What equipment Will You Need

[Matt_Discus]

Hi all I was wondering what equipment you will need to keep Discus Healthy and stress free :lol: :lol:

- Can You list All Equipment Required

[marg]

Good food and plenty of good quality water changes.

[Nathan]

A good quality filter, what type of filter depends on whether your goin planted or bare bottom. if planted then an external cannister filter, if barebottom you could use a sponge filter of corner filter

A heater, make sure its of good quality as discus need higher temp water (30 C) and you dont want your heater buggering up

Lights are optional, but if your going planted then lights are feinitely a need

UV sterliser is also optional but myself an most other people on the forum highly reccomend this peice of equipment as it helps keep the water from bacteria and pathogens which may harm your discus

If your going planted then you may want to look into co2

Oh yea i almost forgot and a suitable sized tank, the rule is one adult discus to every 40L which is a great rule to follow.

If you go planted there are a ton more things you can look into

youl need good food, discus need a varied diet, i feed mine frozen bloodworm, frozen brine shrimp and i made beefheart mix myself.

and you deifnitely need to work out a way for you to be able to perform regular at least %30 water changes.

if you have any other questions feel free to ask as so many ppl on this forum will be able to help

[Matt_Discus]

and you deifnitely need to work out a way for you to be able to perform regular at least %30 water changes.

if you have any other questions feel free to ask as so many ppl on this forum will be able to help[/quote]

How often do I need to do water changes?

[FishLover]

WC is a touchy topic here. Most people will tell you the more the better, which I agree.

It all depends on few things (and maybe few more):
1. Your fish load comparing to your tank size
2. How much/often/what do you feed your discus
3. What is the purpose of your fishkeeping? Do you want to breed them?
4. How good is your filter system?

If your fish load is low (10+ g per adult), with a good filter system, and you don't want to breed then, you may get away with once a week 30-40% WC, provide you don't over feed your fish and you don't feed them heavy things like beef heart. These are the food the breeders like because they promote fast growth. If you only want your fish look pretty, IMO you don't need to feed them heavy food like that (maybe once a while for a change), which less the bio-load of your tank, which let you get away with less W/C (once a week).

There are two different threads of thought here. One from the breeder point of view, one from the average fishkeeper (like me). Because they have different purpose of having Discus, their method of caring for the Discus may have some differences.

Breeders are more likely to have more water changes, heavy feedings, and heavy fish load. They are more demanding on the water condition and depend on more W/C as a sure way to keep their stock healthy and fast growing.

As an average fish keeper, you may not need to grow your discus as fast as you can, nor do you need to grow them as big as you can. I will be happy as long as my discus are happy and showing off good colors. Most of us may not have the time to do W/C every day. The way to make sure our Discus are happy is to reduce the fish load, reduce the feeding and stay away from food that can mess up your tank water (like beef heart). With all these action, it is posssible to make the average fishkeeper happy too (without doing W/C everyday).

I think there are more than one correct way to keep the discus. They all have valid points and you can follow whichever one you think best fits your case.

[kalebjarrod]

Filtration is only as good as the w/c's you perform

you will find that people can produce as good a fish with a massive trickle system or with just a simple sponge filter

W/C's and quaility food and quaility food is what it is all about

the filter is only there to prolong the time between water changes and remove some floating debri which us poor humans find astheticlly unapealing

:wink:

[Matt_Discus]

Hi I was wondering if 4 turquoise in a 4x18 to start with is okay I will love to breed these guys as soon as possible :lol: :lol: