Are Discus for me?

[cyber_crimes]

I have been keeping/breeding african cichlids on & off for the last 10 years and have always wanted to try my hands at Discus. I currently have a 4x18x18 which I would like to stock with several Discus. I have been reading up on Discus for quite some time & intend to join the ADA.

I currently have a 4x18x18 tank that I would like to raise a few Discus in.
Plan is to keep it bare with no substrate and a couple of spawning pots till they start to pair off, at which point the pairs will be seperated into 24x18x18's. Will be using treated Sydney tap water for the raising tanks with a PH of around 7.2. Weekly water changes of 30%.

The 24x18x18's will be similar to the raising tank but be either RO filtered or peat used to lower the PH. Again 30% weekly W/C will be performed.

Does the above sound alright?

In regards to the RO unit if I purchase one can the small Discus & fry be raised in the same parameters as the breeders? or do they need the higher PH for growth?

Is it worth investing in a RO unit? Or should I stick with peat?

And finally are daily W/C really necessary for breeding & raising fry? Or will weekly changes be enough?

[cyber_crimes]

Should I go about it as described above:
Raising tank at 7.2 with weekly WC. And breeder tank at 6.0-6.5 with weekly water changes?

OR

Both tanks at 6.0-6.5 with weekly water changes?

What would you guys recomend for keeping & breeding these lovely creatures???

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Cyber,

I'd save yourself some time and keep both breeding and growout tanks at the same Ph, just saves messing around with different water params, ageing tanks etc. IMO you'll also find that a lower Ph has some benefits as far as ammonia and certain bacteria are concerned.

If you're intention is to breed Discus you can pretty much forget about 1 W/C per week. With your breeders, and under some circumstances (ie fiddling around with difficult pairs), you can sometimes leave them for a week but generally 2-3 changes a week is pretty much essential. When your breeders have fry in the tank then small daily W/C's or a little larger every second day is the go. You're not necessarily going to harm them if you leave it longer than that but you just won't get the growth you're after.

As far as your growouts are concerned if you give them weekly water changes then you'll be about 12 months getting them to a saleable size, they really do need small, regular W/C's to get them over the line.

From what I've heard Sydney water is not so good so an RO unit is probably not a bad idea, however, ideally your growouts should be in harder water than your breeders so that they get all the mineral content they need for growth.

The best of luck with yor discus adventures.
MAC