water changes?

[joeyd412]

how much water changes should i do per week?

[Discus Planetarium]

2 50% each time should be fine

[joeyd412]

So do 50% each week ?

[Nev]

Think he ment 2 x 50%.
I just change some every 2 to 3 days, but l've got 800 its in the tank.

[swifto]

i change 100ltr of a 274ltr tank once aweek.

[boxters]

This is my opinion. Discus do not like to much new water contrary to what most people think. In the summer months in the wild most of the amazon dries up creating isolated pools with little to know fresh water for long periods of time. The ph is low and the water old. I never change more than 10% twice per week. The fish have a very strong resistance to infection and will let you know via tell tale signs that they want fresh water.

[swifto]

yes more water changes are i feel for the purpose of breeding and growing out.

[Gumby]

Boxters, this does even for a Discus noob like me sound very obviously native and agreeable, but the Discus we keep haven't been kept in dry pools for long periods in the Amazon Basin, or in very low PH (under usual).
Please knock me down a peg if i'm out of line here. I am in no way trying to discredit anyones knowledge.
I am curious though as to previous experience (not Discus But ......) wether some information is correct ? I mean i have spoken to a Discus breeder (no visual yet and not a forum member) but i have spent considerable time chatting on the phone, he tells me that he has no probs at all breeding his pairs in neutral 7 PH water, i have seen pics and wow, these are very nice fish (yes i will give his details or ask him to join here).
Anyway my point is, i have bred Africans and South Americans in very similar conditions, Tap water,dechlorinated,aged,stabilised, no more, no less, water changes, conditions and whala they breed !
As i previously stated, no discredit to the knowledge but, what is the origin of the fish in the tank ? Wild from the Amazon or bred from generations of developing in an aquarium ?
Cheers,Scotty

[Hollowman]

This is my opinion. Discus do not like to much new water contrary to what most people think. In the summer months in the wild most of the amazon dries up creating isolated pools with little to know fresh water for long periods of time. The ph is low and the water old. I never change more than 10% twice per week. The fish have a very strong resistance to infection and will let you know via tell tale signs that they want fresh water.

Gumby is spot on.

Poor advice and a dangerous post for someone who is a 'respected' member of the forum.

This is just your opinion of wild fish from the source, the Amazon (which in fact is correct). BUT it has little or no bearing on the modern discus keeper or methods used by the major breeders in Asia or Europe.

Any noob who reads that post will think they can get away with tiny water changes and this is definately NOT the truth or correct.

All of us discus keepers who have been around for a while know that we change water to get rid of organic compounds in the water, which, even though not testable are present in the water. A simple example is smoking in a small closed room, it soon fills up with smoke so everyone chokes. You open the widow and the smoke clears and you can breath again. This analagy is the same for our water changes...... but I shouldn't have to tell you this.

Post in such a way that noobs will not get hold of the wrong end of the stick.
For the benefit of any noob here, 40 to 50% twice a week is enough to keep your fish happy and thriving.

[lpiasente]

Agreed with Hollowman. You only have to look at how bright your discus become after a nice water change. I think they love it

[Nev]

Boxters may be correct about what the amazon does in summer, but I doubt those pools are 6 x 2 x 2 pools with zero fresh water flow.
As an absolute minimum 10% every couple of days till you can do a larger change.

[morgs8u]

I change every day and my fish are never sick or have flukes
and growth rates increase too new water means bigger appetite as it would be in the wild too i supose .50% followed by 100% the next day ( aged water )

[swifto]

i change 100ltr of a 274ltr tank once aweek. Mine are pairing,shimmering,peking the in take pipe with this one only water change.Something must b right in with the way i'm doing it.

[Ghoti]

This is my opinion. Discus do not like to much new water contrary to what most people think. In the summer months in the wild most of the amazon dries up creating isolated pools with little to know fresh water for long periods of time. The ph is low and the water old. I never change more than 10% twice per week. The fish have a very strong resistance to infection and will let you know via tell tale signs that they want fresh water.n.

Marlon did start off by acknowledging that it was his opinion, which he is perfectly entitled to share. I am certain there is no one true path to enlightenment!

That being said, for me its a case of at least one 30% per week. I prefer to do two, but time does not always permit. This seems to keep my water quality within fairly tight ranges and in my opinion my fish seem happiest with consistent water chemistry.

Cheers,
Scott

[Nev]

Lol l'm going to start all my losts with imo :)

[joeyd412]

thanks for the feedback guys btw how do you guys change your tanks like for 100+ gallons ?

[Hollowman]

thanks for the feedback guys btw how do you guys change your tanks like for 100+ gallons ?

I use a 5ft x 2ft x 2 ft tank as my resovior, the water goes in, I can mix to get the right conductivity, airate and heat and I use a big pond pump to fill my empty tanks.

Easy :lol:

[#1 Cichlids]

40 to 50% twice a week,every monday and friday,and discus look happy and stunning :D

[nevsfish]

every one has differant opinions on the subject.but if you wanted to be scientific about it cheak the nitrate levels daily till you get a feel for how much waste is produced.then water change to keep nitrates below 20 ppm for domestics or below 10 ppm for wilds

[scoob]

It depends on the how your tank is stocked if you have a good size tank good filteration and lightly stocked you can get away with 50% a week with no issues.
I have a 6x 2x 2.5, Eheim 2080 and 10 Discus 50% water change a week no problems.

[joeyd412]

also do u guys age ur water? or do you just get the water from your tap?

[nevsfish]

yes i age my water for a minamum of 24 hours.i have 500 litre water tanks with large air stones in them.better to have the water stabilize in the holding tank rather than stress the fish with bouncing ph.

[joeyd412]

I just use my tap water than use ph down to get the ph back to 6.5 is that bad ?

[Nev]

I do the same in the grow out tank, and just de-chlorinated tap water in the large community tank. Taps 7.2
Tanks 6.8, close enough.

[joeyd412]

Also do u guys know why my fish tank is cloudy? I do like 50-75% water changes a week any idea why woul it be cloudy?

[Nev]

Bacterial bloom?
Not enough bio filtration maybe.

[joeyd412]

Well I got a 30 gallon tank with a filter that's made for a 50gallon

[AS28]

I have 650 litre and I do 200 once per week
I have only had discus for 1 year tough.

[Symphysodon]

My opinion is that if you feed heavily and with high protein foods such as beef heart, then more frequent water changes are in order. More frequent water changes as opposed to large volumes of water per change.

I agree with Marlon that some fish, particularly babies and juveniles, do not like too big and too frequent a change in water chemistry, so try to change with water that is as similar in temperature and pH to the tank water as possible.

Nevertheless, a large water change using colder water (approx. 20C) will often trigger spawning in a discus pair, especially if they've been conditioned with live food before and after the water change.

I believe commercial breeders, especially in Asia, change 90% of water daily. But I suppose they have consistent water temperature and chemistry.... as well as cheap labour!

Anyone ever try a flow-through system enabling continuous replenishment with fresh water? The waste could be used for watering a vegie garden etc.

Also, is there truth in the opinion that growing fish discharge chemicals that hinder the growth of other fish, in which case frequent water changes would remove these chemicals and allow better growth in all fish?

[sunshinediscus]

If the water going into the tank is correct, then you can change as much as you like. 3 times a day @ 100% is not too much, similar to what many professional breeders do in asia. If your discus are not liking the water change, then you need to rethink your water processing technique as it is poor. You can NEVER change too much water.