My New Discus Fish Tank Set Up

[roshan2946]

Guys, hi

Well' i am setting up a new discus fish tank at my home and i am living in a countryside of Sri Lanka and the natural source of water is not polluted by any means. Hence i will be using the pure well water for my fish with slight bed of sand along with few rocks and some artificial plants. When it comes to PH level of the water of our well water it can be slightly lower than what is required for discus fishes. So, what should i do in this case.....? What should i do to increase the PH level of the water...? At the same time, i have external and internal filter system + a heater to maintain the water quality and the required water temperature for discus. So, all i am asking is. Is it healthier to go with juveniles or adults...? What should i feed them for their diet...? I have been told by some of the leading discus exporters in sri lanka that they provide grinned beef. Would that work for discus. I have no knowledge about discus so definetly require advice from you guys. Please advice me... waiting for advice

[Spardas]

Uh, I'd like you to test your well water first. Test the hardness, TDS, pH, nitrite and nitrate, etc.

Once you get a reading of the pH, then we'll know if it's low or not. Don't mess with the water unless it's absolutely necessary.

Juveniles require more attention overall. They require more frequent feeding which would mean more water change. Also, if you plan to keep them in a tank with substrates and plant, that would mean more attention and work to clean. If you don't clean properly, you'll have massive amount of debris build up in the substrate and it'll be a haven for bacteria and planaria, etc.

Do they feed beef heart? Is that what you're talking about. I think it's best to use a seafood diet. The reason being is it's a better alternative than beef heart. Now, there are two school of thoughts on beef heart usage in discus rearing but I'm not going to type it all out but from my own opinion; seafood diet is the way to go.

What's the company name of this exporter? Does he have a website? I'd like to take a look.

[roshan2946]

Dear Spardas,

Appreciate the valuable advice and you sound to be a expert in the field of discus keeping i have gone through all your advices you dished out to others and it's very well crafted and very explanatory. By the way, at the moment my tank is under cycling and i have been cycling it with some of the cheap fishes that is available in the market and fishes are looking happier without oxygen and filter installed. Having said that, i would definetly check my water parameters once i am ready to go with the discus as you have mentioned me in your post.

Does the hardness of the water plays a major part in keeping the discus alive..? What if i happen to have a PH level between 6 to 7 then could i get stick to it...? What is the easiest way to check the hardness of the water..? What should be the hardness in my tank..? I have brought a gravel cleaner for my tank and can i go with the very little sand as a start. I don't have idea what is the name of the sand but very expensive one. Is it harmful...? Will the nitrite and ammonia will be washes away if constant water changes made...?[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] and Settings\Admin\Desktop

Well' for your interest in knowing the exporter, we have many ornamental fish exporters but the best one i know is Minolma which is located in Colombo, Sri lanka and the owner of the Venture is very well known to me. if you are interested in importing any ornamental fish into your place than i could help you to get in touch with him. Believe me ! they have unbelievable stuffs in their place particularly discus fishes..

Waiting for your advice........!

The tank is attached for you to see it.......

Regards

[Spardas]

Hello roshan,

What are your plans concerning filtration and equipment?

As far as hardness goes, it's important for to understand for your purposes because it'll determine the pH, growth rate, osmoregulation, and breeding.

What some would call the Bermuda Triangle of water chemistry is pH, KH, and GH. Now, I'm sure you can do research on your own about the relationship of these three; but I'll give a layman explanation here and why it's important for you and your pursuit of discus rearing.

Domestic discus have been reared in the closed environment of tanks for many filial generations and have become quite adaptable to different water parameters. With that being said, they can adapt to a wider range of pH and GH. However, there are advantages as well as disadvantages when keeping them in certain water parameters.

For your case, you want to raise out juveniles. It's best to raise them in hard water. There are two main reasons for this. The first is freshwater fishes are constantly absorbing water into its body via the process of osmosis. So, in order for them to reach equilibrium, they will have to excrete waste water in the form of urine. So, because hard water is highly concentrated; it takes less effort on them to reach equilibrium. This is good because it prevents bacteria from easily entering their body if tissues are damaged. The second point is that they also absorb nutrients from the water just as well as they can through food. Water fortified with nutrients (mainly calcium) will do a lot of good in the growth of discus juveniles.

Now, there are several methods of determining the hardness of the water. The first way that you can get a general idea is to simply wash your hand. Hard water will produce very little lather with soap whereas soft water will produce a lot. To get an accurate number, I use an electronic conductivity meter. Precise lab indicator are also available but not necessary for the typical hobbyist. For your purposes, you can rely on a simple home kit.

pH is not nearly as important for raising domestic discus but the key is in stability and low levels of DO (dissolved organics). However, hardness is important in determining your pH as well as its buffering capacity. As you many know, the aquarium should always become more acidic due to the natural nitrogen cycle in the water. Therefore, a good buffer capacity will prevent a constant change in pH.

The hardness of your tank should be slightly hard to moderately hard. In terms of ppm CaCO3 (100-300) and in terms of DH (6-18) and in terms of Clark (7-21).

As far as the type of sand you're using, I have no idea if you don't tell me the source where it's from or the brand. But you can test to see if it has water hardening agents by using vinegar. The sand will fizz if this is the case.

Water changes will be a great way to manage your water. It will replenish new nutrients and oxygen into the water while removing contaminants as well as DO so long as the incoming water is free from contaminants in the first place. However, when you do large water change, the key is to make sure the incoming water matches exactly with the tank's water. Failing to do this will cause major stress on the fishes as well as any other livestock you may have.

I'm not interested in importing fishes but was merely curious as to the source that you're getting fishes from. Half the battle is won from getting quality stock from reputable people. The other half is just work on your part to keep it healthy. :hmm3grin2orange:

You should always keep in mind that all fishes need trace elements and metal to survive and shouldn't be kept in water that is completely free of these elements. However, the amount must be minute for it to achieve its purposes.

Have your water tested.

Also, if you attached pictures, I don't see anything.