Discus Q

[Star_Rider]

actually you should get the right size heater for your tank.
an over sized heater will 'short cycle' this can wear out the thermocouple /thermostat sooner than the design..

 

[bs6749]

actually you should get the right size heater for your tank.
an over sized heater will 'short cycle' this can wear out the thermocouple /thermostat sooner than the design..

Good thing those old style Jagers are bulletproof and that's why everyone loves 'em.

 

[Star_Rider]

Good thing those old style Jagers are bulletproof and that's why everyone loves 'em.

they are good heaters but still prone to similar issues as other heaters.
the bottom line depends on the design of the thermocouple/thermostat.
these can and do wear out.
short cycling of this portion can cause premature failure.

the choice is up to the user.

I just want to give info so the user gather proper information to make an informed choice..

 

[ksane]

Good lord, you don't have to feed every 2 hours. In my opinion that's another one of the "Discus myths". They're fish, they're Cichlids, unless wild-caught they're pretty tough little guys. It's not rocket science to take care of them, it's truly easy. Feed as often as you can and test your water to keep nitrates under 10 ppm-just like any other fish should be cared for. People always want to make it sound like Discus are 'soooo hard' to take care of and they're NOT. It scares too many people. It stems from way back when there were only wild-caught Discus and those were more sensitive. But tank bred Discus are relatively easy.

Juvies should be fed at least 6 times a day for proper grow out, i.e., good shape and size. If someone doesn't care that they have 3 inch Discus with big eyes and oval shapes when they're a year old, then of course treat them as any other fish. They do require more maintenance than many other fish, regardless of the fact that they are Cichlids, they are certainly not as tough as Malawis or Africans or Oscars, etc. They are not hard to keep, not really, as long as you are willing to put in the extra time for maintenance that they require. The extra maintenance is what makes them hard to keep for some people. I started with Wild Caught Greens and didn't find them any harder to keep than tank raised.

This is false, they do NOT need fed 6 times a day, although I'm not in the mood to argue. My Discus are not shaped strange. And they're not hard to keep unless you make it that way for yourself. You scare people away from these fish by posting things like that & making it sound like they're 'too hard' except for an elite few. That's false. You've got your way and others (& me) have their way. My Discus and your Discus all turned out fine.
There's more than 1 way to take care of fish. It's not "your way or the highway" when it comes to Discus. I don't care how many lemmings agree with you.

 

[poconogal]

This is false, they do NOT need fed 6 times a day, although I'm not in the mood to argue. My Discus are not shaped strange. And they're not hard to keep unless you make it that way for yourself. You scare people away from these fish by posting things like that & making it sound like they're 'too hard' except for an elite few. That's false. You've got your way and others (& me) have their way. My Discus and your Discus all turned out fine.
There's more than 1 way to take care of fish. It's not "your way or the highway" when it comes to Discus. I don't care how many lemmings agree with you.

How big are they - SL? How old are they? Did you raise them up from little 2.5 inch juvies? How long have you kept Discus? Why don't you post some pics? Let's check out their eye size. Why do you only have Oscars in your photo album? I guess all the breeders and everyone who has grown out juvies with all those feedings are wrong. Guess my first Discus juvies should've grown much bigger and better on the 2-3 feedings a day I gave them, since I didn't know any better. I certainly didn't say they were hard to raise. What's next, you going to say they only need one WC a month? I said they needed certain care, and extra maintenance, but given that they are not really hard to keep if someone is willing to do the extra maintenance. I think you should trot on over to Simply Discus and post your findings. I'm sure you can start a good row over there, LOL!!! Now this lemmings gotta fly, bye.

 

[ksane]

How big are they - SL? How old are they? Did you raise them up from little 2.5 inch juvies? How long have you kept Discus? Why don't you post some pics? Let's check out their eye size. Why do you only have Oscars in your photo album? I guess all the breeders and everyone who has grown out juvies with all those feedings are wrong. Guess my first Discus juvies should've grown much bigger and better on the 2-3 feedings a day I gave them, since I didn't know any better. I certainly didn't say they were hard to raise. What's next, you going to say they only need one WC a month? I said they needed certain care, and extra maintenance, but given that they are not really hard to keep if someone is willing to do the extra maintenance. I think you should trot on over to Simply Discus and post your findings. I'm sure you can start a good row over there, LOL!!! Now this lemmings gotta fly, bye.

Calm down, it's all good. Someone said they 'have' to be fed every 2 hrs (that's 12 times s a day for God's sake)-now you're saying 2-3 feedings a day? I was responding to the person that said they had to be fed every 2 hrs. I always feed ALL my fish 2-3 times a day. Once a month water changes???? I do twice a week on my Oscar tanks and weekly on the Discus who never get above 7 ppm nitrates. Why do you assume I don't go above and beyond for my fish? ALL my fish, not only Discus. I treat ALL my fish like you treat only your Discus. Why are there just Oscars in my Album? Because I just started adding pictures and Oscars are my favorite :nilly: Not that it's any of your business.

 

[bs6749]

Sounds like you have some lovely discus! I would love to see some pictures of them ksane as discus are my favorites!!!

 

[poconogal]

Calm down, it's all good. Someone said they 'have' to be fed every 2 hrs (that's 12 times s a day for God's sake)-now you're saying 2-3 feedings a day? I was responding to the person that said they had to be fed every 2 hrs. I always feed ALL my fish 2-3 times a day. Once a month water changes???? I do twice a week on my Oscar tanks and weekly on the Discus who never get above 7 ppm nitrates. Why do you assume I don't go above and beyond for my fish? ALL my fish, not only Discus. I treat ALL my fish like you treat only your Discus. Why are there just Oscars in my Album? Because I just started adding pictures and Oscars are my favorite :nilly: Not that it's any of your business.

I did not see anyone say they needed to be fed every 2 hours. But, I said they should be fed 6 times a day for PROPER GROWOUT.

I never said you did monthly WCs, I ASKED if that's what you were going to say next. I never assumed that's what you do for your fish.

In fact, I never assumed about anything you do with your fish. I was posting what is known to be good practices to raising Discus and personally I don't care what you do with your fish. My concern was that people, and especially the OP, gets good, ACCURATE info on raising his Discus.

I also never advised that they should be fed 2-3 times a day. What I said was that when I first started with Discus, with my first juvies, I didn't know any better and fed them 2-3 times a day. They did not grow well, they became stunted. They were NOT fed enough each day during their major growing period. But that was when I was a newbie, 16 years ago. Anyone who is experienced at raising Discus juvies has found and knows they need more than 2-3 feedings a day to grow to their full potential, and not become stunted.

I think you should stop putting words in my mouth and twisting my words, and actually go and re-read what I posted. If you have something to say, be accurate about what you say or don't say anything at all.

Now, I'm going to tell the admin or a mod to delete my account for the same reason I didn't bother coming back here in 2006.

Good luck to any Discus newbie following your advice. They will need it.

 

[Rbishop]

I think we have answered the OPs questions..thanks to all of you for your input....