Greetings :)

Hi folks,

I recently was able to find a steal on 3 1.5" alenquer red discus ($6 each!). The same day, I won a 29 gallon aquarium in a raffle. My lucky day, right? Providence wants me to keep discus, apparently. In any case I'm done bragging. ;)

Aside from saying hello to everyone and sending a thank you to the owner/moderators of this site for its existance, I wanted to use this opportunity to invite comments/concerns about my setup. I've been lurking on this forum for a day or two, trying to collect as much information as possible, but I'm sure my knowledge is very incomplete.

My 29 gallon is just a tank, hood, & light at this point (I have to pick it up next week). The discus are currently in a 55g angel tank until the new tank is set up and cycled. With only 3 discus (I'm not sure if I can/want to put any other fauna in the tank), I'll have close to the 10 gallons per discus rule that I picked up somewhere on the internet.

*I'm assuming I will have 1 24" flourescent light, so probably ~1WPG.
*I'm going with a Ebo Jager 13" 150W heater, and I plan on setting it at 82 degrees F.
*The filter I'm not sure of. I have spare Whisper power filters, of the 20g-30g variety. I am definitely leaning towards a H.O.T. Magnum filter, although I'm concerned that the '250 GPH' flow rate might cause too much water disturbance for the discus. I do want to keep high water quality without daily water changes.
*Am I wrong in assuming I will need a massive amount of aeration for this temp?
*This will be my first experience with a sand substrate. If I've comprehended correctly from my reading, white quartz sand will not act as a buffer, and is a biotope substrate approximation. I plan on using 1" depth. Is there a specific grain size I should look for?
*I will eventually find driftwood for the tank.
*I plan on using live plants, such as jungle val and amazon sword plants.
*At the risk of exceedingly low growth rates for these two species, is there a floating plant that would be considered a biotope species? I seem to recall that discus prefer low light levels, and I'm hoping a nice floating plant will make them feel safe. I'd like to shy away from java moss or duck weed. This question has intrigued me about some discus tanks. Is there a detrimental effect to discus from having a high-wattage tank? What kind of trade-offs do most planted discus tank keepers make? I seem to recall a lot of questions in forums about the addition of CO2 to planted discus tanks, which makes me think that most opt for a high-lighting situation.
*Am I correct in reading that hard water is preferable for young discus, but I should opt for an RO apparatus in a year?
*I plan on using a diet of frozen beefheart and O.S.I. Discus flake--for robust growth and vivid color.

Thank you all for your patience, I know this is a horribly long post. I'm just really excited and horribly ignorant. :) I want a great initial setup, so I can manage to justify buying a larger tank and more discus!

[Proteus]

Welcome to DF.com

I guess you have caught the bug hey???

addictive little suckers they are :wink:

[flukes]

Ok lets see if i can point you in the right direction -

*The lighting suggest is fine.
* Good choice on the heater though you might want it closer to 85F
* Although i cant find them in Australia i have only heard good things about the H.O.T. Magnum filter's, if you find its current is too strong you can break it against a wall, use a spray bar or put a sponge over the intake. (the sponge might reduce flow rate)
* You dont need massive aeration for that temp but you will need some kind of oxygen in the water. I recommend using a sponge filter powered by an airpump as the sponge filter will help with the clarity of the water and then the airpump will add that needed oxygen.
* Sand size/color is personal choice, i havent presonally had a sand subtrate but i thought there might be some trouble vacuming up waste. I could be wrong, might want too ask Chris McMahon, i think he has a sand substrate.
* Driftwood will leak tannis into the water and turn it go a yellowish color and also reduce the ph, this can be dampened but soaking the wood in boiling water. The more times you soak and boil the more tannis are taken out.
* Try to stick to basic light plants as you said amazon swords, java ferns etc. You will still need enough light too accomidate them. I think somewhere between 1.5-2wpg.
* For the floating plant, i had success with Ricca, which at first i started as a ground cover but didnt have enough light i left it ontop of the water and it thrived. It is also one of the best looking of the floating plants.
* Hard water for juvi's is more for large scale breeders, reason being it toughens the juvi's up a bit. Its better if you keep your ph at what it is then trying to change it, unless its lower than 5.8 or higher than 7.8 i wouldnt bother.
* With food the more variety the better, go too your lfs and get a packet of each thing your discus will eat. Beef Heart is a good base for their diet but they chould be fed a variety of different things.

I think that was all of your questions, if not just ask

HTH

Cheers
Scott

Hi, and thank you very much Scott!

The sponge filter is a great idea. :) I'll definitely try to get my hands on some ricca. It seems to be a very nice plant. As far as water softness, I had no idea. I'm glad I do now, though. I especially appreciate this heads up.

Thanks again!

[flukes]

Mate, because your in the states its hard to give you advice on water hardness as here our water is just about right for discus. I have heard stories that american water is too hard for discus, you might want to wait for some people from the states too reply to get a better understanding of what is required for your water.

[Annie]

Welcome to the Discus Forum.

[Merrilyn]

Welcome Gavo. Ditto to everything Scott already said. Some of us like to keep fry and juvenile discus in moderately hard water as the extra calcium is beneficial for growing bones. Soft water contains very little calcium - just what you want for breeding but not so good for raising youngsters. The main thing is to keep things stable. Clean water with stable pH and Hardness is more important than getting so called 'ideal' water. Your fish will get used to whatever your water conditions are, so long as it remains stable, with no great fluctuations. Good luck (although you seem to have plenty of that) and again - welcome.

[kalebjarrod]

holy cow,

if thats a first post i am in awe.

keep it simple at first remember you are dealing with a living thing and thier needs come first (although most times this is a given)

the tricks are

1. QURANTINE - somtimes we think that we can mix some fish, even with those small little cute ones
2. WATER QUAILITY - age your tank before droppping life in it and check the water regulary
3. DON'T MESS WITH IT - one of the biggest mistake we make as young and keen hobbiest is we do to much, leave it alone. That rock will be fine thier so will the log and the filter etc etc. Give them some time between movemnt and let them settle.
4. WATCH YOUR FISH - cause they look realy cool...... LOL learn how your fish look, take some pics and compare them on week one, week two etc etc.Compare these pics, you'll pick up on problems easier and quicker.

Thanks again, everyone, for your greetings and help.

I feel a lot more confident about keeping these guys now.

That's a very good list, kalebjarrod! :) I should have come in here when I started keeping a planted dwarf puffer tank. :lol: All new plants and about a dozen algae blooms later makes me a firm believer in #3, thus all my questions. I don't want to mess with this tank too much once I get it going (aside, of course, from water changes and testing).

Anyway, thanks again, I'm very glad there's a resource like this.

[kalebjarrod]

i read through your post and thought we should just simplefy the tank before we tackle any other problems.

somtimes the fundimentals are the hardest thing to stick too.