New To The Discus Side Of Things :D

[Mulisha]

Hey guys i'm new to DF but been on Ausfish Forums a fair bit.

I'm only new person when comes to Discus and need some help off you experienced people :)

Well firstly i need to let you know what tank I have at the moment it is a 4x2x2 Ft (Moderate planted) aquarium.

Now after seeing some spectacular Discus i can't help myself and want to get some and also giving breeding a go aswell :D

I have a few ideas as I'm trying to keep set up cost to a minnium :wink:

My first job is to set up a couple of tanks :D

This is what I had in mind:

One standard 3ft tank.

Two 2ft cube tanks.

(ALL THE TANKS WILL BE BARE BOTTOM.

All three tanks would have Sponge filters and heaters and a few different bits and pieces.

Then after a couple of weeks buy 5 small Juvinile Discus not sure what type yet and put them in the 3ft tank and play the waitting game :D

Eventually in my 4x2x2 Ft tank I was thinking of putting a few Discus of the Discus the don't end up pairing off.Here is a list of the fish in my 4ft tank at the moment let me know what fish maybe could be a problem to the Discus.
And is my tank at the moment overloaded?

LIST:
4x Clown Loach (6cm)
1x Pleco (12cm)
1x Altum Angel (19cm tall)
4x Congo Tetra (10cm)
8x Serpae Tetra (3cm)
2x Glass Cats (7cm)
1x Whiptail Catfish (10cm)
4x Black Widow (5cm)
1x Pearl Gourami (8cm)
2x Flying Fox (12cm)
1x Pictus Cat (15cm)

This is the equipment currently on my 4ft planted tank:

Equipment:

2x Aqua Pro (Canister Filter) 1200L/H
5x 36w Florescent Lights (Gro Lux Tubes)
1x One complete CO2 system made by (DUPLA)
1x 300w Heater (Forgot The Brand)

I have a few questions still here they are:

When doing 4 or 5 25% W/C a week won't u loose to much good bacteria and cause ammonia in the tank or something like that?

My tap water that comes out of our (rain water tanks) has a ph of 5.0 - 5.5 and was woundering what would u suddgest i do :?

What conditions should I have these tanks set up for breeding and also for when i'm growing them up like ph,temp etc?

These Discus can get heaps of diseases what do u suggest I could do to so I don't get this or reduce the risk of getting them?

Well if I can think of anything else that i need some info on i'll post :D



ThankYou!! ThankYou!! ThankYou!!

Your help and any infomation is greatly appreciated :D :D :D :D


Here is a picture of the breeding tank set up I have in mind :D :D :D

Thanks again :D

[Mulisha]

Anyone help :?



Thanks again guys and girls :D

[mcloughlin2]

Ok, first things first...

I dont think there is any need for breeding tanks yet....

Juvies will take up to 12months before they can raise a succesful spawn...

I think u should raise ur ph to about 6.8.....

Changing water...ummm i dont think that will lose good bacteria as the tank will be bare bottom so unless u stick the siphon in the sponge filter u should be right.... :wink:

I would get discus of the same variety as u plan on breeding....or get varieties that are very similar...

For growing them up i think u should have a ph of about 6.8....a temperature of about 28dgrees and feed as often as possible but only in small amounts... :D

HTH...

Sam..

[Mulisha]

ThankYou very very much :D

Helped me out lots

[DR.V]

I do daily water changes for my breeding tank, and its 50%. The pair is doing great, no problem at all.

If your pH is too low, you can try put peat moss in the filter to bring up the pH a bit. But this will make your water a bit brownish. Driftwood in the tank also helps to bring up the pH a bit.

For breeding setup I would suggest a very simple setup. A sponge filter, breeding cone, a heater and a thermometer would do. Try to avoid anything dark in the tank as fry will attrack to dark object. 2-3 ft tank would be perfect.

Growing tank would be similar, just bigger in size. You will also need to do crazy amount of w/c if you want to boost their growth.

Do a regular water changes. That should prevent most disease. Also installed a UV sterilizer if possible. This will also helps to kill all the nasty stuff in the tank. If you see a possible diseases, treat them early.

To prevent high ammonia or nitrate try not to over feed them.
Instead feed them a little amount BUT frequently. Maybe 4-5 times a day.

Good luck.
Hope it helps.

[Benny]

i disagree with mcloughlin, juvie rearing tanks should be slightly basic, infact... They thrive moreso in these conditions ive heard

[Proteus]

For juveniles, a pH closer to neutral would be more benificial than having a lower level pH as you would for breeding stock

[Dee]

If your pH is too low, you can try put peat moss in the filter to bring up the pH a bit. But this will make your water a bit brownish. Driftwood in the tank also helps to bring up the pH a bit.

It's the other way around I think, peat and driftwood to lower PH. :)

I would definatly go with a close to nuetral PH (7-7.4) and BB tank for growing out juvies, also keep your KH 3-4degrees (which will keep your PH around 7ish) IMO. Then once breeding back the PH off a bit and lower KH

As for breeding I would go 6-8 juvies of the same strain and grow them out to nice adults and pair off the best shaped/looking males and females :wink: or experiment with crossing diff strains, which is always fun HTH

Cheers,

Dee :)

[DR.V]

I mean peat moss will make the water close to neutral. So it will lower high pH and bring up lower pH. Isnt that right ?

[Dee]

Heya Dr.V :D

From my understanding, peat will lower PH as it lowers the PH by releasing tannins etc. I could be wrong though :oops: but I always thought peat acidifies (lowers PH) the water somewhat ?

Cheers,

Dee :)

[DR.V]

Hm Thanks Dee, Im sure that peat will lower pH and kH.

I'll keep in mind that peat cannot raise pH then. ^^

Thanks

[Ben]

Hi Mulisha!

Welcome to the forum mate!

First things first! You must have a lot of patience! When it comes to breeding...but a lot of hard work, time and of course patience you should not have a problem.

Buy your self some nice good quality juvenile discus, but once you have the bug you will be acquiring more tanks and more fish!

When growing discus i like the following:

Temp 30.c
PH 7
GH 120 PPM

As i have mentioned to you keep up the water changes, one every day, %25 and once per week do a %50.

Good quality and varied foods fed several times per day...as much as they will eat with minimum left overs.

Cheers
Ben

[Mulisha]

Thanks heaps everyone my brain is overloading lol :wink:

1 thing would a standard 3ft tank 160L be ok to grow up 5 Small Discus untill they pair off and 12 months old :?:

ThankYou Heaps Everyone Your Help Is Greatly Appreciated :D

[DR.V]

Thanks heaps everyone my brain is overloading lol :wink:

1 thing would a standard 3ft tank 160L be ok to grow up 5 Small Discus untill they pair off and 12 months old :?:

ThankYou Heaps Everyone Your Help Is Greatly Appreciated :D

That would be perfect. But once they grow a bit bigger, maybe you will need to reduce to 3-4 in the tank, to give more space to grow.

Good luck

[Mulisha]

ok thanks everyone

[G-1000]

Hi There :)

Personally I would say that for a 160L tank, you could get away with having around 7-8 3 inch juveniles. However, once they grow bigger towards 4 inches or so, you would need to reduce that number to 6-7, then 5 inches you need to drop them down to about 4 or 5. Then once they are around 6 inches - in 160L tank you would be looking at an absolute max of 4. However, if they are breeding/pairing - a single pair may or may not need that 160L to themselves.

G

[Mulisha]

ok thanks lots :D

[Benny]

bear (bare... spp) in mind, this is FULLY stocked.. And would be requiring daily or every second day WC's.... And i dont think sponge filtration will be anywhere near enough

[Mulisha]

Alright thanks benny i'm considering getting all my fish out on 4ft planted tank and putting the Discus in there I think it might be a better idea as they have 2 1200lph canisters and 1 internal 1500lph bio filter and would purchase a uv sterilzer to go in the tank as well :D

[nicholas76]

Mulisha


thats allot of current from those cannisters and internal you have there.

remember that discus will do better is tanks that have less current flow.

[Mulisha]

I have put a spary bar on 1 of the canisters and the other canister is hooked up to co2 and is pointed towards the substrate and the internal filter is facing the front glass about 30cm away and the movment on top of the water is very little u barely see any movment as it would cause co2 loss :D



Thanks

[goldenpigeon]

hey mulisha. dude u shouldnt be thinking about breeding tanks yet mate. give it some time. first thing is to keep the fish and get to know the species. second thing is to grow them up to a good size. then visit the breeding thought again ;)


about the size tank and amount of fish. i would recommend that you get 5 discus for that tank provided that you keep up with water changes and are efficient with cleaning. it is one thing to change the water but if you want them to thrive you need xtra time to wipe down the sides of the tank and particularly the bottm at every waterchange. the sponge in the filter needs to be clean. little things like that.

i would recommend with five discus in there u need to do 30... preferably 40% waterchange every second day. at the moment i am keeping 18 adult discus un a 3ft tank as i have just finished treating for plague and do 120% waterchanges daily.

normally i keep around 8 discus in this tank but i am a cronic water changer so i works for me :D

hope all goes well mate and catch up on msn some time

[Mulisha]

thanks man :D