Discus Tank Pics

[Cian McLiam]

I would put 8 3" Discus and about 20 Cardinals, that means the tank must be well prepared beforehand. I put two adult angels and a few plecs in mine to help get the filter running at top capacity, there are a few apistos and rams still in there too, they are a good choice for keeping the bottom clean. Have you seen THIS thread? A lot of the same topics are in it too

Ken

 

[Cian McLiam]

G_Sharky,

Sorry to hear you are having problems, I change 15% every two days but plan on going 25% twice a weel when everyone is settled in. The problem with water changes is that the tank water might be very different to the tap water, if there is a big difference then it could be causing huge swings in the tanks parameters after a water change. People who change 20% plus every day usually use RO, so the tank water and new water can be made identical, for joe soap with tap water, such frequent changes can be disastrous.

Are they going dark? or are they breathing heavily or just from one gill? If they are just dark and leaning to one side, I would suspect internal bacteria. Interpet no. ( is great for this and its very mild on them too.

If one gill is closed it could be flukes, they are very common in Discus. Interpet anti slime and velvet is good used in half doses.

Hope it works out for you, if there were no cories, I would say a light salt treatment could perk them up. Salt is quite controversial with Discus butit worked with me a few years ago.

Ken

 

[jaywings19]

I would put 8 3" Discus and about 20 Cardinals, that means the tank must be well prepared beforehand. I put two adult angels and a few plecs in mine to help get the filter running at top capacity, there are a few apistos and rams still in there too, they are a good choice for keeping the bottom clean. Have you seen THIS thread? A lot of the same topics are in it too

Ken

Thanks for pointing out the other post on the NW Cichlid board. Though, in that post, you suggest add the tetras slowly after the Discus. Whereas, here you suggested the opposite. Does it matter if I add in a few tetras after the Discus? That's the way I'd prefer to do it... but not at the expense of the Discus welfare.

 

[ste2k3]

looking good Ken

ste

 

[Cian McLiam]

Yes, it depends on the kind of fish, tetras are ok to put in before the Discus, but apistos and other larger fish tend to get territorial towards new fish, so I would add them after the Discus so the Discus have the upper hand being settled in already.

K

 

[Stryker]

The colours look so rich.... are you using a standard light or some kind of colour enhance tube?

 

[Cian McLiam]

The front tube is a marine blue actinic and the rear tube is a day-glo

Ken

 

[silver]

I have heard from a couple of different LFS that discus can be very hard to keep, why is that?? And they also said that this red looking wood stuff makes it a lot easier to keep discus if you put some in your tank?? Does that have something to do with elevating or lowering PH??? Do you know what wood they'd be talking about?




Silver

 

[Cian McLiam]

Bogwood will soften thewater over time, as will peat, it could be either one. peat is ok, but tiny particles can come of it and irritate the gills of the Discus.

They are harder to keep than other fish, they have precise requirements, if you can match those then they will be fairly easy, if you cant then they will be hard.
The water is best very soft and acidic, but if you get them from a good place locally, they may have acclimatised them to the local water rather than using 'perfect' water. That means the hard work is mostly done. If you can see them eat flake or pellets as well, then all the better.

Ken

 

[jams.alaskan]

Ken that is stunning! A very fine set up. Thank you for posting it.

ALASKA

 

[fish_r_great]

Wow great tank Ken can't wait for more pics!!

 

[elgecko]

Ken,
Great looking group of discus. I'd like to see them later this year when the blues color up.

 

[JoKeR]

How many gallons and how long?

 

[freshmike]

They are beautiful Ken! That tank looks alot better with discus than angels, by far!

 

[Adrinal]