My 75Gal Planted Discus Tank Build

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I believe you've got that backwards. The younger they are the more needy they are. Unhappy youths = no growth. i

7.8ph is nothing to worry about, adult discus won't care.
 
PH is 8.2 :-(

Looking at going partially with RO water,

starting to lose hope - Was trying to go with the most simple and stable method - but if my PH is too high, lowering it complicates matters and makes it difficult to keep stable.

If Big als or PJ's keeps their water at 7.5, how would I introduce them to my 8.2PH tank with as little stress as possible? what size discus would be the best bet? 3 Inches? I'm trying to not bust the bank here.
 
sudz said:
PH is 8.2 :-(

Looking at going partially with RO water,

starting to lose hope - Was trying to go with the most simple and stable method - but if my PH is too high, lowering it complicates matters and makes it difficult to keep stable.

If Big als or PJ's keeps their water at 7.5, how would I introduce them to my 8.2PH tank with as little stress as possible? what size discus would be the best bet? 3 Inches? I'm trying to not bust the bank here.

I would forgo the ro; and spend that money on adult discus. OR spend that money on a small 20-30g barebottom grow out tank. The problem with juvie discs is they are at a sensitive age which makes or breaks their growth. It's really hard to care for juvie discs and plants.

Personally I have my grow out tank and I have my 80g planted. Once my discus are adults, then they can move to the planted tank.
 
Good things come to those who wait.

I found a shop that doesn't have a website, not 20 minutes from my house. I saw on another local fish forum that they had discus. i decided to check them out.

I almost cried. An entire store. Dedicated to Discus. 30 75 gallon tanks, ALL for discus.

Then I saw the prices. 3 inch pidgeon blood, in better shape that I'd ever seen at Big Als or PJ's pets... 25 dollars. Turqoise, 3 inches... 25 dollars. Every variety i could think of, came in 2-3inch for 25-35 dollars, and 5-7 inches for 60-120 dollars.

PJ's pets wanted 120 dollars for a 5 inch stunted fish (huge eyes) with a pinched head! that they told me was "9 months" old.

Also, I found a local supplier of T5HO fixtures. When the next shipment comes from japan, they're calling me to pick up my new 4X48inch t5HO lights. I'll just run 2 bulbs to start.

So, whereas I thought i was going to spend 50-70 dollars per fish - I'm going to be paying 25-30 dollars a fish.

Where I thought I was going to be spending 250+Tax for a light, I'll be spending 150 cash.

AWESOME!!!! :-D

Edit - I'll be making these purchases in a months time. I'll post pictures in the next week of how my plants have been growing out.
 
I'm going to take pictures of the store next time i'm in there. (If he lets me - but I don't see why he wouldn't.

What I really like, is that each of his tanks are stand-alone. I think in SOME cases, he has 3 tanks in a system. He does water changes daily from what I can tell, and I didn't see a single sick fish. (let alone dead)

FIrst... Lights. Then Fish. I'm slowly going to ramp up water changes. My nitrates are always zero, but I know with 5 decent sized discus, the bio load will be increased and nitrates will build.

Right now I'm doing 20% a week, I'm going to go to 25% twice a week with the discus in there. They'll be fairly large 4 inches?) so I've been told by the store that that's more than fine. Espically because its a planted tank.

He warned me that the discus aren't sexed and even at 8.2, I might get 1 or two breeding pairs, and that if I got two pairs, the lone discus might get picked on. Is this accurate?
 
I would say yes it's possible you will have one that gets picked on. I had a pair that spawned unsuccessfully twice. I have one that gets messed with but nothing serious. Even though they are discus they still have the cichlid fight in them. My 5 are about 5 inches each . I just do half the tank weekly with lightly planted tank and it's fine . It's the small ones that require daily big pwcs.
 
I really want to warn you again about buying juvie discus. There is a reason the 6+" are $100+... There is a lot of time, dedication and specialized foods that go into growing a discus out.

Daily water changes, 40% or more :: your plants will hate you for this.
Multiple daily feedings with beef heart or BLACKworms (not bloodworms)
High protein flake foods like prime reef.

I really recommend buying ADULT discus from a reputable dealer like Discus Hans or michael beals or Kenny Cheung... People who compete in the discus quality competitions. You'll be surprised the prices aren't that much different from what you are talking about.

If your nitrates are at 0; are you sure your filter is working? My nitrates are not zero (except directly after a WC), and I do daily 70% water changes.
 
Thanks Justin.

There's no way I could afford 5 fully grown discus at once. I've "upped" my size I'll be looking at 4-5 inch discus at the store when I go - SHould that Help?

Remember, I don't want to breed or sell these fish, SO I won't be too worried about getting them to Maximum size

...But I definately don't want them to be uncomfortable! Afterall, its not their choice they're coming home with me, so I better provide them a good home!


Im sure the filter is working - Right now I have about 20 medium sized cardinals and a handful of Black Neon Tetra's - I feed twice a day what they'll eat in a few minutes. I've got a 304 Water Jet, and a Fulval 304 Filter - Both have been used for years without issue. I clean the filter media in the 304 in tank water every 2 months or so. I've never had any Bio Crashes/Spikes (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) and throughout my aquarium experience I've never had nitrates go over 10ppm(ish)

The exception is when I start rooting around and change things around, it stirs up the substrate, in which i've seen it go to 40-50ppm for a few hours. (its hard to gravel vac properly without killing plants)


I was worried about zero nitrates and plants Melting away, Went to the LFS to talk them - they told me it was because my plants are healthy and were doing their job. (is this correct?)

When I say "zero" nitrates, I Mean, they hover between 0-5ppm. Sometimes the tester isn't perfectly yellow, but its still more yellow than the lowest "reading" of 5ppm.

As well, these are generally his prices: (no sales)

3 inch head to tail sunflower pigeon $30.00 each
4 inch cobalts $50.00
4 inch blue diamond $50.00
Assorted large pigeons $50.00
Premium platinum snow whites $50 3.5-4"
Yellow crystal 4" beautiful quality a grade $60 each
Snake skin / leopard 4-5" $60.00

Does that seem good? He also has 2 inch cobalts and "maps" for 15 dollars. (sadface)
 
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>4-5" discus from a LFS
Discus with their full color patterns are full grown or pretty darn close.
So If they have the color patterns you like make sure you are happy with their size. They are probably wont grow much more. If you are happy with them as is, I say go ahead!
I'd stay away from pidgeon bloods although they have crazy colors; they also get peppering (black dots).

>Nitrates
Make sure you are shaking and timing the nitrate test as the instructions say.. It'll throw off the results if you don't.
Plants do eat nitrates, and you don't have a large load from the tetras.. So just watch it closely when the new discus join your tank. Keep it under 10, measure before not after a water change.
 
Is there a difference between full grown and full size? all of the 3-4 inch discus have their full color patterns - but there's 8 inch discus there too (albiet 120+ dollars Each)


Next question (which I'm also going to google)

Is there varieties of discus that are more resistant to peppering? I have a black background, and Eco complete (black substrate) and am worried. I have a decent amounts of plants (pics soon, I promise) And I'm looking at getting brighter lighting (4X54 watt, but only running 2 bulbs at a time, Vs my current 2X28watt T5.
 
sudz said:
Is there a difference between full grown and full size? all of the 3-4 inch discus have their full color patterns - but there's 8 inch discus there too (albiet 120+ dollars Each)

Next question (which I'm also going to google)

Is there varieties of discus that are more resistant to peppering? I have a black background, and Eco complete (black substrate) and am worried. I have a decent amounts of plants (pics soon, I promise) And I'm looking at getting brighter lighting (4X54 watt, but only running 2 bulbs at a time, Vs my current 2X28watt T5.

Full grown means they won't grow anymore.
Full size means they won't grow anymore and they are not stunted; they reached the size they would have achieved in nature.

Pigeon blood is what peppers; so avoid it and anything that was crossed with it.
 
Sad. I love the look of pidgeon bloods. I don't mind a bit of peppering.

What I'm having trouble determining is what is the cause of peppering? Stress? Black Backgrounds? Inevitable with some bloodlines?
 
Genetics. They will get more obvious peppering w/ black background.

The first one was very highly peppered; but had strange purples and other colors that weren't found at the time. The first breeder paid nearly $2k for it.


You can find pigeon bloods with no peppering... But not from a LFS.
 
Thanks Justin!

Everyone seems to have a different opinion/"facts" online - Never know what to believe. I'm looking at the discus at this place near me - He deals 90% with discus - about 30-40 tanks of just discus - And I didn't see any that had peppering - but his pidgeon blood discus were about 3 inches tall - Still to young to show peppering? They did have great color - Although are not hormone fed (apparently) He seems to really know his stuff and has a very solid reputation amungst local fish keepers.

I grabbed the following photos' off photobucket. I would be looking to vary the color.

2 of these:
img_1619924_0_2b96fde9e25c1013fd3413219ee9b258.jpg


2 Of these:
img_1619924_1_5919cf9577b017d26c9a3b2ac294c671.jpg


and Then maybe a blue diamond discus or Cobalt or whatever other name they might have :)

I'm thinking 5 will be my limit in a 75 gallon. Hopefully I might get a pair - And that will be my "fun" in the years to come - (and give me an excuse to get more tanks - ("But dear - I can sell the fish when they grow up... its practically going to pay for itself...")
 
That red pigeon looks a lot better than that turq. The Turq is wedge shape, his eyes are waay too large for his body, and seems to be very small yet have full colors... I'd stay away from that fish. Pretty sure he should be listed on "what not to buy".

"Discus are named after something round for a reason"
 
Agreed. I just scoured photobucket to find which colors I was going to look for - For asteics. I'll be asking the fish store to feed them while i'm there. I may do a drive by tomorrow night and take some pictures - to see if he has good stock and get your guys opinion.
 
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