i have a 200 gallon tank it is 6x2x2 i use 2 fx5 canister filters for filtration.. i housed frontosa in it at one time and was going to setup as a saltwater tank.. but i fell inlove with discus there colors are so beautiful and come in a wide aray.. my ? is if i house 10 disus in this tank would the filtration be enough.. i understand they need very clean water more so than frontosa.. i really don't want to mess with a ro system if i don't have to.. please no slams i am just looking for good info before i introduce discus to my tank ty..
discus question
- Thread starter schrader77
- Start date
filteration is fine, discus aren't that messy, its more of water changes that u have 2 worry about (at least once a week), i do have to warn though, discus r much more difficult 2 keep than frontosa; picky eaters (must give them a varied diet), temp >84 at all times, n easily suceptible 2 diseases
ty.. i figured i could do 2 50 percent water changes a week.. ya my tank is 82 now so another 2 degrees wont be hard.. should i worry about ph alot cause i get alot of conflicting info on that.. my tap water comes out at 8.2 but i can get it down to 7.0 is that still to high? ty for your input
Tank is a beauty for Discus, if you buy 10 x 2.5" they get lost in that tank.
What size are you planning to put in?? If you go for the small ones I would buy a much bigger group for a 200 gallon.
Now hold your chair before you drop off, I would say at least a 40 in a 200 gallon, grow them and every time they grow 1-2" make a selection of what you want to keep. At the end you will have 10 - 15 Discus that you like.
The rest you can sell off, if you do well in growing them (lot of water changes and good food) you can sell the ones you don't like well, maybe at the end you've 10 - 15 Discus swimming that are paid for.
Discus are not hard to keep, I think they are easy, if you get healty ones from a good source
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=250
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179136
Hans
What size are you planning to put in?? If you go for the small ones I would buy a much bigger group for a 200 gallon.
Now hold your chair before you drop off, I would say at least a 40 in a 200 gallon, grow them and every time they grow 1-2" make a selection of what you want to keep. At the end you will have 10 - 15 Discus that you like.
The rest you can sell off, if you do well in growing them (lot of water changes and good food) you can sell the ones you don't like well, maybe at the end you've 10 - 15 Discus swimming that are paid for.
Discus are not hard to keep, I think they are easy, if you get healty ones from a good source
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=250
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179136
Hans
Mine have been every bit as easy to keep as any other fish I've got. Great eaters, not scared of things going on around the tank....wonderful fish. Extra filtration will ensure ammonia & nitrites are at '0' where they should be but no amount of filtration will keep your nitrates low, only water changes will do that. Discus (like fish in general) need no ammon, no nitrites and low nitrates.
I agree with Hans, small fish will get lost in a tank that big. Go for a larger group, or buy larger fish to fill things out. They really arent that hard. Quite hardy infact. dont worry about your pH. 8.2 is fine. Mine are at 8.6 and I have a pair trying to spawn in it. Just let your water be what it is. And like Hans said, get from a good source.
-Ryan
-Ryan
hey hans i have a question for you or if any one else can hellp me here that would be great.. like i stated above the ph reading straight from the tap is 8.4 my tank ph is 7.4 if i do water changes with this high ph reading will i ph shock my discus and kill them? or should i just fill 2 50 gallon buckets and add peat moss to bring down the ph before water changes? or am i just worrying to much lol? ty
I also changed my discus from 7.5 to 8.3 pH since I was told it wasn't necessary to have a lower pH, but that stability and clean water was more important. Since you were planning on doing bi-weekly water changes at 50% maybe you can do it 30% every other day until the pH is up to your tap water's pH? This is basically what I did, but I phased out the r.o. water which I was using every water change until it was completely all tap. If you were to do just a 50 or 100 gallon water change on your 180 gallon tank I don't think your pH will change that much everytime.
Also, the guy I bought my discus from said it was better for the discus to go from a lower pH to a higher pH in a relatively short period of time than the other way around.
Also, the guy I bought my discus from said it was better for the discus to go from a lower pH to a higher pH in a relatively short period of time than the other way around.