discus questions?

[fishyjoe26]

thanks, I talked to a guy who has had some discus 6- 3 inch discus and a 4-5 inch discus. I payed $150.00 was that a good deal. they are in a 5 gallon bucket with a air pump,heater at 84.5 f% and a hob filter. everything is good to go in my tank.
the ph is 6.4 though is that ok. the water they came out of is 6.8-7.0

I got 2 silver dollars,15 cory catfish,2 pictus catfish,2 skunk loaches,2 clown plecos,
1 marble sailfin pleco,a gold nugget pleco and 1 common pleco. so I need to get rid of all those right. does it matter what type of BN bristlenose,

 

[SusieQ]

Hi again... I'm a bit confused and concerned.. Are you telling me that you bought and are keeping 7 discus in a 5 gallon bucket of water as opposed to a cycled tank??? If so, that is not a good situation.. You say your tank is good to go... I thought you were going to wait to find homes for your other fish before getting discus.. Your discus need to be in a cycled tank... Is the hob filter full of media/beneficial bacteria from the other tank???
If I'm understanding you right.. then you have to do some moving around.. Do you have another tank the plecos etc can go in temporarily or just the one all the plecos etc are in??? That's the 135 right??? The other fish need to come out and the discus need to be in a cycled tank asap.... Or if you have another cycled qt tank that is at least 15 gallons.. a 5 gallon bucket won't work.. If not you can get a plastic food safe bin (rubbermaid type container) and move over a filter from a cycled tank and use that type of setup as a holding tank for the fish you are planning on rehoming and get the discus in the 135.. At 3 inches the discus are still very young and need to be in a cycled tank with consistent parameters or you are gonna end up with very sick fish.. Perhaps your lfs would take and give you credit for the other fish.
Whats in the 225???
The fx5 is ok on the 135 just use the spray bar attachment to disperse the flow so there is not so much turbulence.. I use 2 xp3's on 120 gallon no problem..
What kind of cory cats are they... Only certain ones can really be happy in high discus temps???
If you are planning on later on combining any of your fish with the discus then there has to be a qt regime.. If the only thing going in a barebottom 135 now is the discus you just bought then put them in there and that acts as a giant qt tank for the discus.. Don't add anything else to that 135 gallon qt tank without a seperate qt in a seperate qt tank.. for at least 3 or 4 weeks or longer that includes any bn or cories or anything.. Your new discus will be stressed and prone to disease/parasites etc that the other fish may have developed immunity to.. they need time to adjust to their new environment and your systems.. Don't worry about feeding your discus for the first day in the 135... they will be fine and need time to adjust.. Wait a day and see how they react to small amounts of food. Sometimes it takes discus no time at all and sometimes weeks to adjust to a new place.. usually not with juvies but you never know.. Then after you see they are doing well and eating in a few weeks you can maybe consider adding bns or cories etc..
Do you have an api test kit?? You will need to closely monitor amo, nitrate and nitrite for awhile..
If I've misunderstood and you have already put them in the 135 with no tankmates then smile as I am smiling.... Hope all is going good for your fish.. Sue

 

[fishyjoe26]

I only kept the discus in the bucket for a couple of hours. they are now in the 135.
all I have in there now are the discus the cory catfish and 2 very small pictus catfish.
the cory cats are green cories,and a couple of pepper,and a couple of schartz?
I still do water changes on the 135 right? would a 55 gallon(48x13x20) be to small for them. I have a friennd who was going to sell me a complete 55 set up for 90.
I was going to use that as a QT, and the 135 as the regular tank.
the 225 has smelly water, and gravel in it.. I took the filter(a fx5) of the 225 and put it on the 135,then took the water from the 225 and siphoned most of it in to the 135.
how many watts of light would you wreck-o-mend. for the discus for the 135.
yes I have a api test kit.

 

[SusieQ]

Hi... How are the discus doing in their new home?? Don't worry if they are not eating yet.. sometimes it takes a while for them to get used to a new tank and owner... Yes you need to do water changes.. especially if you put water in there from a smelly tank.. There is no beneficial bacteria in the water.. it is in the filter and some in the substrate.. So do a big water change to give them as clean a tank as possible.. Since you have already exposed them to whatever was in the 135 and the fish therein it would do no good to move them to a qt tank.. Now just do the api tests daily for awhile ( make sure you have 0 ammonia and nitrite and very minimal nitrate) and watch them closely.. The less tank shuffling around the better for now.. You want to give them constant parameters to make them happy.. If you could take any pics that would be great also.. Is there any substrate or anything in the tank or is it barebottom??Again don't worry if they hide in the corner for awhile.. you just want to keep the water great and make sure the discus are not clamping fins or turning very dark etc.. Good luck with the tank... Sue

 

[fishyjoe26]

thanks, they are doing good. I should clear things up, the water in the 225 was not smelly. it was good water, I just couldn't siphon all the water from the 225 to the 135 so the 225 still has some water in it and it smells, don't worry I'm clean the 225 out tomorrow morning, a lady is coming to buy it monday. I also added some mircobelift and some searchen clearity to the 135 to put some benifal bactira in the water.

 

[revkkoolaid]

"what is the right ph for discus? my ph is 6.2"

That's really only fine if you can maintain it. I feel thats where most people go wrong. Discus will benefit more from a stable higher ph than one that is bouncing around all over the place from soemone trying to fight it using buffers and peatmoss and ro wtr etc etc. I keep all my discus tanks with tap water ran thru a carbon bottle w/ amquel added as a failsafe. Our local gulf coast tap water is extremely hard and alkalkine and is usually 7.7-8.0+.

We maintain dozens of discus tanks this way and have for many years.
From 40 - 800gal. We have fish in some tanks that are over 10yrs old. I use purigen and fresh carbon to scrub tannins from the large wood pieces we use in an effort to basiclly keep the tank void of all but the water itself as much as you can.

and while were sort of on the subject. . . Not that its impossible to have a planted discus tank. We've all seen them. Anything can happen. But the fish overall do so much better in a nice stable layout that no one is trimming and jacking with everyday and without any aqua-soil or other ph-/+ substrate.

And the discus really prefer water so warm most plants cant tolerate it.

blah blah blah sorry for ranting.

The secret to Discus is. . . . hot clean water. . . . .and bloodworms

(although P.E. Mysis Shrimp will make them glow in the dark and sparks shoot out of their butts but it leaves some nasty oil slick on the surface of the water in you don't have an overflow on the tank!)

 

[fishyjoe26]

huh mysis shrimp are for saltwater fish not freshwater fish. i've learn alot and do water changes. I feed blood worms, brine shrimp, beef heart, and every now and then tetra color bites. then ph stay around 6.4-6.6, and they have some driftwood and fake plants for hiding spots.

 

[monster fish want a be]

i would add 6 adults and lower the PH

 

[Lupin]

i would add 6 adults and lower the PH

pH is not an issue with captive bred discus. They can adapt just fine.

 

[fishyjoe26]

pH is not an issue with captive bred discus. They can adapt just fine.

x2, in my opinion it's more about givening the discus clean,decloranated, warm water and keeping the water etc stable. I've seen captive born in a aquarium discus in 8.0ph water and where healthy and fine. I may sound harsh and on caring and maybe sound like a butthole. but I'd reather see discus at a 7.4-7.6 with everything stable. then some one with discus who has there ph at 8.0 and then does a water change with out ageing the water, where the person just dumbs in tap water then dechlornator and then that water bumps the ph to 8.5 or something like that, then a person throws in some ph down and brings the ph down to 6.0 to 6.6. then a couple of days later that buffer wears out and the ph jumps back up that will do alot of stress to the fish in my opinion. so do water changes water changes and keep the temp. the same.

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