Discus in general

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

The 2" O is growing i didn't notice though. And the tank the big O is in is definately bigger than 15g.

 

[ikevi]

Ok so this is likely the last that I end up posting in your threads...

But first off get a Test kit. Test your water to see the ph, and the hardness. If you have really hard water you will need to get a RO filter (not cheep which from what I have seen your postings you are looking for.) I say this because all the things that lower ph can not get rid of the salts in the waters, so in fact you will be lowering your ph by in essence putting lemon juice in it and then the next day the ph will be back to what it was before because the salts will cancel out any effect the (say ph down) does.

Also I would use this test kit on your Oscar tanks... check your nitrates, ph and ammonia. You might find out why they aren't growing.

As for the other questions well they have been answered in at least one place. Just read.

But truely make up your mind... first I see you wanting to put a discus with oscars, then I see you wanting to go to a salt tank... now you say discus again...

Here is the truth, if you aren't willing to do the research you will spend your money and quickly be crying on this forum about how you hate fish and will never let anyone else in your family keep them. These fish if treated properly often live longer than our dogs/cats... so shouldn't you be willing to care for them as much. Ok I am done.

 

[WyldFya]

I'd love to comment in full but I'm having problems with my discus tank at the mo.

There are many products to soften tap water, if you want pure soft water then get an ro machine. Most people on here will disagree that you need soft water/ro to keep discus, search the forums and make your own mind up. There are many different ways of thinking that people on here keep there discus in. Wlydfya, one of the mods has massive ph swings everyday with no problems, others like myself have struggled to keep them at times in the text book(old fashioned) discus conditions, again search, read, search and read some more. Most tanks bred discus will be fine with anything they are used to.

The best course of action by far is to get your discus from a very good breeder/dealer and use what their discus are used to and go with that. I know at lot of people keep discus in a variety of water conditions and everyone who has them says their way is fine, simply because it works for them. If you get them from one good outlet and keep them in the same environment you will have less problems in the long term

As Yan said, many people have different params for their discus. Personally, I feel it is more important to get healthy, strong discus from reputable breeders/importers.

 

[WyldFya]

While there may be enough space for a fish to swim around, there is a bigger problem in water volume. Fish, like oscars, that put out a lot of ammonia, can slow their own growth due to poor water parameters. There is a lot more than the ability to swim that has to be taken into consideration, when finding a proper sized aquarium. Either way, 15, 22, 23, or even 40 gallons is not enough for one adult oscar. That said, you should not consider trying discus nor saltwater, until you have begun monitoring your water params. I personally test pH, KH, GH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, potassium, calcium, iron, co2, o2, and TDS every week. I also test a few other params, but not quite as often. Knowing your params will dictate your water change schedule. Since you aren't ready for discus, I'm going to close this thread.