100 percent water change w/discus????

[tarpon]

So i was reading about discus on the internet and the guy said he does 100% water changes on his barebottom discus tank. And it showed a picture...the fish were just laying on the bottom of the tank with no water. Is this unhealthy??

 

[maxwellag]

So i was reading about discus on the internet and the guy said he does 100% water changes on his barebottom discus tank. And it showed a picture...the fish were just laying on the bottom of the tank with no water. Is this unhealthy??

Of course! They will get stressed out and stress is never good for any fish.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I'm not sure how successful he is with that but it sounds a little bit extreme if you ask me.

 

[severum mama]

A lot of discus breeders change 90-100% of the water every day while they are growing out juveniles. The way you have to feed the juvies means that you're going to end up with serious water quality issues if you don't stay on top of it. While it may sound extreme, it's not like the guy is letting the fish flop around at the bottom of the tank with no water. I'm sure the refill process is quite fast, based on some of the fishrooms I have visited. He's probably got a huge holding tank full of aged water that gets pumped back into the tank.

 

[tarpon]

A lot of discus breeders change 90-100% of the water every day while they are growing out juveniles. The way you have to feed the juvies means that you're going to end up with serious water quality issues if you don't stay on top of it. While it may sound extreme, it's not like the guy is letting the fish flop around at the bottom of the tank with no water. I'm sure the refill process is quite fast, based on some of the fishrooms I have visited. He's probably got a huge holding tank full of aged water that gets pumped back into the tank.

Yeah it said he had aged water ready. So its not bad if theyre only there momentarily?

 

[severum mama]

I'm sure they're quite used to it. Discus really aren't that difficult to keep, it's just a matter of keeping water quality good enough to get the juvies to reach their potential adult size. So it's not hard; just a lot of work. That breeder's fish are probably so used to it by now that it hardly bothers them.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I personally wouldn't do any water changes that are larger than allow the fish to stay upright.

Forcing them to lay on their side and gasp for water is not to their benefit at all.

 

[meegosh]

I think you nailed it severum. The fish are used to it now. I actually saw this first hand at a local breeder's house. He was doing water changes when I showed up and he had some wild ones he just got in. He did exactly what you just said, drained all the water, fish were laying on the bare bottom not even moving an inch. Almost seemed like they knew it was coming and didn't mind at all.

Then when he did the same thing in his wild tank they were flopping all over when it got down to about 4" of water left. Meanwhile, all the tank raised fish didn't move even with less than a 1/2" of water in the tank.

While I think it is probably still stressful, I think poor water quality is more of an issue than a few minutes of stress. He has large rubbermaid tubs with aged water ready to go. Just has to plug in the pump.

 

[severum mama]

I personally wouldn't do any water changes that are larger than allow the fish to stay upright.

Forcing them to lay on their side and gasp for water is not to their benefit at all.

I didn't say that I would personally do it; but I don't believe there is anything wrong with it. I'd probably change 80-85% or so. The folks I know that do the frequent, massive water changes are getting some serious results.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I was just sharing in general, it wasn't directed at anyone. I agree, I do very large water changes, in the 75-80% range.

 

[LyndaB]

Wow, I'd heard that discus require frequent water changes but I never would've expected constant almost complete water changes. I love the species but don't think I'd want to devote that kind of time to just changing out water. Kudos to those who do.

 

[Fishguy2727]

And yet other breeders do 50% water changes once a week. That kind of overkill water change schedule only produces sensitive discus that need the same from subsequent owners.

 

[severum mama]

And yet other breeders do 50% water changes once a week. That kind of overkill water change schedule only produces sensitive discus that need the same from subsequent owners.

I disagree. It allows the breeder to grow the fish out to their potential adult size. I could go pick up some gorgeous discus from show quality parents at a club member's place across town. The fish are raised in our tap water and not at all what I would consider "picky". Yet I will still end up with stunted, football shaped discus on a 50% per week water change schedule.

This is ok for adult discus and I am not disputing that. Adult discus are easier to care for than juveniles because they don't require the frequent, large water changes to promote growth (obviously, since the majority of their growth is already done).

 

[tarpon]

How much harder are they than angelfish?

 

[severum mama]

How much harder are they than angelfish?

IMO they really aren't difficult, even the juveniles... it's just that the juveniles are time-consuming if you know what I mean. With adult discus, I treat them pretty much the same as angelfish.

I will say that the tap water here is excellent for both discus and angelfish, so that makes it easier in this area than in some others. For example, if you have liquid rock for tap water, that's going to be great for African Rift Lake cichlids, but not so good for discus or angelfish, or a lot of other SA fish. In that case, a lot of folks will either use RO water with a buffer added, or will mix their tap water with RO water to achieve the desired effect. That definitely makes for more of a challenge, I'm sure.

 

[tarpon]

Oh and since were on the subject, are angelfish sensitive to nitrates?
Mine have been acting kind of strange and i havent done a water change in about 2 weeks and im wondering if thats why

 

[HN1]

Even better is a constant change system, but that is work up front, costly and a lot of faith in equipment.

What are your angels doing that seems strange? All fish can be sensitive to nitrate at some level. Angels probably more so than a lot of fish.

 

[tarpon]

My male is hiding in the corner in my plants toward the bottom.

And is a temperature fluctuation of 5 degrees from nighttime to day stressful?

 

[jetajockey]

Do you know for sure that its a male? Is there another more aggressive fish in the tank? A 5 degree temperature shift probably isn't the issue.

 

[tarpon]

Im sure. And its the biggest fish in the whole tank.
Ive been really busy and havent been able to change the water so maybe thats it. He still comes up to eat when i open the top.