Advice Needed

Hi Lads,

I've just setup an 180L tank with external filter Fluval 305, it been up and running for over 2 weeks now, I've a few angels and /neons in the tank at the moment, PH is at 7 and temperature is 26c. will this be ok for my new discus, I'm planning to buy about 8-10 three inches discus from my local pet shop, will is this too much for the 180L tank / filter to handle??

Also I'm thinking of decorating my like with sand, plans and bogwoods (Amazon Style). Thinking of doinig something similar like the below video in Youtube.

Amazing Amazon Style setup --->>

Many thanks in advance

Derek

I would say get your ph down but now a days so many discus are bred in a neutral ph so id say bit of bog wood sone almond leaves


to drop ph down a bit.



Craig

Hi Craig,

Many thanks for the advice Craig

But do you think having 10 discus its too much in a 180l tank?

Yeah id settle for 4 pushing it maybe 5 i.had 4 in a 200 litre fluval roma


craig

What type of discus are ya getting mate



craig

Derek,
I'm very interested in how you get on with your new Amazon tank.
I just moved my old 175 ltr tank today to make room for a 5' 500 ltr one in the new year.
I am also looking to do an Amazon setup for Discus. I currently have 3 large discus on my old tank; cardinals; rummy noses and sterbi corys.
It will take me some weeks to get the new tank in condition for moving my Discus.
Will be looking to have around 10 discus in the new tank eventually over a few months during the new year. The larger Discus can be quite expensive so it will take me some time to build up a stock.
The recommendation is to allow up to 10 gallons per adult Discus.

Do keep the pictures coming on the new setup.
The video shown appears to be using an internal 3d background. I am avoiding doing this as it has to be fixed to the inside back of the tank. I think this may limit my options for the new tank into the future.

Greg

Derek,
On the substrate. I have not decide myself for the new tank but I will not be using sand.
I have found sand to be more trouble than it is worth. When it comes to doing regular tank maintenance it tends to get everywhere on the plants and bogwood.
I will probably use a very fine gravel mixed with Aqua Grit (for the plants). When I am cleaning the tank substrate I like to get down to the glass floor to do a thorough clean. This is not very tidy when sand is involved.
I'd be interested to hear how the other forum members get on with sand as a substrate.

Greg

Thinking of either wild discus or red fire discus.

Don't seen many of those around in pet shop this days.

Yeah I'll probably take your advise, just going for 5 - 6 three inches ones then, don't want to risk of losing any.

Hi Greg,

yeah this right the video seems to be using 3D background, I was think of the same thing. Since space is limited the Rio 180. I'm trying to avoiding internal back ground as well, as you can see in the photo attached, I've stuck on an background picture at the back of the tank to make it more Amazon like. The plan is to add plants and loads of bogwood roots onto the side of the tank to blend in with the background picture. Hopefully will work, I've been trying to get nice bogwood but its hard to find... I'm planning to drop down to AV and Seahorse tomorrow to see are any nice ones laying around, I'll upload more photos during the coming weeks of the new setup

Appreciated for all the good advices.

Derek

I keep my tank at 27.5-28c it's supposed to be better for discus and so far so good for me

Hi

I would have thought that the number of discus might be on the high side.

I keep 4 in a 240 with a temp of 31c and a ph of 6.8 which is achieved with the use of peat pellets.

in the end it is probably more important that conditions be stable rather than ideal.

Good luck with the set up.

Brian

Derek,
I also keep the temperature at 30c and ph just under 6.6.
My GH is currently 6 and KH 2 but I will need to revisit this as they are quite low.
PH is maintained by a combination of RO water from the pet shop mixed with tap water approx 50 50 .
You should also check that your ammonia and nitrite reading are zero. Any ammonia will drive the Discus crazy as it burns their gills.
The higher temperature limits the tank mates suited to the tank and the type of plants you can keep. I have found that some plants just disintigrate in the higher temperature.
I use the same background on my tank as shown in your photo.


Greg.

]180L for a wild discus tank is too small.
My GH is currently 6 and KH 2 is not too low
RO water is the best way to go

Here is a link to my tank. Wild Blues, wild heckels , wild altums(and the 3d background)

Damian,
Great tank display. What are the dimensions of the tank.
Where did you get the 3d background all I ever see in the shops are the usual Jewel ones.
Thanks for the confirmation on my GH & KH being ok.
My new tank due soon is 5' x 18" x 26"
I would love to have it looking even half as good as your one.

Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the advice mate, currently the PH is at 7 and water temperature is at 26c and I'm going to lower the ph to about 6.5 as per Craig and your suggestion. Hopefully that should be fine. have you or anyone heard of ALDER CONES before?? It suppose lower PH like the bogwood and almond leave (But Better).



Any suggestions????

Hi Damian,

Thanks of the heads up on the wild discus much appreciated. Just after checking out your tank on youtube, what an amazing setup you got mate, you must spent lots of time for maintenance right?? How can you keep your tank some clean and water so clear??? I'm so jealous lol. What do you feed your discus with?? Do you keep Pleco in your for cleaning???

Cheers

I keep discus I dunno how long now but almost two years iv never checked my ph or any water parameters I clean my tank every Friday and I do an extra water change every Saturday I can never had so much as a White spot I dunno maybe I'm lucky and have great tap water but I just think like a very wise discus keeper once told me keep your water clean and you can't go too far wrong

Damien,
You need to bring the PH down gradually or you may cause problems for your existing stock.
I brought my PH down gradually just using RO water during tank maintenance.
RO has a PH of 6.

Greg

them ALDER CONES sound good would love to look into them more and a a good price to

sean

Blue wrote:

Hi

I would have thought that the number of discus might be on the high side.

I keep 4 in a 240 with a temp of 31c and a ph of 6.8 which is achieved with the use of peat pellets.

in the end it is probably more important that conditions be stable rather than ideal.

Good luck with the set up.

Brian

In a snap-shot....as Blue Land says. Stability.

Clean healthy water with a low microbial count and stable low conductivity are more important that exact values on pH and hardness.

If the water is not stable, then measuring pH is meaningless as that pH will be swinging all over the place from one hour to the next.

The parameters will also depend upon which species and whether they are wild-caught, or captive-raised, or captive bred.
For wild caught S.discus you will need have water very close to ideal (at least until fully acclimatised). But I wouldn't normally recommend going for heckels as a first option.

As for stocking levels, I tend not to comment on what is the ideal stocking for fish as that is a bit fuzzy.
But discus fish are pretty large cichlids.
Heavy stocking with young small discus maybe fine so long as they receive massive amounts of food (given as small amounts frequently....about 20% body weight of the fish daily as growing fish) and very large and very frequent water changes.

But a single adult discus is effectively equivalent to a 20 inch oscar as a minimum volume requirements.
So imagine having 10 20-inch oscars in a tank, and then decide if that looks a bit overstocked.

Good quality and varied food is a must.....and the filter system and tank must be able to handle the amount of food given.

On the whole, Discus are not that difficult to keep.
Once you have them established, you'll find that losses are probably much less than many other types of fish.

ian

ghart wrote:

Damien,
You need to bring the PH down gradually or you may cause problems for your existing stock.
I brought my PH down gradually just using RO water during tank maintenance.
RO has a PH of 6.

Greg

I presume you meant to say someone else and not me.. my pH is between 4.5 and 5

Greg,
Tank is 6x2x2 with 4 foot sump
I got the background online from Germany
Let me know if you have any other questions

its the same for most fish, keep water clean and they will be happy. However, you need to be more cautious with Wild fish

Sorry Damien , my comments on PH were for Dereks benefit.

Damien,
How do you measure for what you mentioned..
"Clean healthy water with a low microbial count and stable low conductivity are more important"

Do you still have the Germany web link to where you ordered the 3d background.

Greg

ghart wrote:

Sorry Damien , my comments on PH were for Dereks benefit.

Damien,
How do you measure for what you mentioned..
"Clean healthy water with a low microbial count and stable low conductivity are more important"

Do you still have the Germany web link to where you ordered the 3d background.

Greg

@Ghart....it was me who said about 'clean healthy.....low microbial....etc etc.'

Measuring microbial count is not within the realms of most keepers.....so the best way is by prevention. (and it is no use knowing you can measure the bacteria once the horse has bolted).

I also wouldn't say that it isn't even necessary to have a conductivity or RedOx meter.
They are luxury items that have little use in comparison is good simple fish-keeping.
Such measuring devices can also give a false sense of security.

Keeping microbial load low is done by....
Careful feeding....little and often; remove all un-eaten food as soon as possible (remembering discus are grazers and will pick up fungal infected toxin laden food); remove dead plants bits; avoid dead-zones in the tank; clean filters regularly (properly cleaned without sterilisng them).

Regular partial water changes help maintain stability and top-up the buffering capacity of the water.

Often keepers strive for a low pH by adding this that and the other.....but that could increase conductivity or TDS of the water.
Lack of water changes will also increase conductivity/TDS and remove RedOx buffering.

I'm not suggesting you need the meters to keep fish.....it's a bit like we don't need to be having blood tests and temperature checks all the time on ourselves to keep us healthy.

ian

Thanks Ian for the come back and tips on keeping thing clean.
I have a good few corys who appear to consume any food left over by the Discus. Though I must keep an eye on this. Interesting to hear that Discus can develop problems if they eat left over fungal infected food.

Damian_Ireland,
Still interested if you have the German web link where you ordered the 3d background.
My 5' tank should arrive early January and a 3d background needs to be but in prior to the system setup.

Greg

I got mine from here.
www.ebay.ie/itm/Aquarium-3d-Ruckwand-200...&hash=item563f661711

With regards to monitoring of water I have a ph/Ec meter hooked up to the tank which I got here
www.ebay.ie/itm/2-IN-1-MULTI-METER-TESTE...cdee0#ht_1856wt_1270

I have a 220L wheelie bin which is hooked up to my RO unit under the sink . I remineralise the RO water with Preis Discus Minerals and I have a pond pump in the wheelie bin which pumps the new water back into the tank

Damian,
Thanks for the links.
I immediately ordered the Preis Discus Minerals.This will help me get my new 5' tank conditions ready for my Discus when it arrives.
I am maturing the filter for the new tank on my existing tank at the moment.
The new tank when it arrives will hold 500 ltrs. I will probably load 300 ltrs of RO water (purchaed over 3 visits to Seahourse). Then use the Presi Discus minerals as required. The rest I will siphon from my existing tank when doing a gravel clean and add to the new tank to help the maturing. The new matured filter can then be attached from my existing tank to the new one.
I will move my existing fish but not the Discus to further mature the new tank.
When I know the conditions are correct I will then slowly move my current discus to the new setup.
With your experience I'd appreciate any comments or recommendations/changes on the above plan.

The 3d background us outside my budget so i will probally go for a picture background.

Greg

greg if ya get on to Cichlidguy on this he might be able to sort u out with a 3d background for a great price i got mine off him

sean

Thanks Sean.
Does he make them himself.

Hi Ian, Damian, Greg, Sean.

Thanks for all your good advise.

3D background is also outside my budget too... unless Sean can sort us out

Got some bogwoods over the weekend hopefully that will lower the PH level over the 2 weeks. Aiming to stock up then

I'll post some photos afterwards

Much appreciated guys

Derek