peat in a filter bag for discus

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ladyblues1965

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May 15, 2008
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Helena Arkansas
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Kelley Taylor
I am wanting to try my hand at discus. I want to do a natural planted tank (heavily) and want to know if using peat in a filter bag would help with acidifying water.? . the ph runs at 7.2 have no Idea the gh and kh I have to get test kits for those. I only have a master frest test kit .at this time but they will be my next purchase. any help please . I have never really messed with fish that were so sesitive to water chemistry. please bear with me Im bran new to discus . and I have read the sticky geting started with discus. I have just read other people using peat .
 

RazzleFish

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Oct 28, 2009
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Unless you are trying to breed or bringing in wild fish there really isn't a problem with your pH. Yes peat will help, so will driftwood, alder cones or indian almond leaves. If you want to go all out you can prefilter your water through some peat. I have a friend that pours his water through a peat filled strainer twice before adding it to his tank of wild angels. Peat and all of the options I mentioned before will make the water slightly tea colored so if that is an issue for you, you can get an RO unit or buy distilled water for water changes.

HTH
 

ladyblues1965

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May 15, 2008
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Helena Arkansas
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Kelley Taylor
well I read RO isnt necessary and it takes out some beificial elements . so I am a little confused. I just want a healthy discus tank. I would love to get into breeding them eventually but there is so much I need to learn first. I really dont care for the wild varieties I have seen I think I want the more colorful bred fish. the tea color doesnt bother me at all. I have a sixty gallon I want to put them in at home . I have a RO unit however I have no idea how to hook it up. it has four canisters and lots of hoses LOL . I am totally new to this filter.
what about a diatom filer for keeping water clean? I know I have alot of stupid questions but I am so afraid I am going to make mistakes and kill my fish(when I get them ) .
 

wesleydnunder

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Dec 11, 2005
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Kelley if you're going to keep domestic discus strains, which I would highly suggest over wilds for a discus beginner, I wouldn't worry about trying to acidify the water with peat. Monkeying with water chemistry is a slippery slope and generally leads to a lot more work and frustration than you need. I kept discus for decades in straight tapwater with no additives and they did beautifully.

Mark
 

NB_Aquatics

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Jan 17, 2011
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Nick
I agree with wesley. You start messing with your water it can be risky, it can lead to dramatic changes in the water if your not careful, which is rough on discus. I kept discus in tap water and had decent luck raising them untill i moved and had to let them go.
 

discuspaul

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Jun 22, 2010
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Kelley if you're going to keep domestic discus strains, which I would highly suggest over wilds for a discus beginner, I wouldn't worry about trying to acidify the water with peat. Monkeying with water chemistry is a slippery slope and generally leads to a lot more work and frustration than you need. I kept discus for decades in straight tapwater with no additives and they did beautifully.



Agree with Mark 100%.
Since you're just starting out with discus, keeping things as simple as possible is a prime first step to success. Pls. don't overcomplicate things for yourself, and in order to get off on the right footing, no matter what size of fish you begin with, I would suggest you re-consider your plan to go heavily planted. If you must have it planted, then think about limiting yourself to the minimums, i.e. very little substrate, just a few plants, and perhaps a piece of DW.
Do things slowly, a small step at a time, until you get some months of discus experience under your belt and feel comfortable venturing further afield. That's my best advice - along with ensuring you get the best quality, healthiest discus you can to start with - that can be 50% of the challenge beaten.
 

Bushkill

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Dec 1, 2011
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Angelo
Agree with Mark 100%.
Since you're just starting out with discus, keeping things as simple as possible is a prime first step to success. Pls. don't overcomplicate things for yourself, and in order to get off on the right footing, no matter what size of fish you begin with, I would suggest you re-consider your plan to go heavily planted. If you must have it planted, then think about limiting yourself to the minimums, i.e. very little substrate, just a few plants, and perhaps a piece of DW.
Do things slowly, a small step at a time, until you get some months of discus experience under your belt and feel comfortable venturing further afield. That's my best advice - along with ensuring you get the best quality, healthiest discus you can to start with - that can be 50% of the challenge beaten.[/QUOTE]

Just wondering why the recommendation to not go heavily planted? Is "heavily" the cautionary word here? Just wondering for myself since I was planning on going barebottom with just a potted plant or two in the not too distant future.
 

wesleydnunder

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Dec 11, 2005
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Mark
Just wondering why the recommendation to not go heavily planted? Is "heavily" the cautionary word here? Just wondering for myself since I was planning on going barebottom with just a potted plant or two in the not too distant future.
Heavily planted tanks typically need additional fertilizing, deeper substrate and sometimes co2. This will complicate a discus tank for the new discus keeper. Not only does she have to keep the temp warm and steady, the tank clean and the discus well-fed, now she has to keep up with the gardening aspects of a heavily-planted tank...and yes, for me "heavily" is the operative word. Heavily planted tanks are by definition harder to keep clean then a bare bottom or thin sand-bottom tank. I'd agree that a couple potted plants and some driftwood will look good without being a burden. DW and potted plants are easy to move for vaccuuming. I would definitely NOT recommend a co2-injected tank for a new discus keeper.

Mark
 

discuspaul

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Jun 22, 2010
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Heavily planted tanks typically need additional fertilizing, deeper substrate and sometimes co2. This will complicate a discus tank for the new discus keeper. Not only does she have to keep the temp warm and steady, the tank clean and the discus well-fed, now she has to keep up with the gardening aspects of a heavily-planted tank...and yes, for me "heavily" is the operative word. Heavily planted tanks are by definition harder to keep clean then a bare bottom or thin sand-bottom tank. I'd agree that a couple potted plants and some driftwood will look good without being a burden. DW and potted plants are easy to move for vaccuuming. I would definitely NOT recommend a co2-injected tank for a new discus keeper.

Mark
+ 1
 
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