Keeping Discus in SA

[Top_Bhoy]

Hi guys,

This is a bit of a long one!! After a bit of lurking on this forum, this is my first post and I am after some advice. I moved to Adelaide about 16 months ago from Glasgow (in Scotland) and rather than the possible hassle of bringing my 480 litre setup with me (which I had for 3 years), I decided to sell up. I did keep my Eheim external and internal filters and one or two other pieces though.

My question is this, how easy is it to keep discus healthy in SA and how costly are the running costs? The reason I ask is that in Glasgow, I'd do 25% water changes 3 times a week without any real consideration. Since moving to SA, I am more than aware of the water restrictions and if its possible to be over-cautious on this subject then I am guilty - not quite getting to the paranpoid stage but very critical if I see water being wasted.

I'd like to at least consider the possibility of setting up a discus tank again, probably not as large as the last one and rather than jumping into it and then regretting it, would like some info into the realities of keeping discus in SA and if anyone can assist then I'd be much obliged. I'm also in a rental unit - which may or may not be another problem but I can deal with that (and other issues) later.

Thanks for reading!!

[Scotty Bils]

Welcome to Adelaide Top_Bhoy,

There are quite a few other people in this forum that are from Adelaide including me so I am sure that they will be able to help out as much as they have helped me and others.

I have not had any troubles keeping Discus but you do have to go through the motions to get things right before you put them in there which I am sure you are aware. You can get alot of great quality fish around the place and also get frozen foods without any problems.

Where abouts in Adelaide are you from? Probaly a good start is to have a look around at a few LFS's and pick their brains. Do shop around and always check out the sponsors websites as I have found them to be much much cheaper for things - so if you can wait a couple of days then highly recommended.

Cheers
Scott :D

[scuba123cliff]

Hello top-bhoy
Also welcome , only really been keeping discus myself for about a year .At tho moment i have 16 tanks and i am keeping other fish to, the water problem you are talking about is a drama my plan is after filtering out the solids the waste water will be pumped in to a tank and used to flush the loo.At leased it will get used twice I also use half rain water half tap water just waiting for my 5000lt rainwater tank to be delivered.You are quite welcome to come and have a look at my set up if you wish(as is any one ) just send me a pm.hope this helps if not ask and we (fellow south ozzies )will help.
Cliff

[R3dm4n]

Hi Top Bhoy,
You'll be happy to know that keeping discus in Adelaide is no problem. There are also many quality aquarium stores throughout adelaide which stock great fish. :)
And also keeping fish through water restrictions is also not that much of a problem, and it is not unlawful to do water changes regularly. (Its just a good idea to be mindful).
Just beware what your getting into however, because once you re-ignite the discus bug, it'll be hard to tame. lol.

[Top_Bhoy]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm in a rental unit in Nth Adelaide and its got a space for a 4ft aquarium :D . I guess if I can keep a storage butt outside, I can siphon the used tank water into it and use this to water the outside plants - which I am obliged to do. I think I will need to broach the subject of keeping an aquarium with the rental estate agent and the owner and hopefully using the 'dual use' approach will see positive results - if not things will need to wait until I get a place of my own, which won't be until next year. :(

Whats the Adelaide water like in Adelaide. The Glasgow water I used was great as it was soft and fairly neutral Ph - the only conditioning it needed was to pass it through a filter. Some other parts of the UK though required RO units and then for the water to be reconstituted using additives because it was so hard.

I brought an Eheim 2028 filter with me, a small Eheim internal, an Eheim universal pump, a CO2 kit and one or two other bits and pieces. I left all my test kits etc behind in case AQIS didn't like it. In addition I brought several of my discus books with me and some are very good. PM me if you fancy a read of them sometime.

[fish_r]

when i do my water changes in my discus tanks it just goes out my windows with long hoses onto either the lawn of garden and they love the excess nutrients.

water in most parts of Adelaide is pretty hard, but i do small water changes more often straight out of the tap, approx 30% every 2-3 days.
in two of my discus tanks i dont add any chemicals other than prime @ water changes and ferts, my fish are all fine. but using the red sea flora base substrate in my tanks softens the water a little too.
i use discus buffer and peat extract in my wild tank and they seem to like it in there too.
if u want to breed in Adelaide water though u may want to think about RO or rainwater/mix.

HTH
Rob...

[poimaster]

Welcome Top_Bhoy

I have had no problems with Adelaide water except when pairs are breeding. As many have reported, soft acidic water is necessary for good fertilisation.

I do big water changes and my discus are used to the water. At least it is consistent. I'm in the foothills and my water is slightly alkaline and hard. After practice with ageing water etc I have chosen not to.

My schedule is

1. fill laundy tub up with water 75 ltrs approx (7mins). Add water pump
2. at the same time syphon gravel, bottom of tank into freestanding 72ltr plastic drum. (run over to water when timer sounds)
2. put in prime
3. unwind hose with eheim ubend attachment and attach to water pump
4. start pumping water into tank and restart tap
5. drag the 72ltr drum to garden

I can change 100ltr in 20 mins with little faffing around, I even manage to do a complete water change and clean in the time it takes the missus to bathe one of the kids...

The bottom line is I know what I'm doing isn't best practice, however the the fish are fine, growing well and are happy.

You can do it good luck.

BTW I ended up joining with other forum members in Adelaide to share the costs of shipment of Discus from Xtreme as I couldn't get good quality fish locally. Would recommend positing a wanted classified when you start looking.

Welcome again and I'm sure your new Discus will be thankful that you bought that 4ft or did you say 6ft tank ... :lol: