Discus Information

[afilter]

One final thought for those that want to participate. If you take the time and work up you post off line in a word format then you can just cut and paste it into this thread. This should make it easier for you and then you can ensure completeness before you post. (Eliminate the need for insurance )

I realize this may make for some long posts, but anyone passionate about their fish should not mind. There is a ton to be shared and learned about these fish. 8)

Thanks,

 

[oscarbreeder]

I have a Discus question.
I tested my tap water and got the following:
GH-75ppm
KH-80ppm
ph-6.8
Is this good enough to keep Discus WITHPUT usin RO/DI?
Thanks.

 

[afilter]

oscarbreeder,

From what I have read I would think these readings would be well within the tolerance for discus to include breeding and would be termed as medium soft water. PH is a little on the high side if you can lower it slightly I would recommend it. I would only caution that there be nothing else in the water that you are not testing for. RO/DI is always the safest was to go to avoid high NA or other items that might exist in your water supply.

Here is an excellent article on Discus water:

http://www.netpets.com/fish/reference/freshref/discuswater.html

This article goes into great detail. The only thing I would question is the author states a PH range of 5.5-6.5. 5.5 seems a bit low to me, I personally would not go any lower than 6.0 which the author states as ideal.

Based on your screen name I hope you are not considering placing Discus with Oscars . Discus would be expensive live food.

HTH,

 

[oscarbreeder]

No I m not going to mix Oscars with Discus.
I have bought a 180gal tank I was going to use for Oscars but got my may issue of Aquarium Fish Mag. and there was an article about Discus in it and it got me thinking about using the 180 for a Discus tank instead.

I really dont want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a RO/DI unit if I dont REALLY have to.

 

[oscarbreeder]

Thanks for the article afilter.
Learned some more great info.

 

[afilter]

oscarbreeder,

Your welcome. BTW, I was just kidding about mixing Oscars and Discus A 180g Discus tank would be awesome. Wish I had the space and $.

It can be done without RO/DI in fact I did it for for many years with great success before RO/DI was real popular. As long as you have a reliable water source. I only started using RO when I moved and discovered the new tap water was the source of my Nitrate problems. I had a much smaller tank as well. Just make sure there are no suprises in the water. I will assume you are using this water source for your current aquarium needs and if you have not encountered any significant problems you should be OK.

Not sure if you have any experience with live plants, but it would be well worth your time to do the research. Live plants can make a striking difference in a display tank and help with the biology of the tank as well.

Here is another article on Discus and live plants that might help:

http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/Articles/PAM_Discus.htm

Good luck,

 

[reefrunner69]

8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[BrianNY]

Hi oscarbreeder, IME discus adapt fairly easily to most water conditions as long as the water is clean. I don't fool with ph at all because when I change water it's straight from the tap and I never wanted to RO either. It's the ph swings that stress them so I don't fool with trying to reach some ideal number. My tap ph is 7 and I'm lucky enough to have very soft water.

A 180g planted discus tank would be awesome. I know one woman who has a tank that large. She keeps it bare bottom and had it drilled to make the water changing practical. You might be better off starting smaller because that's a lot maitainance.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I cant turn back now Brian because I already have the 180 in layaway.

Afilter,
I have live plants in my 55 and they are doing good.
Probably put some in the 180.
I have sand for the 180 already too will this be a problem?

 

[afilter]

oscarbreeder,

I would tend to agree with Brian on the consistency issue. As long as your water conditions are tolerable I would not worry about what the "experts" say the ideal range is. If your goal is to just keep healthy fish in a display I think you will be fine with what you described.

If your goal is to breed and you are having issues then you might want to relook PH. When I was keeping discus I had great success at getting eggs using tap water around 6.8-7.0PH, but fry required a little more work to include using RO. Who knows I had angles uncontrollably breeding and producing fry in a 45g community display once. Never so lucky with discus though.

Have fun,

 

[oscarbreeder]

Well then I will just go for it this way and if I am ever lucky enough to get fry then I will look into Ro.
Thanks for all your help afilter.
Have a few Kudos

 

[oscarbreeder]

Some Kudos for you to BrianNY.
Thanks for the help.

 

[afilter]

oscarbreeder,

Sand can work ok, I preferred and used fine gravel. The only draw back with sand is that if it is too fine is can be easily stirred up and suspended in the water during maintenance.

The key for a successful planted tank to plan ahead for it even if you are not going to do a fully planted tank right away and get the fish established first. Some key issues are:

1.Fertilized-seed your substrate during set-up

2. Lighting- Insure you have adequate daylight bulbs. When I was doing it I only has 80w in a single twin tube and I was harvesting plants every two weeks.

3. CO2-Critical for thriving planted tank. I used a home made system(very inexpensive consisted of 2 liter bottle, yeast, water, and sugar) with tetra C02 chambers I bought.

I am sure if you do a search you can find instructions for making this CO2 setup. If I find one I will post it later. I will post a link later if I can find one.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I have a Hagen co2 injector with bubble counter on my 55 and it works real good.

 

[afilter]

Your set then...Here is a link for anyone else that is interested in the DIY cheap method.

http://members.aol.com/yamatoaquariums/co2.html

2 liter soda bottles work great. I used the tetra difussion bells and just filled them once a day with airline tubing. Caution some recommend just running a line into you tank or leaving the airline hooked to your diffusion bell. Do not do this as it could create a siphon and start to drain your tank(learned the hard way )
If you do want to use the bubble method make sure you have a check valve.

Like I said my plants thrived to the point that I was harvesting them about every two weeks and selling them back to an LFS. It actually supported my hobby for about 6 months before I had to move and bought me a 30g setup at one point. 8)

BTW, Thanks for the Kudos

 

[oscarbreeder]

AHH the old co2 syphon trick...lol.
I had the same think happen to me thats why I went out and bought one...LOL

 

[BrianNY]

You guys are great!!!! Hey, here's my planted 55

 

[afilter]

Nice pic Brian love the wood in the center.

Anyone working on any information posts?

 

[oscarbreeder]

Good lookin tank Brian.