lindy240

Hi all. Well, I've had fish for 5 or 6 years. Just had a29 gallon and 10 gallon tank in the past. So I wanted to try discus as they are so cool and because of that, I bought a 55 gallon tank. But, now that it is set up I am kinda thinking that it could be a lot more like a job than hobby. I can deal with weekly water changes... but the more I read, it talks about keeping a barrel of waater and aerating it and heating it so it is the same as they are used to in the tank for the changes. One site that suggested this said I' have to clean that tank weekly to prevent bacteria.

The LFS guy said I'd need to at least buy RO wanter for half the amount of water needed for water changes. That is at least 7 gallons weekly. Or I could buy a ro filtration system but those are very costly (2-300). Guess I'm overwhelmed. I may just stick to all the pretty fish I have been raising.

Tony G.

Good day lindy, hopefully someone with discus experience will come along shortly

Tony

Slug

Hey Lindy, what are your water parameters right now straight out of the tap? A lot of the things you described doing in your post are done because the water out of the tap isn't ideal for discus. Sometimes its perfectly fine.

I use straight tap water, no aging barrel, no RO, etc. I wish I had access to that stuff, but at this time there is no room for it. My discus have been just fine.

Depending on the tank setup and what you feed though, you might have to do more water changes. Theres a lot of room for different ways with fish, even discus these days. What works for one may not work for the other and the fish could be perfectly fine.

lindy240

Hey thanks for writing. Well I decided I'm not ready to chance it with discus. I know my Indiana water is pretty hard. I am trying angelfish instead. But I bought some substrate and put it in and have a muddy mess in the water. Hope it settles down.

lindy240

Hi all, well, I got my tank set and chose my fish. Come have a look. It's not discus.