ryansmith83
- I wonder if I have just spent too much time on Simplydiscus and have wound myself into a tight ball of nope when it comes to discus keeping
neutrino
- so you have kept Discus a bit more "naturally" before? If I went the Discus route, I would BB it for a couple of months while I got a feel for the species, then would add a bit of sand and a few more twigs and stones, maybe a couple of plants tied to wood. I like a natural looking but simple tank! I really feel I might have been sucked up too much into the Simplydiscus perfection and have convinced myself it can't be done, plus have a career, a husband, dogs and other fish
I don't need the perfectly round 8" fish, but I also don't want any stunted, sad fish that get sick at the drop of a hat (which they do seem to, despite people's hard work)
There's a bit of a been there, done that aspect for me and discus this far down the road, but to this day they're a favorite among all the fish I've kept-- I've downsized and slowed down with fish from what I've done in the past, partly due to adding an artistic hobby that takes up some time (wood carving and sculpture, I'm in some galleries in my area) , so I'm not in the mode of adding tanks to accommodate all my fish interests, but I'd certainly do discus again in the right circumstance.
I've spent time on SD, never joined-- not much point, all I'd do is get into debates with some of those guys or otherwise be aggravated with them. There's a certain self-pollinating aspect on some forums, a majority accepts a certain approach and you can't tell them any different, no matter your own logic, success, or long experience.
I did several types of discus tanks, heavily planted, lightly planted, driftwood, no driftwood, black water, clear water, LOT of tankmates, few tankmates, species only, etc. I experimented with different temperatures, pH, water change regimens-- After a bit of experience with them I generally did 50-90% water changes, once or twice a week, depending on the tank and other factors. Back then I fed dry foods, sometimes frozen foods, good bit of live brine shrimp-- I had some big honking discus, nice and round, sans beef heart.
Certain things were always consistent: NO beef heart or other land animal foods. Never did bare tanks, always substrate and at least a few plants. Never did medicating or deworming to 'prevent' them getting sick. Never kept them in small 'breeder tanks', always a tank they had room to move around in. I don't see the point otherwise, I understand the economics of commercial breeding, but nothing better than a group of discus schooling from one end of the tank to another or leisurely picking their way through plants, driftwood, etc.
I strongly believe you can set yourself up to
require frequent water changes. It's an easy and obvious formula: small tank, or smallish tank for the number of fish, feed beef heart or similar foods, feed heavily because you think they need it to reach a good size (they don't), feed more protein than they really need, bare tank, so nothing except your filter and water changes to keep the water clean-- Bingo, have fun doing water changes. Or... bigger tank for the same number of fish, more balance in tank ecology than a bare tank, feed moderately, cleaner foods, don't go overboard trying to grow them fast--> it's easier on water changes and you shouldn't have to medicate all the time. Pretty simple imo, it was for me.
Whatever fish I have I try to keep what I consider a balanced tank with an ecology that doesn't require fanatical maintenance. Substrate, filters, plants, driftwood or rocks, all figure in. I tend to stock lightly to moderately, but adjust water changes accordingly. I tend to do large, but not frequent water changes. I keep filters and substrate (gravel years ago, all sand now) clean, though my sand doesn't need much, honestly. I have the advantage of well water, so no chlorine/chloramine to worry about, but the disadvantage that, while my well never runs out, it's not the best water, orange-ish sometimes, typically cloudy, sometimes very cloudy-- sometimes I'll wait for a better day to do water changes, but even on a good day it takes filters some hours to clean it up (we filter drinking water or get it from a spring). If I did multiple water changes per week I'd have cloudy water half the time, LOL. Bottom line, though, is I rarely get a sick fish and they tend to live a long time-- they must like
something I'm doing.
I don't know what the deal is with some people's discus getting sick all the time, I had an approach to keeping them, it worked for me and mine were always healthy without a lot of fuss, now and then I'd rescue a sick looking one and have to nurse it-- and wilds often came in looking rough. But there's more than one way to do it and keep them healthy, not claiming I had some exclusive secret. Medicating constantly can't be good for them. I don't agree with the way some people feed them (but if that's what you want to do and you want do all those water changes, knock yourself out). However, I wonder if some strains these days haven't had weaknesses bred into them.
