Discus Set Up

[Kizz]

Well after dipping my foot in the salty side , change of job i've now decided to sell my marine stock and go for a discus set up , I know the fundamental's but after being out of tropical side of thing for about a year would just like some advice that i am doing everything right!

So my plan is to keep the light unit i have from the marine an aquasunlight 2x150 MH 2x54w T5's , I will change the T5's over to plant growth bulbs as this was a major problem i had before that i didn't have enough light to go planted due to depth of tank (30") . What bulbs would be best ?.My aim is to have it heavily planted with bogwood or a nice piece of redmoor as i had this before and loved it !

I will also keep my RO unit but have heard conflicting advice over when to use this , Some say to only use when breeding other say all the time , anyone shed some light on this ?

I plan on tryin to source a private breeder preff in scotland so i can choose my own fish see set-up etc and buy a juvi group of around 6-8 discus , I also am going to get some dither's penguin tetra ,cardinal's etc and some cory's for the bottom , no plec's at all in this tank .

now filter wise i'm unsure off , i ran an eheim previously and loved that filter , but i sold it on , I feel the Fx5 would be overkill on my tank and with the flow that comes from them would be too much for the slow moving discus so either the fluval 405/406 or the tetratec 1200 , Any better than the other's ?

I just want to make sure i'm doing everything right , after having the marine's i've learnt that doing it slow causes less problem's , If anyone has anything to add or see anything i've missed out on please let me know

Thanks
Kizz

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Kizz. I can help you here with a lot of this. I am using my phone as I am out just now, so can't type a full reply until I get home....or my thumb will get a blister!

Can I ask where in Scotland you are as this will help me answer about RO water or not. I lived in the Highlands for 13 years and the tap water there is perfect for discus.

I have some tank photos on here somewhere, take a look he you can find them.

Answer when I get home in a few hours.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[Kizz]

Thanks for reply phil , I'm in west lothian central scotland , 10 minutes from edinburgh . I do need to invest in a TDS meter as i never bought one but my marine has thrived in the 8 months or so i've had it , so assume the water chem is great ! lol , No FW test kit to hand to test anything tho only SW

Thanks
Kizz

 

[KittyKat]

So my plan is to keep the light unit i have from the marine an aquasunlight 2x150 MH 2x54w T5's , I will change the T5's over to plant growth bulbs as this was a major problem i had before that i didn't have enough light to go planted due to depth of tank (30") . What bulbs would be best ?.My aim is to have it heavily planted with bogwood or a nice piece of redmoor as i had this before and loved it !

It shouldn't matter which bulbs you use, planted or not, as long as they're not green (or all red, if you have red plants) I personally prefer to use daylight bulbs by Philips/Osram (colour 865) and have had good success growing plants under them. I also like how they do not tint the colour of the fish too much, so blue looks blue while red looks red.

I will also keep my RO unit but have heard conflicting advice over when to use this , Some say to only use when breeding other say all the time , anyone shed some light on this ?

Soft water fish, like discus, are able to adapt, to some extent (depending on the species), to hard water because it does not take as much effort for them to maintain blood salt concentrations in hard water as it does in soft water. On the other hand, the eggs harden too fast in hard water so they can not be fertilised. The downside to using hard water is that the fish might be more likely to get bacterial or fungal diseases if your water quality is poor because bacteria and fungi are not *that* able to survive in acidic water. I kinda vaguely try to explain osmoregulation here: http/aquariumadventure.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/importance-of-acclimatisation/ .
Most breeders I have spoken to about discus say that they get best results when spawning in soft water and raising fry in neutral to slightly hard water.
When I do get around to keeping discus, I will most likely be keeping them in neutral water.

I plan on tryin to source a private breeder preff in scotland so i can choose my own fish see set-up etc and buy a juvi group of around 6-8 discus , I also am going to get some dither's penguin tetra ,cardinal's etc and some cory's for the bottom , no plec's at all in this tank .

That's a great number to start with. If you have the space (tank is 6 ft long or more), I encourage you to go for as many as 10 discus.
I recommend against Corys because they need to reach the surface to breath and 30" is a long way to go. I have heard of stories of Corys suffocating in tall tanks and dying off one by one with only a couple of strong swimming survivors living. What about Otos as an alternative? Why are you bypassing plecos altogether (not just the large ones which have been known to take discus as a snack)? Maybe a group of small ones like Parotocinclus jumbo would work as an alternative to Corys? Or a schooling species like one of the Nannoptopoma spp.?

now filter wise i'm unsure off , i ran an eheim previously and loved that filter , but i sold it on , I feel the Fx5 would be overkill on my tank and with the flow that comes from them would be too much for the slow moving discus so either the fluval 405/406 or the tetratec 1200 , Any better than the other's ?

I always prefer Eheim. If you have the cash, I have found the 3e range to be quite nice.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

You are in the best place this side me the Amazon! WRG Discus Edinburgh.... Best place I know for fish. He also has a website with a lot me info on it.... Google it.

Message you later....

 

[Kizz]

Thanks for replie's

to Kat , I preffer cory's i kept them in this tank for around 1 1/2 years before i went marine with no problem's even breeding them and raising the fry on aswell , I would probably go for sterbai this time just because i never had them previously , and tbh i don't really like the look of otto's lol and from what i remember these eat a lot of algae ,and that's not really something i've had a problem with in FW fish keeping so they may starve in my tank , Plec's i decided against becuase i had them before they either hide all the time and poop like hell , and with discus i don't want a heavy bio load by adding plec's in

and thanks phil , i'll have a wee google of WRG on my way to work

Thanks
Kizz

 

[KittyKat]

I preffer cory's i kept them in this tank for around 1 1/2 years before i went marine with no problem's even breeding them and raising the fry on aswell , I would probably go for sterbai this time just because i never had them previously , and tbh i don't really like the look of otto's lol and from what i remember these eat a lot of algae ,and that's not really something i've had a problem with in FW fish keeping so they may starve in my tank , Plec's i decided against becuase i had them before they either hide all the time and poop like hell , and with discus i don't want a heavy bio load by adding plec's in

If you're sure they would work, sterbai are probably the best species to go for because they have a better tolerance for the higher temperatures that most people keep discus at It is unfortunate that you had such a poor experience with plecos before, I have always found mine to be out and about, as long as the caves were well positioned.

As for Otos and algae, they do need additional feeding, but so do any plecos or Corys.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Kizz,

I am home now. Sorry about the typos earlier it was my phone thinking for me

Anyway to try to answer some of your queries. First up I would suggest you go see Bob at WRG in Edinburgh, and he will be able to put you straight on everything,....and you can marvel over his fish!

On the issue of your RO water filter unit. I personally would say don't use it. If you lived somewhere where the water was very hard and full of nasty metals and chlorine, then yes. However the water in Scotland is generally very soft and free from any chemicals. I lived in the Highlands, and that water was perfect for Discus, so I suspect it won't be too much different where you are. The water in Scotland comes from spring fed Lochs and the water treatment plants just run sediment and carbon filtration and add no chlorine. If you use RO water you will be removing the trace calcium, which Discus need for healthy growth and for their bones. Obviously using RO water for breeding has nothing to do with growth. I breed mine in unchanged tap water easily.

WRT filtration, the main question is how much time can you devote to water changes? If you are sure that you will be doing regular large volume(30-50%) water changes then any simple canister set-up, with sufficient turnover will do the job. Your suggested choice of filter is fine. I would chose Eheim over any other make, as the build quality is much better. If however you think that regular water changes are going to be difficult at times then you might want to opt for something a little different. Obviously the big concern is ammonia. Here is how I have mine set(it is overkill 90% of the time)........ Due to my work being specialized contracting I get to spend a lot of time at home, which means I can spend time caring for my fish, followed by long periods(3 weeks) away when my fish are alone! I run 2 x 1500l/hour canisters with the intake pickups in the center of the tank, one close to the gravel and the other at mid water. The return lines then feed into what would normally be the uplift tubes of under-gravel filters. This creates a reverse flow UG unit, but being fed with clean water from the filters. This serves 3 purposes, 1. I have a belt and braces to any ammonia forming, as not only are the canisters converting it, but so is the gravel. 2. I can run the filters wide open without spray bars causing huge turbulence, and upsetting the Discus. 3. It helps stop sediment and fish waste settling on the substrate as the water is flowing upwards through it.

I then have to run air, which I do in capped tubes to prevent excessive turbulence and expelling my Co2.

Now that is all a bit much, but I need to be confident that my fish will remain perfectly healthy if I need to go away, and they always do.

I have a wee vid of my set-up on youtube http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L0kgM583U

So hope that is useful........either way go chat to Bob at WRG if you can, I know he will help you out with every detail.

Best of luck, Phil

 

[KittyKat]

I have a wee vid of my set-up on youtube http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7L0kgM583U

Can you upload that video without sound? I get an "Unfortunately, this SME-music-content is not available in Germany because GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights. Sorry about that." error currently

I like your idea with the reverse undergravel filter. Do you grow plants in the tank?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I have a wee vid of my set-up on youtube http/www.youtube.c...h?v=P7L0kgM583U

Can you upload that video without sound? I get an "Unfortunately, this SME-music-content is not available in Germany because GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights. Sorry about that." error currently

I like your idea with the reverse undergravel filter. Do you grow plants in the tank?

KittyKat,

I do grow a lot of plants in it, and they do very well. Unlike a regular flow UG filter there is no sediment under the plates as it is pushing the sediment away from the gravel, rather than dragging it all in. I also have the Co2 diffuser positioned next to one of the external filter intakes, so that half the bubbles are drawn into the filter and get fully absorbed as they pass through the filter and impeller. This means I have less Co2 waste. Only thing with running the outlets into UG filters is that I can't have a sand substrate

.

I'll upload some vid now without the rubbish music

......send you a link in a bit. Cheers

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

KittyKat...... Here's a silent movie, just add your own Charlie Chaplin style music: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy36UZElDOM

 

[Seed_Lord]

Could try a HMA filter insted of RO, less effort from what i've seen (im novice to discus), will take the nasty stuff out and you wont have to add back the minerals, mine are in just tap water atm do have a hma but havent started using it yet, waiting till i have 2 pairs in 15 gal tanks then ill use it for w/c's, sure a lil while in norm tap water aint gonna kill em, obviously hasnt but long term i dunno what the nasties in the water will do to the adult fish obviously not good for eggs/young fish.

 

[Kizz]

Thanks for replies guy's , I'll run with tap water then , What is a MHA filter? an Ug style system would be of no use to be as i will definatly be having sand as i find it more pleasing on the eye ,

Water changes i would prob be doing around 30% every week as this is what i done previously when keepin tropical's , Going to have a good hunt tonight and see what filter i like best , Hard to find tropical fishkeepers in these neck of the woods .

The last of my coral's have went this evening so just need to move the rock on then pretty much all system's go on the strip down

Thanks again for info and will defo be taking a wee trip through to see bob and marvel at everything

Thanks
Kizz

 

[Seed_Lord]

http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260602236185?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Basicly you just run water through it from a outside tap (or you can mod pipes within the house) and it will remove chlorine heavy metals etc. So no need for conditioners, read the descrip does alot of water before you need to replace the medias (they bout 20 quid) so unless your doing alot of w/cs with alot of water would be far cheaper than buying conditioner i think, with the benefits of removing other nasty stuff aswell. Dunno if im right on this but ive been told your tds will be the same or similar as tap water (where as RO will have it at about 30) but least you kno the nasties arnt there.

 

[KittyKat]

KittyKat...... Here's a silent movie, just add your own Charlie Chaplin style music: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy36UZElDOM

Thanks, much appreciated!