Questions about raiseing juvie discus

[hybridtheoryd16]

I will be obtaining 6-10 half dollar plus size ble turq's at the end of next week. These fish are coming from a local breeder that use's the same tap water as I.

My questions are

1. What is a proper temp for raiseing juvie's in?
2. What about temp as adults?
3. Any special care not offered in traditional readings about discus?
4. Are frozen blood worms and beef heart OK for a staple diet?
5. Any other foods that need to be altered in?
6. How many feedings per day?
7. At what size should I move them from the 30g to a 55g low tech planted?
8. And then at what size can they be moved to there life tank a 125g?

I know that there are alot of concerns about buying and raiseing juvie discus so i will outline my plan and you all can let me know if it sounds ok.

The discus are coming from a local breeder that has been breeding these for 10+yrs and this is the 9th litter from his blue turq pair. He breeds in RO water and then at 1 month of age slowly acclimates the young over to our tap water. He is feeding them beef heart/blood worms 3x daily.

So my plan is

I will start them off in a 30g, bare bottom with a temp in the mid 80's. I plan to do daily 50-60% water changes and clean the bottom at each change. The tank is filtered by a emperor 280 and has been up and running as a feeder tank for 2yrs. The biological filter at this point is cycled up to hold around 150 2" rosie reds at any given time. These will be removed and the temp raised to 85 and a 95% water change done the day before i pick up the Discus. I plan on feeding beef heart and bloodworms 3x times a day.

Once they out grow the 30g they will be moved to a 55g to further grow before they are moved to the 125g as there final tank.They will have no tank mates in the 30g or the 55g.The 55g is a low tech planted tank which raises question #7. There tank mates in the 125g will be 3 discus tetra's 4", possibly 1 10" yellow tail barracuda.

Thanks alot

 

[msjinkzd]

1. What is a proper temp for raiseing juvie's in? I raised mine in 86
2. What about temp as adults? Once mine hit 4-5" i reduced temp to 83
3. Any special care not offered in traditional readings about discus?
4. Are frozen blood worms and beef heart OK for a staple diet? I prefer mixing in a staple pellet (NLS 1.0mm or Kens 1.0mm color bits)
5. Any other foods that need to be altered in?
6. How many feedings per day?at small size I fed 4-6x a day
   
7. At what size should I move them from the 30g to a 55g low tech planted?
8. And then at what size can they be moved to there life tank a 125g?

If you can, spend some time on www.simplydiscus.com reading through their library. There is a wealth of information on feeding, tank setup, tankmates, etc

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Sure will

thanks alot

 

[WILLIAM PALUMBO]

My questions are

1. What is a proper temp for raiseing juvie's in? 86-88 is fine
2. What about temp as adults? Adults and my pairs do well at the lower end of the temp. scale, around 82. My breeder are all at 82.
3. Any special care not offered in traditional readings about discus? Upon arrival, I would add 1 TBS of salt per 10 gal. to help with the stress of being moved.
4. Are frozen blood worms and beef heart OK for a staple diet? That's fine, but make the BH your main feedings, as Discus fed too much on FBW's can get picky about other foods. BH will put growth on fast!
5. Any other foods that need to be altered in? I always feed a pellet and a flake. In my case, I use OMEGA 1 Color pellets, TETRA-BITS, and for flake I mostly use Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef flakes. Tho most high quality pellet and flakes will work.
6. How many feedings per day? MANY!...4 Minimum...
7. At what size should I move them from the 30g to a 55g low tech planted? 6-10 Discus will grow fast. I would move when around 2 1/2" A 30g is small, and they will get crowded fast.
8. And then at what size can they be moved to there life tank a 125g? At adulthood, the Discus do not require as many feedings, so that's a good time to put them into any type of planted tank. Less feedings=less waste.

You plans sound good. Glad to see you are willing to do the large daily water changes. If kept up, they will be going into the 55 in no time. But don't stop with the water changes there. Maybe not as much, but still regularly. Your tankmates sound fine...EXCEPT for maybe the Barracuda...Bill

 

[hillbilly]

I agree with Bill, except I don't use salt. I don't think it necessary. Healthy discus recover from a move quickly anyway. It's a matter of choice. The only thing that I would question is putting small fish into the planted 55. You may have growth problems putting small fish in a planted tank. If I couldn't remove the plants from the 55, I would put them straight into the 125, and find the barracuda a new home. I'm glad you are planning ahead with you discus. Too many people buy discus without giving it much thought. They run into problems because they hadn't done the research, and find they don't know what to do next. Good luck with your fish. They are fascinating creatures.