Discus Questions

[Julianmiles123]

I been reading a lot about keeping discus but the one thing I don't get is the filtration, right now I have a 45 gallon bow still cycling I'm thinking about getting some discus but I read somewhere that u need certain kinds of filter I don't know if this is true or not I have a fluval c4 is this filter ok to use for discus. help would be greatly appreciated

 

[stanleo]

Discus are very challenging fish. They need a low pH, lower than most other FW fish so a R/O unit to make your own water is recommended. Water quality has to be pristine so the filter has to be a good filter and one that is rated for a larger tank would be best. Also, 55gl is the minimum to keep them in as they are a larger fish and need room to swim and they need schools. 55gl is good for one of them and you have to add a certain amount of gallons per fish.
 
I am planning on getting them when I get a 110gl.  

 

[Malex530]

In my opinion i don't believe that  discus are very challenging.  If you get tank bred discus you can have ph up to 8.0! Now as for filtration, you said that they need certain filtration like chemical mechanical and biological. As long as there is room for biological media and a sponge you are good. The fluval c4 is a good option. DON'T use carbon in your filter UNLESS taking out some sort of medication. Add LOTS of biological media. I think that's the most important. 

 

[Electric Warrior]

 I am assuming (maybe I am wrong) that you are talking US gallons?  If so, that is definitely too small.  55G minimum really.  I keep an adult pair in a 240L, which is about 63USG, and I wouldn't go smaller.  Also, you need a tank that is long, and deep.  They need plenty of space to swim, and height is pretty important.  My male is about 7" from top to bottom now.  I think you should start thinking about a different fish until you can get a bigger tank tbh.  
 
As far as filtration goes, I am not too familiar with that filter, but it looks like a HOB?  A no no IMO.  Discus need pristine water.  Externals can hold way more media, are easier to maintain, and just perform much better IMO.  I uses two externals on my tank, each rated for 200L, and that works fine.  With discus, over filtration is much better than under.  They are known to not like much flow, but mine seem to enjoy hanging out right in front of my Hydor wavemaker swimming against the current, so....  They are messy eaters as well, another reason filtration is important.  Don't know if you were thinking about buying juvenile fish and raising them, but filtration is super important then, as they are fed 5-6 times a day, and make a mess, that's why almost everyone that grows out discus will raise them in a bare bottomed tank.  I went the other route and shelled out the cash for a confirmed, breeding pair of adults, because I keep mine in a planted, SA community, and there is really no way you can raise quality, healthy discus from juvi's in that situation.  Still, even if buying adults, filtration is important for the reasons I mentioned above, and you will also need to do a bit more WC's than you might normally need to.  I do two, 50% WC's a week, which is fine for adults.  They are very intolerant of nitrate.  If you have juveniles, that really has to be 90% WC's daily.
 
​They really aren't as difficult or as scary as some people make them out to be, IF you keep on top of the water quality and have the correct sized tank/tank mates.  Also, it would be good to know your PH/KH/GH to know if it's even a good idea to consider.  They do prefer a low ph, and soft water, but a lot of the tank bred discus now are more tolerant of a ph close to neutral.  If you have pretty hard water where you are, I would forget it unless you use R/O, as hard water will not work.