discus today vs. the good ole days

[gypsy3]

hi all. please don't anybody take this the wrong way, but i have a question. i'm getting back into discus after an absence of 12 yrs or so. have been researching all the different advice here on setting up and will follow that advice. when i had discus way back when. whether through ignorance or whatever, i just set up an aquarium, got my ph and temp right....and put them in. water changes consisted (from memory) of about once a week at 20%.i had about 10 -12 discus for about 3 yrs and never lost a fish. they grew from small fish to adult size.my question is this - was i just lucky they didn't snuff it, or a todays strains, most of which were not available, more delicate than back then?

[ILLUSN]

There's nothing wrong with that attitude.

Dad's been keeping (and breeding) turks, pigions and BD's with that method for the last 30 years (he does 30% weekly). All thats hapend is sydney water has gone $h*t so you need to age it before you use it.

Dad reckons that the new strains are harder to keep (and breed) then the old turks but he still gets by with 30% once a week.

me i do once week in my discus only bare bottom and 2x a week in my planted tank, but they're not "hard" to keep if your water is good, prior to loosing my young RGD a month or so ago i too hadn't lost a fish in years.

just mt 2c. ask me again in a week when i'm done with this round of plague :roll:

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Gypsy,

I doubt much has changed at all. These fish are much hardier than many people give them credit for. Weekly water changes in a well cycled display tank is really all you need or at least I've found that. Breeding them, a different story but not everyone wants to do that. Feed them well, keep them warm and the water free from Ammonia and Nitrite and they will do fine.
MAC

[mistakes r crucial]

Illusn,
Sorry to hear about your plague mate, it really is a pain in the ass!
MAC

[ILLUSN]

Thanks MAC, I'm sure they'll pul through.

[gypsy3]

thanks guys...much appreciated