Preparing for Discus

[SHIFT_Unique]

To begin with i have a 55 Gallon tank.

With the following hardware
-Fluval 305
-Fluval 200 Watt Heater
-UV Sterilizer
-48" Blue LED Moon Light
-48" 130watt 12,000k PC Light

Decor
-Fluorite for substrate
-5 Nice sized peices of driftwood
-5 small stones
-6 java ferns
-4 amazon swords
-1 corkscrew
-1 bunch(5 stems)cabomba
-2 bunches of anacharis
-1 water sprite
-1 java moss bunch
-4 misc. plants

these are live plants

Water Parameters
-PH: 6.5
-GH: 14*
-KH: 3*
-Perm. Hardness 11*
-NO2:0ppm
-NH3/NH4:0ppm
-temp:80.7*F

No im having trouble keeping my alkalinity up. i use Neutral Regulator, but as you can see it doesnt put it at 7.0 and my alkalinity is low.

are these suitable params.. for discus

also current fish in tank are as follows.

2 German Blue Rams
2 Gold Barbs
2 Bloodfin Tetras
2 Silver Tip Tetras
2 Serpae Tetras
3 Tiger Barbs
3 Green Tiger Barbs
1 Albino Tiger Barb
3 Golden White Cloud Danios
3 Cardinal Tetras
1 Rosy Barb
1 Gold Twin Bar Platy
1 Red Platy
1 Black Molly
1 Red Wag Platy
1 Green Swordtail
1 Panda Cory
1 Otto Cat


are these compatable?

 

[severum mama]

The barbs you have may stress discus, as well as the serpaes. I keep mine with rummynose and green fire tetras- much more laid back than your setup I think. They truly need a laid back environment, IMO. Also, the gold white clouds (if they are the same fish I'm thinking of) are a variant of white cloud mountain minnows, and are different than danios. These are coldwater fish and will not appreciate the high temps that discus need to thrive. I keep my tank at 84, which is a compromise for my community fish; otherwise I would keep the temp at 85-86. As always, this is JMO.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

what do you think about my ph and KH?

how do i raise my KH?

 

[BrianNY]

I wouldn't mess with the KH at all. In fact, it's perfect for discus at 3. Under that and you will get a huge pH drop.

You're going to have algae problems with all that light if you don't inject CO2.

 

[kaz]

2.3wpg is medium no need for co2 dont you think?

 

[BrianNY]

Although it's considered medium for growing plants, at 2 wpg the algae will steal the light from the plants and proliferate.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

I do have a UV sterilizer, so i think i can keep the algae under control. right now i have a 10% mixture of RO water and 90% Tap

tap comes out of the faucet at 7.5 PH, im thinking the large peices of drift wood significantly lower my PH.

but seriously, do you think i should spend 40 buvks on a fish? how do i keep my water params. here? My Blue rams are very vibrant in color, so i must be doing somethign right.

 

[kaz]

I say keep away from discuss if your doing the type of tropical fish you have right now.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

alright.. i guess i will just find other nice look exotic fish.

im gonna get some Gold Rams rams ordered at my store.
perhaps some, rainbows

 

[severum mama]

If you're keeping GBRs, then you should do fine with gold rams- they are a selectively bred color variant of the same species.

Honestly, if you really want discus, then you should be able to keep some. My pH is 8.0+ and my discus are doing fine. IMO the real issue is stocking and choice of tankmates. If you want discus you will have to rehome some of your current stock (i.e. the barbs, serpaes, and white clouds) to avoid stressing the discus, and buy the discus as large as possible to avoid stunting. I'm not sure whether your tetras will be nippy with other species given they are not truly kept in schools, so you may have to watch out for that too (I haven't kept those species, so I can't really advise).

If you decide not to keep discus, I would suggest bumping up your numbers in your tetra schools, as they will feel more comfortable.

As always, JMO.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

actually my fish all keep to them self. the tiger's stay in their school, my serpaes only fight each other, same with the silvertips

the silvertips will chase a couple fish off here and there when they get in their territory, but thats it.

right now im having a problem with some parasites... internal and external. just slapped in a UV Sterilizer so hopefully that helps me out a bit.