Discus Tank cycling guidance please

[SusieQ]

Hi there.. I agree with Darrell (Hillbilly).. he's given you some good advice. If I understand you this is a 72 gallon tank and you want to add 10-15 juvie discus and more than 11 cories and bns and angels... That's gonna be a lot of fish.. I would say as adults 7-8 are probably the right amount of discus for the tank plus a bn plus some cories if they can take the high temps of 84-86.. Yes you can add angels but as you noted they are eager eaters and may out compete the discus so I would not add them til the discus are at least 4-5 inches.. Whatever you add to a discus tank after the first discus are in... qt, qt, qt ...
The main reason for going BB is cleaning ease.. the cleaner the tank the healthier the discus.. You can certainly add some driftwood or pots or floating plants just realize that it just makes the cleaning a bit harder... so you have to judge how diligent you are gonna be.. a lot also depends on the size/age of the discus when you first get them... the smaller the more sensitive they are and the more work.. Once they hit 3 inches they are more resiliant than 2 inchers etc..
The bns are great for discus tanks.. they stay relatively small so there is a lot less poop than with most other plecos.. I like the albino version the best but there are several different types.
Good luck whatever you decide to do and lets see pics when you get setup. Sue

 

[sushiray]

Hi there.. I agree with Darrell (Hillbilly).. he's given you some good advice. If I understand you this is a 72 gallon tank and you want to add 10-15 juvie discus and more than 11 cories and bns and angels... That's gonna be a lot of fish.. I would say as adults 7-8 are probably the right amount of discus for the tank plus a bn plus some cories if they can take the high temps of 84-86.. Yes you can add angels but as you noted they are eager eaters and may out compete the discus so I would not add them til the discus are at least 4-5 inches.. Whatever you add to a discus tank after the first discus are in... qt, qt, qt ...
The main reason for going BB is cleaning ease.. the cleaner the tank the healthier the discus.. You can certainly add some driftwood or pots or floating plants just realize that it just makes the cleaning a bit harder... so you have to judge how diligent you are gonna be.. a lot also depends on the size/age of the discus when you first get them... the smaller the more sensitive they are and the more work.. Once they hit 3 inches they are more resiliant than 2 inchers etc..
The bns are great for discus tanks.. they stay relatively small so there is a lot less poop than with most other plecos.. I like the albino version the best but there are several different types.
Good luck whatever you decide to do and lets see pics when you get setup. Sue

thx Sue - I don't plan to add any new fish to new arrivals except a BN & a few corys (not all 11 tho all are babe sizes). especially no angels till juvies are much bigger. will refrain on any ornamentation.

I plan on WC daily. thx again

 

[Yanbbrox]

Why not run both AC 110's on your aged tank until you get your discus? If you just swap them, you'll still have one filter that is uncycled. I think people add BNs because they help clean up uneaten food as well as algae, and stay small. If you get young discus, you'll want to raise them to adult size in a bare bottom tank, otherwise, they will likely stunt and remain small. Growing discus are very sensitive to water quality. Once they reach maturity, they are more tolerant of water conditions, and then can be placed safely in planted or show type tanks with other species of fish without screwing up their growth. I suggest reading everything you can about discus before you buy your fish, it will keep you from making costly mistakes later.

That is one of the best discus posts I've ever read for overall discus advise.

I've tried a couple of times to keep discus and always failed. Despite that I still read about them all the time and I've not tried for a couple of years.

 

[sushiray]

That is one of the best discus posts I've ever read for overall discus advise.

I've tried a couple of times to keep discus and always failed. Despite that I still read about them all the time and I've not tried for a couple of years.

xxx

i agree, this sounds like the a great way to cycle! keeping a filter in a sump another great tip! I am almost ready!! Stendkers here we come!

 

[Bobears]

Good for you and good luck with your discus.

A few words of advice: albino cory cats, NO, they can't take the heat and will die soon; BN plecos are good not just because they are small, but they tend to avoid sucking on the discus slime coat; be careful with discus and using seeded sponges and/or biomedia, they will contain the same parasites from the tank you use to cycle them. With discus you can not skip a step, use cautious behavior or you will fail. Sometime it seems the longest more tried and true methods work the best. Why not try a fishless cycle, no parasite infestation and you start clean? SLOW and patient is the key to long fishy life!

 

[sushiray]

Good for you and good luck with your discus.

A few words of advice: albino cory cats, NO, they can't take the heat and will die soon; BN plecos are good not just because they are small, but they tend to avoid sucking on the discus slime coat; be careful with discus and using seeded sponges and/or biomedia, they will contain the same parasites from the tank you use to cycle them. With discus you can not skip a step, use cautious behavior or you will fail. Sometime it seems the longest more tried and true methods work the best. Why not try a fishless cycle, no parasite infestation and you start clean? SLOW and patient is the key to long fishy life!

xxx

thx for the feedback. makes sense to me!

 

[revkkoolaid]

o Great idea on AC110's. I will use both to cycle.
o So BN's are preferred (not one of my favorites) but no other pleco substitutes?
o I am going bare bottom, so you discourage placing flower pots and/or slates for the time being, till they grow out more?
o I have been reading from different forums which have been quite helpful with their stickies & feedback, these are just a few specific Q?'s I was looking into.

We heavily use BN for light clean-up duty, but I have Royals,L200,L128s in discus tanks for ornamental purposes as well as BN. Honestly though if water quality is maintained at ideal levels in a discus tank algae is typically minimal and what little there is can be easily maintained by Amano shrimp. And do keep in mind ANY algae grazing pleco is a very high waste load animal. The only tanks I keep more than one specimen of any sp. of pleco are large systems (400g+). Amano shrimp IMO produce far less waste and work quite well. Another plus of Amano shrimp is they pose no threat to the discus. Many pleco species ,esp. if underfed, can and will latch on to discus and gnaw on them.

I will say though nothing works as well as a BN for preventing that "fur" that can build up on driftwood.

That being said if you are going barebottom I would stick to just discus. I see no need for clean up crew in a barebottom tank as the whole point of going barebottom is the ability to easily maintain insanely clean condtions thus rendering algae almost non-existant esp. if lighting is kept minimal.
Although it's hard not to want to drop a halide on top of a group of juicy discus .

It's no substitute for water changes but I highly recommend using SeaChem Purigen. Best stuff in the world IMO. We use it on all of our discus tanks.
I've never seen any other adsorbent that works as well or as long. It is a bit expensive. . . but it comes with the territory. Discus are not a poor man's hobby. Allegedly you can recharge purigen w/ bleach. We just replace it to insure optimal performance.