Succumbing to the allure of the WILD side!!

[biggie1985]

Hi fellow fish slaves

Finally have given in to the allure of wild discus and have put a deposit down on a couple of fish.

I'm a complete amateur with wilds so I was hoping to draw on the wealth of knowledge available from members of this forum.

How should my tank be set up and what are essential things I need to have and know whilst setting up and maintaing the aquarium?

I'm looking at setting to begin with a standard 4 foot tank but not sure of which filtration is best.
Are wilds able to be mixed with domestic fish or will they not mix?
I have been told by the current owner of the fish that they are surviving in PH 7.0 atm so does that mean they could perhaps not be genuine F0? To plant or not to plant?
Substrate or no substrate?
Strong or weak current in water?
Bright or dim lighting?
General temperature?

Alot of questions I understand but it is a rather expensive investment so would certainly like to do it right. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Dave

[Merrilyn]

Hi Dave, wild discus are expensive, and rare, so it's good to give them the best conditions we can manage.

Your 4 foot tank will be fine, just don't overcrowd. As far as filtration goes, I like Eheim canister filters, for their reliability, but as you'll be doing water changes around three times a week, even a couple of well matured sponge filters would suffice. It's up to you, but they do demand pristine water.

I would never mix wilds with domestics. It's just too much of a risk. Add a few varieties of tetras for some additional colour, but nothing else.

A pH of 7 is not idea for wilds, but set your tank up with that pH to receive the fish, and gradually drop to around 6 over the next month. I run my wild tank at a pH of 5.5 but I have heckels, and they prefer a lower pH.

A sand substrate is ideal. Wilds like to 'blow' into the sand to stir up food. It's a discus trait mostly bred out of domestics, but the wilds like to do it and it's fascinating to watch.

Your tank should have weak current, dim lighting and a temperature of 30 degrees, add a few plants if you wish, but they don't grow terribly well in sand so I don't bother, and prefer to aquascape with driftwood alone. Do lots and lots of waterchanges, and you should have some very happy discus.

Good luck.

[goodoo]

how long do wilds live in captivity.

[Mickey C]

To point you to a more specific filter - you'd want something that flows around 4 times the capacity of your tank, and it just so happens the eheim 2215 and 2217 fit that category. Do a quick length * width * height to get an idea.

Oh, and in the classifieds a member is selling a 2215 for $80 and a 2217 for $150 - I think the thread title there is "3 discus for sale". The larger the filter the larger the current obviously ;)

[biggie1985]

Thanks for the advice Merrilyn (AKA Discus goddess) I'll stick to keeping wilds together. The only reason I asked was because good wilds are just so difficult to source and it could take forever to stock the tank lol, unless ofcourse your 10 footer is overstocked :lol: . Is the sand substrate anything specific and can it be purchased from LFS? Wilds I believe are quite skittish so do they ever hurt themselves on the driftwood? and what do you feed them?

Mickey: Thanks for the help mate I was hoping someone would suggest a filter as I was hoping I wouldnt have to buy the top of the range lol. Is there enough media in the 2217 to handle the amount of waste and keep ammonia etc down?

Also as a general question what lighting is best for wilds?

[biggie1985]

I've taken a couple of photos and I'm hoping they can be ID'd.
Sorry about the crappy photos

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/BiGGiE021/IMG_8500.jpg

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/BiGGiE021/IMG_5370.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/BiGGiE021/IMG_8922.jpg

Critique would be appreciated

Cheers
Dave

[biggie1985]

Somebody? Anybody?

[Merrilyn]

I'm thinking greens, but I'd really like to see some better photos.

Good fat, healthy looking fish. Great choice :P