New to Discus

[JamezMan]

Hi there. About 5 weeks ago I picked up two juvenile discus about the size of a 50 cent piece from an auction. I have been keeping the two in a 30 litre tank while I keep an eye on them and see how they feed etc and in a few months I will be moving them to another tank. I have been changing 40 percent of the water three times a week and refilling with water that has been outside in a 50 litre container. My pH is around 7.2-7.4 which might be a tad high but the fish are from Brisbane and apparently were housed in water of similar pH. I am unaware of my water hardness but am told it is moderately hard. I probably need to invest in some test kits pretty soon. My temp is around 28-30 degrees celcius.

Initially the fish weren't really very happy but have started to come out of their shells recently.

I have a couple of questions. Do I need to put peat in my filter to lower the ph or do I need any other additives like Discus Trace or a pH buffer etc in my tank?

Thanks for the help.

[scott bowler]

hi james i would try to get your ph down a little .there are people on this forum that keep fish at that ph .but they seem to do a little better in ph around 6.8 .i would invest in some buffer as for peat i dont use it but there others that do and seem to like it. but i would get all the test kits you need so you can keep an eye on how your water is going. good luck with it all and never be afraid to ask if you need to know ..

ps i would get some prime ,discus trace , discus buffer all seachem products and very good . thats just to start hehe
scott

[JamezMan]

Thanks for the information Scott. I was thinking of getting some additives. At the moment I am just using dechlorinator. Anything else I need to know for them? I'll buy some discus specific food next time I can, at the moment I am using some hikari flake and some frozen brine shrimp a few times a week.

Cheers.

[JamezMan]

Is there anything else I should know?

Cheers.

[scott bowler]

JamezMan there is so much more hehe, best thing to do is start reading some of the posts on here and learn lol thats what its for . good luck and happy reading hehe

[JamezMan]

Ok. If I have any questions I'll give you a buzz.

Thanks.

[JamezMan]

I have my two baby discus in a ten gallon tank. Will an aqua clear mini do for that tank plus an internal? I was also going to upgrade my heater to an Eheim Jager 50 watter too.

[JamezMan]

Will they do scott? Or should I get something better.

[scott bowler]

hi jamez how big are the fish?
you will need to move them to a bigger tank soon they will not grow to will in a small tank thatis about 38 l so they will be pk for a while , the heater will keep the heat but it will have to work hard to do it. i would have got a bigger one. but it may do for now. do you have plans to move them to a bigger tank?
and just 2 realy isnt enough it is better to have 6 or so but you will need a bigger tank. on the small tank the filter will be ok to at the moment. hope that helps a little scott

[JamezMan]

Yes I will move them to a bigger tank soon. They are between the size of a 20 and 50 cent piece. I haven't bought the new heater or the new filter yet. The eheim heaters are supposed to be very good. I bought them both at an aquarium auction. I wasn't planning on getting discus but I thought I would give them a try. Idealy I would have got more and put them in a tank for themselves but at the moment this isn't possible. I may sell one too.

[JamezMan]

Anything else you think I should know? I can use rainwater for my tanks too.

[Bill T]

Well, I hate to inform you of this, but now you have some discus, your life will never be the same.

[nicholas76]

Well, I hate to inform you of this, but now you have some discus, your life will never be the same.

Thats right! you will never have so much spare cash ever again :lol:

[scott bowler]

Anything else you think I should know? I can use rainwater for my tanks too.
yes jamez you can use rain water its good , there are heaps of people on here that use it .

:lol: and like BILLT said hehe your life will never be the same :lol:

[JamezMan]

Hopefully in a good way. It can't be bad can it? lol.

[scott bowler]

no not in a bad way lol

[JamezMan]

Ok that's good. So rainwater is ok? Also what type of filtration is good for them? And as far as changing the water to rainwater, should I do this gradually?

Thanks.

[pla]

I'm only new to discus too but have kept lots of low ph fish and find that all I need is some drift wood in the tank to drop the ph comes out the tap 7 and my tank runs at 6.2 no need for expensive chemicals , just expensive pieces of drift wood :wink:

[JamezMan]

Cheers pla. Our pH here is 8.0 so it's gonna take quite a bit to bring the pH and hardness down.

[JamezMan]

Thanks for the help so far. I was also after some glossostigma. Does anybody know where I can get some at a fair price? It is very hard to come across at the moment during winter.

Thanks.

[JamezMan]

If I was to put them in a bigger tank, will they be ok with geos? Will the geos be able to handle the higher temps?

Cheers.

[Merrilyn]

Hi Jamezman. I've kept geos with discus, and everything has been fine till the geos grew too large and began harassing the discus. Some of the smaller ones would be okay, but I had altifrons and red horseface and they grew too large.

They are good for keeping the substrate turned over in a sand bottom tank, but they play havoc with anything you try to plant, constantly digging them out.

Why don't you think of getting some rams or kribs. Both nice looking bottom dwellers, and friendly fish till the kribs decide to breed.

[JamezMan]

Thanks Merrilyn. The main reason I mentioned geos is because we are setting up a eartheater tank with some uaru etc and needed to find some room for a couple of discus. It will mainly be river sand with some large pieces of driftwood and some large stones etc. Also, will they be able to handle 28 plus degrees?

Thanks again.

[Merrilyn]

Temperature was never a problem for them. They seemed to love being in the higher temps.

It all depends on the size of the discus, and the size of the other tankmates, if they will all live happily together.

I had 8 altifrons in an 8 x 2 x 2 tank with around 30 discus. As the altis grew and began spawning activity they upset the discus, simply by their movements. Never chased discus or anything, but they are a much more active fish than discus.

If everybody is small, and they all grow up together, you should be fine, although you'll still need to keep a close eye on things as they all mature.

[JamezMan]

Thanks Merrilyn. I plan on buying mainly juveniles mainly because they are easier to come across and I enjoy raising up young fish. Are young uaru hard to come across? They fetch a fair price here in most Brisbane fish shops which is a bit of a problem. I know a place that has some larger ones at the moment for really cheap but they may be too rough for my younger discus.

[apistodiscus]

Uaru and discus should be fine. I wouldn't put any geophagus in with them though unless you have a serioulsy big tank with a really beafed up filtration system. What size of a tank are we talking about here?

[JamezMan]

Four or five foot.

[ILLUSN]

I believe bubbles aquarium has some very reasonably priced Uaru juvis at the moment, their shipping service is excellent!

look them up in the clasifides.

[JamezMan]

Thankyou. I have tried to find them but have had trouble. Do you know their web address? Thanks.

[apistodiscus]

Four or five foot.

Too small to keep Discus with any of the above species. Go with one of them not all three. Uaraus will eat any plant you put in. The Geophagus will more than likely uproot anything you stick into the substrate.

I suggest to go with discus and some Bolivian rams (they look like small geophagus) or there are plenyt of Apistogramma species to chose from

[JamezMan]

Thanks. I've decided to leave the uaru out and go with geos and the discus. I already have the geos so they are already in and I need to find a home for my discus. I've had rams before in another tank they are nice fish but I don't plan on having them in this tank. I don't think they will get along too well with the other occupants.

Luke.

[JamezMan]

Thanks for the help anyways. Also, some of my discus are getting dark from time to time. Is this a problem?