switching from angels to discus?

[ktm4us6]

Hi, I am new to this site and need to ask a few questions. Most of the reading on water for discus say the ph should be below 7, and from what i read on this site, its better to just have stable water conditions and clean water, Is this true? I have breed and raised angels in the past with great results, My well water has ph 7.6- 7.8, I use a pre filter, carbon block filter, and nitrate removal filter on my water supply. I really don't want to use an ro unit to filter my water, my tank dimensions are 8'x3'x3' tank and that would be allot of ro water.

[3dees]

do you plan on breeding wilds? I have wilds and use tap water with prime. my PH is a steady 7.6. tank has been running for two years and my fish are doing great, but it's a show tank. I get eggs about once a month but they are gone the next day. domestics should be no problem. carbon is a waste of money and nitrates should be taken care of with water changes.

[Steve_B]

As someone who has just got into discus myself, have had them for about 1.5 months, so I am no expert, but I can tell you that your water should be fine as long as the ph stays stable after it de-gasses. I had similar concerns when starting as my tap water is around 7.8 and jumps to 8.0 after 24hrs. So far I have had zero issues, the key is lots of water changes, the more the better, the fish can adapt to the ph, they just need it to stay stable and to have lots of fresh clean water. A lot of people around here age there water for 24hr's before using to water change so that the ph is stable in it, myself I just use straight from the tap as I haven't convinced my Fiance to let me put a water barrel in the house yet.

[ktm4us6]

I Plan on getting tank raised, and my water changes are mainly done with 1/4" tubing from filter and leave it run in the tank for a couple of days, and every month i vacuum the gravel. I have an overflow that drains the excess water out. My nitrates from my well are over 100ppm, so the water is ran through my water softener with nitrate removal resin in it, and then to my kent ro filter with pre filter, carbon filter, and another nitrate removal filter without the ro membrane hooked up. My tank is planted which also helps keep the water clean, so far my angels are doing better than ever in that tank and growing fast.

[ktm4us6]

I haven't seen any ph swing doing the water changes the way I do, and I should have pretty stable water conditions being there's 500g in the display tank and 85g sump. Thanks for the replies, makes me feel better knowing I can raise them in higher ph.

[shoveltrash]

I myself converted from Angels to Discus (still have my AF though - love 'em :D)
Discus husbandry has changed my fish keeping practices.......I got rid of my gravel substrate, and clean/do WCs daily now. I'm thinking that you'll need to vac your substrate more frequently than once a month.
your pH should be fine.
I would highly recommend getting Discus from a reputable source (SD sponsors are great), and start with sub-adults or adults. my current group of six I bought from Kenny, 4-4.5" size. my first purchase was from a LFS......HUGE difference. my LFS Discus were not healthy, and had I not found this forum I would have given up!

good luck & welcome to SD! you should post pics of your Angelfish ;).

[ktm4us6]

I myself converted from Angels to Discus (still have my AF though - love 'em :D)
Discus husbandry has changed my fish keeping practices.......I got rid of my gravel substrate, and clean/do WCs daily now. I'm thinking that you'll need to vac your substrate more frequently than once a month.
your pH should be fine.
I would highly recommend getting Discus from a reputable source (SD sponsors are great), and start with sub-adults or adults. my current group of six I bought from Kenny, 4-4.5" size. my first purchase was from a LFS......HUGE difference. my LFS Discus were not healthy, and had I not found this forum I would have given up!

good luck & welcome to SD! you should post pics of your Angelfish ;).

I do plan on cleaning substrate more often, just haven't because tank is so new. I was checking aquabid and found some nice discus on there from a guy named Larryp with good feedback. Why should i get bigger Discus? I would've thought smaller would be better. I will also check around this forum and see what I can find. I figure in the next three month I will be switching over so will purchase in the next couple of months, and quarantine them for 2-3 weeks. I agree with the substrate, I myself used bare bottom for all my Angel tanks. Thanks for you help.

[shoveltrash]

Why should i get bigger Discus? I would've thought smaller would be better. smaller is most definitely NOT better for the new-to-Discus hobbyist!
I highly recommend reading reading reading here on this forum, utilizer the advanced search function, read up on "juvenile Discus" care. you're in for heartache imho if you opt for very young Discus (we're talking, you'll need to do VERY frequent water changes, feed a LOT, necessitating minimum of daily water changes or more, CLEAN water, no substrate, etc).
but I'm no expert. heck, start a thread asking "why buy larger discus?" - you'll get a LOT of info LOLOL :)

that is indeed a GREAT big tank, would be perfect for Discus!!!! your Angels look tiny in it LOL.

[discuspaul]

You have a great-sized tank for a large group of sub-adult to adult discus - say 4" to 5". Dont get smaller ones if you want to lessen the risk of complications, ease your workload on the tank, and give you more satisfaction with your intended discus project. Your pH if kept relatively stable would be just fine - and the manner in which you're keeping the Angel tank at present - simple, uncluttered and conducive to easy clean-up - is just the ticket for successful discus-keeping.
Vac your substrate more frequently, and up the wcs to reduce the nitrate levels, and conditions should be good.
Go for it, you won't regret it.
Best of luck.

[ktm4us6]

Thanks for the replies, and advice. I will keep up on my water changes and vac the substrate like once a week. Guess i have some reading to do. lol

[zimmjeff]

once a week will not be enough, trust me on this. I was doing water and vac every three days and I still had problems with stuff in the gravel. don't set yourself up for failure. Good luck.

[brianyam]

I was into plecos, and went back to Discus. I took out all the substrate and it so much easier. I bought the Eheim substrate cleaner, and I do a suck every day once the kids are sleeping. I water change at least once a week (about 50-60%) from straight tap water with prime. My discus have been growing very well. They are wilds. You have heard this before, the key is PH and Temp stability. Fish can adapt to pretty much allot of changes as long as they are done gradually. I am no discus expert tho.

[ktm4us6]

Thanks Brian, I'm getting 4 2.5" discus and plan on putting them in my 30g which is a bare bottom tank with sponge filters and change the water about 30% a day. After keeping them in there for awhile I will see if I have to take the gravel out of my display tank or not. In the past I haven't worried about water testing as much, now with more experience It's the key to be successful, along with water changes. I am able to due a continues water change on my display tank, with the water on full i change about 30% of the water a day. I plan on letting the water run when i switch them to the display tank for awhile just to see how they react. Let me know if you think I should be doing anything else. I also did a vac on the gravel today and have about 20 angels in the tank, 14 cardinal tetras, 2 cats, and 3 plecos, and the gravel was very clean, even with the fish load. Thanks for everyone's help, If it wasn't for these forums much more fish would die in this world due to not understanding there needs.