African Cichlids to Discus

[Economic]

Hi All,

Many years ago, I used to have discus with very little success. I would have spent a fortune buying new Discuss and using medication treatments etc.

This lack of success made me try African Cichlids, particularly Electric yellows. I have had these now for many years and apart from the occassional casualty, they have been thriving. With very little maintenance on my behalf, I have had some success in breeding (to my astonishment). My water changes are usually monthly (sometimes have stretched out to 2-3months). Feeding is every 2-3days. When I do a water change, I add some bi-carb soda and some epsom salts (to raise PH). I have NEVER tested the water for PH. I pour water directly from the hose into the tank and condition the water.

I feel as though my success to keeping these african cichlids, was the fact that I do not 'tinker' around with the water changes as often as I should. When I had Discus, I felt as though I would be doing water changes too frequently.

My tank dimensions are almost 3ftx3ftx3ft (almost triangular)
So what I would like to know is the following:

1) Would a monthly water change be sufficient for discus? I feel as though 2-3times a week is a bit excessive and I think I will be getting into the same type of problems when I first had discus
2) Could I use the same filter media in my filter if I do switch as this already has the bacteria etc
3) My temperature is currently 28.5degrees celsius. is this ok for discus?
4) Is this tnk big enough for discus

I am keen to try discus again, but the water changes are holding me back. I know i'll be dedicated at the start, but a couple of months later, i'll be back to my old tricks of doing the once a month.

[TW]

Hi Ecomonic

1) Discus really need water changes much more frequently than your current regime. IMO, I don't think they would be happy with your current regime.
2) I swapped over from Africans, using the same media. As long as your current stock is healthy, I think this is fine.
3) 28.5 is fine, although you can go warmer
4) tank is big enough. Allow 40-45L per adult discus.

[rwel4809]

Ditto to everything TW said :)

FYI I calculated your tank to be around 380 litres, which would be good for 6-7 Discus, a couple of dozen cardinal or rummy nose tetras (and maybe some whiptails and bristlenoses as long as you give them enough greens to eat).

The most important thing is to keep the tank stable and super clean.

Don't mess with the PH too much unless you really need to, stable PH is better than low PH.

It is much better to treat, age and heat the water before a water change. I recommend getting a food grade plastic barrel with a heater and an airstone or powerhead - this way you can make sure the water matches the conditions of the tank before adding it.

Discus do require regular maintenance. But once you get the routine right, I think they are actually quite hardy.

HTH R

[AHC]

IMO i would say discus arn't for you. And thats ok, the regime is not for everyone.

Dumping water from a tap into a discus tank and then treating will stress them out. Especially if water changes are far and few in between. If they have a fluctuating environment their immune will take a hammering leaving them open to infections. I agree with what has already been said. Although using media from current tank will only be ok if the PH range is the same in the discus tank. If you decide to bring the PH down and still use the current media, expect an ammonia spike as the current bacteria dies off and new, lower PH, bacetria grows. Frequest water changes are a must.

If your keen, get back into Discus. We welcome you into the community. But if your keen then you will up teh water changes with pretreated water.
:)

[Economic]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I was wondering if the existing coral sand can still be used? I think this generally raises the PH. Can discus survive in a higher ph like cichlids? I know clown loaches can.

It does sound alot more work for me. Although i'll be ok for the first couple of months, I think I will slowly slack off over time. It's not good for me or the fish.

I might leave as is at the moment..

[AHC]

Much debate over PH. Mine definately 'seem' perkier between 5 and 6. You will hear local bred discus can handle higher PH and this is true. Breeding over time has seen them adapt to our water and can handle it better. But i definately wouldnt be using crushed coral or keeping the tank at PH's suited to african cichlids.