Yes...another newbie with yet MORE questions!!

[fishy knickers]

Hi all, I know you are all sick of us newbies...but here goes....

I am going to convert my 55g to discus....before you tut and roll your eyes...I am aware of the amount of work required. (I'm used to spending half my life feeding fry, swalling pints of tankwater during many changes as we are successfully breeding 3 types of fish). Could you please answer my questions as I want to set up with a breeding pair, to try and get them to spawn and raise fry.

I have a Juwel Vision 260 with a well matured fluval 305 filter, 15 watt UV filter and stabdard twin lighting.

1) If I go BB, would my bristlenose be happy?
2) What lighting would be best?
3) Should I use RO water and re-buffer,or HMA, or a mix?
4) Would the UV filter be of continuing benefit?
5) Would my sunshine pleco L14 be ok with them, assuming I give him a hiding place for through the day?
6) Would the bristlenose generally affect the discus spawning/be a risk?
7) Am I annoying you yet?!


Cheers guys!

 

[fishy knickers]

Oh..I forgot... I was thinking of going barebottom but keeping this nice tall rocket shaped bogwood, that I was thinking of standing on a large piece of flat slate with a layer of gravel siliconed to it.

Sound ok? Or a big no-no?

Cheers

 

[snoopy65]

Hi all, I know you are all sick of us newbies...but here goes....

I am going to convert my 55g to discus....before you tut and roll your eyes...I am aware of the amount of work required. (I'm used to spending half my life feeding fry, swalling pints of tankwater during many changes as we are successfully breeding 3 types of fish). Could you please answer my questions as I want to set up with a breeding pair, to try and get them to spawn and raise fry.

I have a Juwel Vision 260 with a well matured fluval 305 filter, 15 watt UV filter and stabdard twin lighting.

1) If I go BB, would my bristlenose be happy?

Most people who have plecos in the tank with discus go with Bristlenoses and they are fine.

2) What lighting would be best?

Discus as a whole don't like really bright lights, but there are those who have high tech planted set ups that require it, so I guess it depends on what you like.

3) Should I use RO water and re-buffer,or HMA, or a mix?

This again depends on your water. I use straight from the tap, but my ph is stable.
4) Would the UV filter be of continuing benefit?

I have never heard of anyone using it on a discus tank.

5) Would my sunshine pleco L14 be ok with them, assuming I give him a hiding place for through the day?

I do not know any about this type of pleco, but most plecos like the slime coat of discus and suck on their sides. So you will have to watch closely.

6) Would the bristlenose generally affect the discus spawning/be a risk?

I have never read here or on Simplydiscus of bristlenoses causing any problems.
7) Am I annoying you yet?!

Nope, that is what the forum is for.


Cheers guys!

Oh..I forgot... I was thinking of going barebottom but keeping this nice tall rocket shaped bogwood, that I was thinking of standing on a large piece of flat slate with a layer of gravel siliconed to it.

Sound ok? Or a big no-no?

Sounds fine, when people talk of bare bottom, they don't mean no decor.
Cheers

Hope this helps

 

[hillbilly]

Hi all, I know you are all sick of us newbies...but here goes....

I am going to convert my 55g to discus....before you tut and roll your eyes...I am aware of the amount of work required. (I'm used to spending half my life feeding fry, swalling pints of tankwater during many changes as we are successfully breeding 3 types of fish). Could you please answer my questions as I want to set up with a breeding pair, to try and get them to spawn and raise fry.

I have a Juwel Vision 260 with a well matured fluval 305 filter, 15 watt UV filter and stabdard twin lighting.

1) If I go BB, would my bristlenose be happy?
2) What lighting would be best?
3) Should I use RO water and re-buffer,or HMA, or a mix?
4) Would the UV filter be of continuing benefit?
5) Would my sunshine pleco L14 be ok with them, assuming I give him a hiding place for through the day?
6) Would the bristlenose generally affect the discus spawning/be a risk?
7) Am I annoying you yet?!


Cheers guys!

If you want to set up a tank for a breeding pair, a 55 gal.US may be too large. Fry sometimes can a do lose their parents in a longer tank. I use 29 gal., 37 gal., and 20 gal.US for breeding pairs. I have more 20 gal. breeding tanks than anything else, and they work fine. I would not use the UV. I don't know anything about your water, but if it is hard, I would use the RO, and mix it with tap to make it soft, with a PH in the sixes. Hatch rates for discus eggs in hard water is very low. The eggs hatch much better in soft water. I would not add any other fish in the tank with a breeding pair. The parents won't like that at all, and there is a small chance the plecos could try to eat the eggs as well. Good luck!

 

[FishPimpin101]

i had two sunnies that i kept with my discus never had any problems other than my plecos feeding off eggs laid by my pair. Sand particularly Estes sands is good substrate for discus. i recently changed my substrate to white estes sand and my discus seemed alot more happier than my partial BB before. Sand is just as good as BB since waste doesnt get trapped as much as it would with larger grains of gravel. Waste stays right on top of the sand easy to scoop out with a net

 

[MadRussian79]

If you are breeding then I'd have the discus all by themselves. One trick I use is having a large show tank with discus and then when they pair up I isolate them. If you want to go for a specific color morph get the fish from a breeder as opposed a pet store. If you can swing it get a proven pair it's just easier.

 

[fishy knickers]

Sorry, my tank is 66 US (55UK) gallon, but only 4ft long, bow fronted and 2ft high.... so not so long. Do you reckon that this may still be a problem for losing fry?

For breeding a pair in this tank...what decor is acceptable (if any!!). This tank is in our main living room.

Cheers

 

[hillbilly]

Sorry, my tank is 66 US (55UK) gallon, but only 4ft long, bow fronted and 2ft high.... so not so long. Do you reckon that this may still be a problem for losing fry?

For breeding a pair in this tank...what decor is acceptable (if any!!). This tank is in our main living room.

Cheers

A four foot tank is large for a discus breeding tank. You could put a divider in it if you must use it. A piece of driftwood with branches, breeding cone, or ceramic flower pot turned upside down to give the female a place to lay eggs is really all that's needed. Keep in mind that fry need very clean water, so the less stuff you have in the tank trapping debris, the better.

 

[hillbilly]

i had two sunnies that i kept with my discus never had any problems other than my plecos feeding off eggs laid by my pair. Sand particularly Estes sands is good substrate for discus. i recently changed my substrate to white estes sand and my discus seemed alot more happier than my partial BB before. Sand is just as good as BB since waste doesnt get trapped as much as it would with larger grains of gravel. Waste stays right on top of the sand easy to scoop out with a net

You don't want sand in a breeding tank.