Taking A Step Into...

[DiscusKeeper403]

Well,

It's been a while since i've logged on (stupid World of Warcraft has got me hooked!) anyways i'm moving! Last night my place filled up with water (due to a busted pipe) and where going to rent a house. I will be giving my pleco, Blue acara and red tailed shark back to the pet shop im working in, since I do not have the correct space to house these fish. Right now I have two angels in my 25g high with some corydoras, I will be getting a 50-55 bow front, bare bottom with drift wood and pots with gravel to house the plants, these plants will have root tabs and liquid firts for growth, I will use either a canister filter or a bio wheel filter and look into getting Co2 as the algae growth in my tank is almost unbareable, and I will be getting a Di-ionizing water conditioner unit to help bring the hardness to hopefully to around 5-10 dH and the Ph to 6-6.5, although I will try to bring the perimeters close to the ones the Discus where kept in at my work. At first I was thinking it out about the Discus Angelfish myth, but so far i've talked to some people who own both in the same tank, and seen some footage of way overstocked Discus tanks that had angelfish with them and they looked okay, but I can't say for sure. Also, after browsing some other fish forums most say they have known people who have kept both sucssesfully and that they have known people to not keep them sucsessfully. What do you guys think about adding some internal parasitic medication every once and a while? Will it help or just do damage? I've heard about people raising award winning Angels with Discus, and that was really a comfort. So heres my stocking:

55 gallon

6-7 Corydoras (add one or two more to the group)
4-5 Discus
2 Angel fish

Plants:

Water wisteria
Anubis Nana
6 other unknown


What do you guys think? the stocking is pretty heavy so do you think bio wheel or canister filter will be better for the bacteria growth? I will be doing water changes twice weekly. What do you guys think I should use to cycle the tank, i'll use stress zyme for bacteria boost and maybe afew tetras?

Cheers,

Connor

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Posting to bring it up on the list. Anyone for any advice, or personal happenings?

 

[crazie.eddie]

Sounds good. I would go with a canister filter, such as a Rena FilStar XP3 or Eheim Pro II 2028 or 2128, the 2128 has a built in heater. I suggest using an external heater, since angels and discus like to lay eggs on long objects, so they may end up laying eggs on the heater if you had one internallly.

Regarding the internal parasite meds, it's your discretion. It could help. I have both discus and angels and have never had any problems. I don't fed live foods, so I don't have to worry about fish picking up any internal parasites from any live foods.

 

[Gankutsuou]

Like he said, do a cannister, Fluval or Ehime if you can.

Expensive, but worth it.

 

[nukeonekitty]

I have a Rena Xp3... works better than my better fluval... great filter... A+ from me!

 

[Anita]

I have a Rena Xp3... works better than my better fluval... great filter... A+ from me!

I run 2 Rena Xp3's on an 85 gallon discus tank, just to add they are super filters and you can adjust the flow which is ideal for discus

Anita

 

[kev_kb]

Injecting CO2 will lower the ph of the water. If you really want it then setup the tank with plants and run the CO2 for a while before adding any fish to ensure everything is working correctly and you can maintain an appropriate ph.

In a 55 I would keep 5 discus, high temp tolerant Corys and maybe some Tetras. I would not try mixing Angels in this size tank of tank.

Also it's maybe not a good idea to have unknown plants in there. If you don't know what they are how will you know if they are suitable with regard to the water conditions?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Injecting CO2 will lower the ph of the water. If you really want it then setup the tank with plants and run the CO2 for a while before adding any fish to ensure everything is working correctly and you can maintain an appropriate ph.

In a 55 I would keep 5 discus, high temp tolerant Corys and maybe some Tetras. I would not try mixing Angels in this size tank of tank.

Also it's maybe not a good idea to have unknown plants in there. If you don't know what they are how will you know if they are suitable with regard to the water conditions?

Very true, but so far they are fine. I keep temp at around 80 and I might just increase it to about 83 or 84. I will look into a canister filter, do you think using all the ornaments and rocks from my already cycled tank will bring in enough bacteria? Should I use bacteria booster, or should I add some of the filter media?

 

[crazie.eddie]

Using media, decor, etc. from an already established tank will help with the cycle. Just make sure the water is dechlorinated and running for a few days before adding the media. This way, you remove the chlorine before adding the bacteria. I'm not fond of those bacteria starters. They state there's bacteria in a bottle. Bacteria are living organisms, that require food and oxygen. You don't know how long the bacteria have been in the bottle, so you may be buying just dead bacteria. Using media from an established tank is better, plus it's cheaper, since it's free.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Using media, decor, etc. from an already established tank will help with the cycle. Just make sure the water is dechlorinated and running for a few days before adding the media. This way, you remove the chlorine before adding the bacteria. I'm not fond of those bacteria starters. They state there's bacteria in a bottle. Bacteria are living organisms, that require food and oxygen. You don't know how long the bacteria have been in the bottle, so you may be buying just dead bacteria. Using media from an established tank is better, plus it's cheaper, since it's free.

Thats what I was thinking. I'll also add the Discus before the Angels to give them a sense of them being the onwers, this way i'm hoping the Angels will avoid them more.

 

[cheesy feet]

The whole angel fish killing discus thing was true years back(i think,or atleast it neverwas).I talked to 2 guys at a fish shop around 6 months ago who kept a beautifal discus/angelfish & planted tank.The said that angelfish don't give discus parasites and they are a very good tank mate.Sorry i didn't read the rest of the post im tired and can't be botherd lol

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Thank you cheesy feet! I'm still glad I'm getting more people who say that angels and discus are okay, just makes me feel more confident about the whole thing.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Yes, they are fine tank mates. As I suggest to many people, I would select very active, aggressive eating discus to put in the tank before the discus. Make sure these discus are not scared when people approach the tank and will look for food when you approach the tank. This way, the discus regard themselves as the kings of the tanks. Then when you add the angel later, they would consider the discus as more dominant middle swimmer. The reason is, angel's are little more aggressive eaters than discus. Discus being more shy and timid. If you added the discus after the angels, the discus may not get a share of the food. This is just by observance. I was very fortunate to find very aggressive discus, which I added to my already established tank with angels.