filtration for discus
- Thread starter nuggets
- Start date
nuggets;2974488; said:
Filtration is probably least important with discus than most any other tropical freshwater fish, because water conditions should always be controlled by water changes. Good bio certainly offers a great safety net, but the primarily means of water management should always be water changes.
hillbilly;2985491; said:
I totally agree. Our breeder/dealer keeps all his stock with SPONGEFILTERS only. BUT he performs almost 100% water changes EVERYDAY.
The smallest discus tank we maintain is an aprox. 40gal ADA tank w/ 4 red melons & 12 green neons and it runs with just a tiny ehiem 2217 and recieves weekly 75% wc and the filter is serviced monthly.
Our discus tanks in the field are mostly ran w/ Ehiem 2260/62s. Larger groups (20-30 adlts) usually have a large wet dry accompaniment to the multiple ehiems, or the wet dry is utilized for airation if the tank does not employ a "bubblewall" for asthetic reasons, as we typically plumb our ehiems and air pumps thru the bottom so no equipment is visable but this creates very minimal surface agitation.
We do have an 800gal. discus tank with a very large group that is ran only by 4 x 2262s and recieves weekly 50%-80% wc.
again and again . . . water changes water changes water changes!!!!
Oh and for what it's worth. . .not that I've had problems with the fish in tanks w/ wet drys. . . but my most stellar groups are kept with ehiems only.
Hi... I agree water changes water changes water changes... That said.. for a display tank I like the xp3s canisters... You just use the spray bar attachment to control the turbulence but you get good flow and plenty of area in the canister for bacteria.. In growout tanks I like the sponge filters... A lot depends on what kind of discus tank... planted display, barebottom growout etc.. Good luck whatever your plans... Sue
Hi.. I've had xp3s on all my tanks for years and never had them break.. They are fairly inexpensive and quiet and easy for a hobbiest to use. Sorry you had a bad experience with one.. Sue
SusieQ;3031246; said:Hi.. I've had xp3s on all my tanks for years and never had them break.. They are fairly inexpensive and quiet and easy for a hobbiest to use. Sorry you had a bad experience with one.. Sue
I've never owned one. I've just never been impressed with any of Rena's products and I've seen them fail over and over again in other people's aquarium. Their heaters are esp. dangerous and have cooked countless aquariums, but i find that true of many submersibles.
I'm sure they're great for a hobbyist on a budget and like most equipment I'm sure if handled well and well maintained it can last for quite a while.
For example. . .back in the day. . . I owned multiple Fluval 404s (i got for $60 each!) as well as Marineland Emperor filters, both NOTORIOUSLY unreliable, and never had any problems with them. Hell the only tank I have up and running at home post-hurricane ike is a 25g eclipse Ive had for years, biowheel still spinnin' lol.
All the horror stories I encountered working in retail or from other hobbyist usually seemed to coincide with people trying to get some SERIOUS filtration done using plastic kids toys. Like people with 200-300 gallon tanks with hodge podges of stacked HOB equipment, cheap can's, and buckets.
Or a guy with an overstocked 75 trying to maintain it soley with a 404 and stuff like that. Just people expecting way to much from cheap equipment.
When cost isn't issue. . . and it isn't in my line of work. . . the extra cost is well worth the security.
True Monsterfishkeeping requires Monster Equip.
IMO If you have REAL work to be done and want/need to be able to count on it 24/7 for 20yrs there is no substitute for the classic ehiem!