Are discus for me?

[Spatial Agent]

I am in the process of setting up a 90 gal. planted tank with a 12 gal sump, and low tech lighting. I would like to keep adult Discus, but I can only do one water change per week due to travel. Will this setup work for Discus or am I better off looking at other fish? I read so many different opinions, that I'm not sure what to think. Here are my water perameters:

Well water aged 24 hours.
PH 7.4 (6.6 from the tap)
Nitrate 6 (this concerns me)
TDS 76
I don't have test kits for hardness yet, but the water seems about average.

Will I need to RO water?

Thanks.

[Floppy Fin's]

As far as I know, or have been told, NO RO water is needed or recommended.. Due to the elimination of needed minerals in the water.. Tap water is O.k. But you need to cycle your filter systems for a few weeks to acclimate the right bacterial growths for a pleasant arrival atmosphere for Discus. Nitrates and Nitrites need your research.. Others can comment.. Due to your travel activities.. I personally would NOT start with Discus..They are a special attention fish. IMHO that is.
Good luck.
And BTW... a bare tank is perhaps a better tank if your planning on spawning the pair.
Floppy Fin's.. No pro.. just opinions.

[a volar]

WELCOME TO SD......


I think you can do it if they are adult discus

[Wjmulder]

Probably gonna get different opinions here but I think you can do adults

[zimmjeff]

no you should not get into keeping discus untill you can spend more time taking care of them. you asked.

[Spatial Agent]

no you should not get into keeping discus untill you can spend more time taking care of them. you asked.

That is what I'm thinking. I had a reef aquarium for a couple of years, but it was difficult to keep up because of my travel. It appears Discus will be similar. I don't have any plans to breed them or keep juveniles.

[YSS]

If your tank is not over stocked, then once a week water change will be fine. A lot of discus keepers do so. As long as your water quality is good, then you should be fine.

[CrazyAngels]

My main tank is fully stocked with adult angels and discus, and only gets a once a week water change. This tank is planted with big anubias and also has substrate. When I have long travel, it may get a WC about once in 2 weeks. This tank has never to today had any issues with water quality at all and fish are always very healthy. So as long as the tank is well established with plenty of bio-filtration, it is my opinion that you can keep adults just fine.

All my other smaller tanks get daily water changes, my family just don't like messing with my main tank when I'm away.

[mirador]

HI
I can only say here that I moved a biggish pair of discus into a 180g with a group of cardinals and some dwarf sidthimunki loaches. At 4 -5 days in a 180 the male literally was demanding a water change( you can easily tell if you "speak" any discus at all) and the female a day or so after. They are now baby sitting two different groups of F1 wild cross juveniles and getting a 65% water change per day.That they like ..they practically glow..it's a big difference in apparent health.

[YSS]

HI
I can only say here that I moved a biggish pair of discus into a 180g with a group of cardinals and some dwarf sidthimunki loaches. At 4 -5 days in a 180 the male literally was demanding a water change( you can easily tell if you "speak" any discus at all) and the female a day or so after. They are now baby sitting two different groups of F1 wild cross juveniles and getting a 65% water change per day.That they like ..they practically glow..it's a big difference in apparent health.

You do 65% daily water change on a 180G tank with pair of discus, group of cardinals and a few loaches? That is an overkill by a mile.

[a volar]

You do 65% daily water change on a 180G tank with pair of discus, group of cardinals and a few loaches? That is an overkill by a mile.

Agreed.....