# Discus



## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Soo I don't know that anyone here knows anything about discus but I recently started a 55 gallon tank. At the moment, it's about 75 degrees, and both water and carbonate hardness are fairly high, with no nitrites or nitrates. I've got 5 live plants and 8 neon tetras. Now I know the water hardness has to be pretty low for discus but how can I lower it? We've got pretty hard tap water and I'm nowhere near somewhere that I can buy distilled water (nor do I want to buy any). Any suggestions/tips?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Rainwater, an RO unit, Acclimate slowly?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Ooh, that's a good idea. But how would you catch it? Buckets??


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i keep some discus ; but i don't do anything special for them other keeping their temp at 84 or so degrees.i do not buffer my water in any way.just straight out of the tap..


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

just acclimate them slowly


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

lohachata....

is your tap water pretty soft??


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

7.0 or a little higher..i live in cleveland ohio..water is low to moderately hard..when raising discus i just keep them in tap water..when i set them up for breeding ; i like to put in a peat filter to help keep the eggs from fungusing.and i also reduce the lighting....once free swimming the PH is allowed to go up again..


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Ahh. Ok, well I'm not planning on getting the discus going until probably sometime in April or May. My plants are suffering and I ordered a new lighting fixture hoping it'll help. I want to get them back up to life before I think about discus.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I'm confused...
I've been doing a lot of research on whether discus would be ok with semi-hard water and i've discovered that tetras need soft water and yet i've got 10 in my 55 gallon right now, which was semi-hard water, and they're doing just fine. So.. What am I missing here? Would discus be ok to add? I'd rather not find out the hard way...


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

Alot of it is regional, as long as you acclimate them slowly and don't order them from someplace that has really soft water *like if you get them locally* you will be fine.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

There really aren't any places around me that I know of that I can get them locally - so I'm stuck to ordering online. "/


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

You might just chat with them before ordering and ask about there water parameters, and when they arrive acclimate them very slowly, ask me about this if you want to know. I was told this buy a very great fish keeper.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Exactly how do you acclimate them slowly? I've never had any experience really with sensitive fish, unless you count angels.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

some folks get a bit fanatical about things..you know..like you can't keep more than 5 cardinal tetras in a 10 gallon tank..or you can't put a 2 inch clown loach in a 55 because it will get too big for it...i don't do much of what folks preach when they are overly emphatic about it.when i get fish in i will float the bag for 5-10 minutes..i put a net over an empty 5 gallon bucket and dump the bag into the net.then put the fish in the tank..that helps keep the amount of nasty water to a minimum..other than that ; i don't pay much attention to most other stuff...
but then again;i have a little more experience with fishkeeping.
and discus are nowhere near as sensitive as most folks would like you to believe..most discus keepers are elitists...they don't like the idea of a common person keeping such a special fish...
they ain't nothin special...people eat them down there...just another cichlid..

btw......sometimes...the old drip type acclimation can be a sure way to kill your fish..the water in the bag is just about maxed out with ammonia...while you are putting fresh water in the bag ; the fish is putting out a bunch more ammonia..more than the drip can counteract..not much of a problem with small fish;but a real killer with bigger fish.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You'd have to make clean water that matches what they are in to dump them in and then drip acclimate to your water or just do a series of water changes. 

That being said, IME it is much safer to dump fish into higher pH/hardness water than the into lower.

There is a device called a "rain barrel" sold at garden stores to catch rainwater to water your plants with. No reason something similar wouldn't work for fish. But rainwater is extremely soft. You need to treat it like RO water and not use it straight. But I don't see why you couldn't blend it with tap water. Now I'm sure we will hear all about acid rain, metallic gutter residue and roof crud. 

Discus these days are much more tolerant of a wide-range of conditions. They have finally been in the hobby enough generations to have adapted somewhat 

So... mixed messages. Try one discus in your water and if it survives, buy more? If it dies, change the water and try again.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Haha, I love how you casually say "if it dies" - like it's no big deal. Poor college student here 

But thanks for the tips. Again, I'm not planning on getting any until closer to May but I'm all antsy about it.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The pricetag is one reason I haven't tried discus yet. Time to find some people near you. Search for your state and 'aquarium society". If you can find someone with the same water supply who has discus, you won't have to "test" it with a fish. Even better, get some fry raised in local water.

Really if you can't afford to lose a fish or two, you should try something else. Maybe breed the angels first.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I've had one two of my angels since june of 09 and they've done extremely well. I added another in December and even though he's still small and gets picked on by the mating couple, he's still doing very well. So I think I'm ready for the discus. It's just timing.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I'm getting too antsy.
Here's my water parameters.. 
pH 7.0
KH - just below moderate
GH - just above moderate
Nitrites - nearly nothing
Nitrates - very very little
Temp - 78 F

Do you think my water is ready? I've got 10 tetras and a pleco that are doing very well and from what I've read, tetras need soft water as do discus but they seem to be fine and are growing a lot (I got them when they were really small)


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

so i've decided that im going to stay away from the discus until im older, settled down, and can get a much larger tank. but what should i switch to?
i've considered african cichlids. any thoughts?


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## Sherry321 (Jan 30, 2010)

go to forum.simplydiscus.com it will have everything you need to know about discus  and then some


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