How well dose chemical filtration work with discus?

[LD50]

So I am about to move my fahaka puffer up to his end all be all 240g home. Which will leave me with an empty but nicely planted 90g tank. I have read enough to know that juvi discus put out enzymes that in an aquarium setting can stunt them thus the high volume wc's. I was thinking 3, 3-4" Hans discus marlboro reds and 3 cobalt blues .

I want to raise these discus from juvies (best part of the hobby imo) however my tap water comes with an amazingly high Ph of 12 because it runs at high pressure. With about 50 or 60 hrs of ageing however it drops to a nice 7.5. So doing Daily or even every other day WC's is not practical without a RO/DI unit which I don't have nor do I want to deal with atm. However I do have a GFO/Carbon reactor from an old salt tank I can clean up and run carbon inbetween 50-60% WC's every 3 or 4 days. In addition to the extra carbon filtration in the tank the plant filtration would be keeping pristine water quality in this 90g tank, I never have any NO3 or PO4 even with a fat messy puffer. Could young discus be raised in this manner without stunting occuring due to water quality?

 

[rodclement]

Hi there,

First off, great choice of source for your discus, Hans in THE MAN and a good personal friend of mine, I will see him toomorrow so if you'd like I'll put in a good word for you! Sned me a pm with your name and info and I will pump you up to him!

So that you know, your opening statement in this thread is not a fact and is the subject of much debate, there is no factual info on the matter but the whole discussion is pointlesee for the info you need in this thread. I do recomend you do a little more reading on Discus in one of the many sites dedicated only to them, you can have that discussion there!

As far as water quality goes in your tank, it will all depend on stocking levels, what else is there in the tank? Will the discus be the only fish in there? If you go with 6 four inch fish (minimum size i would recomend) in you 90gallon and you feed them clean foods once or twice a day, then there is a good chance that you will have no issues with the water change regimen you have in mind. the carbon filter is entirely up to you, i personally am not a big fan but many people will argue the contrary so you can decide after doing some research for yoursel.

Keep in mind that with discus, you will have nothing different than with any other fish, as long as your water is good and stable, your fish will grow and be healthy! With Stendkers from Hans, they will breed as well! Oh and I personally love his Fire Reds if you are into the pigeon type discus!

Rod

 

[chisoxjoe]

Hey there! I wanted to know where you keep ur aging water in? I have been breeding and keeping Discus for over 20 yrs. I know everyone has different opinions and methods to their madness. A tank of ur size( 90 gal) should not require a large RODI unit. You can probably find a good used one here or another site cheap. My experience is that using Carbon for EXTENDED periods of time with Discus is not a good idea especially with Juvies. Your Juvies will require lots of WCs and lots of feeding! At least 3 x day! ( if you want them to grow and stay healthy)
Remember to keep ur aged water as close to the tank water( temp, PH, GH, Kh) in parameters. Temp should be in 86 -88. PH can be anywhere from 6.0- to 7.5 as long as it is stable. TDS ( Total Dissolved Solids) should read under 180 ppm. Hope this helps and good luck with the Hans Reds! They should grow up gorgeous! I only use Carbon to remove any meds or clear up water at times. But if you are doing frequent WC, this should be a moot point.

 

[LD50]

Hi there,

First off, great choice of source for your discus, Hans in THE MAN and a good personal friend of mine, I will see him toomorrow so if you'd like I'll put in a good word for you! Sned me a pm with your name and info and I will pump you up to him!

So that you know, your opening statement in this thread is not a fact and is the subject of much debate, there is no factual info on the matter but the whole discussion is pointlesee for the info you need in this thread. I do recomend you do a little more reading on Discus in one of the many sites dedicated only to them, you can have that discussion there!

As far as water quality goes in your tank, it will all depend on stocking levels, what else is there in the tank? Will the discus be the only fish in there? If you go with 6 four inch fish (minimum size i would recomend) in you 90gallon and you feed them clean foods once or twice a day, then there is a good chance that you will have no issues with the water change regimen you have in mind. the carbon filter is entirely up to you, i personally am not a big fan but many people will argue the contrary so you can decide after doing some research for yoursel.

Keep in mind that with discus, you will have nothing different than with any other fish, as long as your water is good and stable, your fish will grow and be healthy! With Stendkers from Hans, they will breed as well! Oh and I personally love his Fire Reds if you are into the pigeon type discus!

Rod

Thanks for the reply, I will PM my info to you later as I am just now setting up the fahaka's 240 and it might be a solid month before I get it rolling add cycling time and we are about 2mo away from ordering any fish just yet. I am still doing homework and finding out exactly how I plan to care for these fish.

Hey there! I wanted to know where you keep ur aging water in? I have been breeding and keeping Discus for over 20 yrs. I know everyone has different opinions and methods to their madness. A tank of ur size( 90 gal) should not require a large RODI unit. You can probably find a good used one here or another site cheap. My experience is that using Carbon for EXTENDED periods of time with Discus is not a good idea especially with Juvies. Your Juvies will require lots of WCs and lots of feeding! At least 3 x day! ( if you want them to grow and stay healthy)
Remember to keep ur aged water as close to the tank water( temp, PH, GH, Kh) in parameters. Temp should be in 86 -88. PH can be anywhere from 6.0- to 7.5 as long as it is stable. TDS ( Total Dissolved Solids) should read under 180 ppm. Hope this helps and good luck with the Hans Reds! They should grow up gorgeous! I only use Carbon to remove any meds or clear up water at times. But if you are doing frequent WC, this should be a moot point.

Thanks for your reply as well. I age my water in a 50g rubbermaid trash can that has never been used for anything but mixing salt water so cleaned out it should work just as fine. I think I might just get my RO unit a new set of filters/membrane and mix it with aged tap to bring the TDS down to a more suitable level (tap runs about 250 - 280).

Thanks again, and I will post some pic's as soon as I actually aquire the fish.