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  • Discus

    K, guys, I was at Fish R Us today, and I have decided to do discus. what i need to know is this...

    I have well water here in coldspring, and all of my fish do really well in it. is there anything that I need to add to the water for the discus, besides keeping them at 84-86 degrees?

    i set the tank up on friday, the filters that I put on the tank have been running for about 8 months, one is a fluval 304, and the other is a hob type filter, i kept the pads in the hob filter, and just switched the fluval over also.

    how long should I wait. There have been some mollies in the tank since i set it up, and I added some angel rams today.

    Shaun
    Soon to have tanks up and going again!

  • #2
    if i was you id contact dan at HAW heel help you get started right the first time

    good luck
    And it begins...

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    • #3
      + 1 with talking with Dan first. All three of us FAR north siders need to set up a road trip to see Dan and the new shop owners!! LMK

      FF

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      • #4
        Well... help post a little bit more info on your setup. It'll help us get a better idea on it.

        pH, gH, tds (if possible) temp, size of tank, how many discus etc.

        for domestics any pH between 6ish and high 7s should be ok
        gH should be less than 5ish, try to keep tds less than 300ms or so if you want to breed, but typically not an issue if not breeding.
        I keep adults in 82-ish degrees. Growouts get higher temps at 84 - 86.
        Rule of thumb (loosely) one adult per 10 gal minimum. But this really depends of your setup.
        Try to keep at least 4 or 5 individuals to spread out the aggression. Otherwise one of them (usually the runt) will get picked on severely.

        good luck!
        Last edited by nacra99; 08-19-2009, 11:11 AM.
        www.ventralfins.com

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        • #5
          Dan is a wonderful resource for info on discus. I think you'll also find a reliable, ready resource of long-time discus keepers here on the box as well.

          I started keeping discus in '89, was told by the breeder to keep them well-fed, warm and their water clean, which I did. The four Schmidt-Focke hi-fin brilliant green #5s grew into monsters.

          I was hooked and have pretty much kept them since then.

          Many think it's necessary to keep a fish in the same EXACT conditions in which it evolved. We hobbyists are finding that this isn't true.

          Discus come from soft, acidic water, true. As mentioned,they will adapt to a wide range of hardness and ph, though. I currently have wild green discus which live in water that's sometimes 700 ppm TDS with a nominal ph of 7.6...they're thriving, and a pair just spawned two days ago.

          Fish have no receptors for ph and have no idea what the ph of the water they're in is. What we often call ph shock is actually osmotic shock from the TDS differences we subject fish to and not the ratio of hydrogen to hydroxyl in the water. Robert T. Ricketts explains this ph myth in several of his articles which are must reading for any hobbyist, IMO.

          They are not the delicate flowers that some folks feel they are. Discus are tough fish that come from a very hostile environment. Anyone who's ever bought a wild discus with a swirl-patterned scar from a piranha hit will attest to that.

          They have their challenges but the same advice I got from that original breeder still applies...keep 'em well-fed, warm and their water clean.

          Mark
          What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

          Robert Anson Heinlein

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          • #6
            Sounds like interesting reading, Mark! Is this online, in article form, or book form? I would google the author, but I'm on my phone. :)

            Thanks!
            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Mzungu View Post
              Sounds like interesting reading, Mark! Is this online, in article form, or book form? I would google the author, but I'm on my phone. :)

              Thanks!
              Mzungu, love the pic of your Jenday.....
              Soon to have tanks up and going again!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by cms6175 View Post
                Mzungu, love the pic of your Jenday.....
                Thanks! She wears the pants in my apartment. :)
                "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Mzungu View Post
                  Thanks! She wears the pants in my apartment. :)
                  it is the same with my yellow shouldered amazons, who consequently decided to take a bath in my 95 gallon polleni tank last night, he was not pleased when they nipped a couple of times....

                  hee hee
                  Soon to have tanks up and going again!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mzungu View Post
                    Sounds like interesting reading, Mark! Is this online, in article form, or book form? I would google the author, but I'm on my phone. :)

                    Thanks!
                    Apparently many of his articles weren't archived and were lost when AquariumBoard died. That, or my googling skills suck. I was able to find some of his articles, but not the one dispelling the aquarium myths, except "Salt of the Earth". I'll keep lookin'.

                    Mark
                    What are the facts? Again and again and again--what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore devine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue.

                    Robert Anson Heinlein

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Mzungu View Post
                      Thanks! She wears the pants in my apartment. :)
                      I'm surprised you can keep a Jenday in your apt. The ones I've come across have been a tad loud. But then again our Grey can get extremely loud. He thinks he has to compete against both the tv and the phone. Speaking of spoiled that bird doesn't know what a cage is other than to sit on top of it!
                      Karen

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by cms6175 View Post
                        it is the same with my yellow shouldered amazons, who consequently decided to take a bath in my 95 gallon polleni tank last night, he was not pleased when they nipped a couple of times....

                        hee hee
                        Oh no! The Amazon nipped the fish??

                        Too cute.
                        "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by wesleydnunder View Post
                          Apparently many of his articles weren't archived and were lost when AquariumBoard died. That, or my googling skills suck. I was able to find some of his articles, but not the one dispelling the aquarium myths, except "Salt of the Earth". I'll keep lookin'.

                          Mark
                          :) I'm sure your googling skills are exceptional. But I'll try to look now, too. :)
                          "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by thekarens View Post
                            I'm surprised you can keep a Jenday in your apt. The ones I've come across have been a tad loud. But then again our Grey can get extremely loud. He thinks he has to compete against both the tv and the phone. Speaking of spoiled that bird doesn't know what a cage is other than to sit on top of it!
                            "A tad loud." Oh, dear! I didn't know "closing your ears" was possible until I got her! I'm fortunate to have nice, understanding neighbors, and although she's spoiled, a bird that USUALLY understands that screaming time is only when I get home after work, and not in the morning. :) (And wow, did that take a few years to accomplish!)

                            I'll start a thread in the lounge for parrots, so we don't jack this discus thread. :)
                            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                            • #15
                              Teaser:

                              "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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