For Beginner Discus Keepers

Starting this thread just to give anyone who’s thinking of starting a Discus tank some info. So many people will try this not knowing what there getting into. I’m no master discus guru!! I’m a keeper. I keep discus I don’t breed them and I’m not into growing them big for show. Just a keeper.

My fish





Tthese are 2 different tanks. Both 125g 11 in the first 13 in the second. I will add pictures as I go . I going to be adding to this as I go so be patient there is a lot of info .

Keeping discus is not hard it’s time consuming. Water quality is the most important thing. Clean water first. Not just anybody can start a discus tank. It’s best if you’ve already kept fish and know how to cycle a tank and care for fish. Know what tanks require and know how to test tank water. Starting without this knowledge is a recipe for disaster.

Discus can handle a ph of 6.5 to 8.5. So there not that demanding of a fish. They need a temp of 82-86 and they need to be fed good food sources. Freeze dried black worms (fdbw) beef heart (Bh) quality flakes and pellets and frozen foods suck as blood worms and brime shrimp. All of these they need and mixing these up keeps all your discus eating.

Now because your feeding all these foods during the day the tank water needs to be cleaned. So that’s why the big water changes and to add minerals back into the tank. Young discus need to be fed a lot. Older discus can be fed twice a day like your regular tanks.

Discus grow for most of there first 2 years. 2” 3 month old discus need many feeding a day and at least a 50% water change daily. Water changing is the same as water changing your regular tank. If it’s working fine in your regular tank it will work for your discus. It’s just daily till your fish reach 4” about 5-6months old. Some discus will grow bigger and faster than others. Some slower.

When your majority is at the 4” mark you can change water every other day. Do this till your fish reach the 6” mark. Than you can slow down your water changes. At this point you’ve been watching and caring for your discus for 6+ months so you should really know your fish.

Watch and see how the fish react to less water changes. They’ve got to adjust. Many ways to slow down the water changes. Change less water daily every other day or just do one or 2 bigger changes a week. After a few month of playing with the water you’ll know what works.

Discus don’t like dirty water and will let you know. Some will get pimples on them. If you see this you’ve went to long without a water change. These pimples go away in a few water changes. The fish that get these pimples are your go to fish. Always watch them.



Notice the pimple on the back of the top fin.

Next I’ll talk about tank set up.

 

Tanks for discus should be big. 4-6’ minimum. A 75g would be the smallest tank I’d suggest. Anything smaller would make a great grow out tank. Growing out discus in a smaller tank works out great for you and the fish. You start smaller. Say a 40 or 45g. With this tank you can get 6-10 2” discus.

Take filter media out of your other tanks and add it to this tanks filter. Get an ATI sponge filter big enough for a 60g tank and an air pump for it. Put that in and run it. Than what I use is an odyssey 250 sponge powerhead. You could also use an hob that moves at least 250gph. The day before you get your discus put this in the tank with 1 of its sponges and the media from your existing tanks in the other chamber. Your not worried about cycling because of the water changes you’ll be doing. This size tank will greatly reduce the amount of water your changing. Figure you’ll change 25g a day.

Every other day I would rinse a filter in wc water. This way every day you clean one filter. Not much needed in a grow out tank. Bare bottom a heater that will reach 90 degrees your filters and a light. A piece of driftwood would be good for decor.




So you’ve got your grow out tank going and your deciding on your main tank. For a 75 6-8 discus as you go bigger you can add more. Like 12 for a 125 15 for a 150 and so on. These fish do grow big 4 to 6” round so you don’t want to many. Now this bigger tank will be your main tank so you want to think about how you want it. Many discus keepers continue on the bare bottom (bb) approach.

This keeps the water cleaner and easier to care for. Next is filtration. Many choices here. Your looking for good filtration for cleaner water. Again your keeping your discus not breeding or growing out. So this is your next big choice. If you already keeping planted tanks and know what your doing and what your water grows. You may want to go with a semi planted tank. This is the hardest discus tank to maintain. I’ll come back to this later. Nowifyou want a regular tank with some substrate on the bottom and some decor in the tank this can be done. But you only want to add a small amount of gravel. Say a half inch. Than do your decor as you want. Many ideas online. When you water change you’ll need to vacuum through the substrate. So this makes it that much harder than bare bottom.

So you’ve decided what your doing and now filtration. For a 75 an fx4 or similar will work. For bigger go with the fx6. Also a wet/dry or a sump system will work. These come in all sizes. For me I like 2 sources of filtration. My backup is the odyssea. It’s cheap under $20 2models a 250 or a 350. Sponge filter and great for starting up a qt tank if needed. Qt will be that grow out tank you started with.

So as your seeing not only is it time consuming it’s expensive . And we haven’t even bought discus!! Below if you want to venture into planted tanks.

To the planted tank. To many this is the way to go. I’ve kept planted tanks for 30yrs. Discus twice now. Started in the late 80s the heyday of discus. Back than the goal was a planted discus tank. Now not so much. Most will tell you it’s to hard to do and maintain. This is true. Plants trap debris under them as does decor. Plants need a deep substrate. Plants don’t like warm water and plants don’t like their substrate constantly being vacumed. But that’s what you’ll be doing with a planted tank. My first 125 is planted with a 1” to 1.5” of gravel. The gravel is about 1/4” thick. I started this tank with small plants and small fish.




It’s changed as its grown. But the discus did grow in it. Thing is you have to vacuum the gravel regularly. Me I vacuum with every water change. So this tank takes about 1.5 hrs to change. Plants will grow. Not all but most. Some plants like fish in warm water will grow out quickly and start dying. These need to be moved. Many will struggle in the warm water but once they adjust will grow.

Remember the discus come first so if you see a plant dying remove it. Being planted you’ll need ferts and lighting and a Uv steralizer. I would not recommend using co2 or trying carpeting plants. A failure of the co2 could kill your fish $$$. Carpeting plants will hold debris in them and you don’t want to be vacuuming them all the time. Your really looking for easy plant.

What I did with my new tank is I went with planters. I found ones that were a foot long and 3” wide and filled them with gravel and root tabs and added plants. This tank I went with about a 1/2” of fine gravel. 20lbs for a 125g.. so far this is much easier than the old tank. This tank takes about a hour to change water.

My old tank is 2 years old


this new tank is about 2-3 months old



The old tank has an fx6 and odyssea 350 and the new a wet/dry with the 350. I’m very happy with the wet dry. I think it the better filtration. Here’s side pics of both tanks. Cleaned yesterday.


first pic is old second new. Look how much clearer the new one is.

Next I’ll talk about getting your discus .

 

Ok buying your discus. This is where it all begins. How much will you spend? Will you get it shipped? Is it best to buy from lps?

Most beginners will buy locally. Buying locally you need to know what to look for. Unfortunately discus don’t sell. Very few people keep them. Those that do mostly buy online from the same vendor. This is the best way. But if buying locally your looking for round fish not football shaped. Your looking at tanks with only discus in them. If the discus are with other fish your not interested. It’s always best to get them when the store first gets them. The longer they’ve been in the store the more chance there’s something wrong with them.

Always QT your new discus. Never add directly to your main tank. People have wiped out there tanks by not doing this. Most stories of illness start with “I just added”. This is true with plants too. Everything gets qt. Know your store and visit it a lot to see how there discus are before you buy. I say buy small and grow out. Small fish you know are young. Most stores buy from the same wholesaler who buys from the same breeder. They will buy different sizes of the same fish. So if you look at the bigger fish you can guess what the small ones will look like. Here’s some pics of a store that knows discus.



Not the best pic but these fish are about 2-3” fish.
Waters clean and changed regularly. Fish fins are extended and there round in shape. Though there is a black one front left. That fish should be avoided and because of that that’s why we qt. Could just be stress. So I would still chance these fish.

Next tank is the larger ones


looking at these they are good looking discus.
These are about 4” with nice round body’s extended fins and nice markings. If you can afford these they’re good choices. Now the smaller ones are from the same place so they should grow to these shapes. This is what your looking for in a store bought fish.

Now below is what to avoid.


these are the football shape I said to avoid. They are in a tank with other fish and in general just a dirty looking tank.


These are the small version. Notice not many in either tank. Why? Nobody’s buying them. In both tanks the fish are huddled in corners. Reason is there are other types of fish in the tank. Fish that don’t belong with discus. Notice the clamped fins and the black fish. Now you might spot a nice colored discus in a tank like this. But I would avoid. Now here is their premium discus


as you can see they are football shaped.From these 2 discus 2 years later this is what they look like



notice the first one. It’s eye is oversized from its body. It looks to big. This fish is about 3.5” long but 2 yrs old. Local pet stores will sell this as a 3.5” fish. They won’t tell you it’s 2yrs old. The one below has a better eye to body ratio and is 5” long. Not a bad looking fish but no where near perfect. It’s eye is also to big.

 

This is all good info you are sharing Tom .
Many should thank you and pay particular attention to the things you say to avoid .
A successful discus keeper is a patient keeper .They don't buy just any discus ,or at least they shouldn't..
They should know what to look for and not settle for less.

 

Thanks coral!

Here’s a pic of those 2 about 2 weeks after I got them. The dark one is the small one. Look at the pic you can see than that this fish wasn’t right. Now the 2 orange ones have a great body shape and nice color. All are around 1.5” so they’re tiny.
see how the eye to body looks right compared to the dark blue.
This is an orange 2 yrs later. This guys just short of 6 “ and has a great body shape.

Now these are 2 discus that that I would say were born last may. I’ve owned since June. First is a German
these discus were bought online. Notice how he’s a little beaky. This seems to be a German trait.This guys around 9 months old and about 6” wide. Now this next fish is Asian and around the same age and size as the last.
notice the forehead goes straight down no beak. Both of these fish look at the eye to body ratio. These guys are perfect. Looks like you could fit 3 eyes above and below the eye. Perfect for a 6” fish. Eyes are small so you know this is a young fish.
Now here are a pair of 2yr old German fish.

notice these discus eyes are bigger but still right for the body. These fish are 6+”. For me these are my 2 best discus. Body shape is perfect. Notice the beak is gone left is a small hump. These last 4 discus were bought from online sellers. Now not all will come out like these. Here’s a pic of 4 of my new eight Germans
the center fish is the same age. The 2 in the front are almost twice it’s size and the last guy is 4”. So different fish grow at different stages of there life. Another year will tell me what there going to look like.
Now not all will look the same grown out. Here’s another 2 yr old discus and it’s the same size as the last 2.
this guys 6+” but the body shape isn’t as good as the other 2. Now to me I don’t care I’m just a keeper. A grower may have culled this fish. Here’s a pic with its sibling. It’s a full inch smaller.
But this discus was 2” smaller 6 months ago. I’m surprised how it’s still growing. So you don’t know when there growth spurts will happen.

 

Next is on-line sellers. This is your best option. The good sellers are selling their fish regularly and getting new stock. Not many breed there own stock anymore. You want a recommended seller. There are many scams. So recomended or someone who will show you pictures of the fish your getting. The good sellers are dealing with one breeder overseas. So all their stock comes from the same place. Look for one with a big choice of colors. Ones I’ve used are Hans discus: these are German discus. Stendker.These to me are the best beginner discus. He sells smaller sizes and they grow big. They can handle many water conditions and when grown it is advertised they can go with one 30% weekly water change. Kenny’s discus: these are Asian discus from Forest discus. These will require clean water and water changes. These discus start at bigger sizes. Usually 4” and bigger. Beautiful colors and healthy fish. These fish are sold out monthly. Usually within hours of being shown. So a little tougher to get. Uncle Sams discus: Asian discus. Again a monthly seller but much easier to get his fish and he does get smaller sizes. Mixed results here. I bought 2 at 5” and 5.5” and neither grew since bought. Both are fine but I was expecting growth.
Another seller is Dennis discus. Asian discus. I haven’t bought from him but he’s got a great reputation will send pics of the fish he’s selling you and gets some nice discus. There are many others with good reps. Please ask before you buy.
Many others are a gamble. discus .com should be avoided. Uses other sellers pictures. IFish can also be hit or miss. Many of these seller are buying their fish from wholesalers. These are discus coming from different breeders and getting combined and sold online. Read reviews!! Not just there sales gimmicks.

Problem with different breeders is many breeders fish have become immune to some diseases and when mixed with different discus that aren’t immune they wipe out the others. Different discus could be immune to different diseases and when mixed wipe out each other. Many stories about this happening. This is why you always qt new fish 4-6 weeks. Next add a hero fish to the new fish to see what happens. Leave them together for a month to be sure.

 

Been mia for a while, been so busy back at work but what a great write up you taught me alot on keeping discus and it's awesome to see you share that with others.

 

Ok I’m adding medicines to this. For me I’ve never medicated till now. For me clean water has always been the answer. BUT these fish are susceptible to diseases. Big thing and what happens the most is cross contamination. Seems breeders are breeding their discus to be immune to some stuff. There fish are immune but most other breeders fish aren’t. And different breeders fish are immune to different things. Most are bacterial. This just happened to me. Bought 2 new fish locally from a place I’ve bought before. They looked great and still look great but had something on them that I transferred into both my other tanks. For me I qt new fish so this must have moved on my hands or a peice of equipment. Even though I have separate equipment for the qt room. So even with what I thought was the best preparation wasn’t.
When my first tank started showing signs something was wrong I went with adding salt at 2tbs for 10g and changing 50% water daily. Next I lowered the temp to 82 this slows down bacterial diseases. The warmer the water the faster the bacteria will grow. 82 is the lowest you want to go for discus. Fish continued getting worse. Went to 4tbs on day three and 6 on day 4. This slowed everything down. Because the tank was planted I had to remove most plants. Something to think about if your going planted. On day 3 the cc jumped to my other tank. Found info online about using rid-ich plus for cc and did this in the second tank. This seemed to stop the spread very fast. Fish were still black but eating. Has taken 11 days now on this tank but the fish are looking much better. On day 10 I added 1tbs salt to this tank. Back on the main tank with salt on day 9 I added the rid-ich plus and had a huge result in one day. Blue discus started showing color again and all started eating. So rid-ich plus does work for cc and bacterial diseases (your discus turning black and showing their slime coat). But the salt also helped and I recommend both.

Thing I learned with meds is go slowly and follow directions.
Lots of meds out there that take care of different things. Again discus are different than any other fish. This contamination didn’t go into my other tank and didn’t bother any of the dither fish in the discus tank. So with discus it’s best to have some meds on hand. Things I will recommend is rid-ich plus, furan II, prazipro , metroplex and for eggs methylene blue. Keep these on hand.

 

Thanks coral!

Here’s a pic of those 2 about 2 weeks after I got them. The dark one is the small one. Look at the pic you can see than that this fish wasn’t right. Now the 2 orange ones have a great body shape and nice color. All are around 1.5” so they’re tiny.View attachment 762596see how the eye to body looks right compared to the dark blue.
This is an orange 2 yrs later. This guys just short of 6 “ and has a great body shape.View attachment 762601
Now these are 2 discus that that I would say were born last may. I’ve owned since June. First is a GermanView attachment 762599these discus were bought online. Notice how he’s a little beaky. This seems to be a German trait.This guys around 9 months old and about 6” wide. Now this next fish is Asian and around the same age and size as the last.View attachment 762598notice the forehead goes straight down no beak. Both of these fish look at the eye to body ratio. These guys are perfect. Looks like you could fit 3 eyes above and below the eye. Perfect for a 6” fish. Eyes are small so you know this is a young fish.
Now here are a pair of 2yr old German fish.View attachment 762615View attachment 762617notice these discus eyes are bigger but still right for the body. These fish are 6+”. For me these are my 2 best discus. Body shape is perfect. Notice the beak is gone left is a small hump. These last 4 discus were bought from online sellers. Now not all will come out like these. Here’s a pic of 4 of my new eight Germans View attachment 762616the center fish is the same age. The 2 in the front are almost twice it’s size and the last guy is 4”. So different fish grow at different stages of there life. Another year will tell me what there going to look like.
Now not all will look the same grown out. Here’s another 2 yr old discus and it’s the same size as the last 2.View attachment 762630this guys 6+” but the body shape isn’t as good as the other 2. Now to me I don’t care I’m just a keeper. A grower may have culled this fish. Here’s a pic with its sibling. It’s a full inch smaller.View attachment 762631 But this discus was 2” smaller 6 months ago. I’m surprised how it’s still growing. So you don’t know when there growth spurts will happen.

Good stuff. I always noticed one of my discus was a little odd in shape and wasn't ideal but learning about what to look for in the eye size and head is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

 

such a great thread. i really appreciate it. I was really thinking about doing a discus tank in my 55 gallon (48X20X13) but after extensive research ive decided not to. 1, this tank is a little on the small size for a group of 8 or so. 2nd, the daily WC will be a detergent and i would feel extremely guilty if i missed a day or two or went on a weekend get a-away. thank you for posting and validating my concerns... as i wont get these beautiful creatures.

 

Just adding on. I bought 4 more discus a few months back from Dennis discus. Great seller. I ordered these fish in the beginning of the year but with covid the delivery got pushed back months. When they did come in I had a problem with my tanks. Dennis held on to them till my tanks were ready. Now these discus came in at 4.5”. They were 3 red raffleisa and one yellow Marlboro. Here’s a video from May

. Now july these fish have grown nicely. I’ve had them in a 50g doing 50% wc daily. The reds aren’t to red and the yellow looks the closest to a raffleisa. This is what the yellow looks like now
and these are 2 of the reds

good looking discus with great body shape! But not red.

 

Beautiful!
Agree, "Great" seller. Thar's where I got my "Blue Diamonds". Very helpful and guided this novice through the entire transaction. Even worked with me on my scheduling issues.
https://dennisdiscusfish.com/
Highly recommend.

 

Jmaldo that pretty much why I bought from him. Your blue diamonds were great looking. Very happy with these discus! Probably the best guy I deal with so far.

 

They look beautiful ! yes, very happy with Dennis discus the great seller very helpful he also guided me when I was buying.

 

Mine are close to 7” now. Great healthy discus.

Second pic it’s the orange on the bottom

 

Tanks for discus should be big. 4-6’ minimum. A 75g would be the smallest tank I’d suggest. Anything smaller would make a great grow out tank. Growing out discus in a smaller tank works out great for you and the fish. You start smaller. Say a 40 or 45g. With this tank you can get 6-10 2” discus.

Take filter media out of your other tanks and add it to this tanks filter. Get an ATI sponge filter big enough for a 60g tank and an air pump for it. Put that in and run it. Than what I use is an odyssey 250 sponge powerhead. You could also use an hob that moves at least 250gph. The day before you get your discus put this in the tank with 1 of its sponges and the media from your existing tanks in the other chamber. Your not worried about cycling because of the water changes you’ll be doing. This size tank will greatly reduce the amount of water your changing. Figure you’ll change 25g a day.

Every other day I would rinse a filter in wc water. This way every day you clean one filter. Not much needed in a grow out tank. Bare bottom a heater that will reach 90 degrees your filters and a light. A piece of driftwood would be good for decor.

View attachment 761983

So you’ve got your grow out tank going and your deciding on your main tank. For a 75 6-8 discus as you go bigger you can add more. Like 12 for a 125 15 for a 150 and so on. These fish do grow big 4 to 6” round so you don’t want to many. Now this bigger tank will be your main tank so you want to think about how you want it. Many discus keepers continue on the bare bottom (bb) approach.

This keeps the water cleaner and easier to care for. Next is filtration. Many choices here. Your looking for good filtration for cleaner water. Again your keeping your discus not breeding or growing out. So this is your next big choice. If you already keeping planted tanks and know what your doing and what your water grows. You may want to go with a semi planted tank. This is the hardest discus tank to maintain. I’ll come back to this later. Nowifyou want a regular tank with some substrate on the bottom and some decor in the tank this can be done. But you only want to add a small amount of gravel. Say a half inch. Than do your decor as you want. Many ideas online. When you water change you’ll need to vacuum through the substrate. So this makes it that much harder than bare bottom.

So you’ve decided what your doing and now filtration. For a 75 an fx4 or similar will work. For bigger go with the fx6. Also a wet/dry or a sump system will work. These come in all sizes. For me I like 2 sources of filtration. My backup is the odyssea. It’s cheap under $20 2models a 250 or a 350. Sponge filter and great for starting up a qt tank if needed. Qt will be that grow out tank you started with.

So as your seeing not only is it time consuming it’s expensive . And we haven’t even bought discus!! Below if you want to venture into planted tanks.

To the planted tank. To many this is the way to go. I’ve kept planted tanks for 30yrs. Discus twice now. Started in the late 80s the heyday of discus. Back than the goal was a planted discus tank. Now not so much. Most will tell you it’s to hard to do and maintain. This is true. Plants trap debris under them as does decor. Plants need a deep substrate. Plants don’t like warm water and plants don’t like their substrate constantly being vacumed. But that’s what you’ll be doing with a planted tank. My first 125 is planted with a 1” to 1.5” of gravel. The gravel is about 1/4” thick. I started this tank with small plants and small fish.

View attachment 761994

It’s changed as its grown. But the discus did grow in it. Thing is you have to vacuum the gravel regularly. Me I vacuum with every water change. So this tank takes about 1.5 hrs to change. Plants will grow. Not all but most. Some plants like fish in warm water will grow out quickly and start dying. These need to be moved. Many will struggle in the warm water but once they adjust will grow.

Remember the discus come first so if you see a plant dying remove it. Being planted you’ll need ferts and lighting and a Uv steralizer. I would not recommend using co2 or trying carpeting plants. A failure of the co2 could kill your fish $$$. Carpeting plants will hold debris in them and you don’t want to be vacuuming them all the time. Your really looking for easy plant.

What I did with my new tank is I went with planters. I found ones that were a foot long and 3” wide and filled them with gravel and root tabs and added plants. This tank I went with about a 1/2” of fine gravel. 20lbs for a 125g.. so far this is much easier than the old tank. This tank takes about a hour to change water.

My old tank is 2 years old
View attachment 762003
this new tank is about 2-3 months old
View attachment 762004

The old tank has an fx6 and odyssea 350 and the new a wet/dry with the 350. I’m very happy with the wet dry. I think it the better filtration. Here’s side pics of both tanks. Cleaned yesterday.
View attachment 762006
first pic is old second new. Look how much clearer the new one is.

Next I’ll talk about getting your discus .

So happy I read this! I just posted on one of my threads about discus in a 65! and you say 75 min. Thank you this is great to know!

 

My Discus are in a 150 gallon.

 

So happy I read this! I just posted on one of my threads about discus in a 65! and you say 75 min. Thank you this is great to know!

Lol and thanks for likeing that other thread. I forgot all about it. That was were it all started this time around.

So your thinking of discus . Yes the bigger the tank the better. BUT with Facebook I’ve seen many use smaller tanks. The rule of thumb is 1 per 10g.

 

Lol and thanks for likeing that other thread. I forgot all about it. That was were it all started this time around.

So your thinking of discus . Yes the bigger the tank the better. BUT with Facebook I’ve seen many use smaller tanks. The rule of thumb is 1 per 10g.

I was thinking of discus, UNTIL I read how good you are, and realized I have none of that skill yet! I am now thinking I will wait! That thread is so comprehensive and helpful and you are the bomb! I, however, am not (at least not yet!).

 

Thing with discus is time. If your will to dedicate the time you can keep discus.
Did you work on the scratch yet . Still waiting for pic .

 

Thing with discus is time. If your will to dedicate the time you can keep discus.
Did you work on the scratch yet . Still waiting for pic .

Hello!
I ordered Novus and it’s coming tomorrow. I am so pumped! I realized I have to take the tank down and put it on the ground bc it’s 2’ deep & will be tough to get all the way inside of even on the ground! I wish I had a lower place to put it like beneath floor level hahahaha for cleaning the inside! As part of the Novus package, I get some of the disposable cloths which I’m happy about, bc I’ve washed all my microfibers and dried them and they are somewhat sharp. I do have large glass cleaning cloths that I wash by hand but I use those to clean my coffee table so I worry about scratches. I saw cheesecloth is good but then it comes in all different grades and I worry about that! I know you said a soft cloth but I basically take what you say as hard fact and so I want to do it right and get the RIGHT soft cloths hahahahah! Basically I’m (clearly) paranoid bc the tank, when filled, looks pretty good, and knowing me, I’ll wind up ruining it lol. I totally trust you though so I’m in! And I’ll DEf keep you posted/harass you with questions Lolol! Thank you!!!!!! Edit: I picture myself not rubbing enough and getting a haze and then rubbing so hard I ruin it all. I think it’s not as complicated as I think it is! Hahahaha. It just was such a good deal and I can’t or won’t be getting another of these for a loooong while. I’m obsessed with acrylic and I waited years until I found an affordable one bc I refused to have a glass show tank. I know they can be gorgeous too but bc my tank isn’t planted I really need the clarity and beauty of the actual tank. I put a piece of black paper behind my current tank and those darn cories and Angel get so lost. Let me ask you this: I’m rehoming the labs, so if I set up the smaller acrylic tank (26 flatback) at my parents house, and I want a small and nice community, can I put the 7 emerald cories and 9–10 red eye tetras in the 26 flatback? Or just the cories and some smaller tetras TBD later? and if I can do that, any recs for other tank mates (in the 48X13X24) for the two small angels (with or without the red eyes, depending on what tank size they need)? I know I need to go check out tetras and other types and then ask but I just wonder if I can do an all Angel tank, and if so, how many? Just curious! The shop is far away from me so I am trying to get some ideas before I go so I’m not standing in the lobby frantically waiting for replies from you all!!!!! MacZ any thoughts on the part after the Edit!

 

What I do for the inside of the tank is remove tank from stand. Put a towel on top of stand than place the tank with the front on top of the stand. This makes it manageable to reach in. What I used was cut up white t shirts. Lol your worrying to much. It’s really easy. I did one with a drill. Using a buffer bit. But got better long term results by hand. Shouldn’t take longer than a half hour .
Why remove the Cory’s and tetras? They’ll be good with the angels.

 

What I do for the inside of the tank is remove tank from stand. Put a towel on top of stand than place the tank with the front on top of the stand. This makes it manageable to reach in. What I used was cut up white t shirts. Lol your worrying to much. It’s really easy. I did one with a drill. Using a buffer bit. But got better long term results by hand. Shouldn’t take longer than a half hour .
Why remove the Cory’s and tetras? They’ll be good with the angels.

You’re a GENIUS. of course put the tank on its side!!!!! And yes I clearly am overthinking this!
also, the moving of the fish: 1.) my parent’s house is where the 26 flatback hex is, and they want a tank with fish that actually come out and don’t hide so much. I know the cories and tetras are healthy and established, so it’s easier to put them in the tank at my parents (a tank that I don’t see every single day and so I can’t observe it as closely), as opposed to a new group of fish. I do have a hospital tank at my house but of course it’s easier to move established and healthy fishes to another house & 2.) I want fish that really really pop with the black background. I currently have the angels with the cories and tetras on black sand (I had Kribensis in there but traded for cories) and the cories especially totally blend in and are virtually impossible to see. Now, I won’t have black sand in the new tank, but I do want fish that pop so I figured the more space I cleared up in the 65, the more chances I could get more angels or bright tetras. Perhaps that’s silly but it’s just a thought! It’s not that big of a deal though bc I am not having black sand. 3.) mainly, and honestly, I have always wanted a larger tank with a bunch of Angels bc I think they’re so lovely and graceful in a show tank (again, to you all the 48X13X24 65 gallon isn’t so large, but to me it’s huge!). I know it can be sketchy to put new angels in with an old ‘pair’ (who are very small & spawned once or twice a year or so ago, but not since, and they don’t hang out that much but do get along), & the angels I have are so docile, and perhaps moving them all at once (old and new) into a new environment will help any aggression. I do love tetras with angels but I know the tank isn’t huge and so the bioload maybe can’t hold it all? Discus to me are the most stunning in a show tank but second are angels. They are just so relaxing! So just a thought! Maybe I can have more angels and the cories and tetras, or maybe I can’t have any more angels in the space but just thinking! Always Lolol.

 

Ok coming back here with more info on meds. My first use of meds was the cc. Now I’ve had problems after the earlier meds. Meds can be very strong on discus and have lasting effects.
Now what I’ve learned is some other common meds used. Metronidazole “metro”. Metro is used for Hexamitiasis “hex”. Ok hex is a flagellate that lives in the digestive track. They are always there. The immune system keeps them at bay. But when a discus stresses for some reason and stops eating these flagellate now start reproducing. You will notice this by white poo coming from the discus. The poo will have flagellates in it but upon hit the water they die. So this disease isn’t spread. When you see the white poo it’s time to remove that fish into a qt tank and treat with metro. Metro is expensive so the smaller tank is best. This treatment does work. Without treatment hex becomes hole in the head “hith”. When this is seen this treatment will still work but will take longer.

 

How it goes with discus! Just pick up 4 discus. All looked great in the tanks they were in. All from the same place. Got them home and put them into a qt tank. And changed the water daily. For 3 days. I’ve got a cross contamination in this tank . 3 fish from the same place how can this happen!! Well the overseas seller I’m guessing isn’t breeding these fish. He’s traveling around his country and acquiring other breeders discus. He keeps each breeders fish separated while in his care. Then he ships to his contacts in the US. Received here all in separate bags. Each type in their own bag. Now the seller here does the same thing. He puts each bag into its own tank. No mixing going on. Now Me “the buyer” I pick from 3 different tanks. I end up with a cc!! So now the fun begins. The cc just showed last night. So hopefully I can get it in time and clean up these fish. Now of the 4 fish 3 are sick 1 is fine. Guess who got them sick . And that is the proof !

 

Well it’s been a few weeks and I lost one of the 4. Don’t think it was the illness that got it. It was one of the others that was probably in the worst shape. It darted around the tank if I came to close. This darting cause the other to dart and I think this guy hit the wall to hard. This is what happens. But the other 3 have made a big recovery. Stopped the rid-ich gave them a few days break and I’m now giving them para-guard. Just something else to clean them out more.
You can still see a small patch of white on the red guy. He was hit the hardest. Probably be in this tank for a few more months.

 

So started with next med. it’s a 3 day med. So on day 3i drain 80% water and refil. Next day the tank is at 72degrees. Yep forgot to plug in the heater . Plug back i. And wait a see. 2 out of 3 come back fine but the red cover is showing it slime coat. Do another treatment all goes well do the third and yep forgot the heater again! Yes theres a big note on top of the tank now! But they all survive and are eating fine. Give them 3 days of 80%. Water changes and start again with the salt and rid-ich and all looking for though the red still has white patches. Will keep this up for a week and hope it fully recovers.

 

So started with next med. it’s a 3 day med. So on day 3i drain 80% water and refil. Next day the tank is at 72degrees. Yep forgot to plug in the heater . Plug back i. And wait a see. 2 out of 3 come back fine but the red cover is showing it slime coat. Do another treatment all goes well do the third and yep forgot the heater again! Yes theres a big note on top of the tank now! But they all survive and are eating fine. Give them 3 days of 80%. Water changes and start again with the salt and rid-ich and all looking for though the red still has white patches. Will keep this up for a week and hope it fully recovers.View attachment 876384View attachment 876385View attachment 876386View attachment 876387

This is why i place my heaters looooowwwwww in the tank. I am horrible about just walking away once tank is filled.

 

I've done that a few times as well, but it has never caused a problem, different with discus I know. At least it didn't go drastically low and the change would have been gradual. Not like when I accidentally put cold water in one of my tanks - I did not realize the gas heater had gone out due to an issue with the water pipes, only took a few minutes and the temp had dropped from 26C (79F) to below 20 (68F). I lost all the big angelfish and some other fish in the next few days.

Fingers crossed the discus will be OK.

 

This is why i place my heaters looooowwwwww in the tank. I am horrible about just walking away once tank is filled.

Can’t get it any lower. When using meds like this I almost drain the tank. The discus are left sideways in a puddle. Then I refil. So I’ve got to unplug the heater. Sign help now!

I've done that a few times as well, but it has never caused a problem, different with discus I know. At least it didn't go drastically low and the change would have been gradual. Not like when I accidentally put cold water in one of my tanks - I did not realize the gas heater had gone out due to an issue with the water pipes, only took a few minutes and the temp had dropped from 26C (79F) to below 20 (68F). I lost all the big angelfish and some other fish in the next few days.

Fingers crossed the discus will be OK.

Well it was a big drop. 85 to 72 twice. But they all recovered. 2 never showed a problem and the reds white patch got bigger after each time. But it’s been a week and they are looking their best since I got them and eating like crazy. So they’ll be in that tank for awhile longer but now wondering where they end up!

 

Place heater, light and filter on same power strip.
You can't miss them all !!

 

Well as of now the sign is working!! And I like the light on while I’m changing the water .

 

Well as of now the sign is working!! And I like the light on while I’m changing the water .

Yea but you're getting older so just throwing it out there~!

 

Place heater, light and filter on same power strip.
You can't miss them all !!

Place heater, light and filter on same power strip.
You can't miss them all !!

I finally did this with my new set up. The light is plugged into the top plug and the bottom plug has a power strip with heaterS and filter and powerhead. I just click the button and boom! Easier to realize something isn’t plugged in when I don’t see a filter running.

I've done that a few times as well, but it has never caused a problem, different with discus I know. At least it didn't go drastically low and the change would have been gradual. Not like when I accidentally put cold water in one of my tanks - I did not realize the gas heater had gone out due to an issue with the water pipes, only took a few minutes and the temp had dropped from 26C (79F) to below 20 (68F). I lost all the big angelfish and some other fish in the next few days.

Fingers crossed the discus will be OK.

That’s interesting (and sad—I am sorry ). I always wondered what the cut off would be. For example I have heard rams need temps VERY close during a water change. And sometimes I run out of hot water after draining and running for so long and so when I refill the tank with the labs I’ve had the start temp 77 and then took a while to clean the tank so it’s dropped to 76 and refilled with 72 (before I realized—it started warmer—so I then shut down the refill until the hot water is back on) and then I OVER compensate with 80-81. And I’ve wondered how bad that is. I have panicked in the past. I know that isn’t as large of a drop as you have had but I have had 80 original temps with refills of 72 to make it 73 after. Which has made me worry.
Do you think it was the fish sitting at 68 until the tank warmed up or do you think it was the likely 55 degree water hitting them (I say this bc if it started at 79 and ended up at 68 the water must have been MUCH colder to average out to 68). Right??

 

I finally did this with my new set up. The light is plugged into the top plug and the bottom plug has a power strip with heaterS and filter and powerhead. I just click the button and boom! Easier to realize something isn’t plugged in when I don’t see a filter running.

That’s interesting (and sad—I am sorry ). I always wondered what the cut off would be. For example I have heard rams need temps VERY close during a water change. And sometimes I run out of hot water after draining and running for so long and so when I refill the tank with the labs I’ve had the start temp 77 and then took a while to clean the tank so it’s dropped to 76 and refilled with 72 (before I realized—it started warmer—so I then shut down the refill until the hot water is back on) and then I OVER compensate with 80-81. And I’ve wondered how bad that is. I have panicked in the past. I know that isn’t as large of a drop as you have had but I have had 80 original temps with refills of 72 to make it 73 after. Which has made me worry.
Do you think it was the fish sitting at 68 until the tank warmed up or do you think it was the likely 55 degree water hitting them (I say this bc if it started at 79 and ended up at 68 the water must have been MUCH colder to average out to 68). Right??

Yes, it was the latter, a very quick change in temperature, I didn’t even fill the whole tank with cold, it was coming out at the right temperature initially, I had checked twice, on the third check it had dropped so quickly, that is what killed them, Not the low temperature per se, a gradual change would have been OK, it’s about 152 gallons so takes a while to fill 50%.

I finally did this with my new set up. The light is plugged into the top plug and the bottom plug has a power strip with heaterS and filter and powerhead. I just click the button and boom! Easier to realize something isn’t plugged in when I don’t see a filter running.

That’s interesting (and sad—I am sorry ). I always wondered what the cut off would be. For example I have heard rams need temps VERY close during a water change. And sometimes I run out of hot water after draining and running for so long and so when I refill the tank with the labs I’ve had the start temp 77 and then took a while to clean the tank so it’s dropped to 76 and refilled with 72 (before I realized—it started warmer—so I then shut down the refill until the hot water is back on) and then I OVER compensate with 80-81. And I’ve wondered how bad that is. I have panicked in the past. I know that isn’t as large of a drop as you have had but I have had 80 original temps with refills of 72 to make it 73 after. Which has made me worry.
Do you think it was the fish sitting at 68 until the tank warmed up or do you think it was the likely 55 degree water hitting them (I say this bc if it started at 79 and ended up at 68 the water must have been MUCH colder to average out to 68). Right??

Yes, it was the latter, a very quick change in temperature, I didn’t even fill the whole tank with cold, it was coming out at the right temperature initially, I had checked twice, on the third check it had dropped so quickly, that is what killed them, Not the low temperature per se, a gradual change would have been OK, it’s about 152 gallons so takes a while to fill 50%.

 

Yes, it was the latter, a very quick change in temperature, I didn’t even fill the whole tank with cold, it was coming out at the right temperature initially, I had checked twice, on the third check it had dropped so quickly, that is what killed them, Not the low temperature per se, a gradual change would have been OK, it’s about 152 gallons so takes a while to fill 50%.

That has happened to me. A few min and it can be a huge drop. Not as severe as yours but I have had to (NUMEROUS times) stop filling until the water heats up again. It happened the other day in fact.

 

When you see microbubbles on the glass you know the water does not match up.
Beyond the changes that will take place with the water the microbubbles them self and what has created them can damage your fish IMO.
I prepped water and never had issues. I also made a mixing station to get exact temperature from my tap and never had issues making changes up to 90%.
When you see the micro bubbles the water is usually too cold and overly saturated with one gas or another which can be problematic.

Watch videos of discus breeders draining their tanks and re filling and you will not see one microbubble.

 

Most micro bubbles are from added oxygen in the winter. I’ve found if you add a fine sponge or wrap the hose in a polishing pad the bubbles stop.

 

Ok so another thing to talk about . As I showed earlier with my red raffleisa discus that all turned orange. Breeder add stuff to their discus. Some just add color enhancers. These aren’t bad and tend to change orange discus red. If you keep up with the enhancers you can keep the fish red. But other fish will start show red traces. Also it’s a lot of enhancers to keep them red. I just let them go orange. Now you can get red discus. Red discus come from brown based discus. But again breeders can mess with these fish. What they’re doing is adding hormones to the fish. As a buyer this is tough to impossible to pick up. Only time will tell you if the breeder is using hormones. People are buying red fish so breeders are making red fish. However they can.
Earlier I bought this red discus. It’s a brown based discus and looks great. I just couldnt pass on this fish . These guys had the cc and went through a bit when I got them. Spent about 6 months in qt. But they were and are strong fish. Now in main tank they are all doing great. But unfortunately this fish was treated with hormones for color.
this is it now. You can see the brown is showing and the red receding. Still a great fish but not what I thought it would be. And because of the hormones used no telling how the fish will age. Hormones will mess with the fish’s organs and may over time weaken it immunity system.

 

Well my red guy is almost brown now!
but don’t worry he’s still healthy and fine. Plus I’ve removed all the mirrors so he don’t know .
As to sellers I’ve just bought 2 discus from Chicago Discus. Well they are a shop out of Chicago like Dennis Discus. Got to say they know what they’re doing in Chicago! Both places have given me great looking fish.

Got these guys on friday
went right I to qt tank and have been great from the beginning. Last night they laid eggs in the tank.
not sure if they’re a pair or 2 females going through the motions. Doesn’t look like 2 different sets of eggs so I’m thinking a pair. Both seem very protective of the eggs. Kind of fighting each other to take care of them. Will have to keep an eye on them. May have to split them up. Don’t want them to hurt each other. Hope this doesn’t happen cause that leaves the problems of where do I put the one I remove? Not sure which is the female. Or do I add it to an established tank.