Yell at me

[sdkinaz]

Hi, this is my first post to any fish forum, I have been reading all your posts and am prepared to be yelled at. I have a 90 gal, corner tank with 6 discus, and misc. tetras, glass cats, hatchets and a few cory cats, it has gravel, silk plants and lots of wood, just got one of those new LED lights for the tank. My pH is consistently 6.0 with 0 amonia and 0 nitites and very low nitrates. Here is where you can start to yell, I do only 30-40% water changes once a month and feed once to twice a day. According to all your posts my discus should be dead, but they are growing got them about 2" and the bigest is almost 7" now. They are very colorful, and seem happy they come to the front of the tank and tease my kitten that sits and watches them. I love the tank and just wanted to let people know that dicus don't have to be so labor intensive to keep.

[Sandz]

Thats awesome that you have had that success. You have a heavily planted and acidic tank. There is a difference between nickel and 2-3in discus in stunting possibility. You have a great size for a school and the tank inhabitants obviously dont crowd. The 90gal tank is plenty of room, you may not do such large water changes but it seems you are doing a fine job so :22: to you.

Now it really isnt HARD as usually rumorred but for Wilds it can be. It really depends on the stock, the strain etc.

[Lab_Rat]

Why would anyone yell at you if your fish are healthy and growing well? It may not be what works for most people, but if it's working for you then good. I wouldn't recommend once a month water changes as ime (not for discus, for any fish) the weekly water changes greatly increase health and growth of fish.

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree. I've know others who have had great Discus without becoming a slave to their tank. I would think a breeder probably puts a bit more into it than a hobbyist only worrying about their own stock? I think a lot of people get turned off on keeping Discus that might normally would like to have them.

However......people who keep Discus know what is required for them and that they need a bit more than the normal fish we keep. I think if we are keeping these fish we should try to give them what they do better with. My fish all get large water changes weekly and I would think Discus should be able to get at least that.

[Aeonflame]

ok..... AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!:cwmboom2:

[Taurus]

ok..... AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!:cwmboom2:

Dude, you just HAD to do it, didn't you? :ssuprised:

[Cermet]

The only reason you change 100& of the water daily is for breeding.

Many discus are tank breed and do well with poor up keep. If it works, there is no law saying you can not limit the water changes - especially if your nitrates are low.

As for tank mates, many that you have are normally found with discus so higher temps are fine for all of them - I am curious how you feed the various fish or do you just use flakes for all?

[Spardas]

No one will yell at you because obviously; you've done the right thing to keep them happy and healthy.

So long as the tank is setup correctly and everything is in balance, you can lengthen the amount of time you do water change. I know several guys who can go 2-3 months without doing water changes but their setup is a bit unique and understocked.

The main point is to find the right balance while not stunting the discus fishes. Continuously water change is mainly for power feeding and getting the fish to grow fast as well as reaching their full potential.

[FishyPastor]

That was one thing that was keeping me to going to discus plus the price. But what your doing works so who cares as long as your fish are happy.:19:

[Discus-Jak]

hi all..
if 'sdkinaz' does this well, i, as a guppy, just get more confuse bout how to keep discus properly..and what i do untill now to the tank seems more inadequate compared to what i've read n understood.. 2 of my tanks are barebottom, no gravel, no wood, just plain tanks & i know nothing about ph consistency, i never check for nitrates nor amonia,etc...what i do is changing 40% the water twice a week and feeding my discus with frozen bloodworm n tetrabits 4 times a day...& my discus grow too.

[Sandz]

hi all..
if 'sdkinaz' does this well, i, as a guppy, just get more confuse bout how to keep discus properly..and what i do untill now to the tank seems more inadequate compared to what i've read n understood.. 2 of my tanks are barebottom, no gravel, no wood, just plain tanks & i know nothing about ph consistency, i never check for nitrates nor amonia,etc...what i do is changing 40% the water twice a week and feeding my discus with frozen bloodworm n tetrabits 4 times a day...& my discus grow too.

Jak, dont stray from what you are currently doing if its working for you. There is ALWAYS an exception to the rule but it doesnt negate the rules. Discus as a whole are sensitive to disease and their water conditions. If they are not wild's, you can use your local water ph (as long as we arent talking something crazy like a 8.5-9), the constant water changes are to get rid of the waste in the tank, this is the poop, the food, etc... If you have full grown discus with no fear of stunting there is no reason that, with good water quality (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 or lower) your discus cant survive with water changes weekly or even monthly. It really sounds like you are doing right by your practice and once those fish hit full size, you should be able to put them in a show tank and do anything you choose.

[Discus-Jak]

Jak, dont stray from what you are currently doing if its working for you. There is ALWAYS an exception to the rule but it doesnt negate the rules. Discus as a whole are sensitive to disease and their water conditions. If they are not wild's, you can use your local water ph (as long as we arent talking something crazy like a 8.5-9), the constant water changes are to get rid of the waste in the tank, this is the poop, the food, etc... If you have full grown discus with no fear of stunting there is no reason that, with good water quality (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 or lower) your discus cant survive with water changes weekly or even monthly. It really sounds like you are doing right by your practice and once those fish hit full size, you should be able to put them in a show tank and do anything you choose.

thanks a lot for your reply, Sandz..:22: ..well, i start thinking of buying some kits to check those things..i just want to know about my water quality...the only headache i still have is the peppering-thing on my red discus..most people that i asked about, said it's because of food, background, lighting n water..i believe now its because of the water...:22:

[Sandz]

Peppering or Freckling in red (Pigeon Blood) strain discus are because of dark substrates or background. It could be due to stress (water quality or other) but I think you would see more signs than just some freckles.