Beginer Questions

[AdamH]

Hi all,

I am currently a African Cichlid keeper and breeder, and have decided to take the plunge into Discus. I have done a lot of reading, and received a few conflicting or different answers to some things. Any answers to set me straight once and for all would be greatly appreciated.

What is the optimal:

PH:
GH:
KH:
Temp:
Substrate Colour:


Also, in regards to the ultra-frequent water changes. It this required if i only intend to display, and not breed. What sort of water changes should i be doing for a lightly stocked, mediumly-planeted tank of about 1700 Litres.

Thanks in advance.

[FishLover]

I'm no expert. 1700 l is about 425 gallon, right?

If it is going to be a display tank, you can have about 40 of them in there. I would do a weekly WC at least. pH 6.5, temp 82f to 86 f

[mcloughlin2]

PH:

6.0 - 7.0 (Its more important to keep it stable however!)

Make sure your water is nice and soft ... IMO you needn't worry to much about KH & GH ...


Temp:

27 - 32 Degrees


Substrate Colour:

Its depends on the strains of discus you won't ... I would reccommend a nice light colour such as white ( :lol: ) if you plan on keeping any pigeons ... If you use a black substance, expect your discus to be dark more often. So they won't likely show their true colours ...

Your tank is 449.09G ... That means you could keep up to 45 discus in there. If you were to do that you would need to change the water in the tank, twice a week and each water change being of about 30% ...

If you were to say have only 30 discus in your tank instead of 45, i would say a 10% water change once a week would be OK ... You could maybe even go for less and do a 20% every 2 weeks .... :wink:

HTH

Sam.

[AdamH]

Thanks guys,
I indend to keep around 15 - 20, plus some Cats, tetras etc etc.

One other thing, is the standard NLS 1mm pellet ok for Discus?
Icurrently feed this to my africans.