tonylowe Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Hi there, been keeping fish for some time and I'm looking to start getting into Discus. Did a bit of research and understand water quality is huge part for discus. Hoping to get advice from discus keepers out there about their water change. Do you use straight tap water with conditioner to adjust ph? Do you use RO water? Drift wood to soften the water? What is the best method? Wanna know how onerous it is before I commit. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Water quality is huge. Some of the work done depends on where in the country you live and also where your water comes from. I have adult discus and I water change 50 -80% twice weekly. (so 250 - 380 litres in my tank) I use tap water and use additives to remove heavy metals and chlorine. I ensure the temperature of the water going in to the tank matches the tank temperature. RO water can be used but buffers will be needed. The advice I was given, by discusguru who is on these forums, when I first started was to purchase fish over 6cm, preferably 8cm as the first discus. The smaller they are the more work they are ie more and larger water changes, more susceptible to parasites. I have driftwood in my tank which does help lower pH. Discus like 6 or below. They do not like high lighting. They are gross feeders so require high quality food regularly and a good amount of it, meaning decent filtration needed by not by the way of power heads. Discus do better in bare bottom tanks where you can keep their environment pristine but they look better in planted tanks with big swimming spaces. Recommended max stocking per adult is 50 litres per fish. Experienced fishkeepers stock more heavily - one fish per 35 - 40 litres but I have had nothing but trouble doing it. In a nutshell these fish are more work than a standard community tank with livebearers but they are magnificent fish. Good on you asking before you start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Whether or not you can use your tap water will depend on the mineral content of your tap water. RO water [probably] wouldn't be necessary, unless you're keeping wild-caught fish, but if your tap water is hard you could collect clean rain water and mix it with your tap water to soften it. Driftwood, peat etc, will only do so much, they can lower the pH if your water isn't too hard, but they won't do anything to soften it or reduce the TDS (which is probably far more important than the pH by itself). I believe the large water changes are [partially] to do with the young fish secreting some sort of growth-stunting hormone, so I would heed Adrienne's (or Ron's) advice to buy larger fish. The water changes are only as onerous as your set up makes them, If you have to carry buckets up stairs you're not going to do them as often as you should! A few dollars spent on equipment like a barrel for treating and pre-heating water, a pump to transfer it to the aquarium, and long siphon hoses that reach a window or drain is money well spent. ps. my favourite discus aquariums are neither bare bottomed nor heavily planted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I agree David - you have shown nice photos of good, fairly easily maintained setups Yes the way waterchanges are done certainly adds or decreases the amount of time and physicality needed. I am currently waterchanging my discus tank. I wiped down the glass, scraped off green spot algae, then have used a syphon attached to the hose which is running out of my house and down a drain. If the gardens are dry I water them with the dirty water. To refill I will attach the end of my hose to a laundry tap and refill that way. No buckets for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discusftlod Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 To refill I will attach the end of my hose to a laundry tap and refill that way. No buckets for me So you don't bother with having the new water matching the tank temperature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Thanks for the advice everybody. I thinking about buying a large water "tank" to store the water a day or so to replace the water removed from the tank. I will add buffer and what not before it is added to the tank. Planning to larger discus so frequent changes hopefully won't be needed everyday. Min. 2 water changes a week. Does this sound sufficient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 In my opinion you don't need a separate water tank to prepare water in. That is a lot of hassle. Depends a lot on where your tap water comes from. Where do you live? Most people in NZ will have quite soft water but you should find out. If you have soft tap water: (most of Auckland) Do water change straight from the tap with a mixer (find the right temperature, this is important) and add dechlorinator to the tank as you refill. At normal stock level and if you get discus bigger than 8cm do 30-40% water changes pr week. Never more than 50% at one time unless you know the water you are putting in has same parameters (Temp, pH, TDS) as the tank water otherwise the Discus might just drop dead from shock/stress. I keep wild caught Discus in west auckland tap water (very soft and relatively low TDS) with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yeah I live in West Auckland as well. Can you please explain what you mean do the water change straight from tap with mixer? What do you mean by mixer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 If you have hot and cold water coming out of one outlet you can blend both taps to get the temperature you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Yeah I live in West Auckland as well. Can you please explain what you mean do the water change straight from tap with mixer? What do you mean by mixer? Then you probably get your tap water from the Waitakeres. Very nice water with a TDS of 50-70ppm (quite soft) and minimal amount of chlorine added. Yes like Alan said a tap that mixes hot and cold instead of a tap for hot and a tap for cold. What kind of Discus are you thinking of getting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 So you don't bother with having the new water matching the tank temperature? Yes, I test it Then I add the water conditioner to the tank before turning the hose on. Fish, even discus can cope with minor temperature variations but I would rarely be more an 1 degree out. I'm in Epsom, my TDS varies between 86 - 112. I suspect the 112 is when the Waikato is added to the water supply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Not sure if I want to get into without doing some research first. So worried that I will not be able to maintain the right parameters. Don't mind doing water changes... Just part of the hobby :-) Suppose I need to test the ph and tds of my tap water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 I would be surprised if most NZ fishkeepers, even discus specialists, knew the TDS of their water. A group of us know as we did a thread on it a while back and some, like myself, keep marines so we have to know. Hence my owning a RO/DI unit. It does pay to research. Have a good read up on the net, see if you can find articles pertaining to NZ kept discus and ask as many questions as you wish. There are a lot of rubbishy fish out there ie bad shapes and or skinny, cross bred so as they mature they turn awful colours. Reading forums and facebook pages will help you work out where to go if you do decide to keep them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 http://www.fish-street.com/tds_meter_pe ... string=tds I think it would be a good investment if you're keeping discus, especially if you want to mix your tap water with rainw ater to keep the mineral content down. Though going by Hovmollers comments it doesn't seem like that would be necessary with the West Auckland water supply. I've always been a little reluctant to use hot tap water for water changes, but I don't think there's much science to back it up, especially not if it's working with Hovmollers wild discus! I might just go do a comparison of my tap water TDS from hot and cold to satisfy my curiosity..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 If you live in west Auckland and you are gonna keep captive bred discus (ie. not wild caught) then you have nothing to worry about. Just good general fish care, good quality food and regular water changes of the right temp as mentioned above and you'll be fine. Follow these simple rules and discus are actually easy to keep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 First advice I would give you is to change your location in your profile from NZ to a more specific location so people in and around you can give you better advice. For starting a discus tank : Have a decent size tank to house the number of discus to intend to get. Purchase your discus from a reputable seller preferably juvi or adult if you can afford it. Pick discus that are active, healthy, bright in colour and eating well. Ask if the seller can put some food in to feed them. Stay away from discus that are dull looking, not interested in food or spitting the food back out and hiding in the back. Feed them a variety of good quality food. Maintain a good water change regime of at least 1 water change per week. Cheers, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Thanks guys. By the sounds of it maybe not as hard as I thought and maybe I was over thinking it. Gonna give this a try ... Looking for to it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Are you starting from scratch or do you already have an established tank? A well cycled bio filter is another important aspect of keeping discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm starting a new tank and set up. Gotta get a new thank and everything ... This is going to be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 When looking for, or getting a tank built make sure you get one that is large enough to accommodate the number of discus + any other fish you think you want. 50 litres per discus is a good guide and be sure the tank height is enough as discus like plenty of water over their heads. 60cm depth is my recommended minimum - it provides them security. I personally don't think 45 is enough, 70 is too tall for my arm length and I can't reach the bottom. I take it you have already kept fish before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Gotta get a new thank and everything ... This is going to be fun. :thup: It sure is fun, just remember that the only things that happen quickly in a fish tank are bad things! I think you'd want to have the tank up and running for a while before adding the discus, make sure it is well cycled and established with other fish first. If you're buying larger sized discus be aware that the sudden increase in bioload could cause a mini-cycle. I may be worth using something like Seachem Stability for a couple of weeks after a large addition of delicate fish, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonylowe Posted May 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Yip will definitely cycle the tanks for a few weeks before I'll put discus it. Probably use some media from my other tank. I'll put some guppies in there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Thanks guys. By the sounds of it maybe not as hard as I thought and maybe I was over thinking it. Gonna give this a try ... Looking for to it now. You generally find new fishkeepers stress about getting the water conditions exactly right, worry about making sure their poor little babies have all the exact environment so they're nice and comfortable, use only treated tapwater to clean the outside of the glass because spit and a paper towel might alter the PH... Fishkeepers with 10+ years experience are more like, "Time for a water change?" Dunk bucket in in the tank, dump it out on the lawn, refill with the hose. Oops, threw fish flopping around in the lawn, better throw him back. Don't care, he's a bastard anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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