37 Gallon Discus Tank Thread with Pics

[j-gens]

well i personally would grow discus out in a different way than you are... by the looks of it you were sold 2" discus one being a striated discus most likely red turq and a solid bodied discus most likely bluw diamond... did they look like this when you bought them?

to me they look emaciated and DARK
a healthy discus should show it with their bright colors and clear bright red or gold eyes also they wont be skittish and or hide a lot

in my opinion and experience they do do better in groups of 5 at least...

adult discus require a minimum of 10 gal per fish

planted tanks are not really "optimal" for growing discus up in good health...
it can be done though i have done it and gotten very nice discus out of it

discus grow the best when they are given very clean water and lots of food that is high in protein. so the best way to accomplish that is with lots of waterchanges and minimalize the amount of decor or things in the tank. that is why everyone seems to grow them out in a barebottom tank it is much easier to keep clean

i would say that your tank size is ok for juvies that need to be grown out but once they reach about 4" you should re home the fish to a bigger tank.

also gouramis can be fin nippers and may be chasing the discus around causing a lot of stress i would also look into whether or not the catfish that you have are good tankmates for discus i have never tried it so i do not know

also what are you doing to get your hardness down and also your ph?

domesticated discus shouldnt need to have acidic water to be in good health...
consistancy is much more important
also it is said that juvies do better in a harder water as their growing bodies can use the minerals??? but im not positive on that

 

[Chrisinator]

It's been said that you tank is overstocked with those 2 discus and your angelfish. A 55G would suit your discus better and would bring out the colors. You can even increase your amount of Discus in a 55 and your Angelfish. You can also add more types of fish.

 

[FairfaxDiscus]

Temp is 85 F, and pH is 6.2, more info in my signature, and this is up to date as of this morning before water change.
I have had them since Oct 25, 2009.
They are still eating agressively (I fed and observed them twice today). I think I will up their feedings to twice a day this week and see what that does to the look of the fish and water parameters.

I will add some closer-up pics.

 

[FairfaxDiscus]

I agree they are emaciated and dark, and will work on that, I didn't realize they were that bad until I saw all of your feedback. I will increase feeding frequency to 3 a day and do a 40% water change next Sat. I'm not going to change inhabitants or tank size for now.

j-Gens, thanks for the suggestions.

My gouramis aren't too aggressive but I'm watching them.
I realize I'm not "growing out" my discus like many do, but making them huge isn't my goal, I'm just trying to make them live and be healthy.

They look now mostly the same way they did when I bought them, maybe a little thinner. Yes, they are 2" striated turq and blue diamond.

I'm using discus buffer from seachem to lower pH and Hardness. I put in 15ml per week with water change.

Headed to LFS now to pick up more food.

Anyone recommend for or against the "black water" products for simulating amazon river conditions?

 

[Cerianthus]

DO NOT lower the pH of tank water now by adding those buffers directly to tank.
It seems good as is.

What is pH/GH of your tap?

If any is needed (tap is high pH/ hard water), would add/dissolve to new water before using after pwc.

Any additives/chemicals may have caused such haziness as I experienced on numerous occassions when improperly dosed or administered.

SOmetimes it may require more than a month for Discus to adjust and settle in new setting, especially after long trip.

Most Discus which are avail (mostly captive bred) DOES NOT REQUIRE VERY ACIDIC WATER.
DO NOT add BUFFERS unnecessarily.

 

[j-gens]

^i agree you probably do not need to do anything to your water to change the buffering capacity or the ph if you are on a municipal water supply...

if you are on a well you may need to mess with things...
wild caught discus on the otherhand DO need to have their waters hardness and ph set at a certain point depending on their native waters

just slowly change it back to normal tap water and just give them some time to settle down...

if you got the discus from the store like that maybe worming them may be a good idea

and i also recommend against the blackwater extract

 

[j-gens]

also you most likely need more waterchanges...
maybe at least 2 times a week

everybodys formula for this differs but i would say at the bare minimum do a 50% wc a week and just use dechlorinated tap if you can... be careful if you are going to change back to this as the fast swings in water params are what hit these fish hard...

learn about KH and GH and the dynamic they play with your ph...

kh and gh are far more important the actual ph of your water

 

[pinkertd]

Some good advice has been given here. Glad to see you'll be increasing water changes and frequency of feedings. They are baby fish and as such require frequent feedings to grow well and be healthy. And fish kept in higher water temps have faster metabolisms, so they'll burn anything they eat very quickly. A nutritious, easy to feed food that the discus will hunt down every last morsel they can find is frozen bloodworms. When the young discus have finished a meal, you should see a nice fat belly on them!

 

[FairfaxDiscus]

Thanks for the advice, I've read a lot of this before, but it's nice to get custom advice for my tank.

I have several steps I will try:

Feeding
3 times a day - before work, after work, before bed.
I bought 2 new frozen foods tonight that have higher protein percentages than any of my previous foods, that should help too. Currently having a hard time getting them to get the fat belly look, but will keep working on it.

Water changes
once weekly 25% water change will change to once weekly 40% water change - will monitor water quality just before change to see if this should occur more often. I know you all already think should happen more often, but if nitrates are low, I think you're making changes for nothing (I aleady know I'm in the minority on this opinion, so don't waste your time telling me I'm wrong, I'll find it out myself if you're right). I didn't buy the blackwater extract.

Stocking
Upon more careful inspection the gouramis are somewhat aggressive from time to time, although the Discus get after them too. I will try to get the male Flame Gouramis back to the LFS and out of my aquarium.

Substrate
Ok, so I'm willing to try taking out the gravel. I might not take it all out at once, but I'll make it a two step process.

Water
I understand and appreciate what you all are telling me about the water used for water changes. I shouldn't use additives and only dechlorinate and heat during water changes. Consistency is more important than replicating natural conditions; within reason. My tap water conditions are:
pH: 7.5 | Total Alkalinity: 180 ppm | Total Hardness: 120 ppm | Nitrite: 0 | Nitrate: 5

Future
I really like the extra high 110, it would fit well in the same spot as the current one, that aught to be big enough that I can have 5-7 discus without the too small and overcrowded sirens going off.

Pictures
I promised close up pictures and they are below, be gentle, I'm posting with the intent that these are the before and the after will be much better. Honestly, they are a little more colorful in life, my camera is picking up 0 color, but they are thin and dark and the goal is to correct that.

j-gens
I took a look at your gallery pictures, very impressive tank and discus, happy to take your advice.

 

[j-gens]

thanks for the comments on the fish!

one thing you should know is that when you do waterchanges you are removing stuff other than what you are testing for... like DOC (dissolved organic compounds) will build up in the tank if you do not change the water enough(possible reason that discus might stunt) and any leftover foods can foul the water quickly so thats why you see people that do daily waterchanges...

this is one of my discus i grew out from 2" this particular one was grown in a bb 40 gal tank along with 9 others like him he is now in a breeding tank with his mate this is a red turquoise one of the better fish i ended up with out of the group this fish is 11.5 months old
these fish had 70% w/c every other day using only dechlorinated tap matched to the right temp.

if you do take the gravel out it would suggest something on the bottom of the tank at least so it is not clear... my discus were freaked out by having a clear bottom to their tank
maybe contact paper on the underside? lighter colors are thought to make discus also be brighter and reduce peppering in pigeon blood discus

this fish was fed a mix of prime reef and the foods below
bloodworms are good for the fish (although i was told only to use hikari as it goes through a good sterilization)
the food i make for my discus now is a beefheart seafood mix and i wont go back from it... its cheaper than buying all of the bloodworms and feeding shrimps and its better for them imo
i only use a 20% bh ratio to seafoods my fish SLAM it

also like pinkert said the higher temp will stimulate their metabolisms so they will eat more and get bigger

this is what they looked like as babies for your reference first day i got them they were a little stressed hence the clamped fins and stress bars...