffered at 2 dkh with a ph of 6.6

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

The main display tank has two 300w heaters in opposite corners controlled by a Ink Bird heater controller set at 29c with a .2c drop in temp before heaters are engaged. The temp probe is in the center of the tank half way to the bottom. The water is pulled from the tank by a Reno Filstar filter. That filter has in the first tray, three 30 micro sponge’s. Second tray 20 micro sponges with a super micro pad. Third tray, Super micro pad with Matrix on top and two carbon bags above it. After the water leaves the Filstar it goes through a true stage 1 TMC UV sterilizer before entering two Fluidized Sand Bed Filters and then into the tank.
I clean the filter sponges every 2 week and replace them every 2 months. Micro pads are replaced every 2 weeks. The system filters 90 gph
The lights are TMC Grolights. Two are 8 inches above the water with glass lids covering the tank. There are two others three feet higher to support the live plants outside the tank.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 29.c

- tank ph __6.6___

- Ph of the water. I use 100% RO 6.6

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __.2 - 5 ppm

- well water __no__

- municipal water __yes__


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
I plan on purchasing 6 to 8 Yellow dragon juveniles for the breeding/grow out tank in order to get breeding pairs.
I have purchased my Blue Dimond pair from “The Reef Aquarium shop” in Indianapolis, In.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

I am feeding SeaChem’s Discus flakes, Spirulina 20 flakes, frozen blood worms, freeze dried tub flex worms, freeze dried black worms.
I feed a little bit 4 to 5 times a day

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goal is to breed Blue Dimond and Yellow Dragon discus to sell proven pairs and Juveniles around 5 to 6 inches. I would also like to compete in shows.
I am 55 and retired so I have a lot of time to dedicate to this hobby.

[Filip]

Nice and thoroug introduction Richard .
Welcome to the world of keeping discus and to this forum .
I'm sure you'll find all the info. you need to fullfil your goal of keeping and breeding discus successfully .
Yo got plenty of time ahead of you to learn and practice , and that along with the patience is whats most important in this hobby .

As for a first pointer from me , don't use 100% RO unless you remineralise with discus trace or other similar products . 100% is not healthy environment , especially when raising young discus.


Have a good time on this forum and ask questions first , whenever in doubt .

[kimberly]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. [After listening to Simply Discus fellow travelers with my 60gallon tank, I created a pristine tank and noticed a pair spawning, so I am setting up a 20 gallon tank for their privacy. I want to set this new tank up properly. What do you think? Please read below. ]

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. [I am worried about setting up this tank because it is my first 'couples' tank. It has a sponge filter, pleco (for help cycling), a driftwood (so he can hide), and a heater in it. Three sides are covered with foil. It is BB. I am using a jumpstart cycle substrate recommended from my pet shop owner. Here is the part I am worried about...I put a piece of foam from my original community tank inside the new tank thinking it would help bring in good bacteria, but now I am second guessing myself.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. [I set up the new tank two days ago. I put half water from old tank and half water from tap. I put a dichloride substrate in it too. Tomorrow will be day three of the jumpstart cycle substrate. Do you think I should do a WC? I plan to do 50% WC once the discus pair get there. I also ordered a TDS meter and a breeding cone.]

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc. [I am using a brand new sponge right now with the cycle solution to help jumpstart the process. I will only use a sponge the entire time. I have a heater on at 85 degrees. I have a deep blue light on. ]

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __85___

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____

I will measure these tomorrow. I am dog sitting tonight at my cousin's house.

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus? [Two red blood 5 inch pigeons only. I bought them from G&G Aquatics in Centerville, VA. ]

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. [FDBlackW (am), homemade BH (afternoon and night) called [I]Discus Dream by Al from RockyMountainDiscus. I will use a vac after the feedings or do a WC. ]

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
[My goal is to have a community tank. Right now I will have four in there (blue diamond 3 in, blue turquoise 4 in, melon 3 in, red blood pigeon 4.5 in. My other goal is to nurture a pair in a separate tank, and my dream would be to compete. ]

[morkleb]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hi folks, I am very new to discus, though I have admired them from afar for years. I am just now taking the plunge into discus parenthood. I have a tropical 55 tanks with gouramis and tetras as dithers, I have had that tank for 5 years. With the dithers changing as life expectancy come and go. I had a 75 salt with clowns, chromis and banji and some softie corals. I maintained that for two years but I have chosen to dismantle it and move to Discus. that 75 has been cleaned and is now being set up for my discus.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have been reading up here and several videos online.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I am going with a BB 75 gal with a 20 refugium set up below. I will have a sock and charcoal filter pack / miracle mud and java moss

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

BB with driftwood and java moss maybe a few other plants

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I own a RODI from the saltwater days. I have changed about 30 gal each week on the salt so thought this might continue to work on Discus. Do I need to mix tap with RODI? I age water for the tropicals because the pH wasn't good for them

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc. see above with heater and salt water coral lights and moon light

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I plan, after my aquarium has turned, to have 6 discus maybe a couple brushy nose and congos for dither.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis. plan to feed small amounts often as I have family home all day.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

It this point, I plan only to be a hobbist not a breeder. I want to enjoy the beauty of these magnificent fish.

[anngocta]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
Hello. My name is An. In the past I kept Angels and Clown Loaches mostly. I did keep Discus briefly but I wasn’t able to care for them properly so I sold them. I have been in the hobby for about 7 years. I’m currently looking to keep again now that I have the time to devote to them.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I have done a lot of research on it as well as watching the “How to keep Discus” video multiple time.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
75 gallon display tank (48”x18”x21”) and a 20gal sump. Currently still cycling. It’s been about 1 week. It is being cycled with media from an existing tank.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Brown Flourite substrate, lightly planted, big spider wood piece.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Water changes will be once a week at first and will do more if water test indicating more is needed. 50% once a week with RO water treated with Seachem Acid Buffer and Alkaline buffer and Discus Trace.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
Sump. First mechanically filter by Pinky filter pad then 2 4” 200 micron sock. Heated by 2 200watt heater. Biologically filter by 10lbs of ceramic rings. 13watt UV sterilizer. Co2 reactor running at 2 bubbles per second. There will also be catappa leaves placed in the sump.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __82___

- tank ph 7.6 (this what is currently in the tank. It was 70% RO and 30% tap. Will be doing water changes with only RO water every other day until PH is around 6.6-6.8. RO water is at 6.8 ph.

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8 (after aging for a day it’s around 8.4)

- ammonia reading .25ppm

- nitrite reading 0 ppm

- nitrate reading 0 ppm

- GH reading 3

- KH Reading 4

- well water ____

- municipal water X


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
Currently no Discus. Just 6 nerite snails and 6 Amano Shrimps. 6 Cardinal Tetras, 4 Otocinclus, 4 German Blue Rams, and 3 Siamese Algae Eater are in quarantine treated with general cure for worms (3 week quarantine, 1 more week to go) Looking to get 4 5”+ Discus. I will look at Uncle Sam’s Discus first as he’s only 6 hours from me. But I can order it from Kenny’s Discus if Uncle Sam’s isn’t right for me.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
Twice a day with New Life Spectrum Thera+A. Also Hikari Frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimps as treats once or twice a week.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
I just want to keep a beautiful group of discus in a planted tank. If they do breed, I will move the frys to a separate tank.

[Ggz123]

1) Hello everyone, I just joined and my name is Greg. I have extensive experience in saltwater tanks including shark tanks, reefs, fish only etc. I recently moved to Kentucky (work promotion) and am currently doing a fishless cycle on a 75 gallon tank. I am actually cycling the media in 3 separate 32 gallon Rubbermaid containers. I have always wanted to have a discus set up and I am on my way!

2) I have done extensive research on the web regarding all aspects of keeping discus including threads on Simply Discus prior to joining. I have also called several breeders/sellers for input and advice. The is how I learned about the fishless cycle.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. Again, a 75 gallon tank with internal overflow that leads to a Bashsea Biofuge sump. I plan on having a bare bottom tank with manzita driftwood hanging on the back with perhaps some plants attached. The refugium will have water sprite and perhaps a couple other plants for nitrate reduction. I have lots of bio maxx and pot scrubbers being cycled with ACE ammonia in separate containers as previously mentioned. I have been cycling for about 3 weeks.

4) Bare bottom, some attached driftwood,refugium, tap water aged with prime,

5) Water changes TBD. I have read all kinds of WC suggestions so I know it will be somewhere between 25 % and 50 % every few days.

6) Lighting is LED by Beamswork, refugium light by Finnex, 2 x Eheim thermometers (for disaster recovery), pH and temp monitoring,

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 86F

- tank ph 7.8

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8

- ammonia reading 4

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 0

- well water N/A

- municipal water


8) I plan on keeping anywhere from 6 to 15 adult discus…….again, I have read MANY different theories about stocking levels and plan to continue to nail it down and welcome input. I have looked at Hans Discus, Mac’s discus, Chicago Discus to name a few and welcome any other suggestions.

9) Feeding schedule will depend on size/age of the discus from what I have researched. I was originally going to buy 2.5 inch discus but have learned that may not be wise in the size of tank I have. I am now leaning towards 3.5 to 4 inch fish. Any input welcome.

10) My first goal is to keep these beautiful fish alive! Once that objective is met, I would love to try to breed discus.

[CoasterCyrus]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.


My name is Cyrus. I've been in the hobby for just over a year now. I've kept a great saltwater tank, butterfly telescope goldfish, and the classic beta fish. I've got an angelfish tank as well, and now i've got an angel fish and discus tank.


2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I've never kept discus before, but I did several months of research and I have read almost all of the stickies.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I have a 60 gallon tank. 4 feet long by 1 foot deep by 2 feet tall. The tank has been set up for a few weeks now.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

When I originally started I did have black gravel on the bottom. I recently switched that to a bare bottom. As of now I've got one fake plant in the center of the tank.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

I'm doing water changes once to twice a week of 50%. I use RO water
With discus trace.
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

Are use a canister filter with the pre-filter sponge and a spray bar on the return. I've got a heater that's rated for up to 100 gallons

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _84

- tank ph _7.4

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.6

- ammonia reading _0

- nitrite reading _0

- nitrate reading _0

- well water _No

- municipal water _yes


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I currently have eight angel fish and four discus. I plan on eventually ending with six discus. I bought the disc is from my local fish store that breeds them. They are a very reputable location. The disc is I have our 3 to 4 inches.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

I currently feel once a day, however only one of the four discus is actually eating. Which is starting to make me concerned. I feed discus flake as well as frozen worm.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

Right now my goals are just to get all of the discus eating and hopefully eventually end up with a breeding pair. I think it would be great to become a hobby breeder.

[Laur]

Hello All,

Pat and crew thank you for creating this and giving us newbies a starting point.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fish-keeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

A1) I have been a hobbyist since I was very young. However I have many interests so rarely keep more then one tank at a time. I have also had many successful ponds that featured various species. I started with community tanks then Cichlids. I was toying with the idea of a marine tank but after much reading have gladly settled on Discus. I have a strong feeling that I will want to stick with them for a long time.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

A2) I have been reading and need to do more before I start to introduce fish this fall.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

A3) The 'new' tank is a standard 90 gal which fits well in our new downsized home. We are empty nesters now. :)

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

A4) I am interested in doing a biotope with live plants and roots.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

A5) I usually do a weekly water chance depending on the fish stocked and their requirements along with inches of fish per gallon. I would appreciate any suggestions that you all might have. I can use either RO or tap with filter.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

A6) I would appreciate some guidance in this area. I want to build it 'right' from the start.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

A7) n/a

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

A8) I live in northern Colorado so I am looking for guidance in this are as well.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

A9) I do understand that Discus juveniles require many feeding throughout the day. This will work well for me as I work from home and so I am able to do the daily care that is needed. Again looking for guidance.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

A10) At this point I just want a beautiful healthy planted tank to enjoy (in our living room). You never know where life will take you so I will leave the future open to possibilities.

[RogueDiscus]

Hi Laurie and welcome to SD!
I'm a Moderator on the forum, but for me that mostly means I try to help make sure things run smoothly around here, rather than being any sort of expert. I have a few thoughts then which are just my own suggestions.

I think the best think you can do since you seem to be taking your time, is to hang out here and read as much as you can, and ask questions.

Your tank size sounds great. For adult fish, 10 gallons per fish is recommended.

At that tank size, I think considering a sump may be a good option, but I'll let others advise on that since sumps are not my part of my experience.

Discus are beautiful fish, and many people approach keeping them as "living art" in a planted display tank. There is nothing wrong with that, but if that's the way you plan to go, then there are some common recommendations for success. Planted is not my area, but again, I encourage you to read a lot of the experiences of others in the Planted/Biotope section. Folks are encouraged to approach keeping a planted tank and keeping discus separately at first until they have a good handle on both. Discus thrive in clean water. Your filtration system will be important, but frequent water changes of over 50% is the norm. Organics that accumulate in substrate can be a source of pathogens, and many folks keep discus in bare bottom tanks for this reason. It becomes all about the fish. Juvies require even more freguent water changes, and they are more susceptible to pathogens, and so raising them in a planted tank is highly discouraged. Adults are the usual recommendation for planted tanks.

RO is mainly used to reduce the total dissolved solids (tds) if you're breeding. Discus will usually acclimate to your tap water, assuming it's been conditioned to account for chlorine/chloramines or nitrates, even if it's hard or the pH is high. Stable pH is recommended, so people usually test their water out of the tap, and then after being aged/aireated for a day to see if the pH swings. If it does more than about .4, then folks age their water before using it.

I hope others will chime in and offer their experience, but this should give you a couple things to think about.

Oh, also, pics are usually required when you're ready:D

Steve

[kristen]

1) Hi there, I'm Kristen and have been in the hobby for a few years. I have had a successful mixed community tank (75g) and a not so successful african cichlid tank. I have never had discus!

2) Research-wise I have done a lot of reading this forum, it seems to be the most complete source of info I can find! Thank you so much to the experts and experienced hobbyists who post here, it is so helpful.

3) I have a 125g display tank, it is 6ft long, it has been setup and cycled for 2 months

4) Pool sand substrate, manzanita driftwood, a few floating plants (frogbit and water spangles), some vals which I may remove

5) I plan to water change 75% 2-3 times a week (currently 40% once a week), with siphoning, and conditioning with Amquel+ and Nova Aqua +. I have been using tap water to water change by putting a 5 gallon bucket in the sink, matching the temp out of the tap to the tank and filling the bucket, and using a hose and gravity from that bucket to another 5g bucket on the floor next to the tank. A pump sitting in the bucket on the floor pumps water up into the tank. I bought and plan to use a 200 micron sock on the output of that to avoid the microbubbles. Python doesn’t fit on my sinks, so this is my best option for WC, it works well.

6)
Eheim 2262 canister filter
Double sponge filter (ordered not yet in tank)
2 heaters, temperature 83 degrees
2 small powerheads on the side of the outflow to move water and waste towards the filter
Air bubble wand buried under the substrate (won't stay buried right now!)
Lighting is an LED strip with the config 66x 10000K, 12x Actinic 460nm … I don’t really know what these numbers mean but I got some floating plants to try to diffuse the light because it seems bright




7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __83___

- tank ph __8___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.4___ **more on this at the bottom of the post**

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __5-20__

- well water ____

- municipal water __X__

- GH is 12 and KH is 6


8) Current stock: 5 sterbai cories, 5 ottocats, 1 BN pleco, 3 rams (GBR ish), 50 cardinal tetras. I’m considering removing the pleco (lots of poop) and ottocats (if they suck on the discus).
My plan: I do not have a quarantine setup so I thought the last fish I would add would be the discus, and I would get them all at once, from a reputable breeder. I plan to get a school of 8, 4-4.5 inches.

9) I plan to feed Cobalt flakes in the morning, Al’s FDBW right after work, and late night Al’s discus chow. I feed the current fish Cobalt flakes and Hikari frozen blood worms.

10) My goal is to have a nice display tank for myself, I just want to keep the discus successfully :)


**
I have a question with my pH. I’ve been reading up on it and returned the Acid Buffer that I bought based on the advice of this forum, which is to not mess with pH. Please see this image for my pH test results: http://imgur.com/a/q1Z2p (http://imgur.com/a/q1Z2p)
My guess as to the readings is:

Straight tap: 7.4
Aged 5 minutes (5 minutes in my WC bucket with agitation): 7.8
Tank water: 8
Aged 24 hours: 8.2



My question is, based on this, what do you think of my plan to not age my water? It seems the “aged 5 minutes” is very close to the tank, so my WC method where I agitate the water with the two buckets and the pump produces water close enough. I may be convincing myself this because I really don’t have anywhere to put an aging barrel, no closets, no room under the tank, my husband would never be ok with leaving one “out” lol so there is just no way. If I have to age my water I think I will probably not buy the discus. I’d really appreciate any feedback on my tank setup, stocking, feeding plan, and especially water and whether I can get by without aging or not.

Thank you for reading!

[lchaly]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material? I have done some research

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled. 150 gallon, not set up yet. I have a well and a softener.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope. most likely bare bottom, maybe a little sand substrate

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix. Purchased RODI water filter.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc. I am here because i need suggestions on filter types. I read discus do not like lot of flow.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____

- tank ph _____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus? Not usre on proper about for a 150 gallon long tank would be.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows? Would like to keep a colorful and healthy discus tank.

[discuspaul]

Welcome to the forum, Leon.
Since your plan is for either bare-bottom or a light sand layer, it seems like you will be maintaining a simplistic discus tank - which is great - so filtration is no large problem even for a 150 gal. tank.
Perhaps you will be happy with 2 or 3 large sponge filters which will do the job just fine.
How many discus are you planning to have in that tank.
When you get closer to setting up, suggest you go through the list of sponsors here to find a quality discus supplier nearest your location.
All the best to you.

[KevsDiscus]

I would like to begin by saying how amazing this is for us newbies. I have so few posts that talking about anything that isn't my own tank just doesn't seem right.
1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Kevin and i have been keeping fish for about 5 years. My current tanks include a 120 gallon with three 9" Red Bellied Piranha, a 45 gallon goldfish tank, my 20 gallon feeder tank(Piranha) and my 6 month old 55 gallon discus grow out.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
Most of my research on discus began after purchase:(. I found fish online from Steve MacDonald at Macs discus and was struck by how cool they where. I have been reading as many posts on SD as possible and asking attempting to right my wrongs and avoid catastrophe. I thank each and every person who has posted on here for the overwhelming sense of community and the vast depth of knowledge shown in each post.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
The tank is 55 gallons 48x12x20 grow out. Set up for 2 months before fish with cycled filter and one sponge. Fully cycled at 6 weeks 2 weeks prior to fish arrival. I have had the fish for 4 months.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
BB with nothing but intake outtake heaters and sponge. 8 foot LED dimming and multi color runs for 6 hours per day

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
75% water changes 5 times per week with 24 hour aged tap water
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
Filtration is one Fluvial G6 (180 GPH) canister and one sponge. Heaters are one 200 watt and one 100 watt. 8 foot LED dimmable and multi color runs for 6 hours per day

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __29 C 86 F___

- tank ph __6.5__

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7___

- ammonia reading __0_

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __0-5__

- municipal water __yes__


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
5 discus 3 inches from Macs Discus Washington USA
9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
3-4 times daily tetra min tropical flakes and tetrcolor tropical granules.
10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
I would like to try and grow these fish out and breed for the soul purpose of proving to myself that i can do it:)

To my expert hobbyists, tell me whats right, tell me whats wrong i will do my best to be my best.

[Ryan925]

I would like to begin by saying how amazing this is for us newbies. I have so few posts that talking about anything that isn't my own tank just doesn't seem right.
1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Kevin and i have been keeping fish for about 5 years. My current tanks include a 120 gallon with three 9" Red Bellied Piranha, a 45 gallon goldfish tank, my 20 gallon feeder tank(Piranha) and my 6 month old 55 gallon discus grow out.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
Most of my research on discus began after purchase:(. I found fish online from Steve MacDonald at Macs discus and was struck by how cool they where. I have been reading as many posts on SD as possible and asking attempting to right my wrongs and avoid catastrophe. I thank each and every person who has posted on here for the overwhelming sense of community and the vast depth of knowledge shown in each post.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
The tank is 55 gallons 48x12x20 grow out. Set up for 2 months before fish with cycled filter and one sponge. Fully cycled at 6 weeks 2 weeks prior to fish arrival. I have had the fish for 4 months.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
BB with nothing but intake outtake heaters and sponge. 8 foot LED dimming and multi color runs for 6 hours per day

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
75% water changes 5 times per week with 24 hour aged tap water
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
Filtration is one Fluvial G6 (180 GPH) canister and one sponge. Heaters are one 200 watt and one 100 watt. 8 foot LED dimmable and multi color runs for 6 hours per day

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __29 C 86 F___

- tank ph __6.5__

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7___

- ammonia reading __0_

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __0-5__

- municipal water __yes__


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
5 discus 3 inches from Macs Discus Washington USA
9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
3-4 times daily tetra min tropical flakes and tetrcolor tropical granules.
10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
I would like to try and grow these fish out and breed for the soul purpose of proving to myself that i can do it:)

To my expert hobbyists, tell me whats right, tell me whats wrong i will do my best to be my best.

Welcome. Your setup sounds pretty good. Only thing I would suggest is add more to your feeding regiment if you really want to grow these guys. Definitely get some of Als fdbw. Beefheart is great for growth although messy. Als discus chow or bio gold are really good as well.

How's the G6 working out for you? Mine ended up with issues pretty quickly. I got a warranty replacement but I replaced it with an eheim pro 4+ 600. I feel the eheim is a far better filter. Hopefully that G6 works out I've read a lot of issues with them unfortunately after I'd already purchased and ran mine

[kristen]

1) Hi there, I'm Kristen and have been in the hobby for a few years. I have had a successful mixed community tank (75g) and a not so successful african cichlid tank. I have never had discus!

2) Research-wise I have done a lot of reading this forum, it seems to be the most complete source of info I can find! Thank you so much to the experts and experienced hobbyists who post here, it is so helpful.

3) I have a 125g display tank, it is 6ft long, it has been setup and cycled for 2 months

4) Pool sand substrate, manzanita driftwood, a few floating plants (frogbit and water spangles), some vals which I may remove

5) I plan to water change 75% 2-3 times a week (currently 40% once a week), with siphoning, and conditioning with Amquel+ and Nova Aqua +. I have been using tap water to water change by putting a 5 gallon bucket in the sink, matching the temp out of the tap to the tank and filling the bucket, and using a hose and gravity from that bucket to another 5g bucket on the floor next to the tank. A pump sitting in the bucket on the floor pumps water up into the tank. I bought and plan to use a 200 micron sock on the output of that to avoid the microbubbles. Python doesn’t fit on my sinks, so this is my best option for WC, it works well.

6)
Eheim 2262 canister filter
Double sponge filter (ordered not yet in tank)
2 heaters, temperature 83 degrees
2 small powerheads on the side of the outflow to move water and waste towards the filter
Air bubble wand buried under the substrate (won't stay buried right now!)
Lighting is an LED strip with the config 66x 10000K, 12x Actinic 460nm … I don’t really know what these numbers mean but I got some floating plants to try to diffuse the light because it seems bright




7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __83___

- tank ph __8___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap __7.4___ **more on this at the bottom of the post**

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __5-20__

- well water ____

- municipal water __X__

- GH is 12 and KH is 6


8) Current stock: 5 sterbai cories, 5 ottocats, 1 BN pleco, 3 rams (GBR ish), 50 cardinal tetras. I’m considering removing the pleco (lots of poop) and ottocats (if they suck on the discus).
My plan: I do not have a quarantine setup so I thought the last fish I would add would be the discus, and I would get them all at once, from a reputable breeder. I plan to get a school of 8, 4-4.5 inches.

9) I plan to feed Cobalt flakes in the morning, Al’s FDBW right after work, and late night Al’s discus chow. I feed the current fish Cobalt flakes and Hikari frozen blood worms.

10) My goal is to have a nice display tank for myself, I just want to keep the discus successfully :)


**
I have a question with my pH. I’ve been reading up on it and returned the Acid Buffer that I bought based on the advice of this forum, which is to not mess with pH. Please see this image for my pH test results: http://imgur.com/a/q1Z2p (http://imgur.com/a/q1Z2p)
My guess as to the readings is:

Straight tap: 7.4
Aged 5 minutes (5 minutes in my WC bucket with agitation): 7.8
Tank water: 8
Aged 24 hours: 8.2



My question is, based on this, what do you think of my plan to not age my water? It seems the “aged 5 minutes” is very close to the tank, so my WC method where I agitate the water with the two buckets and the pump produces water close enough. I may be convincing myself this because I really don’t have anywhere to put an aging barrel, no closets, no room under the tank, my husband would never be ok with leaving one “out” lol so there is just no way. If I have to age my water I think I will probably not buy the discus. I’d really appreciate any feedback on my tank setup, stocking, feeding plan, and especially water and whether I can get by without aging or not.

Thank you for reading!

Hi guys, I posted a little bit ago and haven't heard back from y'all (see the quote). I am still concerned about the pH question, actually I measured my pH in the tank 24 hours after a water change yesterday and it was 7.4! We just had a huge storm here with minor flooding and I wonder if it impacted the pH out of the tap, I wish I had measured it then. Anyways, any thoughts? I'd really appreciate some advice!

[Filip]

Hi Kristen and welcome to the forum.

Your plan sounds right IMO concerning your stocking levels , tank size , filtration , lights , WC and feeding regime .
About the negative PH Swing of about 0.6-0.8 units during WCs, i think it can cause problems.

My 2 options here would be to find a place in your cabinet to age at least 30- 40 G. of water for your WCs and / or to change your WC regime to a 5 day 40-50% WC a week instead of 2-3 times 70-80% a week .That way you can lower the PH stress on your discus during WCs .

Start with less % WCs and increase them gradually when you purchase your fish , and observe them how do they react after every WC.
Their behaviour will tell you how much they can tolerate without any bigger stress.

Good luck Kristen .

[kristen]

Hi Kristen and welcome to the forum.

Your plan sounds right IMO concerning your stocking levels , tank size , filtration , lights , WC and feeding regime .
About the negative PH Swing of about 0.6-0.8 units during WCs, i think it can cause problems.

My 2 options here would be to find a place in your cabinet to age at least 30- 40 G. of water for your WCs and / or to change your WC regime to a 5 day 40-50% WC a week instead of 2-3 times 70-80% a week .That way you can lower the PH stress on your discus during WCs .

Start with less % WCs and increase them gradually when you purchase your fish , and observe them how do they react after every WC.
Their behaviour will tell you how much they can tolerate without any bigger stress.

Good luck Kristen .

Thanks Filip! I hadn't thought to do more frequent but less % water changes like that, it is maybe possible I could find the perfect dimensions tank to setup in the cabinet. My canister filter takes up half of the space unfortunately it's so huge! But I will look into finding a 40 gallon (maybe a tall one) that would fit. Also I will take your suggestion of gradually increasing WC % once I get to that point.

-Kristen

[Filip]

Put the big canister and all the gear on one side and measure the space you have left in your cabinet to the last inch , leaving only 5 inch from the top of the cabinet , just so that you can put your arm and pump inside. I'm sure you'll find space for a decent size tank in there Kristen.
You will need it as a QT tank in case of emergency too , so don't hesitate to make one, customized to the space you have .

[KevsDiscus]

Thanks ryan! i have had the G6 for about 3 years now and with regular monthy deep cleaning i have still had to replace the impeller. I love digital display. It is incomparable with flow rates, temperature, conductivity, along with programmable maintenance schedule, and out of range alerts. I used this filter previously on my 120 with crystal clear results after only weekly water changes. As for my discus food i will order some FDBW asap, i was feeding FBW for the first two months but i lost a discus and blamed poor storage and handling and switched to only flakes and granules.

[lastflea]

Hi everyone.

I'm back into fish keeping after three years break. Nearly four thinking about it. Before that I was in the hobby for two and a half years. My last tank was a high tech planted community, which had some success. I managed to keep that running for a year, with no casualties. I had to break it down due to moving to a small flat. Like, really small.

My research into discus has been on and off for around four years, but this hasn't really been centred around the idea of setting up, far more to do with curiosity and fascination. I'm not rushing anything, and my tank is still in the build stage. I think around six months from now I'll be putting the discus in, after more serious research is conducted.

So the tank will be display purposes. It's 5'x2.5'x2 630l (approx 166 USG) and I'll be planting low maintenance, low light plants with some wood and rocks. Not too heavy on the plants. Some swords, a couple bushes and some floating. Probably frogbit for some additional help with nitrate consumption and light cover. My substrate will be white sand, and I'll paint the back, and left side of the tank pale blue. I'm staggering the scape, and planting strategically, so I won't need a light unit capable of lighting up a football field. There'll be plenty of space for free movement, and feeding spots will be over open ground to minimise festering ground waste. I'll have a cori clean up crew to help with that as well. I'll be cleaning up anything I can see nightly. Every night.

Planning to stock 12 discus around 3", a shoal of 30 rummy's and maybe 10 cory's. I'd like to put in a couple Angels, but only after the discus have grown to 6" and they'd be youngsters. Angels were the centre for my last tank, and still one of my favourites.

I don't know what my water change schedule will be yet. I'm going all out on nitrate reduction, which I'm hoping will reduce the need for them. This is something I'll be establishing long before any discus go in though.

There'll be a sump filtration of 130l (approx 34 USG). Four chambers, comprising 1: algae scrubber, 2: sponge filtration, 3: bio media, 4: heaters and return. I'll be fishless cycling and going to keep topping up the ammonia till the algae scrubber kicks in before any livestock go in.

As I mentioned, the tank is still in the build stage. It was previously marine and I've just finished a deep, deeeeeeep clean. I've moved some panels around in the sump, to suit my set up better. I'm waiting on deliveries for filter media, algae scrubber kit and perusing light units at the moment. So far I think this will suit my tank best....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zetlight-Aquarium-Lighting-Freshwater-Universal/dp/B01BNPWVY8

I'm thinking return wise I should go the upper end of recommendations. 8x tank and sump volume?

Two heaters at 600w each, in case one fails.

That's about all for now. Here's a couple pictures of the tank. Before, and after, the clean.

Rob :)

[lastflea]

Ok, before I get hung out to dry, can I just say that I've just read the entire thread of that rather unfortunate experience, detailed in "New discus owner, with lots of discus questions". I also read the first page of "How I set up my first discus tank", and felt a slight twang of embarrassment at the idea of being thought of as stupid. I'm referring to KISS ;)

Here's the problem though. I love planted tanks, and I love the idea of raising my own discus. Buying adults just isn't the same. As well as this I really don't like the idea of raising stunted, oddly shaped discus that haven't reached their full potential. The guilt would be starring straight at me every time I looked into the tank. That's if they survived at all. Most of the time there's a solution to a problem, and in this case there is. I guess I'm just going to have to raise my discus in my tank..... with a BB, alone, and give them the chance they deserve. And when they're bigger, I'll find somewhere to keep them till I've scaped my tank and bring them back home again after. I wonder if they'll recognise home...?

Thanks for your historical input, and stickying that thread. I like this forum. A lot!!

[Hidan]

Hi I am Jarron from India.
I have been keeping fish for over 20 years. I started off with Mollies, Platies, Guppies, then got everything else under the sun, went into Oscars, Green Terrors and finally bought myself a Pacu and a Giant Gourami both of who grew into monsters and lived for around 15 years. Now that my Pacu & Giant Gourami have passed away, I am planning to get into Discus.

I have no experience with Discus, which is why I have read most of the stickies here, watched videos on youtube from discus experts (including the guy who started this forum) and even went out of my way to meet with local discus breeders to find out the local challenges with keeping discus.

The tank is a 4x2x2 (125G) curved tank. It is now bare bottom, I removed all the sand after reading your stickies and asking the standard newbie question, "Why can't I use sand" and getting a logical reply (thanks for all your help). Planning to put in a couple of pieces of wood with a anubias and moss on it.
The tank is cycled and I added a few variety of tetras and corydoras in the tank. (they have been in the tank for over a month) and ready for the discus.

I am planning to change around 50% water every other day. I know every day is ideal and I will try, but am being realistic.
The water out of my tap has a PH of 7 and so does my tank, so I don't plan to age it (as there doesn't seem any spike in PH).

I have installed a sump which has around 396 gallons an hour flow. Put in Seachem Matrix as bacteria media. Also have a Eheim canister filter which I am currently not using, but may do so if needed. Have a heater installed and plan to keep the temp at 28 (though currently its summer and the temps are probably higher than 28).

As for stocking levels, I have ordered 12 discus. Think they are around 3.5-4" in size. Currently the tank has 13 Cardinals, 8 Glowlights, 5 Black Neons, 6 Purple Emperor Tetras, 8 Cherry Barbs, 4 Corry Doras and 2 Kuhli Loaches. I plan to add a few more Cories, but apart from that I won't be adding anything else.

As for feeding, I plan to feed 3 times a day using a beef heart mix. Maybe beef heart once or twice and some pellets the remaining times. Will adjust depending on my experience.

As for my goals. I just want a beautiful tank with healthy Discus I can enjoy watching. Don't think I want to breed them and I don't think there is a snowflakes chance of hell that my Discus will be show quality.
Once the discus are grown I want a planted tank, but first thing is getting there.
Any suggestions or criticism of my plans is welcome and I will take any suggestion under advisement.

[Filip]

Hi Hidan . Your plan sounds well planned and reasonable .
Sand is avoided during the grow up stage to achieve the pristine water quality that young discus require for proper growing and health .
Sand traps a lot of dirt and it is very hard to keep it constantly clean and siphoned.
You can add it later once your discus are grown , their immune system is stronger and their toleration limits and requirements for water quality are wider.

Besides the PH , you should think about the gasses In tap water and microbubbles during the WCs too.

I'm not sure about your real flow strength but I think that declared 400GPH pump for 150 Gallons of water might be too week. Adding your canister too wouldn't hurt here .

Good luck Hidan .

[Hidan]

Sand is avoided during the grow up stage to achieve the pristine water quality that young discus require for proper growing and health .
Sand traps a lot of dirt and it is very hard to keep it constantly clean and siphoned.
Yeah, I already asked that question earlier and got this logical reply from you guys, which made me remove the sand and go bare bottom. Given every newbie asks the same question, I applaud you guys for keeping your patience and answering the same question for what must feel like a millionth time.


Besides the PH , you should think about the gasses In tap water and microbubbles during the WCs too.
Hmm, haven't read about gasses and micro-bubbles. A link to any sticky or article about this would be helpful, so I can read up on it and ask any follow up questions.


I'm not sure about your real flow strength but I think that declared 400GPH pump for 150 Gallons of water might be too week. Adding your canister too wouldn't hurt here .
Damm, I thought I was overfiltering the tank (even after the discus arrive) which is why I didn't bother with the canister, which I planned to use whenever I need the QT tank. All right, will get the canister prepped and will attach it to the main tank asap.

[Filip]

There are lots of topics about microbubbles and gasses during the unaged water change here on this forum . Just write Microbubbles in search bar and you'll find many topics on that subject .
Here is one :

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122785-Micro-Bubbles-What-is-the-Hazard-Gas-or-pH

Fill the canister with bio media and use prefilter sponges or wool to keep your filter materials constantly clean from debris and dirt.
Cheers and good luck Hidan.

[Kaushal]

Hello everyone.

i am new to the hobby.
I will try to provide as much information as i can of my little knowledge about fish keeping.

I have kept pigeons all my life and very successful in keeping them, i have applied the same thought of husbandry in keeping discus.
My tank is 50 gallon, its been around 5 months since i have started keeping discus.
Tank i have is from a friend of fine, who wants to get rid of the hobby.

when i got the tank, i searched web and information about keeping fish.
the only fish that i loved the most was discus.

the tank that i bought had 1 2.5 inch discus, 1 parrot, 10 pink zebras, 1 danison, 4 zebras normal. some other 1 or 2 no of small fishes.
i just wanted to keep discus even though i was a beginner in hobby so i read some posts about keeping discus.

after a small research of 1 week.
i decided to keep discus,

so i removed all the substrate from tank, gave away all the fishes except pink 10 zebras, 1 danison and 1 discus.
I installed an external filter, 2 automatic heaters in the tank, 1 temperature meter, 1 led light strip, aereator.
and removed all other things from the tank including background scenery.

next day i bought 1 more discuss, which survived only 1 week and died.

after a week, the tank was very clean and started attracting me,
2-3 days later, i bought four 3.5 inch discus.

After few days the 2.5 inch discus died. I bought API freshwater test kit, this day.
Checked all the parameters.
tank started doing well until i introduced a plant in the tank, it is a plant found in india, which dont require sand to grow.

After a week 2 of my discus died as if they suddenly got poisoned.
i checked all the parameter, temp. everything was fine,
so the only thing that i changed was plant, i removed it.

Now i had 2 discus only. after 2-3 months, now i have introduced 6 more discuss of the size 5 inches, since my 2 other discuss are of same size now.

Presently
My tank is 50 gallon, with external filter, water changes is 10% everyday, 50% almost after every 3 days, i feed tetra bits & dried blood worms to my fish, Ph is 6.5, hardness is 90, amonia, nitrite, nitrate level keeps on going up & down, since some time my mother overfeed the fish & tank when i am out for my buisness tours.
I have now 8 discus in tank, 8 neon tetras, 1 danison, 1 sucker cat, 2 pink zebras.

Any suggestion is welcome that can improve my hobby.

[lastflea]

Hi Kaushal. Sounds like your tank isn't cycled. Did you do a fishless cycle with household ammonia?

[Filip]

Hello everyone.

i am new to the hobby.
I will try to provide as much information as i can of my little knowledge about fish keeping.

I have kept pigeons all my life and very successful in keeping them, i have applied the same thought of husbandry in keeping discus.
My tank is 50 gallon, its been around 5 months since i have started keeping discus.
Tank i have is from a friend of fine, who wants to get rid of the hobby.

when i got the tank, i searched web and information about keeping fish.
the only fish that i loved the most was discus.

the tank that i bought had 1 2.5 inch discus, 1 parrot, 10 pink zebras, 1 danison, 4 zebras normal. some other 1 or 2 no of small fishes.
i just wanted to keep discus even though i was a beginner in hobby so i read some posts about keeping discus.

after a small research of 1 week.
i decided to keep discus,

so i removed all the substrate from tank, gave away all the fishes except pink 10 zebras, 1 danison and 1 discus.
I installed an external filter, 2 automatic heaters in the tank, 1 temperature meter, 1 led light strip, aereator.
and removed all other things from the tank including background scenery.

next day i bought 1 more discuss, which survived only 1 week and died.

after a week, the tank was very clean and started attracting me,
2-3 days later, i bought four 3.5 inch discus.

After few days the 2.5 inch discus died. I bought API freshwater test kit, this day.
Checked all the parameters.
tank started doing well until i introduced a plant in the tank, it is a plant found in india, which dont require sand to grow.

After a week 2 of my discus died as if they suddenly got poisoned.
i checked all the parameter, temp. everything was fine,
so the only thing that i changed was plant, i removed it.

Now i had 2 discus only. after 2-3 months, now i have introduced 6 more discuss of the size 5 inches, since my 2 other discuss are of same size now.

Presently
My tank is 50 gallon, with external filter, water changes is 10% everyday, 50% almost after every 3 days, i feed tetra bits & dried blood worms to my fish, Ph is 6.5, hardness is 90, amonia, nitrite, nitrate level keeps on going up & down, since some time my mother overfeed the fish & tank when i am out for my buisness tours.
I have now 8 discus in tank, 8 neon tetras, 1 danison, 1 sucker cat, 2 pink zebras.

Any suggestion is welcome that can improve my hobby.

I'm sorry for your bitter start with your new hobby Kaushal .

Two possible problems in your tank that comes in to my mind are as Rob already sugessted uncycled filter (ammonia or nitrite poisoning)or Cross contamination / plant contamination (different source discus carrying different pathogens) .

Possible solutions :
1. you should do bigger Water changes >60 % in the initial 1-2 months period utill your filtration establishes it self with beneficial bacteria .
Don't let your mother or anybody else feed the fish while away , but leave them without food until you come back again to feed them .
Never leave any excess food to rot anywhere in your tank nor your filters .

2. if you still see more dying discus , stop buying new ones until the situation settles down at least for a couple of months . When all your remaining stock is thriving and eating well , only then , you might consider adding new stock following a strict 6 weeks quarantine procedure for introducing new stock .

Good luck and I hope you'll find your equilibrium with discus just like you have found it with your pigeon keeping hobby.

[Hidan]

My tank is 50 gallon, its been around 5 months
Your tank is a bit small for discus. If you have the space in the house, get a 120 gal tank (new tanks are relatively cheap in India), especially since you now have 8 Discus and they are 5 inches. Usually its stated that 1 Discus very 10 gallons.

My second recommendation is using a good chlorination. I recommend Seachem Prime. The local one's in India are too unreliable and I ended up losing most of my tank fishes (tetras) thanks to a substandard dechlorinator.

What filter are you using? Coz if your amonia, nitrite, nitrate level keeps on going up & down, it means either your filtration isn't adequate or your beneficial bacteria is not build up to the required level.

Lastly remember to wash your filter media (Sponge/biological media) in tank water and not tap water. Washing it in tap water will result in all the benificial bacteria dying off due to the chlorine.

And Best of luck and hope your Discus continue to thrive and become beauties.

[danotaylor]

1) G'day everyone. My name is Daniel. Originally from Australia, and moved to the US with my wife and kiddos 5 years ago. I have kept all manor of African, CA/SA cichlids over the past 35 years. during my time in the hobby I have suffered MTS on several occasions, but these days I have a solitary 6' 125gal and my 2 boys have a 10 & 12 gal tank respectively. Over the past 8 years I have been keeping/breeding mostly tropheus, and currently have a 2.5 yr old group of F1 cypho gibb kapampa and some other smaller community tangs. I have successfully kept discus several times throughout my years in the hobby and both my wife and I feel it is time to switch back to the King of the aquarium.

2) I have read numerous stickies over the past couple of days, and though I hve kept discus previously, hope to glean vital info from the SD forum family.

3) My tank is a standard 125 gal; 72x18x23 and will be set up as a display. This particular tank has been running non stop for 3.5 years.

4) I did plan to have a thin layer of coarse white sand (inert) but in reading Al's recommendations, was thinking maybe to begin BB and go from there. I do desire a low tech planted display, with plants attached to drift wood, perhaps some crypts, etc.

5) I have numerous food grade 55 gal barrels, so I plan to age my tap water, and pH reduce and buffer if necessary. (I have not tested my source water as yet as I moved from well water in NW Ohio, to tap water in Cincinnati just 4 weeks ago. Keeping tangs with aragopnite as my substrate my pH was always around 8.2...perfect for tangs, not so for discus. My current WC practice is 75% every 2 weeks. I hope that with low stocking density (4-6 discus) with the switch to discus to do 75% weekly, but am able to do more if that is necessary. I plan to do whatever it takes to keep them happy & healthy.

6) I have a 30 gal sump with a 2 stage trickle system. Stage 1 is filter wool to remove solid waste and stage to is a mix of bioballs and ceramic beads for the BB to colonize. I have a 650 gal return pump, 300 W heater, and a 48" beamswork LED (basic model with white & acitinic diodes)

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp: 78

- tank ph: 8.2 (clearly that will be need to be reduced. I will remove the aragonite and get an inert sand substrate, and age and pH reduce and buffer my water)

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap: unsure atm

- ammonia reading: 0.0

- nitrite reading: 0ppm

- nitrate reading 40-80 usually with my tangs...what should my target be with discus?

- well water: not any more :)

- municipal water: yep


8) I plan for 6 x 4"-5.5" discus, a few of the smaller geo's (unless that is a totally bad idea), and a school of cardinals & rummynose. I spent a couple of hours last night drooling over Kenny's May shipment, read a bunch of reviews from his customers, wrote to him with questions and heard back the next day, and so I plan to purchase my discus from Kenny. I want to time it all after I have sold off my tangs, switch out the substrate, clean out my sump, then I will be ready.

9) With acquisition of medium sized discus I hope twice daily feeds with high quality flake or pellet and high quality beef heart formula will be sufficient. Realistically since I am several weeks away from the switch, I still need to read some more on the site regarding types of feeds and regimes.

10) My primary goals are to enjoy my fish, keep my wife interested, get my kids more involved in keeping fish, and keep happy & healthy fish.

I look forward to interacting with the community here and learning what I need to know to achieve the above mentioned goals. Peace out everyone!

[danotaylor]

Ok, further to my post above, I have done some more research today and I may need to rethink the geo's...maybe a species only tank would be best...or maybe some rams & tetras will still work. The initial plan (determined partially by budget) is to house 6 medium discus in the 125 gal.
I am still thinking some basic plants attached to wood (anubias, java fern, etc) and leaving the substrate planted plants out of the picture. I do think I will begin with a thin layer of inert sand and have a basic river stone and root wood aquascape that enables effective cleaning.
My 125 gal currently has the rear glass painted black as that really enhanced the coloration of my cypho's. I think I have settled on either 4.5" valentine, 4-4.5" red melon/golden or 5.5" blue diamonds with teh dark blue gene, as the bright coloration really appeals to my wife & I, and they're stunning. Is the black background going to make the discus darker or will their colors pop nicely if the water quality and overall environment make them feel secure & happy?
Is 1 x 300W heater going to be enough to get my temp to 82-84F?
Thanks for any advice :)

[Second Hand Pat]

Ok, further to my post above, I have done some more research today and I may need to rethink the geo's...maybe a species only tank would be best...or maybe some rams & tetras will still work. The initial plan (determined partially by budget) is to house 6 medium discus in the 125 gal.
I am still thinking some basic plants attached to wood (anubias, java fern, etc) and leaving the substrate planted plants out of the picture. I do think I will begin with a thin layer of inert sand and have a basic river stone and root wood aquascape that enables effective cleaning.
My 125 gal currently has the rear glass painted black as that really enhanced the coloration of my cypho's. I think I have settled on either 4.5" valentine, 4-4.5" red melon/golden or 5.5" blue diamonds with teh dark blue gene, as the bright coloration really appeals to my wife & I, and they're stunning. Is the black background going to make the discus darker or will their colors pop nicely if the water quality and overall environment make them feel secure & happy?
Is 1 x 300W heater going to be enough to get my temp to 82-84F?
Thanks for any advice :)

Maybe this will help ;) http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?131151-Daniel-s-Tank-Setup-and-Questions.
Pat

[danotaylor]

Thanks Pat, good idea! :idea:

[danotaylor]

I'm finding the recent developments in this thread to be a touch confusing to me, so I guess I need some sorting out.
It appears to me that a couple of earlier posts (other than those mentioned below) may not have been responded to.

Have any of you, i.e.- drob 85; musicmarn1; or FishfromPhilly - had your questionnaire posts responded to yet - perhaps elsewhere, on another thread you may have begun ?

If not, please say so, and I'll be happy to respond when I can.

Confusing to me too Paul.
Lots of views but no replies. SecondHandPat even copied my response to a separate thread, which I later discovered was something he suggested newbies do in the initial sticky thread.
It seems to me that even though most longer term members thought the questionnaire was a great idea, when someone takes the time to fill it all out there is too much info for others to feel they can give a reply justice. It seriously took me about an hour to think through and answer the questions. The problem is as a discus beginner the questionnaire gives the newbie the idea that long timers here care and want to help so they take the time to fill it out in its entirety. Then when no-one takes the time or or has the inclination to respond to all the information sought by the questions, one feels like the time spent answering was wasted, and this is just like most of the other fish forums where there is lots of good intentions, but when it comes down to it it's really just every man for himself...sigh
I can hear some say "you need to give it more time", "or you only posted 6 days ago", but lets be real, how often to we go back to a thread once it gets pushed down the pipe by new threads/replies being posted. I am a moderator on another forum, so I get that the volume is often overwhelming, and I have been guilty of the very thing that is vexing me know, LOL, but when I found the questionnaire I thought "wow I can get all my questions and plans vetted in 1 post and not have to do endless forum searches to find out what I need to know"...even though I did that as well, LOL.
Anyways, end of rant. Kenny spent 25 minutes on the phone with me and emailed me a bunch of great info the other night to help me get started. Once I buy fish from him, it seems he will be my best and most available resource...

[lastflea]

I've found that pretty much everything you need to know to start out in Discus keeping is already here. It's not even difficult to find, because it's all in the stickies on some of the sections. Even if a sticky doesn't seem relevant, there's a very good reason why it's a sticky. Especially in the beginners section. Anything specific I've been unsure of, like tank mates, adding wavemakers..... I've posted questions and got several responses. Perhaps it gets a little tiresome when someone posts here (not saying this is you Daniel), stating a full planted tank with discus and all manner of unsuitable fish, because clearly they have done hardly any, if any at all, research. I can imagine that to be really, rather tiring. That was going to be my initial plan, and my post on this thread went unanswered, but then when I started reading about growing out discus I realised my mistakes and quickly changed my plan. Generally speaking I've found the experienced keepers/mods to be most helpful since then.

[danotaylor]

Thx Rob. I am getting good downloads of info off the site, and have experienced members reaching out by PM as well. Feeling comfortable and confident now I have the basic info I need. Thx for posting mate!

[Hidan]

Ok, further to my post above, I have done some more research today and I may need to rethink the geo's
Geos work with Discus, but Geo's need sand and sand means you will struggle growing the Discus.
So I suggest getting a couple of Geo's after your discus are fully grown and ready for a tank with sand.


or maybe some rams & tetras will still work. The initial plan (determined partially by budget) is to house 6 medium discus in the 125 gal.
Tetras, rams, Corys and a few other fish will work with Discus. I have a Tetras, Ram,Dwarf Gourami, Corys, Rasboras, Bristlenose Pleco, Otos, Kuhli Loaches, with the discus and have faced no issues at all.
Some experts had stated that Discus wont eat as other fish might spook them. However from my experience, my discus boot everyone else out of the way and eat first, with everyone else left to pick up the scraps. Think the locally bred Discus are a lot more robust (or maybe its just mine).


is to house 6 medium discus in the 125 gal.
If your keeping only 6, you have plenty of space for an assortment of other fish with the discus. Just remember to quarantine them before adding them to the Discus tank.


Is the black background going to make the discus darker
Yes it will. Discus darken to match the background. Some varieties look better darkened while others don't. Many Discus keepers usually recommend light blue background.


Is 1 x 300W heater going to be enough to get my temp to 82-84F?
I'd say, it depends on how cold your country gets. If your talking really cold, better to add another heater. If you live in a warmer country like me, then one quality heater is probably adequate (my heater hasn't switched on for 2 months now as the water temperature is 30-32 without any heating).

Disclaimer - I am very experienced in the fish hobby but am relatively new to Discus. However I did my research and asked many questions like you have. My guess is you haven't got many replies as every one of us shows up and asks similar questions and its probably frustrating for these guys to type the same thing for a 100th time.

I'd suggest starting a thread in the Our tank journals part of the forums and record your journey into Discus keeping (I am doing that). Should be fun to read all your thoughts and see the pics of your tiny Discus say a year later and relive the memories.
Cheers and best of luck.

[danotaylor]

Thank you Hidan. I appreciate you answering some of my qns. I too have kept fish for years, 35+actually, LOL. Since writing I have settled on a discus only tank with 10-12 x 3.5-4" fish to begin with, and a color change on my rear glass...not sure which color yet as my wife and I are thinking red melons/goldens from Kenny.
Cheers mate,
Danny

[brewmaster15]

Danny, I saw your frustration a few posts up with not getting answers to your questionaire and understand where you are coming from. No one feels good about a thread they take the time think out and post that gets little or no replies. It is frustrating not just for novices but for anyone here. Ive had a FEW of those threads myselfand Ive been here a while lol. Sometimes its timing sometimes its who knows what.I am left scratching what little hair I have left trying to figure it out.

Ive found that sometimes you need to be dogmatic. Ask again...repost or bump it up. You can also report a post or thread and ask for help. When a post or thread is reported an email is sent to all mods and admins. We can then try to get you help if we cant answer it. It is a volunteer group and sometimes we are just not able to be online or it just gets by us.

The idea of the questionairs were basically a good one. It can save lots of back forth posting.Its also meant to force the poster to think about their tank and maybe flag their issues. I suggest answering the questions and then look at it and ask a question at a time. Its not so overwhelming then and we can look at the whole questionaire and make sure we are giving the best answer.

I read your back posts and though you only have been here a few weeks and have under 50 posts, You have been posting and interacting with many members.. keep that up and ask questions there. Use the search function and again ask a question. Thats your best option.

Im glad you spoke with Kenny and he helped.Hes agood guy always willing to do that. We have a bunch of people here that will help.. sometimes they just need a prodding:)


Also... I dont know if you have seen this thread...
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122038-Are-you-new-to-discus-WATCH-THIS-VIDEO!

But the video there may help fill in some gaps if you havent watched it yet.The guy giving it is a bit long winded:) but Im told theres some useful info in it.lol.

Anyhow.. drop me a pm if I can help. If I am online I will answer promptly..if I am not ..it will be less promptly but I will answer.
al

[danotaylor]

Thanks for writing Al. I appreciate hearing from you, especially since you took the time to make this site happen. I will heed your advice, and try to be a little more patient myself. Once I got the bug to come back to discus I became a bit childish in wanting what I wanted "now". Haha. I have since given up my childish ways and begun to interact on the site as you mentioned, and am now getting all the blanks filled in. Some very knowledgeable and ready to share people here for sure. A few diggers from "down under" as well, my home nation, so that's a ripper bonus as well.
Once I get all my ducks in a row here, you will receive an order from me as well for some AFDBW w spinach and some discus chow pellets.
Looking forward to the journey ahead! Cheers mate,
Danny

[BrendanJ23]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.


I did post in the new member section, so I hope I am not completely doubling up here, but appreciate all the advice and insight anyway. I want to make sure I get this right. I have been keeping for around 12 years, mostly tropicals and planted tanks. Although not entirely relevant, I also keep a range of turtles and other reptiles so I am used to special care that these animals require.


2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have been researching for 2-3 weeks now, reading mostly stickies and info from this forum, as well as various youtube vids and speaking to LFS owners.



3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
Tank is a 6x2x2 display tank. Set up for about 18 months


4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Currently have black sand, however looking to switch to a pool filter sand as it seems popular. I would like to have a planted tank, as I have many years keeping these tanks. It would be lowtech only (no co2).


5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
I intend to purchase 6 adults, therefore reducing my waterchanges etc. I'm still not sure what exactly I'll need, but could manage 50% twice a week. I currently don't age my water, but have looked into and planned to purchase a 300L water tank to age/heat new water. It would be tap water only.



6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
The current and planned filtration is dual Fluval FX6's, internal filter with purigen. Have Ehiem heaters with spare on hand should something happen, air stone, and 2x30w LED fluro tubes 6500k.




7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 28-30_____

- tank ph _7.6____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _7.6____

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __0-5.0__

- well water _n/a___

- municipal water _n/a___


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

Planning to purchase 6 adult discus, and currently have 10 rummynose, 3 neons, 5 zebra danios, 5 serpae tetras and about 100 cherry shrimp. Do not plan to acquire any more small fish, unless replacing some. Looking at purchasing from either a reputable LFS with good stock, or a good breeder. Unsure whether to get wild caught or locally bred?




9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Once daily(currently). However with new discus I am told twice daily?




10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?


My goal for the hobby is to keep healthy discus obviously, but I would like them in a nice planted tank.

I look forward to your feedback and thanks for reading.[/COLOR]

[EmNick]

Hi, I am John. I have had many tanks in my life, ranging from a simple 10 gallon tropical to a 125 gallon cichlid tank, but my all-time favorite was a 46 gallon bowfront with 4 Discus, 2 Angels and a Bottlebrush Pleco. I ran that tank for over 10 years and lost only 1 fish during that time...hated parting with it.

I have read a ton of stuff on discus, but find that some of it is very contradictive. Frustrating to say the least. I can tell you when I did my last tank I did it the old-fashioned way, fish in cycling...and that is what I plan to do with this tank as well. Not waiting months for fish when diligence and careful planning can avoid the wait.

The new tank is a 75g standard display tank, about 22" high, 48" long, 18" deep. I have pebble base, a couple fake plants, and 3 ornaments, 1 that look like a tree stump and 2 logs on the bottom for my future Plecos. I am using a 90g side filter

Plan on weekly water changes (which is what I did previously) or more often if the numbers are off. I use tap water. I put it in 5g buckets on the same day I change out the current water, treat it, and let it sit until the next change.

I am using a 90g Marineland HOB. I have a wifi water heater (it is keeping it at a steady 82 right now), and LED lighting (blue and white). I am going to get an aerator, but the one I purchased is being finicky, so changing it out.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _82____

- tank ph _6.5____

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _7.5____

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __0__

- well water ____

- municipal water __x__

Planning on 6 Discus, 2 Angels, and 2 bottlebrush Plecos (yellow). I am looking at www.somethingsphishy.com as my source. No good Discus stores around where I live, and they send them same day in special packaging (only 120 miles away).

I am still working on the feeding, but know I want to use bloodworms supplemented by something else. This is an area I need assistance.

As far as goals, I want to introduce my kids to the amazing world of fish, especially Discus. I love the calming affect they have on a room/home.


I could definitely use some help on the feeding, and also on the stocking of the tank. As my last tank was smaller, I did all the fish the same time. Not sure if I should do it that way this time or introduce them in stages.

Thanks in advance,

John

[farebox]

Please don't get your fish from somethingsphisy.com! If you want to get off to a good start use anyone of SD sponsors on your fish order, just my proven advice, good luck.

[bluelagoon]

Two things I would worry about. First don't let your water sit treated. Treat just prior to the WC. If you're water supply is chlorine it'll be ok to treat at anytime, but if the supplier is using chloramine you need to wait just prior to your WC to add conditioner. Two, try a sponsor on here to get better quality discus. Somethingsfishy you'll be taking great chances on getting crappy fish and bad service if something goes wrong.

[Iminit]

Ok you’ve heard it already and the name says it all. Somethingphishy. Others to avoid are discus. Com,uncle sams,Jack wattley and ifish. Using the Sponsors here is the best choice. Also if you can buy the biggest fish you can afford.

Your tank water is 6.5 and your tap is 7.5. Are you adding something to your tank to lower it or is that happening naturally. Test your tap water right out of the tap than let it sit for 24hrs and retest. See what if any difference there is. Don’t add conditioner till the water is going into the tank.

Water changing is a must with discus. When you first get them you should change the water daily for at least a month. 50% or better. These fish come from breeders who may change the water twice a day so you need to keep the water clean. As time goes by you can slow down the water changes. Slowly like at first every other day and so on. Expect the first 6 months to be doing a lot on the tank. Even more if you buy small discus. You already plan on doing a fish in cycle so this type of water changing was needed anyway for at least the first month to grow your cycle :).

For food there are many good options. Freeze dried black worms (fdbw) are one of the best. Cera discus granules are also v good. Many flake foods work. The frozen blood worms should just be used as treats.

The pebble base substrate should also be avoided. To much debris ends up in it and will cause problems. Bare bottom is best. With your filters it self cleans the best. If you must put something in go with the smallest gravel you can find and just cover the bottom like a half inch.

Good luck and please come here and ask questions.

[jeep]

Please don't get your fish from somethingsphisy.com! If you want to get off to a good start use anyone of SD sponsors on your fish order, just my proven advice, good luck.

Sound advice! There have been too many horror stories over the years. Our sponsors are vetted for quality and service, but even if you choose buy from a different seller, definitely ask for opinions here first...

Welcome to the forum!! Here's a great thread for new and experienced discus keepers http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122038-Are-you-new-to-discus-WATCH-THIS-VIDEO!

[LizStreithorst]

Tom has given you good advice. The only other thing I need to mention is that your tank is not yet cycled if your nitrate reading is 0. How are you planning to cycle the tank?

[EmNick]

Sound advice! There have been too many horror stories over the years. Our sponsors are vetted for quality and service, but even if you choose buy from a different seller, definitely ask for opinions here first...

Welcome to the forum!! Here's a great thread for new and experienced discus keepers http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122038-Are-you-new-to-discus-WATCH-THIS-VIDEO!

thanks to everyone for the advice. With that said, I have reached out to one of the sponsors but have not heard back.

[Iminit]

Just got these guys from pingco 133472

[franktx]

) My Experience with fishkeeping has been mainly cichlids since around 1990ish. Current 90 gallon purchased in 2009 kept Cichlids (Oscars and Parrots) my last Oscar passed about 6 months ago tank is now stocked as community tank with Angels,neons ect. .

2)I recently as of about 3 days ago purchased a tank setup with 6 5"-6" Discus and have been trying to crash course myself with information mainly on SimplyDiscus and some Youtube.

3) Tank is 110 gallon drilled Bowfront with 40 gallon sump, sump has 3 sections drains into filter media and sponge/Bio Balls and air stone /Return. Previous owner raised them from quarter dollar size

4) Bare bottom (BB) right now

5) I Have done 1 water change since purchasing and moving, water changes planned percentage and how often are yet to be determined I do plan on WC today .I do plan on aging water with heater and powerhead but not yet determined if I should use straight tap ,tap/RO or Seachem Equilibrium,Seachem Acid,Seachem Alk mix.

6)Currently sponge, and sump. Green Kiling maching UV sterilizer . 1 main heater 1 backup heater and Inkbird controller (on order) . Lighting is a LED Nicrew off amazon (also on on order ).

7)water parameters;

- temp 82

- tank ph 6.8 (TDS 315)

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8 (TDS 150)

-Currently have 40 gallons aged 60% RODI 40% Tap PH 7.6 (TDS 80) for after work water change

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 25

Municipal water from their website
Calcium ppm 2.191
Iron ppm 0.05
pH units 8.55
Sodium ppm 226
Total Hardness ppm 8.781


8) Purchased used setup with 6 5-6" Discus

9) Currently feeding beef heart frozen cubes 1 cube 2x daily.

Currently crash course researching what my safest ,best procedure, percentage, schedule and water parameters (Use tap, RODI/Tap mix or RODI Seachem buffers) need to be so I dont screw up

[bluelagoon]

So, what are the nitrate reading out of your tap water? The ph seems fine from the tap without RO water. After aging your water, take another measurement. As you can see from the rise in TDS and that amount of nitrates more WC's should be done. The high nitrates also can be from some die off of BB after you moved and reset up the tank again. I would go with a manufactured good food. These are grown out discus and really don't require messy beef heart which will make your water deplete sooner.

[Iminit]

These are great questions. I would suggest you open a new thread n the beginners area. You’ll get more interest there and your tank will be the sole discussion. Pictures alway help. What I’m wondering is why is the tank ph at 6.8 and your tap at 7.8? Did you bring the water from the tank with you or is this after refilling it 3 days ago?

[franktx]

These are great questions. I would suggest you open a new thread n the beginners area. You’ll get more interest there and your tank will be the sole discussion. Pictures alway help. What I’m wondering is why is the tank ph at 6.8 and your tap at 7.8? Did you bring the water from the tank with you or is this after refilling it 3 days ago?

I will start a thread in there soon. I did bring the water with me I bought and clean a few Brute cans from Home Depot prior to picking it up .

[franktx]

So, what are the nitrate reading out of your tap water? The ph seems fine from the tap without RO water. After aging your water, take another measurement. As you can see from the rise in TDS and that amount of nitrates more WC's should be done. The high nitrates also can be from some die off of BB after you moved and reset up the tank again. I would go with a manufactured good food. These are grown out discus and really don't require messy beef heart which will make your water deplete sooner.

Tap Water using a test strip (not aged)
PH 7.8
KH 80
TA 180
GH 25
CL2 3.0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Do you recommend my next WC be straight tap or should I still do RO tap mix to gradually work up to the higher PH of 7.8 and stick with it to keep consistency ?

[bluelagoon]

I would try aged tap water first.

[franktx]

After aging my tap water the PH actually went up from 7.8 to 8.3

[LizStreithorst]

Your tap should be fine. Please buy an API test kit. Those strips you're using are notoriously unreliable. You should change enough water to keep the pH of the tank and the aged water the same. If you do that your the nitrate reading in the tank will be between 5 and 10 where it belongs.

Best of luck with your new project with the king of the aquarium.

[Iminit]

Tap shouldn’t go up should go down.

[RogueDiscus]

Tap shouldn’t go up should go down.

I don't agree. The dissolved CO2 (acid) escapes, causing the pH to rise.

[LizStreithorst]

It can do either depending on whether the water comes from a well or from a reservoir. Well water has too much CO2 that needs to be gassed off, surface water often has too much O2. Well water will go up after aging. Surface water will go down. At least my understanding of it. Remember, he's using test strips not the API test.

[RogueDiscus]

I stand by my statement. Any pressurized tap water will contain CO2. The test strips shouldn't be the issue. What surface water are you talking about?

[bluelagoon]

It can rise or lower depending on how many and what other elements that are present in the water in this case calcium. Also temperature, aeration, ph and pressure play a roll. As carbonic acid comes in under pressure and mixes with the surface, changes to CO2 which airs off, in most cases where PH is around 7 it will drop. But if you look at the municipal water Ca 2.2 and 8.5 ph. The CO2 is being removed but the calcium brings it back up. The aeration is not removing calcium. So, it all depends on your water and what's in it.

[LizStreithorst]

My understanding is that if the calcium is in the form of calcium carbonate it will raise the ph. There is another form of calcium (can't remember what it's called) that raises general hardness but leaves carbonate hardness alone. Water chemistry is very complex. I wish I understood it better.

[captainandy]

Calcium carbonate is fairly insolvable in neutral to alkaline water.
It contributes little to pH

In reefing, most corals require high calcium levels to build skeletons.
You actually have to make saturated calcium chloride solution - by bubbling CO2 and slowly drip it into the sump (kalcreactor)

[bluelagoon]

I have calcium chloride that I use in one of my tanks. Lime stone is probably in his area which contains calcium and carbonate ions. Which will raise both GH and KH. In any case if it were me I'd age the water if changing large amounts at a time. Better to do the gas exchange outside the tank rather than have fish swimming in soda water.

[bluelagoon]

Soda water was just a joke. But if you let soda pop set it does the same gas exchange and goes flat.

[franktx]

I have calcium chloride that I use in one of my tanks. Lime stone is probably in his area which contains calcium and carbonate ions. Which will raise both GH and KH. In any case if it were me I'd age the water if changing large amounts at a time. Better to do the gas exchange outside the tank rather than have fish swimming in soda water.

You are spot on I live in Central Texas south of Dallas/Fort Worth area and when I dig in yard for fence posts I have to rent a jackhammer to get thru the limestone !!!

I aged some water 24 hours PH went to 8.3 I let that water age to 48 hours it is now at 8.07 using PH meter

[DiscusJoe34]

1) Hello, my name is Joe and I’ve been keeping fish off and on the last 20 years or so. Started in my teenage years with some mini puffers then graduated to 30 gallon community tank, then a 40 breeder with a couple of angles and some tetras. Newest tank is a 75 gallon I’ve built for discus from the beginning. Has Black Neons, albino pleco, so stirbai Cory and rummy nose in it, has been up and running for the last 6 months.

2) Have been doing research and learning about discus for the last year or so learning from this forum, YouTube, local fish stores, even a few people I know that have kept discus.

3) Tank the discus will be in is a 75 gallon community with a primary focus on discus. Everything in the tank has been chosen to match up with them.

4) Tank has a thin layer of substrates for they Cory’s to work in with some spider wood. There is currently one Anubias in the tank and I’m wanting to add at least one more just to help with a little filtration of nitrates and give some color to everything. Nothing more than that as far as plants though.

5) Water changes are currently once a week around 30-40% of RO remineralized with seachem equilibrium. After remineralization GH is around 7-8. I plan on doing twice a week changes the first month or two once we have the discus in place and Dailey testing to keep track of things.

6) Tank has a single Fx6 using seachem Matrix in all 3 media trays as well as some purigan. I am currently using their spray bar for the outlet with keeps the surface agitated pretty well but makes sure the flow in the middle and bottom of the tank is nice and peaceful. Have one heater right now but will have a back up as well as a secondary temp sensor by the time the discus are in a month or two from now.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp __83-84___

- tank ph __7.4-7.6___

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap ___over 8 out of the tap, after RO down to 6.4__

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __last reading was <10__

- well water ____

- municipal water ____


8) Currently have 6 black neons, 8 rummy nose, 8 dwarf neon rainbow, 1 albino bristlenose, 8 corydora (4 stirbai, 3 violet, 1 panda). I plan to add 6 discus around 3” and grow them out. Currently trying to narrow my list down to 2 or 3 breeders so when the time comes here in a couple of months I can have an easier time selecting.

9) Currently feeding twice a day but plan to increase to 4 times a day with discus as I want to get 3” and grow them out

10) This hobby is strictly for enjoyment and family fun. I have two younger daughters who absolutely love our current tanks and I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in taking care of them over the last couple of years.

[Iminit]

Nice setup! Look at Pingco’s discus. Just put up his new delivery. Good looking discus from a great seller.

[Greg-Florida]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

.....

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

Thanks, this is an excellent post and all great information!

[MichiganDiscusEnthusiast]

This questionnaire may be used to either help you to describe your new tank setup for discus or
be a “food for thought” checklist while you consider what your goals are with your new discus tank setup.

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.
My name is Kyle and as far as fishkeeping experience goes I have little to none. My step-daughter wanted a tank and convinced us to get her one. After taking care of it for almost a year we decided to get our own. We went with glo-fish from the LPS and some cory catfish for a while but noticed the tank was lacking the pizazz. Then we found discus. After some research and some time to adjust the temperature of the tank to their warmer climate we added four 3.5 inch discus to our tank. After some trial and error and a deathly encounter with a heater failing we ended up with 4 discus and the corys alone. Two of the discus took a liking to each other so I set up a breeding tank.
2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?
I've been caring for the discus for a little over 8 months now and with the research ive accumulated from this forum as well as youtube has guided me to a more stable condition for all of my discus.
3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.
For now lets focus on the community tank. Its currently a 46 gallon display tank that has been cycling for 11 months total
4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.
Its a gravel substrate that is lightly planted but I am planning on upgrading to a 75 gallon tank.
5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.
Water changed 1 time every week, with the occasion 2 time a week to keep nitrates under control. It is a mix of both tap water and reverse osmosis.
6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.
The current tank is a HOB but i plan on moving to a canister filter when I get the 75 gallon. I am running 2 airstones and a 300 watt heater with white and blue lights.
7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp 85.5 degrees Fahrenheit

- tank ph 7.5

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap 7.8

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 0-5ppm

- well water No

- municipal water Yes


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?
Currently in the tank I have 4 discus, 2 angelfish and 2 cory catfish. I plan on putting the current 6 discus, 2 angelfish and 2 cory catfish I have scattered in 2 tanks into the one 75 gallon tank. This will free up my community tank to raise single generations of fry when my discus start potentially pairing off. (I'm hoping)
9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.
I feed the community tank twice a day: Flakes, vibrabites and dried blood worms in the morning, frozen bloodworms and beefheart in the evening.
10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?
What a question. For right now I live in an apartment, so I have to keep my newfound aspirations at bay. Lets just say for now I would like to give these guys an upgrade in community space. Im looking at buying a used 75 gallon tank and painting the back of it black to add some depth. The substrate I know I want sand but am unsure as to what color. I was thinking on the neutral side. This tank I want to look good and heavily planted though. I want it to be so you only see the fish, substrate and greenery: No cords, wires and tubes. Ive seen this accomplished with some sort of plastic piece that looks like wood with holes so the water can freely pass through to easily be heated, treated and aerated. Im looking for any helpful suggestions on what plants to put in the tank. I almost want the plants to be in an elongated horseshoe shape so that there are gorgeous and tall plants in either back corner trailing to the front center of the tank in an arch of shorter and smaller plants, almost leaving a stage in the center for the fish to be able to swim without obstruction. So essentially my questions are:
- What plants work well with these discus? I know the anubias fare well but are there truly that many different kinds?
-What color sand should I use with the black background I'm planning for this 75 gallon?
-I know corys like to hide in caves but I'm thinking of the most natural look I can get, would rocks from Lake Huron work if I put them close together in the middle?
-Where do I acquire one of those plastic looking hollow tree stumps that hide the heater, filter and air stones? Or am I better off making something somehow?
-How much sand should I end up with in the bottom of the tank? I've heard that you need to have at least an inch per gallon but that is way too much IMO.
Any advice on setting up the tank itself would be appreciated as well. I plan on using media from the current community tank to kickstart the 75 gallons as well as adding a pinch of fish food every once and again while I let 'er marinate for a month.

Thanks again for the opportunity to get my questions out to a community of such a niche hobby.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Kyle,
A few notes here..

You mentioned wanting to get a used 75 gal tank. Though thats always possible you may do better at Petco.com since you are new to fish keeping you may find it interesting to learn that Petco runs special tank sales all the time.. you can get great deals when they do.

You can get your accessories for the tank there as well.



How much sand should I end up with in the bottom of the tank? I've heard that you need to have at least an inch per gallon but that is way too much IMO.

I would suggest less than an 1/2 " sand depth unless you are doing a planted tank. You may want to use drift wood with tied on plants.. or use potted plants.

Check.out this vid...
https://youtu.be/XKxp57kr9Eg

Roland is a member here and has a really great potted tank.



would rocks from Lake Huron work I would not use them.. Rocks can affect the pH, GH and KH of the tank..if you do.. thoroughly look into the geology of the rocks there. I visited Lake Huron shores before.. very nice but the rocks looks like a mix of glacial till.. which could affect pH and GH.
Al

[ravvlet]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

Hey! I’ve been keeping fish on and off since I was a kid.I am 37 now and have a heavily planted high tech 20g L with neocaridina and a fancy goldfish (we are letting him grow out whilst deciding if we will just get him a bigger tank or build a pond). I chose the 20L because shorter tank meant more PAR for plants, but same length as a 29 so he has room to swim. He’s a short finned black moor. I also have a 5.5 that’s planted and is currently a holding tank for spare plant cuttings but will eventually be a pea puffer tank. Also going to be starting a daphina colony. Oh, and I have a nano aquaponics set up that’s fully planted out with a betta and ghost shrimp.

137395

137396

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I’m in the process of reading everything here! I sort of started backwards and used the search function to answer my questions, so now I’m going back to read the stickies.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I have a fresh 55g I am in the process of planting out and then cycling. I have Fritz 7zyme and Fritz fishless cycle (ammonia). I’m probably going to stock it with amano shrimp and let it mature for a bit. I have pennywort, a bucket full of java fern, swords, dwarf hair grass, hornwort and ludwigia repens to go in it (doing the scraping this weekend actually) as well as some jungle Val I’m picking up today.

I guess that makes it a display tank, haha, sorry.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

Planted tank, playsand with root tabs for substrate along with some rocks and driftwood.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

Our tap is very soft (1 KH, 2-3 GH 0 TDS) and PH is 7.4 so I usually use tap. For my planted tanks I do 20% WC weekly because I fertilize heavily and ferts/evaporation tends to raise my TDS. I am going to be testing the water frequently whilst the plants are growing out to decide how often to do WC but I’m assuming it will be at least a few times a week; I won’t lie, I’d love to avoid daily. I have a python for WC but I’ve read aged water is better - where do y’all store 20+ gallons of water to age it? 😅 that’s my main hang up regarding WC - if I can just run the python in for refills I don’t mind daily, but if I’ve got to have pre prepped water that’s a whole nother bucket of worms - we live in a narrow townhouse where storage is limited.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

I have two aquarium co-op 100W heaters going in on both ends of the tank. It’s a used tank so it came with a topfin silent stream power filter rated at 400gph; I know the brand is crap but I’m using coarse sponge instead of the standard filter media as well as a sponge on the intake. On the opposite end of the tank I have a large sponge filter with a battery backed up air pump. I have a 70W hygger plant light as well.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

N/a

8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

I’d like to have 5-6 discus. I don’t plan to keep anything else in the tank besides snails and shrimp. I am deciding on size to acquire now. My biggest pickle is that it seems like what matters is the age of the fish to determine if they’re stunted or not, and I’m not sure if my LFS will have that info. I’m in Seattle, and I know Aquarium Co-Op and Aquarium Zen both stock discus - I’m going to ask where they source them. I’ve also read that Myrtle Beach Discus is a good seller.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

I’m working on this. I’m going to raise live daphina for our future pea puffer and I stock a lot of frozen foods for our goldfish and betta. I keep reading conflicting information about beef heart. The LFS reccomends Hikari branded pellets for discus (I feed Hikari Saki and Repashy BioGold to our goldfish, and the shrimp and snails like it too, although they have their own species specific foods). As I don’t have any discus and don’t plan on getting them anytime soon, I’m still in the research phase on food! :)

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

I won’t lie, discus showing sounds really cool, but I’m a mom of two kids and I also keep parrots, so my hands are sort of full. I think, as much as I’d like to answer “I’m going to be the Ash Ketchum of discus!” that the reality is that I’d like some healthy, happy, long lived weird big frisbee fish to enjoy in our home.

[brewmaster15]

Hi! Welcome to SimplyDiscus! Have to tell you your planted 20g looks awesome!

As west coast.. check out Golden State Discus. You want to avoid most petshops for discus unless you can pick them out in person and learn what to look for.

Do you know what your pH is in aged water vs out of tap.. you may not need to age at all.

I know you want a planted 55 gal.. if so consider a few Adults... 5-6 is really tight.. I would suggest 3-4 adults .. same gender if the 55 gal is going to be planted heavy. I would also suggest buying all at once.

You have come to the right place if you want to be a Pokemon/:) I mean discus trainer... and Discus are way cooler than Magikarp :)

[ravvlet]

Hi! Welcome to SimplyDiscus! Have to tell you your planted 20g looks awesome!

As west coast.. check out Golden State Discus. You want to avoid most petshops for discus unless you can pick them out in person and learn what to look for.

Do you know what your pH is in aged water vs out of tap.. you may not need to age at all.

I know you want a planted 55 gal.. if so consider a few Adults... 5-6 is really tight.. I would suggest 3-4 adults .. same gender if the 55 gal is going to be planted heavy. I would also suggest buying all at once.

You have come to the right place if you want to be a Pokemon/:) I mean discus trainer... and Discus are way cooler than Magikarp :)

Thanks so much! I nicknamed my 20 “the jungle” because I bought a lot of those plants half melted on discount at PETCO, and with shrimp and CO2 they exploded. I was naughty and didn’t properly cycle, just threw a ton of plants and shrimp at it to see what happened - I solemnly swear I’ve been much more careful since then, haha. I was worried when we added the goldfish but the plants are so abundant the nitrates are always zero unless I add ferts. (Am/Ni obviously always zero too!) I do WC to keep the TDS down.


Thanks for the stocking info - 5-6 did seem like a lot for such a narrow tank. Sadly we just don’t have room for a deeper tank.

I have never purposefully tested aged water, but my tank pH reads the same as tap - I keep tabs on it because the shrimp were finicky (they’ve taken off since, got a lot of little babies in there now!).

Yeah, the pros for the LFS was that I could see the fish I am picking, whereas if I order online I get what they send me. Spooky for adult size fish as they’re so costly! I spoke to them and both my LFS get theirs from The Wet Spot in Portland. The discus at the one I was able to see (the other one only orders them when requested) look mostly ok - $100 for 4.5in or so ones and $50 for the 3in ones - that’s a guess, I didn’t have a tape measure. Not a whole lot of color selection though!

Was going to scape the tank today but after going out to talk to the shops about who they source from and what species of inverts can handle 84 degree temps I was too tired to rinse the sand, haha. It’s on my to do tomorrow! They said instead of amanos I could do Sulawesi (a cardina species) that likes high temps and soft water.

[brewmaster15]

People often keep Amano shrimp with Discus and they do well with the temps. Honestly even cherry shrimp handle the low 80s many people keep discus at..

[ravvlet]

Hey, I tested both my planter 20 and the 55 - the water in the 55 hasn’t been conditioned as I was only filling it to test the tank for leaks. The planted, established tank has actually reached neutral PH at 7.0 (oops - I checked my tank log and I hadn’t tested in a couple weeks). The 55 is reading at 7.4, the tap water in there has been sitting for about 24hrs. I’m not sure if that’s long enough to count as aged!

And that’s great to know, I was worried about neos because a friend who lives in the south tried keeping them but lost them over the summer when her house got really hot - but maybe that was due to other factors and not temp. I am planning on keeping adult discus at 84, which is technically within upper range for neos. Sure would be cheaper to just move shrimp I already have in there!

[brewmaster15]

Many here keep all their discus at 82. I keep my non breeding discus 84-86F.

81-82 is fine for adults though it may trigger spawning. So technically you can hedge your bets with the shrimp a bit .

[seanyuki]

Al Sabetta and your thought on this.....I usually suggest eight discus to new discus hobbyists, even for unforeseen circumstances you loose two fish, you still have six. It always establishes a pecking order. This is the reason people will say to keep at least 6. The higher the number of fish the less you will see the problem as the aggression gets spread out over the entire tank. When you get four discus, They set a pecking order and whoever is on bottom will always be the smallest(aka runt) and one gets sick and moved to the hospital tank. The remaining three, the alpha aggressiveness becomes bigger.

[brewmaster15]

Al Sabetta and your thought on this.....I usually suggest eight discus to new discus hobbyists, even for unforeseen circumstances you loose two fish, you still have six. It always establishes a pecking order. This is the reason people will say to keep at least 6. The higher the number of fish the less you will see the problem as the aggression gets spread out over the entire tank. When you get four discus, They set a pecking order and whoever is on bottom will always be the smallest(aka runt) and one gets sick and moved to the hospital tank. The remaining three, the alpha aggressiveness becomes bigger.

Hi Francis,
Those are all valid points and generally what I suggest as well. However sometimes the general advice we all give doesnt fit . This hobbyist,ravvlet, is planning to keep discus in a heavily planted 55 gal tank. Growing out a group of 8 discus in that tank is really not ideal. So what advice can we offer? Only thing that comes to mind is a few Adults in that tank. That alleviates the problem of the pecking order and stunting we often in small groups of discus and if you stock with all the same gender you further reduce any serious spawning drama. So for this particular hobbyist.. a few adults of the same gender are probably the safest bet in that heavily planted 55 gal.

99.9% of the time I would advise a novice to get a bunch of discus and grow them out in a bare bottom tank until adult and then add plants and substrate.. but that would not fit here.
Hope that explains my reasoning.:)

[seanyuki]

Great advice Al.

[ravvlet]

Is it due to the additional difficultly in cleaning with a planted tank that you recommend adults only? Or due to the loss of water volume bc of plants, etc? If I had space for two 55’s, I would do a grow out tank… I just can’t think of where I could fit one in the house, haha. Maybe the bedroom. My partner would hate that. Bunch of expensive fish watching us sleep!

I also did not realize it was a terrible idea to do planted until I started really researching, and have been collecting plants and cuttings for a month or so - I have a slightly ridiculous amount waiting to go in that tank, and I am out of space in my other tanks to keep ‘em. I was assured by a couple LFS who “used to keep discus” that a bare bottom was not necessary. I love the idea of raising the little guys up, but it seems I have started off on quite the wrong foot. Does stunting in discus cause the same health problems as in goldfish, or is it mostly cosmetic?

As far as sexing them goes - I thought discus were for the most part not sexually dimorphic. I have to admit unless my angels paired off half the time I was never totally sure one way or the other.

It WAS a bare bottom until today, because I put in sand. :eek:

If I leave the sand, and plant as minimally as I can, would that be acceptable? Should I take the sand out? Sorry, I am really great at second guessing myself. It just sounds like from what y’all are saying, it would be better/less complicated to do minimum tank decor unless I can afford adults, and then I’d need some way to guarantee their sex.

Oh gosh, while I am asking a million questions, will keeping them in a heavily planted tank be bad for their health in some way? Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

Sorry y’all, its been a long weekend here! Real nervous about these guys as they’re so expensive and it seems like there are so many things I am already doing wrong.

[brewmaster15]

I'm sorry. What you are looking to do is very much what many novices to discus want to do. I could tell you exactly how to go about starting with discus so you would have the best chance for large healthy discus but unfortunately densely planted tanks are not a good starting point for alot of reasons and your 55 gal is really on the lower limit for tank size for a group.... thats why I suggested as I did. ..

Keep in mind that just because its not the best way to start the hobby..it doesnt mean its not doable. Its obvious you are skilled with plants.. my advice is learn more about discus. .. plant your tank and consider just a few adults. Its probably the best compromise for you. Keep in mind an adult Discus is around 6" diameter give or take. Visualize that in your 55 gal.. plant to the far corners and back.. leave the foreground open. Small driftwood..no sharp edges.

Discus adults can be sexed by experienced keepers and importers to a fair degree.. you may have a surprise but thats always the case.

[ravvlet]

I'm sorry. What you are looking to do is very much what many novices to discus want to do. I could tell you exactly how to go about starting with discus so you would have the best chance for large healthy discus but unfortunately densely planted tanks are not a good starting point for alot of reasons and your 55 gal is really on the lower limit for tank size for a group.... thats why I suggested as I did. ..

Keep in mind that just because its not the best way to start the hobby..it doesnt mean its not doable. Its obvious you are skilled with plants.. my advice is learn more about discus. .. plant your tank and consider just a few adults. Its probably the best compromise for you. Keep in mind an adult Discus is around 6" diameter give or take. Visualize that in your 55 gal.. plant to the far corners and back.. leave the foreground open. Small driftwood..no sharp edges.

Discus adults can be sexed. By experienced keepers and importers to a fair degree.. you may have a surprise but thats always the case.

Ah, ok, thank you. Yeah, I know a 55 is small. I dearly wish we had room for a 75; a 75 is what I kept angels in many years ago. Unfortunately, here in Seattle SQFT is at a major premium and many houses build up and not out, so anything deeper than the 12 inches I get with the 55 simply won’t fit - I have it wedged into the spot it’s at with barely any room to spare, haha! I suppose I COULD rearrange the entire rec room and get entirely new furniture to make more room for a tank, but by then my partner will have pulled all her hair out and I may end up having to sleep on the couch in there - I guess I’d get to really admire the fish!

Thank you also for the pointers on adult size. I was looking at the place you suggested (Golden State Discus) and it does look like they have adults. Would 4 be ok? Should we do three instead, or maybe a pair, or would a pair be unhappy? I am hoping to get them sometime early next year, if everything works out with the plants at temp, but I’m not sure if shipping in the cold season is going to be too hard on the fish?

And yes, the scape I have planned has a spiderwood piece covered in java fern (literally covered - I had an entire trashbag of the stuff), jungle val along the back, pennywort and bucephalandra as well as some hacked down hornwort throughout the back-center, leaving a mostly unobstructed area of dwarf hairgrass across the front center, with a large sword on the side opposite the spider wood and maybe some medium to small decorative stone (inert). I have some ludwigia repens to stick here and there for a pop of red, and a tiger lotus (they get big, but tend to either stay low or have shoots that go up to the top of the water) somewhere in there. I also have an obscene amount of floaters which I find combats algae pretty well, but needs to be kept coralled. Its a mix of frogbit and duckweed (the goldfish eats it, haha, I get it for free from the LFS).

I plan on running the tank sans discus with just the shrimp and snails for a bit at 82 to see how the plants do - many are propagated from my 20; the plants grow so fast with the CO2 that that tank is bursting.

I will say though, that I have access to a massive CNC router and thick acrylic sheeting, and have considered maybe building a narrow-but long/tall custom tank at some point in the future. Would be a really cool project.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi ravvlet, while the tank you describe sounds gorgeous I do not think the discus will have any room. I am going ask you start with something a little simpler. There is a video on the forum which is a really good starting point on getting a handle on discus and here's the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXe3VKh7qF8. This video is well worth your time. Please watch it.
Pata

[bluelagoon]

Even if you get adult discus. You're still going to have to siphon/clean the substrate quite often, so some of the ground cover plants won't work in a discus tank. I wouldn't even try that. It might work for a while but but tanks like that usually will often have Hexamita issues in a discus tank. If the LPS are like the ones here. I wouldn't take their advice when it comes to discus. There's a lot more (much more) work growing discus out in a planted tank than a bare bottom. Might even be cheaper to buy grown out discus. The amount of food and water that it takes to get them that big isn't cheap.

[ravvlet]

It sounds like at this point I should probably do a different species of fish entirely. That’s unfortunate. Is there somewhere where the slides from that video presentation are available? I don’t do great with info from videos - it sticks better if I can read it!

[brewmaster15]

It sounds like at this point I should probably do a different species of fish entirely. That’s unfortunate. Is there somewhere where the slides from that video presentation are available? I don’t do great with info from videos - it sticks better if I can read it!
There are slides in the presentation.. I guarantee it won't be over your head at all..I know the guy that did it fairly well.:)

[ravvlet]

Thanks for the advice all, I really appreciate you taking the time! I’ll watch the video and take notes, and have a good think. I can always do a discus set up later, if what I have won’t work. I want to make sure whatever we stock can be healthy and happy.

[ravvlet]

There are slides in the presentation.. I guarantee it won't be over your head at all..I know the guy that did it fairly well.:)


Hahaha! I see now why you said this. Nice. I burst out laughing when you showed the example of a bad planted tank - with a remarkably similar layout to what I wanted to do…I am really getting called out here! Were those fish stunted because they were grown out in that tank? Does stunting them affect their health like it does goldfish (goldfish eventually end up with organ failure)?

At least my kids are enthusiastic about doing a community tropical instead of this really won’t work.

[DallasFishGuy]

1) Please Introduce your self and tell us what your experience is with fishkeeping, give us as much information as possible as to how long in the hobby, what you have kept in the past and what you currently are working with.

My name is Barry. I've had aquariums since I was a child; but 4 years ago got back into the hobby with a lot more time, money and energy for it. A friend and I competed in an aqua scaping contest at Aquashella last year and won first place. So, I greatly enjoy the aquatic plant side of aquarium keeping. But my greatest passion in the hobby still remains with fish keeping. My latest years I have been keeping angelfish. There has been challenges which I have learned from. I was overstocked and learned quickly the disaster of doing so from aggression issues to bacteria outbreaks to mated pairs, i understand the need for QT and know how to set one up, etc.. I have a circle of friends who are hobbyists as well. We spend a lot of time discussing aquariums, sharing information, going to aquatic seminars, participating in the local aquarium community. I belong to a local plant club where we have regular meetings. I am pretty much on a first name basis with most of the LFS.

2) If you have no previous experience with keeping discus, have you done any research to properly prepare yourself, e.g. have you read any Stickies in this section of SimplyDiscus, or other material?

I have no previous experience keeping discus. I have spent hours watching videos, reading/engaging people on FB in "All About Discus" group, and have been reading threads on this website. I am very comfortable with water chemistry and somewhat familiar with fish diseases. I have a good basic understanding of the ideal way to start a discus tank for beginners. I am fascinated by the fish.

3) Describe your tank, its size and dimensions, breeding or display. Include how long it has been setup or if it is still being cycled.

I have a 90 gal display. Its been running for 3 years. Its cycled.

4) Describe the décor for the tank; type of substrate or bare bottom (BB), whether the tank will be planted or a biotope.

I have a hardscape consisting of granite (inert) rocks and Wood. The tank is very heavily planted with Bolbitus, blood red rotalla and amazon swords as background with the wood covered in anubius, java fern. I have a mass of tripartita canopying the surface across roughly 1/4 of my tank and attached to the wood structure as well as monte carlo growing on the branches. The foreground consists of small crypt parva across most of the remaining substrate at the front of the tank. There are lots of places for the fish too relax and get away from one another with the entire front of the tank open for swimming. My substrate is aquasoil, Fluvall Stratum. I switched from gravel to this for plant growth and it has been remarkable. My plants are beautiful with reds and explosive growth and no algae issues.

5) Describe your water changes planned or practiced, percentage and how often. Include if you age your water and use of tap/RO or mix.

With this tank I started off doing weekly water changes (had much more livestock than I currently have and very week plants). I have since worked my way into not really needing to do water changes with regards to Nitrate level as the plants keep the nitrates consistently at or below 10ppm. However, i still do them as Nitrates are not the only thing that can build up (TDS). SO, currently I do 15 gal water change every 2 weeks. I top off in between usually around 5 gal the week between. I use all RO and re-mineralize with equillibrium to a GH of 6. With the 5 gal top offs I do not remineralize since i am not water changing if that makes sense to you. I am just now (today) going to start with a mix RO with tap. I read about aging on this website (thank you!) and discovered why its important. SO I am going to do 15 gal change with 5 gal tap to 10 gal RO. I will remineralize to bring my GH up to 6. my aged Ph combined with the RO at this ratio closely matches that of my tank water. I heat the water to the same temperature in a large bin where i add in the equilibrium, a small amount of ferts for the plants, a little bit of prime for the chloramine from the tap and any not removed in the RO process.

6) Describe the type of filtration planned/used for the tank; sponge, HOB and/or sump. Also include the other equipment you are, or will be, using in your tank, e.g. heater, lighting, etc.

I have 2 Oase 650 thermos (built in heaters) and on one of them I have an in-line UV sterilizer which i run 24/7. I get about 320 gal/hour turnover. Both filters have a pre-filter compartment which I clean once a week. The main filter housings i clean less frequently and they are never dirty. I have bio media balls and sponges in the main filter housing of both filters. I run 2 aeration bubblers which come on about an hour before my light goes off to help bleed of CO2 over night. My filter tank input lines can be set-up as a spray bar; but i currently just have them shooting out of the 90 degree elbows across the top of the water column. My light is a programmable fluval 3.0 and it runs 13 hours total a day but 4 of those hours are gradually ramping up and down., AKA as a sunrise/sunset.

7) If the tank is already setup and running, include the water parameters;

- temp _____78 (will go to 82 if i get discus. prefer this lower end because of the aquatic plants. That is the upper limit for almost all of my plants)

- tank ph _____6.4 to 6.6

- Ph of the water straight out of your tap _____7.4 out of the tap. 8.0 aged for 24 hours

- ammonia reading ____0 in my tank. And anywhere from .5 to 1.0 ppm out of the tap

- nitrite reading ____0 in my tank. a trace in my tap

- nitrate reading ____10 ppm or below in my tank. 1 -5 ppm from the tap

- well water ____no

- municipal water ____yes Dallas city water and I am familiar with their water quality report and EPA standards required.


8) Describe your current or planned stocking levels; number/size of discus and number/type of dither fish. Where did you get your discus from or do you have a proposed source for getting your discus?

SO here's the challenge and i have spent a lot of time picking people's brain on this. I want to run discus with my angels. I know I will have to get rid of some of my angels as they already are at capacity for my tank. I will not turn them back into a LFS so I will have to find a trusted person that i know will take good care of them. I treat my fish like pets. My hope is to keep 5 adult angels and get 3 maybe 4 discus starting at 3-4" as i understand younger is more pronblematic especially given my situation. The only other fish will be 4 cories, 1 clown pleco (3" long full-grown) and 3 siamese algea eaters.
I do not have a proposed source but would love to know a recommended supplier in TX. My preference would be to drive to pick them out as opposed to shipping.

9) Describe your planned or existing feeding regimen. Include what and how often you are feeding on a daily basis.

Currently, I feed 2 times/day. In the morning and evening. I fed best quality flakes I can. Avoid fish meal and use whole fish flake foods. I feed both plant based and protein based foods as my angels are omnivores. I provide algae wafers for my cories and pleco every so often as well as blanched veggies every week or so. I use frozen myso and brine shrimp and hikari frozen blood worms. I use bugbites, spirulina flakes too. Sometimes i pre soak their food in garlic for additional nutrition. If needed i willing to fed more often. When I go out of town I have an automatic feeder thats programmable up to 3 times per day.

10) What are your goals in this hobby? For example are you looking to keep discus in a planted community tank, or do you hope to become a hobby breeder of Discus? Do you want to raise Discus with the hopes of competing in shows?

My goal is to have discus with angels in a heavily planted aquarium with aquasoil. I only want to do so with two conditions. That I am able to find some of my existing angels a good home and that these two fish can coexist comfortably together. I understand the challenges and really need to understand if having 3 discus and 5 angels is doable. Thanks for taking your time to read and help me. It's greatly appreciated.

[Iminit]

Welcome to discus keeping :). A)don’t believe anything on “All about discus”!! Probably the worst Facebook site. But fun to read :) and add comments :o.
Unfortunately you’ve been on there way too long. Just beginning your tank will not work. May work for a time and then you’ll have problems. 90% of beginners just start buying more and more discus. Then end up with a problem. A planted tank is not where you want to medicate fish. Next as you’ve already stated angels can be very aggressive. Yes you’ve heard already they’re great with discus on Aad. Not true. They will cause your discus to stress the stress will get them sick. The sickness will cause you to medicate.the meds will kill your plants :( and probably your discus:(.
Best to start another tank bare bottom 75g or better and take it slow and learn your discus like you learned your plants before you start mixing. They can work together but first you need to know discus as much as plants. Here’s a thread I’ve got running here on planted tanks.
https://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?136539-Pics-of-my-planted-discus-tank. And a pic of my 180138046.

[DallasFishGuy]

Thank you for your reply. So your position is that Discus should not be in an aquarium with angels no matter what, correct? Can you please be specific on the reason angel fish would stress a discus? Angel fish aggression is almost exclusive to their breed in my experience and to my knowledge. And that aggression can be mitigated to some extent with understanding the species. Feeding more frequently, providing line of sight blocks, not overcrowding, etc.

[brewmaster15]

Thank you for your reply. So your position is that Discus should not be in an aquarium with angels no matter what, correct? Can you please be specific on the reason angel fish would stress a discus? Angel fish aggression is almost exclusive to their breed in my experience and to my knowledge. And that aggression can be mitigated to some extent with understanding the species. Feeding more frequently, providing line of sight blocks, not overcrowding, etc.

Welcome To the Forum Barry. I can see by all the information that you posted that you are not inexperienced with planted tanks nor fish, which is great but there are fundamental differences between discus and other species that are hard for non-discus keepers to fully understand. Angelfish can be mixed with Discus.. many do it. ...many also find that Angels are too aggressive at feeding and out compete discus. They also do show aggression to Discus and can destabiliize a discus tank. Angels also can be asymptomatic carriers of nematodes and protozoans. Still some do keep them together. I have done so many times and it never works out "LONG TERM" My discus have always done best without Angels. I do not recommend keeping the two species together, and I double down on that for novices to Discus. The curve with discus is steep. I really would suggest you start discus only to learn the fish.Its less painful to the keeper and gives the discus the best chance to thrive.

That aside .. You will want to up water changes and the number of Discus.3-4 in a 90 gal is probably going to lead to bullying and fighting.. 6-7 would be better and if you want the best chance of success in that planted tank get larger Discus. Growing Discus in a tank like yours is challenging at best, a recipe for failure at worse.

Im sure this isn't what you want to hear but I would rather not sugar coat it. To succeed at discus usually means putting the discus needs above planted tank needs. Its something that causes new discus keepers alot of problems because there are so many pictures out there of discus in heavily planted tanks. Those are snap shots in time..not long term scenarios. Im not telling you can't do it.. but It is not easy and often compromises need to be made.

Hth,
Al

[Iminit]

You’ll notice discus in tanks with angels are showing stress lines. Almost like the angels lines. Thing is the discus lines are for stress while the angels are natural. Angels are aggresive and will be aggressive with discus. They will be the first to feed. Again do the discus by themselves with dither fish if you want other fish involved. Bushy nose plecos,cory catfish, most any tetra in groups or bosemani rainbows. These types of fish won’t bother the discus. Your discus need to be the main fish. Just for the price why take the chance? Average angel $10 discus $50-100. Why risk it. I’ve had angel kill each other on many occasions. I just don’t keep them anymore.

[DallasFishGuy]

Al,

Thank you so much for this. I hear and understand everything you are saying. And even though it's not what I wanted to hear I am going to take this advice. The last thing I want to deal with is a cross over of some parasite to the discus and watch them pass away one at a time while I struggle to fix the issue. It's an awful place to be in. I've been there with my angels as I illuded too in my original post, and it is my biggest concern with adding discus. I don't want to go through that again. If I decide to go with discus it will be either in a separate tank set-up properly for a beginner keeper, or I will rehome my angels (not likely) and start off with at least 6 fully grown in my planted display with modifications like only epiphytes on wood allowing for weekly gravel vac, etc. and for all the reasons you list. Thanks again. Barry

[DallasFishGuy]

Tom,

I appreciate your response. I needed to hear what I already suspected. I see tanks and hear people that have them together; but who knows the pain they went through to get to that point or the pain they are about to have. I will take this advice and put off my discus keeping for a while longer. I had an experience with my angels when I first started off that really was awful. I had 9 in my 90 but like so many I wanted more. I talked to a dealer in depth about how to add them. I think he was more interested in the sale. I QT the new 5 for a month and upon adding them the extra bio load and stress in my tank sent several of my established grown angels into a downslide. Stopped eating. bloated up. 3 died and 3 of the 5 new ones died too. Weeks of daily water changes. A disaster and I lost my favorite angel. I never want to do that again. So thanks for the honest assessment. I feel I have learned more on how to be a responsible fish owner and how to responsibly own discus. This site is the best!

Barry

[brewmaster15]

Barry,
Glad to help and of course I hope you stay on keep reading and asking questions. I look forward to seeing your discus tank when you do it.

Al