my discus biotope

[cuprajake]

well, had a good long think last night about a w/c system,,,,

and have been drilling holes in my kitchen,

the grey lines added are 15mm pipe, i used this in the fish house, one will connect to my water butt/submersibel pump, this will pump into a 10+ litre container, the container will have an hole, with check valve inserted into the bottom and an air line tube to the tank, the water on timer fill fill the container then the water will slowly fill the tank via the airline tube till empty. there will be an over flow in the sump attached to the other pipe which will go out side as waste.

by calculating the changing :

The drip system will change 9.52 % of the Tank's water in one day and 18.13 % in two days.
Assuming no additional pollutants are added, drip system will replace 50.34 % of the Tank's water in a week.

jake

 

[BaTsBR]

very nice background there , congrats.
and lovely discus too.

abou the food, mine doesn't eat flakes, only sinking pellets and they eat a lot.
sometimes I give them some frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms (they really love it - no mistake)

 

[cuprajake]

think i might stay away from live food stuff then, and try to mix it up with different pellets,
got up this moring and they hadn't touched the beef heart mix then looking into the tank i startled one and it went crazy for a few seconds, and nearly jumped but went up into the floating fake plants then settles down, they were all hiding in the corner near the overflow as that is hidden out of sight,
so i now have the lights coming on 30mins before i get up, so i can go down ,and not startle them and feed them,
today i will get my piping and rig up the water changer,
jake

 

[Eric A]

I'm sure that water change idea may work. A lot less complicated than mine LOL

 

[cuprajake]

well plumbed it in last night, and got it all working, its a shame the water but is so far away, and the temp really dropped last night to -7 so i think i now have some frozen water in my pipes, but it only happens for about 3 weeks out of the year.

i now have the submercible in the waterbutt, this is on a timer, and comes on for 12 mins in the morning and 12 mins at night, the pipe work rises up to the house through the kitchen and into the back area of the tank, where it flows(slowly) into a collection tub (15l) on top of my sump, the tub is drilled at the top, like a normal tank would be - then has an overflow to take excess water into the return compartment of the sump. heres the good bit, the holding tank has a heater in there so the water that is left, pretty much 15l is heated and as the fresh water is pumped in, it mixes and takes the chill off it.

i then have a small fountin pump also located in the last compartment of the sump, this is connected to the waste pipe, this turns on for one minute in the morning, just before the water in gets turned on, and then on for one minute at night too, again just before the fresh water is pumped in, and that is

im currently pumping in 22l a day and taking out about the same, i need to jiggle with the timers to make sure i take out and put enough in obs but so far it works great, well when its not frozen haha

jake

 

[cuprajake]

btw if i do up chnages and add another interval making it 3 times a day, it will change from 50% a week change to 73% change a week

 

[Eric A]

73% is overkill. 50% is even pretty much.

 

[Lupin]

73% is overkill. 50% is even pretty much.

Depends on your own perspective. You'll find most discus breeders even do more than 50% water changes daily to avoid stunting of growth of their juvenile stocks. This is actually a good practice. Discus are easily stunted given the improper environmental conditions they are often placed in.

 

[Eric A]

Depends on your own perspective. You'll find most discus breeders even do more than 50% water changes daily to avoid stunting of growth of their juvenile stocks. This is actually a good practice. Discus are easily stunted given the improper environmental conditions they are often placed in.

But most breeders will have 50 plus fry in a 2' tank at a time, so in that case it is needed. You won't find this fella with 20 discus in his tank will ya?

 

[Lupin]

But most breeders will have 50 plus fry in a 2' tank at a time, so in that case it is needed. You won't find this fella with 20 discus in his tank will ya?

Actually the issue with juvenile discus is they require plenty of feedings especially protein loaded foods. Due to increased metabolic rate from the warmer temperatures they are often kept in, they produce quite a lot of wastes which is why water changes are done daily by breeders. Adults do not need to be fed as often as the juveniles do so they produce less wastes and therefore can cope with two water changes weekly at the very least. With a tank containing 20 discus, 73% wouldn't be overkill at all. In fact, it isn't enough depending on how much they are fed and how big the filtration capacity is.