I've run around my 2 favourite
lfs's armed with a printout of this topic.
The 1st question I asked of them was how often they cleaned & water changed their discus tanks.
Both said once weekly with 20% to 25% water change.
I referred them both to my printout referring to discus. They were both horrified that further maintenance should be made.
The tanks for the
lfs's are:
one very heavily planted with 4 discus (smallish medium), rocks, driftwood, glass catfish, butterfly catfish, & a strange long skinny thing with catfish tendencies.
This tank is exactly the same size as mine (112g) & mimics all dimensions.
the other
lfs's tank contained around 8-10 larger discus, a huge driftwood the entire length of the tank, with a huge school of gourami - sorry ... I can't remember what they were simply because they didn't do too much for me.. No plants at all.
Both tanks are pristine & well established.
I have my fish list.
I have 2 actually - one discus based & one angel based.
Both are fantastic.
But please don't groan.....
I have another question & after 4 months of planning, I thought about this but buried my head under the gravel ...
I live in a hurricane zone.
My previous hurricane plans simply made provision for a heap of water & polystyrene protection for the tank.
This last week I had problems with my little tank - so I lost my hood complete with filter & light. My plants & fish were OK without light, but without the filter my fish were stuffed. I feel that my wee 5g tank suffered more than my new 112g tank will, but nevertheless, I have potential to lose all water 1-2 days before the hurricane arrives, and all electricity around about the same time. I cannot hope to electricity restored for a minimum of 4-5 days.
As far as stocking my tank is concerned, my
lfs have been quite surprising. They have spoken about the cost of the stock.
All I have said to them is .... I've just spent around $1,000 on my tank, cabinet, hood & filter .... I'm not going to cut corners on my stock.
But
I do have a wee problem about stocking with discus at high dollars, only to lose them when we lose electricity.
How do you think my fish will cope with power outages.
Which will cope better - discus or angels.
I will store enough water to manage daily 30% water changes for 4 days, but I won't have filtration or water movement. About the best I will be able to do is "shoo" them down the end of the tank & beat merrily with an old egg beater. Cripes
I'll have to go & buy one. I haven't owned one for 16 years
I cannot bear to lose my fish through lack of oxygen. I do NOT care about the value of the fish, I just would prefer to know which has the greater chance of survival.
I'm not sure that any of you can help me with this.
I'm obviously going to have to run around my local
lfs's to ask what they do.
I'll need heaps of ice for a start. But I think there will only be one favourite
lfs who will have run into this problem. I'll also visit a chap who is fish freak & works at a local horticultural store.