Moving Discus

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

I recently bought a new tank for my fish. I used to have a 29 gallon and now have upgraded to a 46 bow. What would be the best way to move them with the least stress? What should i keep from my old tank?
thanks,
stephen

[scott bowler]

hi steve have you set up the new tank? i would use the filter media from the old tank and or filter .and any gravel and plants if its a planted tank hehe.To move the fish if you have set the new one up i would make shore the water is the same PH,Temp,then i would get a bucket and some air line put some water from the old tank in the bucket.put the fish in and sifen the new water in to the bucket with the fish in it .till it is fullthen pur some of it out and repeat .hope it goes well let us now and pics are always good hehe

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

hi steve have you set up the new tank? i would use the filter media from the old tank and or filter .and any gravel and plants if its a planted tank hehe.To move the fish if you have set the new one up i would make shore the water is the same PH,Temp,then i would get a bucket and some air line put some water from the old tank in the bucket.put the fish in and sifen the new water in to the bucket with the fish in it .till it is fullthen pur some of it out and repeat .hope it goes well let us now and pics are always good hehe

No i havent put up the tank yet ant wont for a few weeks till after vacation.(want be be here the whole time incase they get sick) my filter is a pinguin 200 dont think that is strong enough for a 46 gallon so ill use that one and get another for the otherside. ill use all the same plants, there fake so dont know if it will make that much of a difference. As far as the substrate, i have gravel in there right now but would anyone recomend any other substrate like sand or soil?

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

no one else has advise?

[ILLUSN]

if your setting up a new tank and want to plant it now is the time to get some propper substrate, my discus went great in a tank with Red sea flora base (also kept the ph bout .5 lower). other then that do as scott said, if you bring across your old filter and most of your old water the tank should be cycled and ready to go.

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

im just going to go with fake plants..what kind of substrate would you recommened

[ILLUSN]

Anything you like really, dark gravel makes the fish color look better but will also cause any pigion derived fish to peper up, just go for a natural gravel that wont alter your ph. your lfs should be able to help you.

if your going to use sand for a more natural look go for quartz pool filter sand from a pool shop, looks great, and is dirt cheap.

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

Anything you like really, dark gravel makes the fish color look better but will also cause any pigion derived fish to peper up, just go for a natural gravel that wont alter your ph. your lfs should be able to help you.

if your going to use sand for a more natural look go for quartz pool filter sand from a pool shop, looks great, and is dirt cheap.

theres no down sides to it?

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

i know that pool sand will hold onto ammonia alot more then regular sand would..is that a good thing or bad?

[ILLUSN]

Quartz filter sand wont do anything to amonia, zeolite based filter sand will bind amonia, once they get saturated they may start to release this into your water column, but by then your filter(s) should be more than capable of dealing with it. the zeolite sand has been used by planted tank people for a while because it can bind nutrients and make them available to plant roots.

If you want sand make sure it's QUARTZ pool filter sand , it's compleately inert, it wont compact and go anerobic like river sand does, and wont cloud your water if disturbed.

Down side, no nutrients so not good for plants (not a problem for you), very pale color, so your fish wont look as bright (add some peat to your filter or some nice drift wood to add tanins for that blackwater look and your fish will color up nicely)

[ST3PH3NsDISCUS]

so the darker the tank the more colorful the discus will be?

[ILLUSN]

The darker the tank the more intense the color will look. discus will try to match their enviroment, have alook in the photo album of some RGD's and rose reds in dark planted tanks vs brighter bare tanks, the color change can be quite dramatic, also blue diamonds can become much bluer and deeper in a dark tank. again avoid pigion derived varieties or they will pepper up.

[apistodiscus]

The things to move over to your new tank are whatever biological filter material you had for your old tank and as much water as you can save.
I wouldn't bother with the substrate. As for the substrate itself I only use sand either quarz or playsand. It looks natural since discus live mostly over white sand in nature.