Jess

I've got 6 discus. 2 of the turks look like they've been winking and flirting with each other. The one I believe is the male has become very territorial. So today I ran out and bought a 25 gal. tank for the two. I'm hoping on cutting down on the bickering that's been going on. My avetar is being shredded by these two, tail beginning to split and shred. Makes me sad to watch what's going on. So do you think its ok to move one of two HOB filters from my 55 to the 25? If they actually lay eggs I will place a sponge filter in the tank and get that going along with terracotta pot. Is there anything else other than a heater you can think of for this set up? Matt any suggestions?
Think I've got MTS now!

Slug

Sure should be fine to do that. What i do is move a sponge filter or HOB filter right away, drain water out of the main tank and fill up the breeding tank with the water i drained out of the other tank. Thats basically like the same tank then. Then just put them in. Wait a day or so then do a WC and its like nothing ever happened.

For the sponge filter make sure its seeded already so that when you cut the HOB filter off or remove it, or whatever you plan on doing with it, that the sponge filter can easily just pick up the load and not send your tank into a cycle or something. You can seed it in another tank for the time being, just make sure its established going into the breeding tank.

Nothing else really, breeding tanks are simple usually. Bare with a heater and sponge filter and a pot or cone for them to lay on.

I had to pull one of my fish today and put it in the "big boys" tank because it was to bossy. Needless to say its learning its lesson and is at the bottom of the totem pole in the new tank.

Reminds me though, i need to go pickup another 20gal.

Jess

Hi Matt,
I warned my partner, "don't be surprised if you come home to a new tank!" Thank god he's a good sport and just laughed. He says I got it BAD.
Got the tank up and running. I did as you suggested. Only I put in a little over half the volume from the old tank to the new and replaced remaining with fresh water. Put spare HOB on. I love having two filters, it gives you a safety net. Also added a terracotta flower pot I first boiled. I seemed to notice a sigh of relief from all tanks. phew! Finally some elbow room. (I ended up with a 25 gal. Would a 20 have been OK?)
I will place the sponge filter in soon and let it begin to collect beneficial bio. How long would you guess it would take to seed before removing HOB. I'm guessing at least a few weeks. What do you think?
Thanks for your reply.
Jess
PS. Had to return the light. So mad at myself for not testing it in the first place. You expect new things out of boxes to work, right? Live and learn.

Slug

I use a 20gal for my pair. Might put a pair in a 15H. It really depends on the size of the pair, smaller pairs can get away with smaller spaces. Also small spaces give you more of a chance to have the fry attach to the parents sucessfully.

A few weeks would probably be a good guess.

Jess

thanks