Discus "Cold Feet"

[hogen10]

Hello Folks. I have a few concerns about keeping discus. My tank is a
liveplant 55 gal pH 6.8 to 7.0 CO2 injection. KH about 3 to 4, very low GH
with a Marineland 350 BioWheel and a Rena/Filstar XP 2. Temp at 85F. 4
Cardinals, 11 Black Neon's, 3 Juli Catfish, 5 Oto catfish 1 pelco and 1 pair
blue rams. I Just got back into the hobby after a 15 year vacation. I've had the above tank for over a half a year.

I'd like to get 5 small baby discus 2 to 3 inches. My concerns: 1)
Should I worry about the Pelco attacking the slimecoat of the Discus? I've
read about this but my LFS said not to worry about it. If I need to get rid
of him how the heck do I catch him? (I almost never see him as he's hiding
in the driftwood.) 2) Is the water flow to high ? I understand Discus
like still water. Mine isn't, but with the two filters going and 3 weekly
water changes my nitrates/nitrites are close to 0 and the water is crystal
clear. 3) I'm not home for 12 hrs a day. Should I get an automatic
feeder? I've read that young discus should eat 5x a day. 4) Should I buy
mail order? Any recommendations?

Thanks for all your help. If I were only going to get one discus I'd
just give it a try, but I'd like to buy 5 as I've heard they do better in a
group. I want to do it right and don't want to lose any fish. (It hurts
financially and emotionally!) I'm not interested in breeding, just a show
tank.

By the way, CO2 injection is THE WAY to go for a live plant tank, and it's less work then I
thought. I just add a couple of teaspoons of Baking Soda w/ the water
change, and keep the bubble counter at 1 per second day and night. No
problems, and my plants are lovely!! (I also add a bit of Potassium nitrate
and Potassium Phosphate once a week.)

Thanks again.

Jim

 

[Tolak]

I've never kept discus, though I've done a good bit of research into discus, trying to get ideas for my angel breeding setup, so I'll try to help a little.

Your water quality sounds good for discus, my only concern would be with the cardnals & neons. I'd hate to see them become feeder fish for discus.

I've heard of the plecs doing a number on discus, I would go the better to be safe than sorry route with them. The best way I've found to catch them without tearing up the tank in the process is to get a large, clean, non-floating container, such as a glass jar. Put a piece of zuccini or other goodie for them to eat in there. Just wait it out, they will go in there eventually. Take out the jar, plec & all.

Discus, like angels, do like less water flow. I do have tanks with multiple filters, hob & canister combos. You can direct the flow of the canister down the side of the tank instead of across the surface, and keep the hob to the far side. This minimalizes turbulance.

I feed angel fry from freeswimmers 3x per day due to my work schedule. Many small feedings are better, but if you get the discus a little larger they should be ok with a 12 hour break between feedings. I've never tried auto feeders, they sound like something else to go wrong, though if you set it up daily for 1 feeding I don't think too much can go wrong, you won't overfeed if it only holds one feeding.

I would buy locally if possible, the water is bound to be more similar to yours, and less shock from shipping. Seeing as you are running co2 your water may be different anyway, so that may not apply.

You could try pm'ing John Nicholson, he's a member here, and a real pro with discus.

HTH!

Tolak

 

[simonbrown403]

Sounds like your pretty much there.

As for the tetra thing i would disagree, a young discus couldn't fit a tetra in it's mouth, an adult maybe but is very rare, i have never had it happen or known it happen to friends.

I would recomend you buy a quarantine tank first, as you will need it to quarantine and treat sick and new fish, you might also need it when you buy your new fish, if there is a big difference in PH between yours and your dealers tank, you will have to acclimatize your discus by dropping or raising the PH slowly until it matches that of yours.

I use to feed my young discus three times a day, what i would do is feed some frozen bloodworn in the morning, that had been defrosted in a little water, so it spread around the tank, it kept them bizzy for a while.
Then i would feed beef heart when i got home, so i could mop up the waste after an hour, so it didnt pollute the water.
The bloodworm again at night before bed, try to feed a balanced diet (meat an veg lol).

You shouldn't have a problem in keeping discus if you look after your water, regular water changes at least 30% a week, using a good quality water conditioner (to detoxify metals), or preferably reclaimed R/O or deionized water, this should agree with your fish and your plants alike.

have fun discus are beautiful fish and well worth the efort.

simon

 

[John_Nicholson]

Don't do it with your current setup. If you are going to properly raise young discus you just about have to do it in a bare bottom tank. Trying to raise them in a planted tank will only stunt the ones that survive. Number 2 if you do it get rid og the pleco unless he is a bristle nose. Also unless your tank is white capping the current is fine.

-john

 

[KageBunshin]

Be sure you feed your young discus in small portions often. They grow very fast in the young years and need a good supply of food. Bare bottom is very easy to maintain, but you could pull if off in you planted, but be sure you change your water often. Get a reverse Osmosis System if you dont already have one because discus prefer soft water.

About the tetras, I have a school of neons/cardinals that the discus never touch because they are too slow. But keep a wary eye on them. You could pull it off in a planted tank with plenty of swmming room.

I myself is still waiting for answer about plecos and discus. So far I heard some compatible ones are the Golden Nugget Pleco (L018) and the Bristlenose. But I have yet to have confirmation for the L018. Discus have very tasy slime and are prime targets for most plecos because of their wide slow moving bodies.

All in All treat you discus well because losing one is like flushing 60 bucks down the toilet.

 

[hogen10]

Thanks very much for all the advise. I just bought a 'trap' fm Big Al's and I'll use it to catch the Pelco, I don't want to lose any fish. Perhaps I'll give the jar a try too.... Once the Pelco is gone I'll pick up my discus. (I bought an Ehim automatice feeder too to feed them while I'm away. Thanks again for all the help, I appreciate it.

Jim

 

[annka5]

I've heard that you shouldn't keep babies in a planted / furnished tank, simply becuase you can't keep the water clean enough, given that they need high-protein foods whilst they are growing.
However, have also heard that if you keep on top of the water changes, and go for ones of about 3" big, then they should be fine.
I'm planning on keeping discus and this is from research, not experience.

 

[John_Nicholson]

Unless you are breeding discus they do not need r/o. In fact they will grow faster in harder water then they will softer water. Do not try the planted tank if you want success. I was raised over 3000 discus since January. I am just trying to lead you down a road to success.

Good Luck -john

 

[Doohic722]

Im looking into getting discus as well. I have a 55gallon tank with a marinland 350 w/bio wheels, I have sand as a bottom, with a large piece of driftwood, rocks, and fake plants. The tank is up and running and currently has no fish.

Im looking to go with three discus to start with, I need a cleaner fish, from the looks of this thread a bristle nose pleco will work good? Im also thinking about some kind of community fish strickly because I want the discus to come out and show off, I was told that if the other fish are out in the open the discus will feel safe and do the same?

I am also wondering if they are as personable as I have been told? I really like personable fish, ones that come and say hi to me.

are discus for me and my set up?

 

[juanveldez]

imo a new tank wouldn't be the route to go with discus. granted all of my fish would just as soon bite you and take a peice of your flesh with them than look at you. everyting that I have read on keeping discus is that they would prefer a tank that has been established. just my thoughts. perhaps john will be so kind as to stop by and confirm or deny this.

 

[John_Nicholson]

Sorry it took me so long to respond but I don't normally get online over the weekend.....Discus are not hard to do but they have some very specific requirements. As long as these are met they will live a long life. First if you are starting with young fish they do best in groups of at least 6. While not really aggresive as far as cichlids go they do have a pecking order. By having at least 6 fish it helps spread this out so that no one fish gets beat to death. Second they are kind of messy fish while young. They eat a lot so they poop a lot. I raise all of mine in bare bottom tanks. If you must have a planted tank then you need to start with adult fish. They require a lot less food to maintain since they are no longer growing much. In a bare bottom tank the best food is a beefheart mix. This will not work at all in a planted tank. Live black worms or frozen bloodworms, and some pellets are probably the best for a planted tank. It is just to messy. They water needs to be 82 to 86 (82 is really the best) and they need very clean water. Here in the US we change lots of water (I am a breeder so my tanks are stocked a little different from most folks but I change 50% of the water 6 times a week) in Europe I think they tend to change less water but use different filters (including the use of resins) to keep the water clean. Discus are great. Most people have never seen a really big nice discus but when you do it is a show stopper.

Good Luck -john

 

[Doohic722]

thanks guys, boy I really like the discus but It seems so far that my tank isnt ready for them. I have the 55gallon, a BIG piece of driftwood, some rocks, sand bottom with some fake plants.. And unfortunatly nice and empty of fish.

Another bad thing, my kit may be bad cause I havnt used it in awhile but my PH says around 8, I want to get a new kit and check it again (get a second opinion). I will also look up the tricks on lowering the PH.

So, plenty of decor, possibly high PH, and roughtly needing 6 discus when Id like to try 4... eh..

4 wont spread out the beatings enough eh?

i was thinking about puffers, but so many people look down on keeping them in freshwater tanks idk.. and my lfs cant even get anything in! lol