Discus Q

[poconogal]

Okay, well tommorow after snagging a good deal on Craigs list I'm picking up a 40B, and a 20g, for 60$. I've decided to use one of my Eheim 2217's that I have sitting around and I'm building a stand this weekend. Due to school, there is no way i can manually feed every few hours. So has anyone used the automatic feeder made by Eheim, or know of any others that are reliable? I'm going to use the 20g mounted under the 40B for daily 50% water changes.

The 40g breeder tank is 36" x 18" x 13"

I've used the Eheim 3581 feeder for several years. Totally reliable. I've tried others and in the trash they went. I just bought another Eheim feeder off Ebay - its called the Daily Turtle Feeder! Its was a buy it now, only $19.95 plus $3 shipping. It is exactly the same as the Eheim Daily Fish Feeder, for a lot less money. There is no difference whatsoever. Not one iota! The model number is 3581091 if you want to do a google search for it. I'd give you the link, but that seller has none left.

When you have your fish, make sure to test your nitrates regularly and keep them no higher than 20 ppm. 5 or 10 ppm would be better. If your nitrates start climbing, you'll have to up your WC amount or frequency. Some who raise juvies do 2 WCs daily. But as another poster said, they are not really hard to keep, its more about their water quality, so as long as you keep their water properly and give them good chow, you should be fine.

 

[Star_Rider]

Lucifer Sam.
most here would not recommend an auto feeder. but if you are checking daily you will have time to correct any possible issues created by auto feeders.

I believe the Eheim corrects some problems seen in auto feeders using air to help keep the food dry.

 

[poconogal]

What makes the 55 gallon a good platform for discus? Becaue if I have to I can buy one in my area for about 50 dollars.

Its good because of the recommended minimum number of discus to keep, 5, and it corresponds well to the 10 gal. per adult Discus recommendation. So for a 55, you can have 5-6 Discus. And believe me, once you start with Discus, you will be hooked, LOL! You will want more Discus, more colors, so the bigger the tank you have, the better. The only thing that keeps me in check now is that I downsized to only one tank due to time constraints, and its a 75 with 8-1/2 Discus. (my 1/2 Discus is stunted due to illness very early on). But I am thinking of upgrading to a 125... you see, there are more Discus that I want...

 

[poconogal]

Lucifer Sam.
most here would not recommend an auto feeder. but if you are checking daily you will have time to correct any possible issues created by auto feeders.

I believe the Eheim corrects some problems seen in auto feeders using air to help keep the food dry.

The only feeder I'd use is the Eheim, and the single food feeder at that. People have tried their more expensive double food feeder and were very disappointed in it. Lots of people who are growing out juvies have to rely on a feeder, and from polls I've seen, most of them use the Eheims.

You are correct, the food always stays nice and dry and fresh because the feeder has a built in fan that comes on when the drum spins to dispense food.

 

[poconogal]

I don't think it is necessary to age your water. I never have and my discus are doing fine. Just add dechlorinator if you need to and you should be fine.

I don't think that tank is great for growing out discus but it will work for some time. A 55g is the minimum that you should be looking at to grow out the juvies. Ideally you'd get 6-8 discus and grow them out in a 75g tank and keep them there for life (just my opinion).

I don't have any experience with Eheim auto feeders but from what I hear according to numerous people is that they are THE BEST out there. If I were to get an auto feeder it would DEFINITELY be an Eheim.

Can you post your water parameters from the tap - PH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

Also, re PH, test PH, fill a bucket with your tap water, add an airstone and then retest 24 hrs. later. This will tell you if your tap PH remains stable, if it degasses lots of CO2 and rises up, etc.

From all of your test results, it may come out that you do not have to age your water, like Bryan said. I've always used mine straight from the tap, too, taking care to make sure there are none to almost no bubbles when refilling. My Discus are happy and I've had several spawning pairs and wrigglers.

 

[bs6749]

Can you post your water parameters from the tap - PH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

Also, re PH, test PH, fill a bucket with your tap water, add an airstone and then retest 24 hrs. later. This will tell you if your tap PH remains stable, if it degasses lots of CO2 and rises up, etc.

From all of your test results, it may come out that you do not have to age your water, like Bryan said. I've always used mine straight from the tap, too, taking care to make sure there are none to almost no bubbles when refilling. My Discus are happy and I've had several spawning pairs and wrigglers.

Currently I'm on well water, so there are no chlorines/chloramines in the supply. Also, the water is hard and I have a high KH with a high pH so it is really stable.

In my 55g growout tank:

Temp: 86
pH: 7.8-8.0
KH:300+ ppm (strip tes kit used)
GH: 300+ ppm (strip test kit used)

Ammonia and nitrite are always 0 ppm. Nitrate is always under 5 ppm (live plants in pots in barebottom tank and also some algae lol)

Also want to point out that there is a lot of iron in the current water I'm using. The water doesn't taste good when you drink it.

I was on the same water a year ago but I was in an aparment in town so there were chlorines/chloramines in the water and all I did was dose the tank with Prime before adding the new water. Never have aged my water when doing water changes.

My discus spawn in this stuff and I've gotten wigglers but only in a community tank. Never had the pair in their own tank with wigglers. Had them in once but they laid on he heater and were ruined. Also had a female lay eggs for the first time last night that I got from Mike Beals. The male was ready last week but when the female laid them last night he was eating the eggs as fast as they came out. I think it's because I was doing a water change maybe 5 minutes after the female made the first pass. I say 17 eggs all in a line and he wasn't eating them. After the water change he started eating them as they were laid.

 

[LuciferSam]

I'm on naturally soft well water with a pretty low Ph, trust me If it were my choice, I would have more 135g tanks lol. I guess a 55g would be easy to get, but it would require alot more work to fit in my house. But since I don't intend on keeping all of the first discus I get a 40g works better for me, since I'm only going to keep more than 2 discus until two pair off.

Well I just called the guy I got the 40g from and he said that he would sell the 55 for $55, so now I have a 55g.

 

[bs6749]

Definitely go with the 55g. By the time they start to pair they will be too large and should be moved out of the 40B. If you don't move them you will end up with stunted pairs/discus. A 55g is 4 feet long by 13" deep so that's not much different than your 40B that you had in mind. That extra foot will matter though.

 

[LuciferSam]

also there seems to be reports of the quality of Jager heaters going quickly down hill, does anyone have experiance with them? I have a few of them and their built like tanks, but they are all bout 3-4 years old.

 

[poconogal]

Can you post your water parameters from the tap - PH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

Also, re PH, test PH, fill a bucket with your tap water, add an airstone and then retest 24 hrs. later. This will tell you if your tap PH remains stable, if it degasses lots of CO2 and rises up, etc.

From all of your test results, it may come out that you do not have to age your water, like Bryan said. I've always used mine straight from the tap, too, taking care to make sure there are none to almost no bubbles when refilling. My Discus are happy and I've had several spawning pairs and wrigglers.

Bryan, oooops, LOL! I actually meant this for LuciferSam, LOL!!!

I'm on well water also, PH 7.8 (sometimes a bit lower, depending on the season), but dkh 4, dgh usually 5 but sometimes up to 7, again depending on the season. No nitrites or nitrates. Last time TDS was tested it was around 110/115.