New to here and Discus

[WhiteDevil]

Hello,
I'm new to here and discus keeping(soon to own). I bought this for my father two days ago
http://i47.tinypic.com/f2802c.jpg

It was nasty, caked with dead plants and about 200 pounds of eco-complete, with UGF plate, surprisingly little muck for how long it ran.
got it for nothing. Its spotless now.

He wants to do discus, he is no stranger to cichlids, his last tank was a 90g texas tank. He found this place called www.rockymountaindiscus.com and from what the reviews are he is a very decent guy to do business with.

I have two set up, a 40gtall guppy love nest and a 52g fbh planted with 5 angels and tons of schoolers and a gang of corydoras(breeding,all species) both my tanks are planted and so will the new 45. I plan of getting rid of everything but my angels and corydoras in the 52. its got plenty of filtration its well within if not light on the bioload for what the filters are rated.

He plans on getting 8 discus to start, its a 45g tank and I am rehoming all but the angels and cats and RNP in the 52 to make room for up to 3 discus and have the 40tall I can put them in as well with the guppies(natural food source).

Our filter will be a wet/dry with a hang on overflow, he isnt holding back on this, he has more then enough budgeted for this build. Who makes a good one that is at most 30"x11"x18" sump? and HOB overflow?

Substrate is another question, with plants which one will last the longest and provide the best growth nutrients?

Lighting is a twin 36" t-8. sun-pro bulbs are in but I figure any 30w 6500K will do.

What plants are good for this, Co2 is a possibility since it keeps the Ph lower and the plants use it.

Well thanks for the welcomes in advance and here are my two tanks
My 40g tall guppy tank, all fake plants on right are long gone.
http://i34.tinypic.com/140vms0.jpg

My 52g FBH
http://i49.tinypic.com/35a801z.jpg

all cloudiness is gone, that was right after a PWC.

[TW]

Welcome to the forum :D

That's a good find, scoring such a nice tank for free.

Those 8 discus, are 3 of them going in your other tank & 5 going in the 45G? Adult discus need 10G, so the 5 in the 45G is pretty close to being right. The other 3 might be happier if you gave them 1 or 2 extra discus tank mates (as long as the tank has the capacity)

Are they juvies or adults you plan on getting. If juvies, you might be better of putting them in BB until they are adults. It's hard to keep a planted tank clean enough, with all the multiple feeds that juvies need daily.

In a planted tank with adult discus, ADA is an expensive but good choice. Otherwise, there is eco complete.

Silica pool filter sand is a good choice, as the poop all settles on top & is easy to clean out - but it is inert & won't provide plant nutrients.

[WhiteDevil]

I got sand in my guppy tank now and the only plants that grow in it seem to be water sprite, it rooted the entire sand floor and is now growing upwards finally after laying a thick carpet down.

the 3 in the 52 will be with atleast 2-3 angels, the size of the discus will be atleast 3" when we get them.

I dont mind the extra in the substrate honestly, it really does convert and feed the plants, planted tanks arent meant to have the gravel cleaned just from my few years of being in the hobby and having a professional like walstad that has helped me establish these planted tank. we all know she is a NPT kinda keeper but she knows plants very well in all conditions.

I raise alot of babies now so im aware of the filth that comes with them and how they "need" fresh clean water. IDK I clean once or twice a month, my tanks and my water quality is the best ever been and my mortality rate has dropped to a 90% survival rate. I dont know it all but got a very good grasp on my own vision of the hobby, but discus are a special fish that commands special keeping skills and discipline when keeping them.

The tank is 45g in tank capacity but its going to be like a 65g with water capacity. so yeah the fish are well within their requirements.

I am going to try and rehome everything but my algae eaters,pleco,kuhlis and angels out of the 52 to make room for 3 of those discus, my 150g tank is on the back burner since I lost my job of 3 years a week ago.

[TW]

Hi again

So sorry to hear of your job loss - that sucks !

Sorry too, if I seem negative, but I'm just passing on what I have learnt from others and also from my own experience with keeping discus.

I think 3" is still a juvenile - although someone else might correct me.

I too have a fully planted tank (for years now - way before I got into discus) so I understand about the conversion you talk of. I have raised other fish fry (eg apisto fry) in a planted tank. I even had plants in my African tank & managed to raise a fry or two in there - but those fish aren't discus. I didn't listen when others told me that juvenile discus were best grown up in a BB tank. I hate BB tanks, so my juvies went in the planted tank &, just as I was warned might happen, they grew up to be stunted. It's not about their mortatily rate in a planted tank ..... excluding disease, there's no reason a juvi discus shouldn't survive life in a planted tank ..... but you might end up with football shaped discus with eyes too big for their bodies ..... and so never see their true beauty ..... a stunted discus can still be a nice pet ..... but it's a shame and once stunted, it can't be reversed.

So now, I only put adults in my planted tank & I put up with ugliness of a BB for any juvenile. When it becomes an adult, only then can it move to the planted display tank. You will also have to research your plant choices too, as not all will be happy in the higher temps of a discus tank.

Discus probably won't be happy with wc once or even twice a month.

I don't expect you to just take my advice on any of this :D There are many discus specifc forums out there. Go to all of them. Ask about juvies & where best to grow them up. You will hear from some who have managed to do this well, so it is doable, but I expect these to be the exception. Ask about discus water change regimes.

But pls make sure you do get your advice from forums with members who are experienced with discus.

Then when you've got lots of input, you'll be in a better position to decide what advice is best for you and your discus.

Good luck with all your plans.

[Hollowman]

You need to listen to the advice given by TW. You need to do far more research into looking after your water as well as reading up on how to look after discus. I garrentee you will kill your fish with the regime you appear to think you can get away with. Once or twice a month water change is not going to work, period.
A 90% survival rate is just ridiculous. I have never heard of anyone give a percentage on getting new fish and hope for that. So your water is the best it has ever been???? what does that mean exactly? please give test results.

For what its worth, I run a small system right now, 2700litres. I change 50% of the water twice a week with aged, airated, heated water at 250uS.
My ammonia is zero,
NitrIte is Zero,
NitrAte is 20,
Potential of Hydrogen is 7.8,
Temp 29degrees.

I clean all the internal glass on each tank each water change. I keep 12 discus, all sub adults, I have 7 wild Scalares and 5 Sterbai. I feel over stocked already. All my tanks are bare bottom. With the amount of food I feed, bare bottom tanks are the only way to get my fish to grow to their full potential.
In a planted tank, you will as TW says stunt your fish. Do a search on stunting.

My words might sound a bit harsh, but having the right info before you start will save you $$$$$'s in the future. Be prepared, these are special fish and we see so many people get off to a bad start. Read read read.


H :wink:

[WhiteDevil]

ammonia is zero, nitrIte is zero,nitrate isis 15,unsure of hydrogen never seen a test for that and water temp is 80 degrees.

90% survival rate is my fry survival rate in a populated tank, not getting new fish.

my water is the best it has been, im on chicago water and well our water is terrible. very hard, very high in Ph, loaded with all sorts of anti bad bacteria stuff.

Im following the breeders suggestions mostly. but again we arent new to fish keeping just these guys.

Its going to be near impossible to do a BB tank, im sure they wont like 10 and 15g BB tanks, im sure that will stunt them worse.

These arent My fish, when I get those three I will have an established rio negro set up for them to just ease into.

Do they need BB or will just substrate stunt them as well? I can plant later on, that is no big deal at all.

I research my toilet paper extensively so this is the beginning stages, I havnt even picked out the filter system yet, this is not going to be a fast build, the fish arent being ordered till we have warm weather. I got my own tanks this is my dads tank and I am just helping him out, basically an extra set of eye and ears to gather info and do research.

Wasnt taken as harsh, you guys own these fish I dont yet so that being said, no blood no foul.

I do appreciate the insight.

got and respectable discus forums to share? PM me if youd like I know its against the rules to post them but after being on forums for years now its easier to get a recommendation rather then join up with a bunch of halfwits who like to think their you know what doesnt stink.

[WhiteDevil]

unsure why it came out like that, it was two paragraphs.

[TW]

If you can delay planting, are you able to delay putting the plant substrate into the tank as well. Whilst BB would be best for juvies, silica sand is next best. The waste settles on the top & you can vac it up easier. When they are adults, out with the sand, in with the planted substrate & plants.

Or what about BB with driftwood & potted plants until they are adults.

[Robdog]

unsure of hydrogen never seen a test for that

I'm sure you've seen a ph test before?

[WhiteDevil]

unsure of hydrogen never seen a test for that

I'm sure you've seen a ph test before?

we call em Ph tests in the states, not hydrogen tests. sorry thats cultural.

My Ph is a 7.2 in my 52 and 7.8 in my guppy tank

My tap is 8.0 on a good day and 8.8 after a big rain storm.

His will be between 6.5 and 7.0

[TW]

that would have stumped me too :)

[Robdog]

We call it ph here in Australia too. :?
http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7335

[Hollowman]

Sorry if I confused you guys, Ph stands for potential of hydrogen