BB tanks are great as growout tanks but I prefer a cm or so of fine substrate for asthaetic purposes.
Ok, a quick reply. In terms of feeding I follow the advice that Dirk gave in this thread: http://www.apsa.co.za/board/http://www.apsa.co.za/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6 I'm not one of those who experiment too much with tried and tested ways of doing things with livestock and also see no reason to try and reinvent the wheel. The advice Dirk gives about feeding in the above thread was the basis for my own feeding regime with all my discus and it worked for me. The bulk of my fishes diet is food therefore that I obtain from Dirk, with only a few additions as far as dry pellets and flake goes. I did learn along the way what works best for certain age fishes. As far as water parameters go, this is a vast subject, as I have adult fishes, breeding tanks and grow outs, and their parameters are all different, however I have learnt that with discus, filtration ( heaps of adequate filtration ) and stability is the key. Fortunately here in the cape our water is ideal ( soft ) for keeping discus, so one does not need to fiddle too much in terms of prepping the water. Hope this helps. Andrew
many thanks for the reply. Up here the water parameters are only good for malawi. pH is above 8. Will have to go with RO unit. Still doesn't know which one to buy. What variety of discuss, size and amount would you recommend for a newbie for a 400l? I will have to invest in an RO unit. pH is above 8 or more, hardness is w
Hi Guys, I do not have time to write a long reply, because my time is very limited due to the fact that I am organizing a huge conference on African botany which will take place in January 2014 in Stellenbosch. However, I do want to interject here, because I see comments made here that indicate that some advice is needed. In this last post, and also from a comment made by Sean in the Xingu Discus thread, I can see that folks are under the impression that they must use RO water in order to keep discus. In Germany, folks keep discus in tap water that has 10-15 degrees GH without any problems, and this idea that you need soft water to keep them (note I am not saying breed them) is wrong. The comment that is made is that the pH of the tap water is high and therefore the hardness of the water is too high for keeping discus needs to be considered very carefully. High pH does not necessarily indicate high hardness, Cape Town tap water also comes out of the tap at pH 8 but is not hard. Gauteng tapwater is about 4 GH with an even lower KH so this is just fine for keeping discus in. Furthermore, you can do incredible damage to discus by keeping them in too soft water. In soft water you can very easily have pH crashes which can kill your discus very rapidly. Furthermore soft water has a shortage of minerals so you have to be careful not to cause mineral definiencies by using RO water. What this indicates to me is that those of you that are interested in keeping discus should do your homework again about water hardness and pH, by reading some good books very carefully. You cannot keep discus without doing your homework extensively beforehand. I may at some time write something about this on APSA, right now I don't have the time. The most crucial things in keeping discus besides knowing what goes on with the water chemistry, and then is as Andrew indicates, feeding and filtration. Besides this getting decent stock that is not sick before you even start is crucial. Andrew and I live close together and I have been able to teach him many of the tricks needed to keep them successfully. It is only through regular discussions that we have been able to achieve this. And the results can be seen if you look at Andrew's fish, he has been having one success after the next. Kind regards, Dirk
Many thanks for your reply. I am actually trying to get all the info before trying to venture into raising Discuss. I also see that I will need to read on water chemistry... Learning things everyday! Thanks for sharing your experiences. Forum is great.
Hi Luis Well.......the tank isnt completely bare.......it does have 3 large breeding cones in it for when these guys pair off Andrew
Hi Andrew What are the dimensions of the tank these Discus are in? Most people on this forum, interested in Discus, will get a better perspective when they add to the picture, the volume of the tank. Peter Leid
hi Peter Tank is 1.8m x 0.6m x 0.65m high giving a volume of 700litres water with a 260litre sump. Andrew
Stunning looking Discus that you have there and like yourself I am a Discus fan! Just wanted to find out if you sell any of your off springs once at the right size?
ok.. The post by the Prof. Dirk was very good. I would like to try keeping a few Discus, not a lot, and not to breed them, just keep a few in a Display tank. They are gorgeous fish, but always had the idea that to keep them is needed too much work. Got no problem with filters, flow, appropriate WC's and giving good food, but to depend on a RO unit for such a large tank is not something that appeals to me. Glad that it has been cleared. Now, 700L of water.. that is a big tank.. why not put some wood, and substrate? Why just keep the cones?
Hi Luis To be honest, all my discus tanks are large and functional. Having close on 80-90 discus to manage at any given time just makes it easier not to worry about substrate, plants, wood etc when it comes to syphoning poop, wipe downs etc. My operation is growing out, breeding and learning what makes discus tick, rather than keeping them for the aesthetics. Know what I mean? Besides, Im no good at plants, they not my thing. But the legwork getting them to this size has been done and now they can be re-homed into planted tanks. Andrew
Will have a batch available in about 6 weeks time hopefully. In the meantime, you more than welcome to pop around and take a look. Andrew
Awesome I would definitely like to come check out your setup and the Discus. I am often out that side of the world as I have family there and next time we are I will make contact with you. Thanks
Fry free-swimming age 21 days with mom. She is a snakeskin and is a large fish so one can see how fast the babies are growing now.
As everyone has said...Nice fish Andrew. How long do the fry stay attached to their parents for? Is this for slime coat development, feeding or protection or all 3 of them?
Hi Prof Thanks for the great post. I'd just like to clear something up here. I am ONLY using RO water to lower the TDS of the current water in their aquarium. I am personally trying to keep them in slightly softer water than my other tanks, due to trying to keep them in optimal water conditions. Generally I do a 50/50 water change with RO and treated Tap water, but because I added salt to their aquarium water about 10 days ago, I am now trying, once again to lower the TDS of the water, which was sitting at over 270ppm after adding the salt. It's now at 160. I'm not dropping the TDS quickly, just in case. The TDS out of my Tap is just over 100ppm. Which is why I am using RO water. pH in the tank is 6.4, so it's sitting ok for me at the moment. Trust me, I am well aware of pH crashes. So I am monitoring the tank whenever I am near it. I also have some crushed marble chips in the filter to buffer against pH crashes, just in case. With regards to filtration, I have a 150L sump, with more than enough filtration, an added internal filter within the sump that keeps pumping when I am doing water changes, and also 2 very large air driven sponge filters in the holding tank. I have more than enough filtration for these guys, and with bi-weekly water changes of 100L, their water is always good. Anyway, thanks once again for the informative post, and I hope work isn't keeping you too busy! Some play time is always needed! Hahaha! Sean
