New to discus

[mitsui]

Hi everyone

Im hoping you cal all help me out as I am new to discus. I have a 6ftX14"X18" tank. I am hoping to have about 4-6 discus. I have also been doing alot of reading about these fish but just wanted to make sure I am on the right track. :?

So the Ph should be between 6.0-6.5??
Temp: 27-30 degrees C
GH: 100ppm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates:?
Nitriates:?
Should I use pool filter sand as my substraight?

Does any one know how much red turq's go for?? I know i depends on the quality but a rough guess would be good.. probably juvies.

Is there any thing else that I should know about?? New to all this sorry for the silly questions, but I am sure you guys know what you are talking about. :D

Thanks in advance :D :D

[swampy1972]

Welcome to keeping Discus. Have a look through some of the Classifieds on this forum. They'll give youa reasonable idea of what you'll be spending.
Good luck.

[Mr Wild]

Hi everyone

Im hoping you cal all help me out as I am new to discus. I have a 6ftX14"X18" tank. I am hoping to have about 4-6 discus. I have also been doing alot of reading about these fish but just wanted to make sure I am on the right track. :? Ok I get 286 litres approx - 40 litres recommended for each adult discus - so 7 would be your limit, but of course if you have other fish you will need to reduce your discus to suite.
So the Ph should be between 6.0-6.5?? Most PH is ok with discus, some people only have high PH and they can live quite happily - the importantce of PH is to keep it stable - if you choose to reduce it ans it swings back and forth from high to low it will do more harm than leaving it alone.Temp: 27-30 degrees C
GH: 100ppm
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates:? Less than 10
Nitriates:? NIL
Should I use pool filter sand as my substraight?

Does any one know how much red turq's go for?? I know i depends on the quality but a rough guess would be good.. probably juvies.

Buy some adults first they are more forgiving of mistakes and you have less chance of stunting their growth as they are grown. There are a few references to good stores through Sydney so check them out.

Is there any thing else that I should know about?? New to all this sorry for the silly questions, but I am sure you guys know what you are talking about. :D Read read and read some more you never know enough!
Thanks in advance :D :D

[Hollowman]

Welcome to the firum,

Use the search facility, lots to read if you want to do things right first time.

Steve

[spawn]

nitrite level should always be zero ppm...

[BigDaddyAdo]

Go and check out JMS at Carlingford. They often have fantastic Discus at a really good price.

[mitsui]

Hey Big Daddy Ado

It is going to be very hard for me to to even get a hold of these fish as I am in a small rural town and neither of the lfs stock discus as regular fish. So I will have to order them in and PRAY that what I get is good!!. (Not really keen on that idea!!!!!!!) If I have to I will travel to get them but Melbourne and Adelaide are closer to me than Sydney, I am also will to go with private breeders looking at getting some red turq or blue turq but I would prefer them as juvies. I know I should get adults as the juvies are quite a bit to look after but at the moment I have all the time in the world!! ha ha ha. So if there is any breeders out there looking to relieve themselves of a few turq's let me know Im not quite ready for them yet but in a few weeks I will be
:D :D

[vanessa messig]

Hi Mitsui,

Its best if you can get all your discus the same size and at the one time, that way they will sort themselves out. If you have some smaller discus, they may be bullied and not able to receive enough food which can result in sickness and death.
Good Luck!

[bartras]

When you say 'small rural town' what sort of water source are we talking?

[mitsui]

we are on town water

[bartras]

Ah good. Check the parameters, but that's much easier to deal with than rain water. Hope it goes well.

[goodoo]

I learnt the hard way. Get all your fish at once and dont get them to young . And dont buy from a fish shop. theres a link to a guy called rod at simply discus the wbsite I bought a fish from him and realized what a discus should look like.