Discus, here i come.

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rsalinas5

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2008
63
0
0
Texas
hello guys,
i have been looking into getting discus for awhile, i recently have a 55 but have upgraded just a bit to a 75. I currently have 3 jacks, an oscar and about 7 clown and polka dot loaches. I will donating the jacks and oscar back to petland and I will be purchasing the heater i need to start the new tank today. i am planning on housing 5-6 discus, 10-15 tetras and 6-7 rams. What do u all think? Feed back is good.

My filtartion is a rena xp3 and an empreor 400 -misspelled i think..
and a powerhead dont remember the size. Is this good enough?
 
Are the filters cycled? If they are not currently in use, I would suggest running them on your tank with your current fish in it to get them fully cycled before I started. Readings should be ammonia and nitrite zero, with only nitrate showing. Discus won't tolerate ammonia or nitrite. I would also recommend removing the carbon from the filters. Carbon is not recommended. I would also suggest you get at least a 300 watt heater or 2 smaller ones to make it easy to maintain a 84 to 86 F temp. I would use a thin layer of pool filter sand or bare bottom instead of gravel. Gravel traps a lot of gunk that makes it hard to keep perfectly clean. Also, I would not buy pet store discus. Buying quality fish at the start will save you grief later. If you are in Texas, I would give Dan at www.gulfcoastdiscus.com a call. He always has high quality discus. He has been into to discus for years, and can give you good information as well. I would run the tank with discus only for a while at the start. You don't want to overload the tank in the beginning, and also keep in mind discus normally get as big or bigger than a CD disk.
 
yeah i have had the empreor running for about a year and the xp3 about 4months now. so i would say they are pretty cycled. Thanks for the info. im think of going with the rena heater if not the stealth. ive read good reviews on both. the only thing is im nerovous about the sand. never used it before. ive read pool filter sand is good. is that true?
 
Hi there.. Pool filter sand is all I've used in all my tanks for awhile now.. It looks great, is inexpensive and it's soo cool to watch the discus and other cichlids blow on the sand as they search for food. I agree with Hillbilly, I think it keeps the tank much cleaner as the crude/poo collects on the top and can be easily siphoned.. You can get pool filter sand at places like Ace hardware and it's much cleaner than play sand. The coloring changes a little when wet so that it looks very natural. Alot of us also throw a handful of small gravel in the sand to give it an even more natural look. As mentioned, you are lucky if you are near Dan at GulfCoastDiscus.. he's a very knowledgeable guy with great stock.. you can learn more about him if you go to simplydiscus forum where he is a sponsor and has posted some beautiful tank pics. Good luck with your tank.. Sue:D
 
I'm jealous if you are local to GulfCoastDiscus! The pictures of his store don't look like any LFS I've ever seen. It doesn't just look like a place that just sells fish, it looks like it's a place run by a very knowledgeable aquarist.
 
Casper;2722820; said:
I'm jealous if you are local to GulfCoastDiscus! The pictures of his store don't look like any LFS I've ever seen. It doesn't just look like a place that just sells fish, it looks like it's a place run by a very knowledgeable aquarist.
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Dan Villasenor is a very knowledgeable aquarist with many years of experience in all kinds of freshwater fish. I've seen pics of planted discus tanks he created that were masterpieces. He is also a good painter and artist. I've seen a couple of paintings he did that were very good, and he's a nice guy besides. I've talked to him on the phone a couple times in the past. If I lived in Texas, I would be making regular road trips, and bugging him often. :D
 
I gave gulfcoast a call this weekend.. I live about 8-9 hours away from Houston. So regular trips would be hard. His prices are resonable compared to lfs down here in the valley. The cheapest discus is 69.99, compared to gulfcoasts $35-45. I have already setup the new 75 gallon, and i love it. The only thing that stinks is i lost 3 clown loaches in the process. But as soon as i know how to post pics, i will.
 
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