Interested In getting discus but really need some info

[Hagermanfd]

I thought i was ready to purchase some discus for my 125 gallon tank but now i am really confused. I am reading that they need an advanced level of care. On live aquaria, i have the right temp in the tank at 78, ph of 7.0, but as of kh i never heard of that so can somebody clue me in... I have in the tank now, 1 male angel, rams, corys, platies, and tetras, so i am sure they will be compatible. If anybody has discus experience could you fill me in on what kind of care they will need compared to my other fish...Thanks

[Lupin]

What you need is doing plenty of water changes. Thrice a week of 40-50% will satisfy them and is much better than weekly. Increase the temperature to 84-86 degrees Fahrenheit only making sure your cories and tetras will tolerate it. What species are the cories and tetras?

Always buy the discus from your local breeders, not the pet stores. Their quality is far better with the breeders than the pet stores. Who knows where the pet stores obtain their stocks. If the water conditions of the discus initially are close to yours, you should have no problems acclimating them. They are quite hardy, contrary to beliefs, however, they must never be neglected in terms of water conditions and tank maintenance as they are still rather vulnerable to various diseases and prone to stress.

[cmartin]

www.simplydiscus.com (http://www.simplydiscus.com)

I did some investigation as well. This site has all the info you could ask for.

[Draal5]

for your first discus go with a larger adult 3.4" + not a young fish 2"and less as the adults are no as delicate as a young one. You water should be soft which is what KH tests are for.
with older discus they can adjust to your water conditions and are not as needy it over all care.

read theses threads :http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=46982

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=33300

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=28937

These will give you an idea as to what you are getting into with the King of The Aquarium

[pinkertd]

:iagree: Some good advice already given! Don't worry about changing ph or hardness of water. Keeping things stable and clean water is of utmost importance. My discus are kept 83-86, ph 7.6, conditioned municipal water and they are doing great. Have two spawning pairs in the show tank producing wrigglers.

[Star_Rider]

actually i find the young discus more able to adapt to shipping etc.

with young discus you need to feed freequently and remove the uneaten food. this si one reason for several water changes per week.

as they mature you won't need to change water as frequently I do 2 per week with 40% changes at each water change, mine are in a planted tank.
you will need to be leary of tank mates. many of the species don't fare as well in this warm water. the rams and angel should be ok but you need to be aware of mixing the angel with discus. if the angel is older it may out compete the discus and the discus may be shy when first introduced to you tank.

you shoult Qt your discus for at least 1 month before adding to the main tank.
I don;t believe discus are as frail as many would have you believe and with proper care they should be fine.
with pH7(neutral) the water you have should be fine.
kH is carbonate hardness. it is a measure used to determine how much carbonte hardness yourwater has. it is a tell tale sign of how stable the water will remain.

[Nolapete]

Smaller fish ship better, regardless of whether it's discus or not, and adapt better. To say older, larger fish adapt better and are less needy is wrong.

Also, they do NOT need to be kept at high temps unless you're breeding them and they do NOT need to be kept by themselves. Any peaceful community fish that doesn't nip fins other than algae eaters and possibly otos are good candidates for tank mates for discus.

[pinkertd]

Nolapete what temp do you keep your discus at?

[Hagermanfd]

good advice all around, i will look into getting some adults at first and see how that goes, about the water changes, they say 50% a day, but that seems like a lot to me, wouldn't that take out the beneficial bacteria, cloud my water and say stress the fish if i do this everyday? In my 55 galllon i do water changes prob. 20-30% every sunday and all my fish are just fine, parameters are great, and such but it just seems like discus are a bit more work if i am not mistaken, correct?

[Star_Rider]

good advice all around, i will look into getting some adults at first and see how that goes, about the water changes, they say 50% a day, but that seems like a lot to me, wouldn't that take out the beneficial bacteria, cloud my water and say stress the fish if i do this everyday? In my 55 galllon i do water changes prob. 20-30% every sunday and all my fish are just fine, parameters are great, and such but it just seems like discus are a bit more work if i am not mistaken, correct?

large water changes will have little effect on the benficial bacteria..most of those reside on objects and in the filter .yes discus tend to be a bit more work..they thrive in clean water..if you get adults they can get by on smaller water changes but you need to do more than 1 per week.
how many depends partly on bioload of the tank.

I have 7 with an angel and a couple rams in a 75..this tank gets 2 40% changes per week. the discus will get use to it..and any stress from the water change far out weighs stress due to poor water.

[pinkertd]

Hagermanfd - When you see someone recommending changing 50% water a day for discus, more than likely it is because they are feeding raw beefheart mix. Leftover beefheart mix is highly recommended as a key food for growing young discus out. But leftover beefheart will foul your water in a blink! Think about it, not flakes, but rotting beef in 86 degree water. And discus breeders do this a couple of times a day. That is also why they recommend barebottom while you are growing them out. The staple for my discus is frozen bloodworms. My discus weren't nuts about beefheart, so I stopped feeding it. I do two 50-60% water changes a week on my planted 72G. I have a measure of about 7 nitrates coming out of the tap, higher in the summer when fertilizers are running off. I'm changing the water more to lower the nitrates after a couple of days, there's never any leftover food in the tank! Discus are very sensitive to nitrate levels. And it is true, you need to feed juvenile discus 4 to 6 times a day. Adults 1-2X. If you overfeed during those 4-6 feedings, your tank water quality is going to go down real fast.

[Nolapete]

Nolapete what temp do you keep your discus at?

When I had them last, I kept them at 78. They were in a community tank. The last ones I had were a rescue from a pet shop. The discus were emaciated and lethargic and barely eating. I took the lot home and put them in a tank with some other peaceful community fish and fed them a variety of live, frozen, and aquarian flakes. They fattened up very quickly and became the gluttons of the tank. They would be on the food faster than any other fish in the tank. When I brought them back to my friend at the shop, she couldn't believe they were the same fish.

I've always found that discus are more active feeders when they have competition. This is contrary to popular belief and most people aren't willing to try it because of how expensive discus are. Granted, you can't put them in tanks with aggressive fish or fin-nippers, but that's no different than what you would do with angels.

I do agree that if you're feeding beefheart, bare-bottom is the best idea for the reasons you stated. I don't feed beefheart.

I also agree that if you are breeding them that they need to be at higher temps. You can also use higher temps if you're in a hurry to grow them out as it increases their metabolism. I'm in no hurry to grow mine out.

As soon as my fish room is done, I plan on getting a group of 10 half dollar size red turquoise and using them as an example of successfully keeping discus in a community tank at normal temps. I will be fully documenting their progress over the course of a year.

I'm not in any way disputing anyone's success at keeping them at higher temps. I'm disputing the MUST on that particular parameter, as well as the statement that they won't grow as large in a tank that doesn't have a bare-bottom. Given the same maintenance regime, that's a complete farce.

[pinkertd]

That will be an interesting experiment for sure! I was always under the impression from way back when that tank size would limit a fish's growth potential. That it was best with big fish to keep them in big tanks. So maybe 4 discus wouldn't grow out as big in a 40G as they would in a 100G.

[Nolapete]

I'm going to post my response on it's own thread since I don't want to hijack this thread with that off topic discussion.