Discus in my future?

R

RCR

AC Members
Aug 27, 2004
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I've been reading a lot about discus and I'm not sure whether its in my future to have them. Here's what I know and think I know:

I'd like to have 6-7 discuss in show tank of 70 gals
Our water is well water, treated by a household water softener (not RO)
Its very alkaline (not good for discus I know) and very hard without the softener
I'm not interested in getting into RO systems at present

One breeder I talked to said I could:
Mix softened water and well water to get water that could then be made more acidic with a commercial PH down. Without the mixture he said I would not be able to maintain the ph, I would get the "bounce"

He also said about 10-15 gal water change per week is probably adequate.

I'm interested in hearing response to his recommendations and alternative suggestions to making discus work without an elaborate RO system. (He said he doesn't use RO).
Thanks RCR
 
I should add that my KH, whether water is softened or not, is very high around 16. Also, I would like to have live plants. So, I need the one perfect answer. Just kidding. Mostly.
 
If you want planted, discus tank, then either grow discus out in a bare bottom tank and then move to planted or purchase adults or near to adults.

As far as pH, don't mess with it. IMPORTANT thing is stable pH not how low it is. Don't use any additives as in the end you will have problems with them. When you get into breeding, then the pH will have to be lowered (r/o mix, peat, etc). If you're looking for a planted tank, most likely you will get into co2 injection and at that point you can control pH with a controller.

I would visit one of the discus sites and read up a bit on them.

To add, once they're ready to go into the planted tank, good filtration is essential and about 50% w/c once a week. Your tank is not that big so you might get away with one filter, but two on opposite sides would be great. I have two in my 120g.

falcon
 
what is your Ph? Discus can be aclimated to just about any PH. It just needs to be a constant ph. I think your water changes will have to be more than that....I agree with the 50% /week if not maybe twice a week. sorry just to repeat I was typing as falcon answered
 
From what I have heard, never use a store bought "pH changer"... They cause problems and don't work..
 
I keep Discus in a planted tank, and do my weekly water changes with plain old tapwater. Yes- the pH is a tad high (in the 7.8 range) but they adjusted well and are doing fine. If I messed with the pH (and I already own a RO unit for my reef tank) by mixing water, the changing would not be nearly so easy and sooner or later it would get to be a hassle. And if it was a hassle, then I would skip a week... and so on and so on. Sooner or later I would allow the water quality to degrade.

I'm not sure what effect the hardness would have, nor am I totally versed on the problems of using softened water, although I know there are a few.
Is the water softener using sodium or potassium, or is it another type?
I may be wrong but I believe one is preferable to the other.
We need RTR or JSchmidt or someone really knowledgeable with regard to water chemistry...

Can you access the water before it is softened?
 
Yeah, you wouldn't really need to mess with your pH. I was worried about it before i got my discus since they were in a pH of around 6.5 and my tank was 7.4. I just laid the bag in there for a few hours and let them go. It looked like they didnt even mind the pH change at all. I do a water changes with aged water, so its all good. I might use some RO water the next time I change my water. O yeah, when you get your discus raise your temp to at least 85º, cuz my I took a risk by buying a heater a few weeks and one of my turqs died. Maybe I might buy a breeding pair this year since i feel like having more discus.
 
Lots of useful information, thanks. I won't sweat the Ph. I am curious about why I would need to grow young discus out in a bare bottom tank or get adults.

I had planned to use a CO2 system, does that lower Ph significantly? I assumed that I would get the plants in, stablize the system before adding the discus. Recommendations for a modest but effective C02 system?

Thanks again.
 
Chances are your pH is fine. Harder water is prefered by younger discus anyway, I believe it aids in growth. Harder water only really causes problems when the male tries to fertilize the eggs. Just take a while to acclimate them. Over about 2 hours, add 1-2 cups of water to their bag every 5-10 minutes, dumping excess water in the bag down the drain as needed.

I would avoid buy from that breeder if he/she told you to use commercial pH lowering chemicals. As already stated, they are extremely unstable and will only probably last a few minutes in you water with the kH you have. Lowering the pH this way will cause much, much more harm than good.

It's better to grow younger discus in BB because they really should be fed a lot (preferably 6-8 times daily, but at least 3-4) and given daily w/c and vacumming to keep harmful waste build up to a minimum. In BB, this is easy to do as apposed to graveled. This helps them achieve their full potential and be round in shape (as apposed to the less desirable foot-balled shape). Of course, you can still raise juveniles in a planted tank (I have 2 in planted tanks who are thriving, all things considered). With adults, you don't have to worry about growing out as it's already been done for you... catch is they are quite a bit more expensive.

As NikkO already said, make sure your temperature is up there. I recommend 84-86 as my discus always seem at their best in this range. Below 82F, juveniles immune systems may not be able to handle infections very well, if at all because they are not fully developed. In higher temperatures, their immune systems are given a big boost. Higher temperatures also raise the metabolism of the fish and make them easier to feed and more excepting.

HTH
 
You need to do more w/cs than that. I do atleast 50percent a day with aged heated and water. Mabye 50percent 3 times a week would be ok...
 
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