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Home      Reply		Viewed: 523 -- Replies: 44
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Posted	Got my tank for discus
06-06-2007 13:44 by Lnrak	I have just bought this (ain't ebay great (sometimes!!)). Sprayed the lid and surround silver and will be set up as a discus tank. Do you think that using some of my water from my established community tank would be better than letting it cycle on it's own? All my fish are very healthy, and my parrot cichlids laid last week, so surely this is an indication of good water quality? Opinions please - let it cycle itself - or help it along with half of established water and alter accordingly when I eventually buy a test kit? Also - reccomendations of test kits welcome that tell me what I need to know for discus parameters. Info greatly appreciated.
06-06-2007 13:45 by Lnrak	£20...must be a bargain - with fluval 2 plus, built in light and heater.....
06-06-2007 13:53 by telboy	what size is the tank ? lnrak
06-06-2007 13:59 by tank busters	looks a bit small for discus
06-06-2007 14:01 by Lnrak	It's only smallish - it's 80w x 41h x 31d - was hoping to buy a breeding pair and try my hand, as that would be all I could keep in it due to it's size. I have a juwel trigon 190 community tank, and space is very scarce in my house (especially with 3 kids and their stuff!) I'm new to discus, and have been researching them for weeks. Kept tropicals very succesfully for years. Advice welcomed telboy
06-06-2007 14:03 by telboy	tanks too small mate, if ya serious id go for minimum size of 48"x24"x24"
06-06-2007 14:04 by Lnrak	*** surely one pair would be ok??
06-06-2007 14:05 by Lnrak	didn't know it would do that with my first word...wasn't that bad - it was only ***
06-06-2007 14:06 by Lnrak	That's a large tank - don't think I could fine the space to be honest
06-06-2007 14:07 by tank busters	try again mate
06-06-2007 14:12 by Lnrak	Keep it simple, is the first thing i would say.What i mean by this is all i use to breed discus is a small 24"x15"x12" or for bigger pairs a 30"x15"x12"tank . Taken this from a very well known discus breeder off the internet. What's the difference if I use the same size of tank? Easy to keep clean too Help me out peoples
06-06-2007 14:14 by Lnrak	Is this qoute misguided?
06-06-2007 14:24 by tank busters	ive seen pairs in 2ft tanks with breeding cones as long as u have a compatible pair cant see no probs really
06-06-2007 14:25 by tank busters	u want to keep the tank substrate free and have a air powered foam filter for filtration
06-06-2007 14:28 by Lnrak	That's great news. Yes - plan to have it substrate free - just the cone. Is an air powered foam filter enough on it's own? Was thinking also a fluval internal, both to aid filtration and aerate the water??
06-06-2007 14:52 by tank busters	try it and see what happens dont want the fish being blown about.
06-06-2007 14:57 by Lnrak	Back to the original question then - let it cycle with 100% new water, or start it with 50/50 of my established water?
06-06-2007 15:11 by tank busters	u need fish to help cycle the filter or it wont establish itsself
06-06-2007 15:12 by bluboy	get the gunk from one of ur filters to seed the new filter
06-06-2007 15:47 by telboy	id use some filter medium from running filter + use half of old water too
06-06-2007 15:53 by Lnrak	Yes - was thinking of taking out the filter sponges and carbon and putting them in the new fluval, then replacing the medium in the established tank. Ta for that - will do.
06-06-2007 15:53 by scott_91	Yeh just backing up what others have said i dont recon you will have problems if there a matched pair and i would use a mature filter and 20% old water and 80% R.O water.
06-06-2007 15:55 by Lnrak	Thanks all - will be hopefully looking for a matched pair then when I come back off my hols
06-06-2007 15:56 by Lnrak	Anyone used mail order for discus? Don't fancy it really, but opinions would be of interest to me.
06-06-2007 17:33 by mark770	I breed my discus in cubes 18"x18" and this is ideal for breeding so that any fry can easily find their parents. Tanks can be matured using dirty water mixed with fresh. If you can get some gravel from an old tank and put into a filter, then this will also help as gravel is a great medium for beneficial bacteria. An internal filter is no good for breeding tanks as they will suck in the fry, but would be fine to help you mature your tank
06-06-2007 17:45 by Cichlid Fury	36x15x18 can be done for discus at a bare minimum if you read and ask about, maybe keep 4 and then upgrade when either they get too big and/or you get more experience its pushing it a bit, but then again i certainly would not go so far as to say it has to be 48x24x24 According to the literature and most advice about keeping just a "pair" of discus, this usually isnt the best way to start, mostly you will read discus do better in small groups and then let them pair off naturally and also if you buy a "pair" there is no gaurentee they will remain a "pair" in terms of breeding once you move them to a different tank When people respond about needing big tanks for discus its mostly "big tanks" because its easier to maintain water quality in a bigger tank, so that obviously suits discuss, apart from wanted to have a minimum of 18" high, discus dont actually NEED loads of space
06-06-2007 19:17 by Lnrak	Thats really helpful - thanks
06-06-2007 21:13 by Woz	then start waterchanges after a day
06-06-2007 21:13 by Woz	you want to get your a bag of shite from your established tank, and dump it in the new one, all the bacteria will get sucked up by the filter if its powerful enough, and get you well on your way...its just the same as maturing the tank with fish only quicker and easier in my view
06-06-2007 21:16 by -Rob C-	You want to breed them, but don't have much space.So where you going to grow on all the babies? They need atleast one tank too.
06-06-2007 21:20 by ChensDiscus	In my opinion, the tank is more than adequate for a breeding pair. But before you decide to buy a breeding pair, I would suggest to try your hands on getting in some cheaper fish. Once you have got the hang of the water parameters and have learnt a bit, then to move slowly into breeding pairs. You dont want to buy a breeding pair and realise that you have made a mistake and loose them. Also, as Rob mentioned, where are you going to keep the babies if you do successfully breed them??
06-06-2007 21:30 by paul stevens	Yeah thats more than enough i could use that tank for my oddballs aswell.
06-06-2007 22:41 by Lnrak	if i did succesfully breed them - then i would FIND the space to grow them on!! it's just that a 4ft tank 2ft deep would be too big for me. I could find room for another tank - just not that big May take advice though and maybe buy some younger discus to make sure everything is okay. Thats maybe a better idea for a newbie to discus. Plus a couple of hundred quid is a lot for them to die and replace. Advice is greatly welcomed - thanks very much.
06-06-2007 22:51 by Jim Son	looks like your tank is fine then Lnrak, good one, good luck
07-06-2007 12:36 by Lnrak	Ta very much
07-06-2007 13:28 by Alan	Best bet would be to go larger for simplicities sake with maintaining exceptionally high water quality which is necessary to succesfully raise fry. Work out the biggest tank you could accomodate and get one made to measure. I know many say you shouldn't have particularly fast flowing water with discus but I suspect they would appreciate a lot of water movement consider a couple of spray bars attached to maxijet power heads with sponges added to boost water circulation I would say this would be very important with a small tank. Take a look at this site there is mention of water turnover akin to that of a reef tank on a discus tank and the fish doing fantastically well. http://www.freshwaterstingray.nl/Frames%20Engels/English.html
07-06-2007 14:46 by Lnrak	thank you
07-06-2007 16:02 by Lnrak	Good website - worth a read
07-06-2007 21:45 by Adele	Breeding pairs are not guaranteed to breed for you when you bring them home, if that happens you could then end up with two very unhappy discus as they prefer to be in a group of 5 or 6! If you want to keep discus get a bigger tank and get some smaller discus and learn! They are a beautiful fish and very enjoyable. They are also fascinating parents but it's heartbreaking if anything goes wrong!
09-06-2007 17:18 by netty d	i think breeding pairs prefer to be alone if left in a group they would never reproduce as the others would eat the eggs. And besides, do you do it for an audience don't answer that
09-06-2007 18:09 by -Rob C-	Some pairs lose their bond after being transported, so end up just being 2 discus. Discus prefer being in groups. So Netty Adeles point was totally valid, so no need to question it or laugh at it.
09-06-2007 19:25 by Jim Son	you cant just get 2 discus and expect them to spawn, mostly always you get a group of 5 or 6 or more and let two pair off.
09-06-2007 20:06 by netty d	i think she was talking about buying a pair once they pair up they pair for life or until one or the other dies and rob.....as i said, they need to be alone together to breed.....not in a group of 5 or 6
11-06-2007 18:57 by -Rob C-	They don't necesarily pair up for life Netty, sometimes the stress of moving can cause them to fall out of love, lol.
11-06-2007 20:08 by netty d	lol, yeah i can relate to that.......lmao.

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