I Just got a Discuss

[G_Sharky]

I can't believe myself, I got suckered into getting 3 lovely Discuss, I went to this small LFS today with my Aunt and got them for 3/$75 canadian. I know this fish is supposed to be sensitive and get quite big and not for beginners, now I know that my tank wouldn't be able to house them at their adult size but I would upgrade if i have to . I just want to know if this is a dumb move since I'm new to this hobby, I'm quite nervous and excited at the same time right now....My tank is running good and my other fish looks healthy at the moment..

 

[drobbins27]

Don't sweat it! Just do some research, yes dicus are a bit tougher but you can do it

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Just remember to keep your aquarium clean, do water changes every week.

 

[G_Sharky]

I'll be doing 15% water change every week and do they require special kinds of flake or should i just feed them what the rest of my fish gets. BTW thecichlidaddict I like your sig . Are you a Sens fan or a Leaf fan? Looks like they might play each other on the first round this playoffs

 

[heresmike]

Discus are really more involved to care for than other freshwater fish. For one, they require soft acidic water. If you're lucky to have that kind of water come out of your tap, great! Otherwise many discus keepers use RO water, or distilled, which can get costly. And most discus keepers say daily water changes are needed, and 15% once a week would be unacceptable. (I do more than that for my fish that are way less sensitive) Sorry that this sounds more discouraging than the others that replied, but I'm being realistic. I've done much research into keeping these fish, and they really are not a good fish for beginners.

 

[drobbins27]

Go Leafs

 

[G_Sharky]

I hope someone replies quickly cause i don't know what to do whith my cichlilds as they are being so agressive the Discus. I already got the gold severum out of the tank and have him transfer to my neighbours empty tank that use to be my 10 gallon now my firemouth is showing some agression. What should I do?

 

[heresmike]

I'm afraid your existing fish are not good tankmates for discus. The other cichlids are too aggressive. You'll need to isolate them. Once you do, I stongly suggest you do some research into how to properly care for discus. Here is one link to get you started.

http/www.freshwatertropicalfishkeeping.c..._fish_intro.htm

A google search will result in more info... a book or two would be better.

 

[G_Sharky]

I got the severum and the firemouth out of the tank and was given to my neighbour but the blue acara i'm keeping cause he seems to be friendlier to the new tank mates. I just hope I could manage to keep this Discus cause i'm not getting my other cichlids back . I'll be doing 25% water changes every week to keep my water clean. If I ended up screwing up again on this I might give up this hobby...

 

[heresmike]

G Sharky... I wouldn't give up because it's a very rewarding hobby. We've all made mistakes, we learn from them, and we move on. I hope you do some reading on caring for your discus. They're really lovely fish and keeping them will be very rewarding!

 

[elgecko]

Discus are very rewarding.
I do 2 - 25% water changes a week. Discus can be very happy in higher PH water as long as it is stable.

 

[G_Sharky]

I also read somewhere that when having Discus you should remove the carbon from the filter?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Oops.. I didn't even notice that you had other cichlids in the tank or I would certainly have mentioned that as well - Discus should really be the only cichlids in the tank, with the exception, maybe, of dwarf riverine.

Carbon won't effect the Discus one way or another, and they can get used to neutral water just fine. Clean and fresh is the key - Discus are intolerent of any toxins including nitrates.

BTW - Leaf fan, but I'd be happy enough to see the Sens make it!

 

[G_Sharky]

Got rid of the other cichlids(sold them to my LFS today) as they got really nasty with the new arrivals. To update you all my newly acquired Discuss have been schooling and swimming around my Tank and they look really happy now that they don't have to watch their back. I also noticed that when feeding them they are not like the other cichlid were they would chase their food around instead they just stay in one area and grab the food that's in their reach. Should I lower down my filter when feeding so the food won't spread to far. Also I check my water parameters today and found out that my tank is going to a minicycle maybe to the fact that I add to much fish when it first cycled. The A&N isn't too high and not deadly according to the test kit but as a safety precaution i went and got Nitra-Zorb which supposed to get rid of A&N&N but as soon as I put this on my water got cloudy(I posted this on emergency but nobody is responding) is this normal?. Anyways I would be doing a 25% water change tonight if i have time or tomorrow morning, Discus are cool I hope I don't screw up on this....

GO LEAFS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[heresmike]

Glad to hear the Discus are settling in ... I wish you continued success! Have you done any research into tips for caring for them? Really sorry to hear that you had to give up the other two cichlids though ... I hope you feel that the trade-off is worth it.

I don't know anything about that nitra-zorb product you speak of. I'd guess that a water change will help with the cloudiness as well as the ammonia and nitrite level.

Will be looking forward to hearing about their progress. Maybe soon I'll take the step and start up a discus tank