Anna_&_Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hello everyone,so here it goes,after keeping fish for years and keeping cichlids for a while,i decided to try out a discus tank.. stil trying to find budget and get brave which will take a bit of time and also waiting for the tank and everything so i can set it up so until then i have some questions that i want to figure out ... I want it to be a planted tank, it wil be about 100 -120 liters to start with.. i know thats not much for discus but i wil get small ones so if i will get the hang of keeping them i will upgrade as they will grow and need more space. but for now.. what really inspired me is i was watching that program about amazon and its fish and they showed some discus and i always wanted to try out a planted tank. I did some research and still have got alot more of reasearch to do before i can buy my fish. so here are the questions : 1. what plants do i need to be in there? i know amazonian sword plant i will go for that one, but also i want to not be able to see the bottom of the tank and gravel so i want a plant carpet,what plants are good for that? 2. What does drift wood do to the water conditions? 3. How do i keep the Ph down for fish and i know they like acidic water,how to i acomplish that? And just in general,when i read other forums and just info in general everyone says that discus are so hard to keep but then some other people say they not that hard to keep after al.. its challenging and interesting to try but i want to succeed so need heaps of help... so any help would be muchly apreciated!! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 driftwood will actualy keep your ph down but you can get this pwerder stuff from lfs that is really good that keeps your ph at 6 or so. driftwood can make the water brown - but some breeders swear by it as it is a natural thing that helps with the bioloy of the tank or something, natural antiseptic perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 they are black water fish 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna_&_Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 i remember ages ago i had a driftwood in my tank it didnt make the water brown.. oh well.. im sure the filter will deal with it.. oh il have a look hopefull ythat ph keeping stuff is not too expensive,as i know il have to spend quite alot on keeping these fish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I have my first discus tank which I set up between Xmas and New Year after asking a lot of questions on this forum and reading heaps - most of it I didn't understand :oops: Use the search function on here and type in 'discus'. There are pictures of it on here under 'New Tank'. Everything is going fine, the discus (I have 6) seem happy and healthy. I have planted it but not totally covered the gravel as the tank needs to be kept clean. I vacuum every week and change 25-30% of the water, around 140 litres once a week. In this weather I have to top the tank up every few days, about 10-12 litres at a time as I am running a sump and the level drops too low. I am also running a cf 1200 external filter, making a flow rate of about 2200lph on a 450 litre tank. My pH out of the tap is 7.6, the tank sits at 7.2. I was advised not to mess around with the pH as it was better to have it stable than changing all the time. I do have driftwood in the tank. I have a small amount of aquatic mix under some of the gravel but wouldn't put it down again as it makes vacuuming harder. I use flourish but will change to flourish excel very shortly to encourage the swords to grow faster. With regards to you getting smaller fish I was told they need daily water changes to keep them healthy and growing. Budget :roll: what budget - estimated so far nearly 2k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 honestly i think you should consider getting at least 2-300 litre tank to start with, and try to get the biggest discus that you can afford/find. growing out young discus is hard work if you want to end up with nice size ones, eg. lots of feeds, and lots of waterchanges. they also die a lot easier when they are small(in my experience anyway) and that can be enough to put you off. on the other hand, if you start out with a few larger fish they dont require as much feeding/waterchange etc. i only do 1-2 waterchange per week, and would do even less if i didnt have quite so many fish in there. good on you for researching it all first though, i wish i had put in more thought and research before getting discus, as i ended up learning all this the hard way. good luck with it they are awesome fish, especially when youve had them for a while and they get to know you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I agree buy the biggest tank and discus you can afford.. Unless you buy a pair for your smaller tank, I have 2 that seem to be a pair at least they get on and the female lays eggs and they're in a 150L tank with a mix of other fish they get water changes every week sometimes 2 and they're fine seem to be doing very well. Obviously im not going to get good growth rates or anyting like that ideally I should be doing more water changes but they're doing well so I dont care.. If your getting young discus you should probably do a bare bottom tank and try to do water changes every day or 2 and they are more sensitve id say dont buy them smaller than 30mm long, I guess you could get them smaller but only from a descent breeder like Ron who knows what they're doing, most breeders wont sell smaller fish because they're not likely to survive. Good luck and don't be scared they're not hard to keep if you do the research, get healthy stock to begin with and keep up with the maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna_&_Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 ive just read a massive article on discus keeping and the guy there says that he talked to a couple discus keepere/breeders and it sed in the article that its best to get not small not big fish but about 3-4" in size.. aparently they adapt to water conditions better? and yea i know about water changes,, unfortunately cant get a 300liter now so will have to start with what ive got.. for now ... otherwise of course i would ge tthe biggest tank i could and as many as i could only afford.. Also now as ive read heaps about them ive changed my mind about planting the bottom, i think i mite just go for minimum substrate so its easier to keep the water clean... also it said there about keeping water in container at least for 24 hours befor i put it in the tank to get rid of chlorine.. wel its kinda the same with al other fish BUT what if i use that stuff Water ager that gets rid of chlorine instantly? i use it in my cichlid tanks and it works for them, will it work for discus too or i still have to leave the water for 24 hours? id just make the water warm straight away so no need to put heater in there for 24 hours either.. as that guy sed.. doesnt he know about water ager?.. Yea some people say they like extremely hard to keep,others say they fine.. so confusing when you are a beginer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I use Aqua Plus water conditioner when doing my big water changes. A 2 litre pump container costs $46, pm me if you want to know where I get it at that price. One pump does about 300 litres and I add it to the first bucket of water I'm putting in. I do use a thermometer though to make sure the water from the tank is about the right temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 water ager works, so does letting the water sit for a while with strong aeration . personal preference i guess? as far as getting the water to the same temp as the tank goes, i personally just use cold water from the tap through a water filter, but refill over about half an hour so theres no sudden temperature drop, only gradual. i do roughly 40% at a time and get 3-4 degree drop in temp at the most. alot of people do however get the water to the same or similar temp, allows you to do larger waterchange, and faster. you have probably realised by now that there is a heap of contradicting advice when it comes to discus, best to read/listen to everyones point of view then do what works for you definately not extremely hard to keep at all, and you are in the right city to get nice sized fish at a fair price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 agree about a lot of reading and doing whats right for you. It takes me over 1/2 hour to fill my tanks anyway, 20 buckets of water from kitchen sink to lounge tank :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna_&_Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 thats what i do at the moment,carry heavy buckets from bathroom to my bedroom where the tanks are kinda heavy for me im only little. dimebag how about just adding a bit of hot water into the water you use and measure the tem so tis same as in the tank would that work you think? and how expensive are those filters that you put on the tap? adodge how do those pumps work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 sure it would work, but i connect from the outside tap. the filter is a benchtop drinking water filter that you could probably get from any plumbing wholesaler, i picked up a second hand one for next to nothing, and just had to replace the filter cartridge, $12-15 from memory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna_&_Chris Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 wow thats cheap.. i think i mite buy that because im kind of sick of carrying all these 20 liter buckets back and forwards... gets to my lower back and im only little and not very strong.. will make it earier on al tanks im guessing than..cool =)) Im getting so excited about starting a discus tank ive wanted one wor quite awhile and now finaly have room and nerve to do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 First of all, the BEST way to buy discus is to get a batch of 6 smaller ones (4-6cm) from a breeder and grow them out to 4-5" in a bare bottom tank with daily water changes. You can do this in virtually any size aquarium and I used to grow out mine in a 2 footer to start with and move up with size. A 20% water change in a 54L aquarium is only 11 litres and that's the advantage right there. When you try and grow out smaller discus in a larger tank you end up changing hundreds of litres of water a week and it's painful to say the least. Water conditioner is fine and pre-mixing the cold water with a bit of hot to get the right temp is adequate. 1. what plants do i need to be in there? i know amazonian sword plant i will go for that one, but also i want to not be able to see the bottom of the tank and gravel so i want a plant carpet,what plants are good for that? Be careful which swords you buy as Amazon Swords will grow very very large and fill your little tank. Do some research and go with small to medium swords (leopard swords as an example) and I'd recommend Dwarf Sag as a ground cover over Glosso any day. Very very difficult to grow glosso like a carpet. 2. What does drift wood do to the water conditions? Stabilizes water conditions, adds tannins to the water which lowers pH and relaxes fish. 3. How do i keep the Ph down for fish and i know they like acidic water,how to i acomplish that? Unless you have a crazy pH over 7.5 I wouldn't worry about unless you're buying adult discus with the intent to breed. If you get your discus small they'll quickly adjust to your tap water and live and breed happily in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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