90 gallon tank + Discus, but........

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

Jc1119

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2010
4,432
19
0
Orlando fl
I'm stumped as to what kind to stock, wild or domestic.

I'm thinking about redoing my 90(48x18x25) to be a dedicated Discus tank. Tank has been running for about 5 years straight. It's by far my most stable tank. However.....

There seems to be alot of conflicting info as to which to keep, wild or domestic. Being easy to keep is NOT necessarily one of the things I'm interested in, but I do want my fish to do well in their environment. Unfortunately, I live in Fl and my tap is pretty hard and my ph is a little higher than I'd like(7.7). Breeding is not in the immediate plans either.

My gut says domestic since most strains have been acclimated to water conditions closer to what I've got, but wilds are really beautiful fish. Either way, I'm thinking about 5-6 in this tank and no other tankmates.

So what would you do? I'm also one of those weird folks who likes doing water changes, so that's not an issue, but I'd rather not jockey around with ph and hardness if I don't have to.
 
it's really up yo you. for what it's worth, I have wilds in 7.6 ph. tank has been running for 15 months with no trouble. if you prefer you can mix your water with RO. you will get different opinions as in the threads above. my opinion is just that, my opinion. if it's wrong, then so be it, but I have never treated my fish for anything and use tap water with prime for my wc's. as long as your not breeding than I think your water will be fine for wilds. domestics will be even less of a problem. actually, once acclimated I think wilds are the hardier fish. the many generations of inbreeding I believe have weakened the domestics. people seem to have more problems with them than wilds. then again maybe it just seems like that since more people keep domestics.
 
That's kinda what I was worried about. On the surface, it seems like domestics are the way to go, but like you said, decades of breeding most likely has weakened the lines. Acclimating them is not a major concern as I believe in a strict qt policy and aside from the patience it takes to NOT rush this part, It pays dividends down the road. If wilds are more stable after qt, then that might be my answer right there.

Dont get me wrong. I love seeing all the different color variations breeders have come up with....blues, reds, snakeskin, etc. There's alot cool things about the variety of the domestics, but nothing really stops me in my tracks like a natural tank with a nice group of wilds. The wow factor for me is pretty high with wilds.

By the way.... You have a stunning discus display and your tank is one of the tanks I use as inspiration. Hopefully, one day I'll have a group as beautiful as yours. Truly breathtaking...
 
thanks jc. I got my fish from Florida. snookn21 is a sponsor here. he has quality wilds. never seen a complaint about his fish. he does'nt have much in stock right now but it's probably a season thing.
 
3dees said:
thanks jc. I got my fish from Florida. snookn21 is a sponsor here. he has quality wilds. never seen a complaint about his fish. he does'nt have much in stock right now but it's probably a season thing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the lead. Probably going to be another month or so before I really get the tank dialed in anyways, so there's no rush. I have fish currently in the tank that are either moving to bigger housing or I'm parting ways with.

Do you mix ro with your tap? Been reading up on ro systems and I figure it probably wouldn't be a bad investment in the long run.
 
I use tap water only, but my water is really good and stable. it stays at 7.6 no matter what. RO is not a bad thing. just make sure your keeping everything stable. thats the key. I know some areas in Fla. have water like liquid rock, lol.
 
3dees said:
I use tap water only, but my water is really good and stable. it stays at 7.6 no matter what. RO is not a bad thing. just make sure your keeping everything stable. thats the key. I know some areas in Fla. have water like liquid rock, lol.
Click to expand...

My water is pretty stable, but it can drift from 7.8-7.7 after a water change. i havent checked my hardness in a bit, but like I said, breeding is not an immediate goal.

I reached out to John(snookin21) and Im going to buy a batch of L75's Ive been looking for. I guess the season for wilds is more like sept-oct. so timing will actually work out well. I'll have plenty of time to get this tank really dialed in before hand. I'll have time to move my stock around so they can have the whole tank to themselves
 
It's been long established that PH isn't important. I can't even tell you what my PH is. PH also has nothing to do with your water's hardness. I could have very soft water and a high PH, or vice versa. What you should be looking at is TDS and GH, along with KH.
 
Yeah, I'm thinking ro is in my immediate future. Been a but since I've tested but I remember gh being about 300 ppm..... Yikes!!

Probably too high for wilds or domestics actually.

Time to study.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom