Some Advice

[Tariq]

I have a 6ft tank which I have been cycling for one week, however, I read in book that you should cycle for 2 weeks. The tank is a couple years old but it has been down for a couple months. How lond should I cycle? Another thing is that i live in the Caribbean and I wanted to know if it is necessary to have a heater? the size of the tank is 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, how many discus could that hold? I intend to buy some discus this weekend for the first time!

[ILLUSN]

if your going to put discus in there then let the tank cycle for at least 2 MONTHS! get some cardinal tetras or rummy noses, maybe a couple of bristlenoses so your not staring into an empty tank. after 2 months you can add your discus. if this is your first time with discuc then put in about 8, thats a nice easy to manage number, you could proably stock as high as 14 with propper husbandry.

a heater is cheap insurance against tempreture fluctuations, all it takes is a drop of 5-6 degrees for all kinds of diseases to get established.

[Greggy]

ILLUSN is 100% correct.

If you add Discus this weekend expect them to die by next weekend due to New Tank Syndrome.

Best to wait at least 2 months to get the Nitrification process settled in, then slowly build the fish stocks.

Cardinals & Rummy Noses are quite delicate, so perhaps add them about a month after you add your 'round one' fish which I suggest you start with the following:
- 3 or 4 BNs
- 4 or 5 SAEs

After about 4 weeks add:
- 4 or 5 Cory's
- 3 or 4 Kuhlie Loaches

After about 6 weeks add:
- A dozen or so Cardinals
- A dozen or so Rummy Noses

Then after about 2 or 3 months you can begin adding 2 or 3 Discus at a time to slowly build up the stock as you don't want to add too many at one time or you'll be 'mini-cycling' which could harm your fish especially the Discus.

Of course to prevent diseases getting into your tank I strongly suggest your quarantine and/or nuke all new fish & plants BEFORE you add them to your main tank. Time consuming I know but its worth it.

Good luck!

Regards,

Greggy

[Tariq]

WOW..... that is gonna take alot of patience. I have a nice 6ft tank up and running and it wont be able to have any discus. Anyway guys thanks for the advice, which I would be taking as discus are very expensive and I dont want them dying on my hands!

This time is for a used tank or new? because my tank is an old one, just was down for a while!

[ILLUSN]

Old or new doesnt matter, if its been packed down and re-setup you need to CYCLE it, that means you need to power through an ammonia spike and a nitrite spike and then have nitrate present when the other 2 are at zero.

use tough fish for this (Bn's are good) rummynoses will tell you when the water is right cause they will have bright red noses.

if is just set up throw a dead prawn in there and use that as your ammonia source, once your reading ammonia and nitrite and nitrate you can remove the prawn, do a water change and add in the BN's give that 2weeks then add the rummy noses/cardinals give it another month then add in your discus.

[Tariq]

Ok guys I visited a local supplier for discus, and he told me that it was fine to put the discus in after the 2 weeks. As a result i am now the proud owner of 4 blue turq discus, about 3inches big. I sold some angels to foot the bill! the fish have been living and roaming well in the 6ft tank, along some red eye tetras and black phantoms. I have put a heater and I siphon any waste once the tank tank looks dirty. Pics will come soon.

[Tariq]

Pics of My Blue Turqs

[ILLUSN]

They look like they'll grow into nice fish, keep up the water changes for the next few months while the tank beds in, keep an eye out for no3 spikes as the tank cycles in these usually occure at 3-4 weeks.

[Tariq]

Will keep you all posted! So far I have no problems with them, very social and energetic fishes. They're Great! I just sit and stare when I come home from work! How many more do you think I can add to the tank?

[fish_r]

Ok guys I visited a local supplier for discus, and he told me that it was fine to put the discus in after the 2 weeks

of course they would, there in the business of selling fish and obviously they dont care if they get sick or die cause they will make money off u in either meds or replacement fish when urs die or at the least get sick cause they have gone into a uncycled tank. hmmm some people just dont know when to take good advise...

[axl]

thats what I thought when i read this post fish_r, i think you have rushed in a bit to quick in getting discus in the tank, espically if you havent kept them before. Two weeks isnt long enough for a tank to cycle, you have to be patient and wait, i no its hard as your so keen to get fish in there, but its worth the wait. You should listen to peoples advice here we no what were talking about as compared to aquarium salesman. Just be careful of ammonia and nitrate spikes from now on. I def wouldnt be adding any more discus in yet, wait and see if these surive in a uncycled tank. Good luck

[sammigold]

^ I agree with Axl and FishR and all the others....

sorry but the "fish supplier" will most often be just that a fish "supplier".... the more fish they get to supply the better for them.

I hope that you dont have any problems now that you have jumped in... frequent water changes will be a necessity and as a result will make your tank take even longer to go through the complete cycling process.

I would not add anymore fish for at least 3 months.

cheers
sammi

[Tariq]

The person I bought them from was not just a supplier, I know him and trust his judgement and the fact that he was not the only one who said it was okay. The fish are very good and they have had no problem since i got them. I went by another supplier who had discus breeders and fry without heaters in the worst water conditions. Alot of waste and the fish were fine. Of course I am not gonna go that course. But it just proves that some ppl have different methods that work for them. I am going by this guy that imports from the US, so I will just check him out. Dont intend to buy any discus anytime soon. I have even stopped doing daily water changes and will be doing weekly! Will keep you all informed! Thanks for the Info.!

[sammigold]

Good luck :D

[Greggy]

If I were you Tariq I would be watching closely (testing daily) for NO2 as I had Discus losses with NO2 levels that barely registered on the NO2 test kit.

With a tank that new you have probably not even hit the NO2 phase of cycling yet. Keep up the water changes if you can.

I hope it goes well for you and you avoid NTS (New Tank Syndrome).

Regards,

Greggy

[Tariq]

Did a water change after 5 days! I notice no problems with my fishes prior to the wc and after! Still very social and energetic fish. I have had the fish for almost 2 weeks. I guess I would be using these fishes as a tester to feel out and learn what I do right and wrong! So far so good! (Fingers crossed). I found this breeder who has some blues but they arent ready for sale until after 1 month or so! and i would probably take about 1.5-2 months to acquire! I can't pass up on that oppurtunity as they are at a good price!