Discus problem

[MamaPish]

My friend has 3 discus, and she has completely destroyed her biological system, and they are having to endure high ammonia levels, she is moving soon and taking down all tanks, she said I could have them....but she said I would need to get my Ph down to 6.5 like hers.........

I set up a new 20 gal tank last night with about 10 lbs of gravel from existing tanks, 10 gals water from same existing cycled tanks, a large sword planted in a clay pot...from another tank, and moved a filter from another tank.....I have the Ph down to about 7.0..................is this good enough to move in the fish........or do I need to get it to 6.5.....seems to me the ammonia would be worse on them,
but I have only kept Angels......don't know anything about Discus yet!


TIA

 

[Adrinal]

I would think that leaving them in amonia would be worse than PH...
Most captive breed Discus can handle more varied water conditions.
IMO getting them to clean water and slowly working the ph down is better than leaving them in poo water.
I am not an expert in this area for sure though.

 

[Cian McLiam]

Generally speaking, moving fish from a low pH to a high pH is more stressful than vice versa, however, if you do it slow enough pH 7 is fine for Discus. The ammonia is a much bigger worry as Adrinal pointed out, at pH 6.5, it is less toxic than at pH 7 so although you added an old filter you will need to watch it very carefully. You wont have as much room for mistakes at pH 7 as you would at 6.5.

you say that you brought it down to 7, how high was it and how did you bring it down? That could be critical to your success with these fish.

You will need to transport the is separate bags, with some zeolite or ammonia neutralizing chemical like amquel, keep them in a padded Styrofoam container if at all possible. When you get them home, have the tank pre-heated to 30C or 86F and open the bags straight away, floating them on top of the water. Every 10 Min's take a half cup of water out of the bags, and a a half cup of tank water. After an hour, let the bags sink or turn over and let the fish swim out themselves. Leave the lights off for at least a day, and my LFS always advises to cover the tank with a light material if possible overnight so the new surroundings don't disorientate them while they adjust to the new tank.

Put in plenty of large bog wood pieces for them to hide behind and tall plants like vallis in clumps around the tank provide extra shelter. Some tetras such as black phantoms will make them feel more secure too.

apart from that, you should find the experience with Discus a real pleasure so try and find out as much about them as possible. This guys website HERE is an excellent first stop and has loads of great info for the newbie Discus keeper.

Good Luck

Ken

 

[MamaPish]

Thanks for the replies!!

you say that you brought it down to 7, how high was it and how did you bring it down?

pH was @ 7.6 before I added 2 tsp of pH 6.0 Seachem Discus Buffer.

I have since added 2 more tsp to see how that will do in a few hours.......is this good stuff to use?

they are currently in 82 degree water....that is where mine is too....but I am raising it to 85 or so now....

You will need to transport the is separate bags, with some zeolite or ammonia neutralizing chemical like amquel, keep them in a padded Styrofoam container if at all possible. When you get them home, have the tank pre-heated to 30C or 86F and open the bags straight away, floating them on top of the water. Every 10 Min's take a half cup of water out of the bags, and a a half cup of tank water. After an hour, let the bags sink or turn over and let the fish swim out themselves. Leave the lights off for at least a day, and my LFS always advises to cover the tank with a light material if possible overnight so the new surroundings don't disorientate them while they adjust to the new tank.

Great info......thanks I will do just that

 

[elgecko]

Once your fish settle in I would not mess with your ph. Let it as it come out of your tap. These fish can handle ph up to 8 as long as it does not bunch around much.

 

[elgecko]

I just gont done visiting another forum I check out and thought this would help.

http/www.simplydiscus.com/forum/

A forum just on discus.

 

[plecoguy]

i just thought i would point out that going from HIGH ph to LOW ph is very hard on fish... going from LOW ph to HIGH ph is much better. I have done this before, dont mess with ph levels, whatever you keep it at, make sure it says there. the ammonia is very bad, move them to the new tank....

ps. these fish can also handle ph higher than 8 as well. go to simplydiscus.com, GREAT SITE, I LOVE IT! see ya there

 

[MamaPish]

Thanks everyone.........

I will be doing a lot of research on them.....I hope they make it

I have the bags floating now.......I tested her water.....and it was at the highest ammonia level on my chart!!


I hope they make it.....keep your fingers crossed for me!!