Pics and questions on my new discus

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spitz006

Piranha
MFK Member
Dec 25, 2010
565
122
76
Allegan, MI
So I saw an ad on craigslist about a guy who's getting rid of all of his tanks and fish, I stopped by just for some plants and peices of driftwood and he talked me into buying a couple discus. 35 dollars for 2 of them.

I put them in my 40 breeder tank that's got tons of plants and a couple big peices of driftwood. When I move in 3 months, they'll be moving to a 75 gallon. So maybe I'll buy some more from the guy.

discus1.jpgdiscus 2.jpg

These show the smaller discus. I haven't photographed the other one yet, but it's about the same colors and just maybe an inch larger.

I have since removed the boesemanis and the gourami becuase I want only slow moving gentle fish in the tank so I can eventually hand feed the discus without them being scared. Current tankmates are a bolivian ram, some pencilfish, peacock gudgeons, scarlet badis, threadfin rainbows, a small wild betta, kuhli loaches, a banjo cat, bristlenose pleco, otocinclus cats, a south american bumblebee cat, dwarf frogs and tons of shrimp and snails

Right now they're pretty timid, they've been eating (bloodworms and beefheart) but for the most part they just sit at the bottom of the tank. Will they eventually start swimming around more?

One more question: I'm moving in with my parents where I'll be on well water that's pretty high pH. Not off the charts or anything, but probably about 7.7 or so. Would I be better off buying an RO unit and keeping it at 7 or buying peat moss to lower the pH? My dad has recently bought some sort of chemical that lowers the pH because he's growing weed and he wants the soil to be down to 6.6. I don't know if it would be safe to use that chemical in a fish tank, I've really never heard of any chemical that can lower pH.

Thanks in advance and let me know if I got a pretty good deal for $35!

discus1.jpg

discus 2.jpg
 
Pretty good deal, could be that it will just take time to come out more. It is a good sign that they are eating.
 
My dad has recently bought some sort of chemical that lowers the pH because he's growing weed and he wants the soil to be down to 6.6. I don't know if it would be safe to use that chemical in a fish tank, I've really never heard of any chemical that can lower pH.

Thanks in advance and let me know if I got a pretty good deal for $35!

wait...did i read that correctly?

what's your current pH right now? from your tap right now? if its not too far off maybe the discus will just adapt to the slightly higher pH. also with the fish being timid it might just be because they're getting used to the new environment. in my limited fishkeeping experience with discus, they feel more comfortable in a group of about 5 or so

if you really want to get into discus this forum has a wealth of information that will be very useful: forum.simplydiscus.com
 
actually i should mention that my discus live in pH 7.6 water but they're used to it so it doesn't bother them. from what i gather plain ol' water will be fine for aquarium bred discus and that you don't need to use RO unless you're breeding or have wilds... let the experts chime in they probably have something better to say than me
 
your water is fine. do not add any chemicals to alter the PH. I have wilds in tap water. PH is 7.6 and they are doing great. domestics are bred in PH as high as 8.6. a stable PH is far more important. the only problem I see might be temps. discus like warmer water than the other fish in your tank. the younger the discus, the warmer the water should be.
 
They lost their colors, i think cuz my temp dropped. Will they color back up? I've read once they go dark they're dark forever.
 
When they darken in color that usually means they are stressed. Make sure your water is pristine and the fish will reward you with bright beautiful colors. Also try to keep the temp stable like 3dees said discus like stability, if there's wild swings in pH conditions temp etc they tend to not do good. Good luck and welcome to the discus hobby I'm sure you'll get addicted soon lol


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wait...did i read that correctly?

Yes you did. He has his card and he's doing it for medical reasons.

Anyways, Yes evillobster I'm already addicted. I think the reason they darkened is the temperature in the tank was low today for some reason. I added another heater and jacked them both up as high as they go and now it's up to 81 degrees. I don't know if my heater's bad or if it's because it's nearby a window or what. I'm going to keep a blanket over the window from now on... (although I liked letting all the sunlight in for my plants... Hopefully they will color back up witha more constant tempreature. Maybe I should buy a new heater.
 
I would try to get the temp up to a minimum of 84 degrees! Not sure how the rest of the tank mates will do but if you want to give those guys a chance of survival your gonna need to do it.
T
 
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