i only use sponge filter and water change once a week 40% sometimes only 20% no check this check that and cleaning once a month , my discus are alright and healthy, your maintenance seems so complicated lol
But not quite expensive as most dogs I have 3 but I have my old fashioned working lines I have a endangered species called Bedlington I crossed her with a wippet had 7 wippet Bedlington cross kept one And just to have a dearhound but he died
Awesome aquarium man! Not sure it should be called how to set up a discus aquarium though! Seems like some serious over kill and a confusing unnecessary filter system for “how to set up a discus aquarium “
Thanks for the comment! There are many ways to set up an aquarium for discus, but I felt this was the best way to create a stable environment. In the end, stability of water parameters is what the goal is, especially with discus. The Stendker's in this tank run $100-150/fish so the filter system leading to the most stable environment seems like the best bet. Refugium setups are really not that complicated although it may look worse on video than when actually setting it up. However, if someone wanted the easiest setup, they should go with a bare bottom aquarium (maybe I should have titled it "How to Set Up a Planted Discus Aquarium"). As I said in the video, there are many ways to set up discus aquariums. This option has worked better than others and the discus have continue to be happy and healthy!
Thanks for the comment! If you really want discus you can do it with a little less work than I put in. If the pH of your tap water is under 7.5 or so you can just use that and not worry about RO water. Also, if you don't overstock the aquarium you shouldn't need to make water changes as often as I do. For a tank as large as yours I would make sure you have a way of using a pump for water changes to cut down on the amount of buckets you will need to dump. You can use a sump pump and run a house to a bathtub or out of the house and then pump the water from there to make water changes much quicker and easier. Good luck!
MistakezWeRMade _ your 150 will be an amazing discus tank! If you've had experience fish keeping, don't let all the hype of discus keeping stop you. We just added 10 discus fries (1.25" to 2.25") in a 75 gal planted community tank. Their tank mates include; (3) Corydoras melanistus, (1) Bristlenose pleco, (20) Pygmy corydoras, (3) Honey gouramies, (1) Bumble goby and around (18) ghost shrimp. We have a custom made 20 gal sump with nothing more than, 25 micron sump sock, 3" of polyester batting on top of 4" x 12" x 12" of ceramic media. We are running a 560 gph pump through a 9w U/V sterilizer. If you do plan on doing a substrate/planted setup, you MUST be vigilant on cleaning up after the feeding to make sure you are not trapping excess food waste under the hardscapes and around the plant roots. Best of luck and enjoy!
Jetli _Notme THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INFO ITS SO HELPFUL IMWHEN I READ ABOUT DISCUS IT DOES SCARE ME OFF TBH THEY’RE SO EXPENSIVE AND SEEM SO DELICATE I WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS PERFECT BEFOREHAND. I JUST GOT A REGULAR PUMP AND LED LIGHTS ABOVE WOTH MONTE CARLO CARPET PLANTS ALONG WITH SOME STEMMED PLANTS. Do I NEED BETTER LIGHTS?? And MORE PUMP FOR THE OXYGEN?
Holy crap, keeping discus in the US is expensive! I set up a 65 gallon tank with six discus here in china, and spent less than $100 including all the fish. Granted, I did DIY lighting, free substrate and just a simple sponge filter, but still. Anyway, great info here, and the fish look excellent. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment! There are many ways to set up a discus aquarium, some cheaper than others. The DIY project and sponge filter certainly save a bunch of money, but as the discus get older I think the refugium setup provides a more stable environment. In the US you would be hard pressed to find quality discus in the 4" size for less than $100 each. There are used aquariums out there that can be purchased cheap, but a new 60 gallon aquarium in the US will run you $150-200 (not including substrate, filters, etc.). Thanks again for the comment!
Sure, thanks for the response! I am planning on moving back to the US eventually. Setting up a new discus tank seem daunting because of the pricing. I got my tank second hand for like $15, the lighting cost me about $10. My discus range between 3.5 and 5.5 inches, not precisely sure as I haven't measured them. They were a half inch or so smaller when I bought them, and cost about $60 for the group of six, but one of them has bad genetics. It's stunted and has a twisted mouth so it can't eat very well. It's a San Merah I think (all reddish orange), so it looks like a football. Poor thing. The Chinese are not the best for animal welfare. the tank I bought them out of was way overstocked. It's getting a bit bigger, but I don't think it will ever achieve full potential since it only succeed on eating about 1/3 of the things it tries to bite. Okay...rambling now. Thanks again~
If you have rock and plants in the tank I would make sure to position them toward the back to keep the discus from hiding behind it. If there's no hardscape (rock or driftwood) in the tank try adding some and positioning it in the back of the aquarium. Hardscape can help make them feel more comfortable. Also, try your best to keep from making quick movements near the aquarium as this will likely spook them and lead to more hiding.
Thanks! I think the aquarium looks better today than it did when I made this video! I've dialed back the lighting some and have everything balanced so algae is minimal now. To keep the glass as clear as possible, I wipe it down with a rough cloth from the inside every time I clean it and then use a scraper to keep get rid of any stubborn algae. The lighting also helps give the fish a glow, but I've switched to a fluval 3.0 and dialed it back some. The fish still look great, but there's not quite as much red glow as I had with the color enhanced light of the finnex monster ray.
Tons of helpful information but it is overwhelming is there any way you could provide an equipment list and a step by step process from the beginning I would be willing to pay for such information also you never mentioned how you cycled the tank or if you could use laterelite base underneath the sand for the live plants or the lighting used .Can you give me your email address to discus this further? You should write a how to book. I always dreamed of owning a discus tank. But I understand it is a technical complexity.
Thanks for the comment! There's a fairly inclusive equipment list with prices in the description below the video, but here's a copy of it: 60 gallon aquarium - $200 Aquarium plumbing - $25 200 Watt Fluval "E" Series Heater - $50 50 lbs hth pool filter sand - $10 SUNSUN JVP series circulating fans (2) - $15 48" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 LED Light - $150 48" Finnex Monster Ray LED Light - $ 150 (optional) Fluval 306 canister filter - $150 (optional) Eshopps RS100 Sump - $230 10 lbs Miracle Mud 2 - $40 Aqua Top 2600 Pump - $45 Aqua UV 15 Watt Advantage+ - $130 (optional) Pinpoint pH Monitor - $90 (optional) AquaFX Barracuda - $170 My email address is adamchick39@gmail.com. Feel free to contact me and I can give you a summary of things I've learned through the years for free. I like the idea of writing an ebook. Maybe something I can work on in the future!
Very helpful info.. I am in a process of setting up the tank and always seeking good advise... seems like a bit more work then my piranhas.. 🤔 Great content 👍🏻 Subbed 👊🏻
Hello I hope you nice fishes doing fine . I Contacted you 2 years ago about information and i was happy from your reply. I have a question how many discus I can keep in 125 L aquarium with a big eheim filter. And plants . Thanks à lot
Sorry, I just saw the comment and question. 125 L is probably too small for discus in the long run. You could keep 3 inch (7.5 cm) or smaller in an aquarium like that for the short term, but as they grow, they will probably need a larger setup. I typically feel like 55-60 gallons (210-260 L) is the smaller end for an aquarium for discus. If you really wanted to keep discus in a 125 L aquarium I would go no more than 3 if they are bigger than 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) and you’ll really have to watch for issues with aggression.
@@discus1018 thanks a lot I agree . Here énergie prices increased madly that the reason the hobby became difficult. My 125 L is planted aquarium with some fishes . Yes 3 discus max. Thanks
Thanks! My discus were shipped overnight from Baltimore. I placed the unopened bags in the aquarium for about 10 minutes. I then opened them and added a small amount aquarium water to each bag (about 1 cup) every 5 minutes. I believe I repeated this 5-6 times and then used a net to move the fish from the bag to the aquarium. Make sure not to dump the water from the transport bag directly into the aquarium!
Ive seen a few videos and by far this is the best!!!! I currently have a 29 gal planted tank and a reef and i was told that if i mastered the reef tank this would be easy for me ? Not sure if this is true? Id like to start with 6 discus and as you suggested a 60 gal would work, on the pool sand does this stay more on the white side or does it get as bad as the regular white gravel out in pet stores ?
Thanks for the comment! If you have experience with reef tanks I would think you will be able to put together a great planted discus tank! The sand itself does not degrade, but the color will become more of an off-white with time as algae and waste discolor it.. Inert substrates will limit your plant options to some degree. There are certainly plenty of plants that will still do well with it, but if you want carpets or more challenging plants you may do better with a plant substrate like Amazonia.
@@discus1018 I appreciate the feed back if there's anything else you feel i should know or a specific website to further research id be glad to know as I am watching RUclips vids and im getting a lot of mixed information and gets confusing. I am going to get a 75 and get 6 discus i feel the extra gallons will be good for that amount of fish any further feedback or advice on items that are essential for the discus that might differ from the community tank i currently have please let me know.. Thanks again for your videos
@@angelgonzalez-ke5nl no problem. I think the thing to keep in mind is there are many ways to have a successful discus tank. What works for one person isn't always the best fit for someone else. In the end, the goal is a stable set up. A lot of people use good quality canister filters as the sole filtration. Some people use refugiums, and some use wet-dry sumps. I started with the refugium, but have switched to a wet-dry filter. Both work pretty well and can be great options. In the future I hope to set up a larger tank with dimensions more conducive to a good planted aquascape. In this aquarium I will probably opt for canister filters. Regardless of which way you go, I'd just aim for over-filtration. The biggest difference is likely to be in the water. If your city water is close to a pH of 7 you can just use that instead of adding RO water and that would make things quite a bit simpler. If your water is very alkaline then you will probably be stuck using RO water like I have to. My biggest recommendation is to plan ahead and take your time. Allow the tank to properly cycle before adding discus. Once you add them, watch closely for the first week or two for any ammonia in the tank. If you start to see ammonia you will need to do at least daily changes until the tank has finished cycling and the ammonia is gone. Hope that helps and good luck!
@@discus1018 Agreed what works for one doesn't work for the next. I started with weekly water changes in my reef tank and that caused problems so now i maybe do a water change every 3-5 months and all is stable. On your recommendations with over filtering i am going to get the Oase canister filter that does upto 90 gallons and add the intank sponge filter this should be good filtration for a 75? on the water changes i keep seeing are they really needed every day or every week or does this depend on filtration? Again thanks for your feed back i think based on what you have said im on the rite path and will definitely take my take my time with the cycle. Thank you
@@angelgonzalez-ke5nl Ya, I would think that setup would work well. I like Oase filters, too. In regards to water changes, it depends on the filtration to some degree, but really on the amount of fish in the tank and what they're fed. Discus are often fed beef heart which is very messy and causes waste to build up in the water column. I adjust my water change schedule to the amount of nitrates in the water. I currently do water changes every 3-4 days and am actually changing about 80% of the water with each change. This keeps my nitrates between 5-20 ppm. If I fed them black worms or something different I'm sure I could stretch the water changes to weekly or more.
Excellent video. I currently keep African cichlids (mbuna) and do a weekly water change, but on a trip it has gone to 2 weeks. Mbuna are very hardy, fast moving fish (some would say aggresssive), so they do very well with a weekly water change. I always wanted to keep discus and Africans and I have had the mbuna for 3 years now. The very frequent water changes necessary to keep Discus is the only reason I am hesitant to try Discus.
Dean Morier Thanks for the comment! I've kept African cichlids off and on for years and have a 75 gallon setup right now that's been together for about 3 years. They are definitely hardy fish and fun to keep! Once a discus tank is well established and the fish are mature, you can back your water changes off some. I've been changing mine about once a week now for the past several months without issue. The tank is well-established and I have extra filtration which certainly helps.
Hi mate, I have a jewel rio 180. It's just under 50 us gallons. 101cm long x 41cm wide x 50cm deep. Do you think this is big enough to house say 4 discus and a few other community fish (tetras and rams)?
I would think that would probably work out ok. I would generally try for 6 discus to help with aggression, but in most cases you should be good with 4 and at 50 gal I would probably go with no more than 4.
@@SpiritAquatics Water changes will depend on what you're feeding the discus, whether the tank is bare bottom, substrate-only, or planted and how many other fish are in the tank, but if you're using beef heart I would say you'll be changing water every 3 days or so. Beef heart is very messy and causes an increase in nitrate levels. You can judge how often to change by watching nitrates. 82° is on the lower end, but should probably be ok. If you're heater is in a sump, I would set it a little higher because the tank temp will be slightly less.
Thanks for the question! 55 and 60 gal tanks have a fairly narrow footprint. I would be a little reluctant to put a 3D background in a tank with those dimensions given how large adult discus can grow. If the 3D background is more than an inch deep I probably wouldn’t use it. A better option for a 3D background setup would probably be a standard 75 or 90 gal if you have the space.
Do you know where to buy a 75 gallon and if I could return the 55? My local petco doesn’t sell 75 at least I think! Thank you for the suggestion! I had one more if you don’t mind. Do you think it would be ok to have plecos with the discus?
@@London.Donahoe If you recently purchased it and haven’t done anything to it yet I would think most stores would let you return it for credit to buy a 75 gal instead. Have you already purchased the background? Which background were you thinking of using? I’ve never kept plecos with discus. I know several people who have without problems, but there are people out there who have had issues. I would think you could add one and watch closely for problems. If anything happens I would have a quick trigger to remove the pleco and either give it away or sell it to a local fish store. However, I would bet that it will end up being fine
That’s a very pretty tank. Great fish selection too. One thing I would say is overblown is the need for softer acidic water. My water is at 7.7 and my Discus are perfect. They are even breeding but since I’m not interested in rearing fry they never survive. Clean, stable water with very low nitrates is the key. Also keeping water warm at around 85 degrees.is very helpful.
Thanks for the comment! I would agree that in the video I was probably too focused on pH. It's more of a stability issue. I think if the average tank aims for a pH of 6-7 and keeps it stable that would be ideal for any discus they choose to keep. A warmer tank is ideal, but I've found that if I'm trying to keep a community setup the best temp for everything is more in the low 80's (82-83). While the discus like 85, a lot of the other fish I've kept with them don't haha. Thanks again for the comment!
Agree with everything you noted there. I keep my water extra warm because it raises their metabolism.and makes them hungrier to help them grow out quicker. The rasborras, cardinals and cories in with them are fine with the increased temperatures.
Thank you for the video. Beautiful fish! One thing that I wondered about was, even though you do have one fish per gallon of water, plus some tets, the discus seem to be cramped into the tank and interacting with each other, not in a good way. Possibly there is too much going on in the tank as far as the number of plants, decor, etc., taking up space that the discus need???
Thanks for the comment! The tank is a little overstocked for its size and content, but the discus seem to interact ok to me. Even in a larger aquarium they will chase each other from time to time. In a smaller setup they may chase a little more often, but I've never seen it as too extreme. They're cichlids in the end and while they are more passive than many of their cousins, they can still be a little aggressive and territorial! That being said, a larger setup would be ideal in almost every way, but I was limited on the space where the tank had to be placed.
I’m thinking about upgrading my 90 community tank. That would leave me with a 90 that I could keep discus. I have never had them but I’m seriously thinking about it. New sub😁
Discus do much better if kept with other discus. Cardinal tetras in large schools are a beautiful addition to a planted discus tank. Make sure you do it right the first time.No other fish have given me as much satisfaction as have discus.
hello again, what do you think of peppering, is it more a low quality genetic issue or a environment problem. It seems like you have a dark background and your pigeon is fine......I've seen some pigeon juveniles with peppering going on and the breeder says with a light background it will clear up somewhat..
Thanks for the comment! Peppering is usually more of an environmental issue in my opinion. My pigeon bloods have some small amounts of peppering, but not significant. If the background was changed to a lighter color the peppering would usually improve some, but I don't think I've ever seen it go completely away. If the juveniles you are looking at have quite a bit of peppering without dark substrate or a dark background in their current tank, I would probably be a little hesitant to buy them as I'm not sure it would improve after being placed in a different tank.
awesome info thanks for everything. I made a custom made tank 240lt with inside sump and a canister filter eheim 2215 with uv light. In the tank do i need an air stone pump i am beginner with discus
george poyiatzi Thanks for the comment! With live plants in the sump you shouldn't need an air stone. I would leave the light on in the sump 24 hours/day to help keep the environment in the tank as stable as possible. Are you keeping live plants in the tank as well?
Wow. You r amazing but u scared me off about raising discus 😫 But then again I’m learning at this point. I think I’ll just start with angels. Maybe down the road I’ll take on Discus
Thanks for the comment! Angels are a great fish to start with. If you buy discus from a reputable breeder they will often be hardier. You could also go with a setup that is less complicated than mine. This is what works for me, but doing a single wet/dry filter should work well if you have a planted tank. Also, I would start out with adult discus first as they are much easier to care for than juveniles.
Hey man! Great video. Great info, great display, beautiful and healthy fish and all of that under 10 minutes. PERFECT. I really badly want a discus. I already have 2 freshwater aquariums and I think I'll be able to take on the challenge of looking after discus. The only thing that discourages me is the price. Are they really worth it? I found some cheap baby discuses in Melbourne (where I live) but they don't look as round and as nice as the expensive ones. What would you recommend?
Thanks for the comment! I would encourage you to spend the extra money to obtain discus from a well-respected breeder. Although it is more money up front, you will know you are getting quality fish that, if kept in proper conditions, will provide years of enjoyment. I have an African cichlid aquarium and Southeast Asian aquarium as well and can tell you that my discus tank is hands down my favorite. So for me, it is worth the extra cost and time commitment to keep the fish. From what you described, my only caution to you would be that juvenile discus typically require more water changes and stricter control of water parameters than adults. Thus, they can be a little more "fragile." You may want to look to see if some of your local breeders offer fish in the 4" range as they will likely be hardier and easier to keep if it's your first time (although more expensive). Not something that's a must, just a suggestion.
juvenile discuss are not round, when they get bigger, thats when you will know they are round or football shape. You need to be careful with juvies too because you cant really tell yet if their growth is stunted, their are signs like eyes are too big, head is too thing,fish is not aggressive, fins are always kept. it took me months to decide to buy a discus, so I started with 4, and so far, im getting the hang on the maintenance and feeding them 3 full meals a day.
Sounds good! The new Fish Freaks store has good selection for supplies and tanks. They sell discus, but I would stick to some of the big name dealers out there instead (Stendker, Kenny's Discus, etc).
Thank you for sharing Discus101. Beautiful fish and a great set up. And a very concise and helpful video. 👍🏻 I want to have a discus tank in my family room. One of my concerns is that I have two little ones who love running around. Is noise and too much activity a problem?
Omer Syed, Thanks! My tank is in our family room and we have an active dog that runs around it quite a bit. For the most part, it doesn't seem to bother the fish, but if the kids are likely to tap on the glass or bump into it much, then you may want to set it up somewhere else. I like mine in the family room because we spend so much time there. If I put it somewhere else, I wouldn't see the fish nearly as much.
thanks for such a great video, use to be in to salt water tanks but got out of it long story. but your video has me wanting to do a set up like your...thanks
So glad I found this video. I have been researching Discus aquarium setups and this video truly gave me great ideas. I was wondering if you have any updates on you setup since this was done 3 years ago. Thank you
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad the video helped! The tank is still up and the same discus are in it. If I could go back and make a few changes to the video I would probably add/change the following: 1. I still like refugiums and would recommend them for tanks that are lightly planted or mostly hardscape. However, if the tank is heavily planted, I would go with a wet-dry filter instead (easier to maintain and no light required which may help with algae control). A refugium is probably overkill for a heavily planted aquarium as there are already a bunch of plants filtering the water in that way. I have since switched to a wet-dry filter (eshopps wd-125cs). 2. Stable pH can be a great indicator of water stability, but KH is probably better. Shortly after this video was made I added pressurized CO2 and feel it was the best addition to the tank. Not only do the plants thrive, but algae is essentially non-existent. When running CO2, pH levels temporarily change making KH a better measure of stability. 3. Skip the UV filter. Some people swear by them, but I ended up removing it. I can't remember how much I spoke of it in the video, but after a while I removed it and noticed no real change in the health of the fish. Those are the things that come to mind. Let me know if you have any questions!
I am thinking about getting a discus thank. I have looked online for information about if I have enough oxygen in my thank. If the temperature rises the oxygen will drop so do i need plants to keep it up or is a sump enough moving water?
Sorry, long answer haha: You are right that as the temperature of water increases the amount of dissolved oxygen will decrease. However, the difference in dissolved oxygen between 77° and 84°F is not really that substantial (roughly 0.6 mg/L difference). Generally speaking, if your sump has good enough flow with an area where the water cascades down through a sock or overtop of bioballs (like a wet-dry setup), I would think you would be okay. In instances where I increase the temps to the upper 80's or around 90°F to treat a sick tank, I add an airstone to the sump to help boost dissolved oxygen levels just to safe. Adding it to the sump on the same side as the return pump will keep it out of the main tank and and can at least help raise the levels a little. If you want live plants for the look and health (natural filtration) of the tank AND are okay with the work that goes into keeping them, then go for it! However, if you are thinking of adding them just for the oxygen, I wouldn't recommend it. Plants only produce oxygen during photosynthesis. Most aquariums have their lights on for 6-8 hours. That means you are only increasing oxygen during that timeframe. When the lights are off, plants actually produce CO2 and no oxygen. Thus, in the aquarium, for 16-18 hours a day no oxygen will be produced by the plants. Hope that helps!
One other thing: in the end, the best way to determine if you need to change your setup is fish behavior. If the fish are feeding well and healthy, then your oxygen levels are fine. If they are hanging around the top of the water a lot, add an airstone to the sump.
@@tf7386 I don't have any other accounts where I post updates on the tank. I have always meant to make more videos, but never seem to get around to it. I've had several other people ask for an update on the tank so I'll try to make another video in the next couple days that shows updates and changes to the tank/setup. I'll let you know when I post it!
Thanks for the comment and good suggestion! I should have gone with Cardinals, but the local store only had Neons. Next time I will probably order Cardinals online instead.
Woody's Discus (FB) Very nice ! I just went from a 60 to a 150 gallon aquarium . Cannot wait to have ALL my sand in so I can plant. Are you not concerned about gas pockets ? I love Carib Sea live sand . Be Careful, you shoukd be able to "stir up" your sand . Maybe the roots are helping you out ?
That's awesome! I'm hoping to get larger aquarium in the basement later this year. The layer of substrate I have is pretty thin so that helps some of the gas pockets from forming. I think you're right that the roots are also helping as well. The tank has changed since this video was made and is now a dutch-ish style with some rummy nose tetras in addition to the discus. The plants look great now, but are taking up a little more space than I would like. I just found your FB group and sent a request!
Sweet Looking Tank, My questions are 1- How many discus should one keep together? ; 2. How long was your tank up/running before you added your discus? ; 3. Did you add all 6 at the same time?
Thanks! I would keep no fewer than 5-6 together. Less than that and aggression may become an issue. Form there, it depends on tank size. For a rough estimate, you can typically keep 1 discus/10 gallons. If I remember correctly, my tank was up for about 4 months before adding discus. I had Corys and Neons in the tank for several months before adding the discus as well. Obviously, it's important to watch your water parameters very closely after adding fish to make sure the tank is not stressed. I actually added them in groups of 3 about 1-2 weeks apart. It was probably overly cautious, but I wanted to see how the tank would handle the additional fish. Stendker discus are not cheap and I wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong. Most people would probably say to put the 6 in at the same time. Hope that helps!
Good info for me as I am setting up a 150. Regarding Miracle Mud or Flourite substrate, would it be beneficial to layer it under sand? I am planning Amazon plants, Dwarf Hair Grass and Mangrove
Generally speaking, layering is not necessary. My aquarium has changed some since this video and is now dutch-ish in style with Anacharis, Ludwigia, Rotala, TIger Lotus and Amazon Swords. I still use only pool filter sand and the plants are doing great (maybe too well as they have started to take up too much room). I have added CO2 and provide ferts several times a week, though. For an aquarium, I would go with Fluorite if you want to layer though. I've used it in the past and it does not stir up nearly as easily as Miracle Mud. I like Miracle Mud in refugiums, but not in the main tank. Hope that helps!
Very nice video and thank you for your time. Ok if you put I think 60% of ro water and 40% of tap water to buffer it when you do a water change how do you make your water is it all tap water or all to water or is it 60% to 40% ratio?How do you hold your pH?
The amount of r/o water I need to achieve the stable pH I was looking for has changed since this video was made. Following water changes I like my pH to be 6.9-7.0 and this requires about 20% r/o water for my conditions. I keep a basin of pure r/o water ready in the laundry room and when I'm ready to make water changes, I use a 5 gallon bucket. I add roughly 20% r/o water first and then fill the rest up with tap water. I add the chlorine remover and then pour it into the tank. At this time, I usually change 25-30 gallons once a week, so that takes about 5-6 buckets.
To answer your second question, the pH will tend to hold fairly steady with the buffer provided by tap water. You can check the pH and kH of your tap water and if it's like mine, there are plenty of carbonates to help buffer your tank. Most municipal water supplies have more CaCO3 in them than you need and that's where the r/o water helps. If your water is already at a pH of 7 and has a reasonable amount of CaCO3 in it then you may not need r/o water. I don't talk about kH in the video, but it is worth watching your kH values from time to time to make sure they are stable as this is the driving factor for a stable pH. If your kH values are too low you may start to have issues with wild pH swings. Hope that helps!
wingsOfAnthrax, Thanks for the comment. There is no problem using bleach to clean the filter socks as they are thoroughly rinsed twice and left to air dry and sit unused for weeks after the washing. Without going into detail, sodium hypochlorite has no longterm residual effects and is not of concern. Obviously, I would not recommend using it if you are planning on cleaning the sock and immediately putting it back in the tank.
Thanks! My pH level fluctuates some, from about 6.7-7.1. Frequent water changes help keep it stable. The pH starts out around 7.1 after the water change and slowly drops to 6.7-6.8 before the next change. When I'm out of town, I leave a bucket of dechlorinated tap water by the tank and a neighbor feeds the fish and puts 2 glasses of the tap water in per day. My tap water is alkaline, so this adds a small amount of buffer each day to help keep the water stable while I'm gone. I feed them a combination of blood worms, beef heart and brine shrimp (mostly beef heart). They usually get fed twice/day and do well. I need to make a new batch of beef heart soon, so I'll try to make a video of the recipe and add it to my channel. Hope that helps!
Great setup, my two discus fish are not eating others are eating but they are doing well can you suggest what to do? I have canister filter for my 55 gl, should filter run 24 hours or turn off at night time?
Thanks for the comment! A canister filter should run 24/7. What are you feeding the discus? Were they eating prior to this and then stopped or are they new to the aquarium and haven't started eating yet?
Thanks for the reply, they have been with me 2+ weeks now and found they have been going to the corner of the tank when I start feeding from day one, One started eating granules from yesterday, (red melon 2+ inches only still staying near filter inlet), others are 3 and 3+ plus inches and always looking for food when I pass near by. I feed discus grain d-50 plus two times a day and blood worms and beef hearts two times a week. I have one more question that I have 3 pearl gouramies , 2 gold gouramies and 2 red dwarf gouramies in my tank, they are eating those food and looks their belly looks big, what will happen to them if it goes like this or I should get rid off them?
@@nizarbreathus2440 It sounds like you are feeding a really nice variety of foods. I'll start by saying there are a lot of opinions and preferences when it comes to discus and you would likely get a different recommendation from someone else. With that being said, I would probably remove the gouramis for the time being. If you are able to put them in a different tank, that would probably be best, but if that's not an option you could give them away or to a local fish store. Sometimes it's best to allow younger discus a chance to come into their own and gouramis can occasionally be aggressive. In addition, if the gouramis are aggressively eating the food, there's less time for the small discus to become interested and try the food. New discus can sometimes be pretty slow to start eating and it can even take up to 4 weeks before they eat! Keep offering the foods and I think they will all be eating soon. If you want try flavoring the food to encourage them to eat you can buy some garlic guard by seachem, but I bet they will start eating if you continue to offer food. I would also recommend feeding beef heart more often than twice a week, but if the other discus are eating and happy you can keep with what's working. Hope that helps!
I have a 142 gallon (planted) it's 150 cm long, 60 cm tall and 50 cm deep. I have 10 Cardinaltetras 5 Rasboras 8 Cory doras 6 Platies 1 Dwarf Gourami 4 Yoyo loaches Can I have Discus in the tank, if so how many? Or do you recommend that I wait until I can get a bigger tank? The temperature is just 26 celsius now
As far as size goes, you would be fine adding discus, as long as it's not very densely planted. You will have to watch closely to make sure the gourami doesn't bother them as they can sometimes do that, but the other fish should probably be fine. As for how many, it depends on the amount of plants, but I would think you should be able to do 8-10 with the other fish (the dimensions given comes out to a 120 gallon when I calculate it, but even if it's 142 gal I would probably go with 8-10). Some people like to overstock discus to help with aggression, but I have never found this to be necessary as long as you have at least 6 in the tank. The temp will have to come up for discus (around 28°C) and this will often stress the other fish. There's a pretty good chance that even if you increase it gradually you will lose some of them. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@discus1018 yeah it's was suppose to say 150×60×60 cm so it is 540 liter (around 142 gallon) measured it before :) I'm gonna make some more space in the tank and more heat :)
@@Lyxuria 👍🏻 Sounds good! I'd go up very slowly on the heat, raising it 2°C over the course of a week or so. If the fish start to appear stressed, then you can back it down a little and give it more time.
A sump and a bucket filter , do you think that you have enough filtration. Crazy people.. I mean it’s just a tiny bit overkill isn’t it. Do you have the too much money or what. I understand that you don’t want under filtration, but this is ridiculous. For 6 Discus wow
The aquarium is overstocked and too much filtration is not a bad thing. The canister filter came from an old tank so I didn't need to purchase it new and allowed for the addition of pressurized CO2 after this video was made. I travel a lot (I believe I mentioned this in the video, but I haven't watched it in a couple years) and extra filtration is an "insurance policy" when traveling. And when your discus cost $800, plus all of the time and effort invested, I don't believe extra filtration is crazy.
Hi There Your vedio are really simple and nice. I watch all of them , I would like your help please. I always dream to have discus fish , I am living in Belgium and when I go to buy them then most of the shop keeper they tell me it is hard it is difficult and so on then I bought cichild Malawi and I really did not like them because I love to have discus, I have already set up some soft rocks in my aquarium plus a coral rock made from prclin so it is not real , now I really want to try discuss. I have 240 L juwel aquarium inside that I have the juwel filter, I also installed fluval FX 6 and Eheim 250experience external filters so over filtration, I don't know why but I really foes not like to have real plants and shops tell me I have to use real plants as well as ozmoze water ?? I saw some people use normal water with treatments such as aqua safe and some benefits bacteria products and they keep discuss.so please help me 1- do i really need to have ozmoze water in order to have discus? 2_ do i really need real plants or artfisal plants will be ok? 3- do i need to take out all the rocks and the coral Reef rock or I can leave some soft rocks ? Please note the coral Reef rock is have some sharp ends .? What else do you advise me to do so I can buy the discuss fish and which type of discuss can be good for me as a bigner? Please note I have very much strong water change plan and also maintenance plann for the aquarium I use Aqua safe from tetra when changing water Easylife beneficial bacteria as per instruction of use and Aqueille F nitrate and phosphate removel which I change every six month and it acts like carbon dioxide. Finally if I have to plant the aquarium can i use anubia because I think it is easy to plant, my substrate gravel is around 1_ 2 mm I have E fluval heater 300 w. I wait for your reply. Please note if you want photo of the rocks i can send it to you Thank you Nasir
Sorry that it took me so long to reply. RUclips flagged the comment for some reason and I didn't notice it until today. I'll do my best to answer your questions: 1. As far as R/O water goes, it depends on your tap water. As long as the tap water you have access to is not very alkaline and hard you will probably be ok not using R/O water. Poor a bucket of tap water and let it sit for a few days. After that you should test it for KH, GH and pH. If the KH is somewhere between 4-10, the GH around 5-15, and the pH less than 7.5 you will probably be fine without using R/O water. If the pH is greater than 8 or the KH/GH are really high, then you would benefit from using R/O water. 2. You do not need real plants. Many people (perhaps even most people) keep discus in bare bottom aquariums with no plants. Live plants have the advantage of natural filtration, but they are certainly not a requirement for keeping discus. 3. I would remove any reef rocks. For one thing, the sharp edges can be a problem and cut/scratch the discus. Also, many rocks meant for saltwater reef aquariums will cause the pH of the water to increase because they release carbonates into the water. If you choose to keep any rocks or hardscape in the aquarium, I would stick with inert objects (things that will not change the pH and water parameters). I prefer Stendker discus because they are not only some of the most beautiful discus in the hobby, but are also very hardy when compared to other breeders.
@@discus1018 Hi there thank you very much for remembering me and for reply I appreciated this very much . I bought the discus stendker and I have 8 of them Peginon blood and blue diamond. I like your fish very much Specially the blue one and the blue with stripe,and the one with blue with orange fins ,please tell me are they stendker? If yes please tell me the name cause I am planning to bring two more discus. I had very difficult time with my discus but now 2 month after they are doing good. if you please let's keep our contact so I can benefit from your experience. My email algezouliabdul@yahoo.com My name is nasir from Belgium. Thanks
@@elgezouliabdul4973 I'll send you my email address so you have it. Yes, all of my discus are Stendker's, bought from Hans out of Baltimore in the US. I'm glad to hear that your discus are doing better. The blue discus with stripes is a Brilliant Turquoise and the blue one with spots and kind of reddish orange fins is a Leopard. The all blue one is a Cobalt, the all orange/red one is a Fire Red, the red/white one that is more red (and bigger) is a Checkerboard, and the orange/white one (a little smaller) is a Blue Pigeon Blood.
Lovely tank there! I plan to get a 99litre (approx 26gallon) tank(Boyu EA-60) that measures 24 inches by 15 inches and 26 inches high. Which filter should I choose? Eheim Classic 250 (440L/hr) or Eheim classic 350(620L/HR) I know its small, but that's the maximum space I have for the tank. How you you recommend stocking Discus in the tank? I plan to have 3-4 Discus with around 15 neon tetras. Whats your view?
A typical rule of thumb is to stock 1 discus per 10 gallons of water and most people would recommend no fewer than 5 discus in an aquarium, which would make a minimum tank size of 50 gallons. If you don't have enough room for an aquarium of that size, I would encourage you to choose fish that are smaller in size than discus. Adult discus can grow to upwards of 8" and would really struggle in a 20-30 gallon setup. That being said, if you really want to try discus in that aquarium, I would probably go with 4 to help disperse aggression. I would then stick to around 10 neons. If possible, as the fish mature and grow, you should really try to make room for a 50-60 gallon aquarium which will allow for proper development. As for the filter choices, I would go with the 350 only because the tank would be over-stocked and it's almost never wrong to go with more filtration. Hope that helps!
awesome info thanks for everything. I made a custom made tank 240lt with inside sump and a canister filter eheim 2215 with uv light. In the tank do i need an air stone pump i am beginner with discus
From a gph standpoint you will probably be ok. It's really more about your maintenance and water quality in the end. If you make frequent water changes and keep the nitrate levels in check you will be fine.
Can anyone tell me why a refugium is necessary with all the live plants in the main tank? Just thinking the live plants in the main tank and canister filter is enough. Please advise. Thanks
This is one of several topics I wish I had been more clear on in the video. The goal with any filtration system is water stability and a refugium is one option that provides a very stable environment. There are several ways you can set up a refugium. You can keep the light on for 24 hours/day or just for 12 hours and set it to come on when your aquarium lights turn off. This can help keep CO2/O2 levels, as well as nutrient levels, more stable. That being said, if you have a heavily planted tank and want to go a different route with filtration I would think you will be fine. In fact, I'm hoping to set up a much larger discus aquarium (heavily planted) later this year and will probably go with a wet/dry sump instead.
Joystikz_, You should always try to keep 5-6 discus at minimum, but it depends on the tank size and setup. With 3 you may find 1 gets picked on too much. 5-6 will help disperse the aggression.
Hello ,you have a very nice tank that I love , I’m about to have the same tank and will stock it to 6 discus fish , I have a Fluval FX6 laying around , I would love to hear from you since you are a successful discus keeper. Will a Fluval FX6 too powerful or under power for a 60 gallon tank with 6 discus ?
Thanks for the comment! The FX6 would be plenty of filtration in my opinion. A lot of people would probably tell you that it's overkill, but overfiltration is not a bad thing and if you already have it I would say use it! The only concern I would have is the amount of flow coming back into the tank. I would set it up and make sure that it's not too much for the fish. As long as it doesn't push the fish all around the tank then it should work well. If there's too much flow you could make some adjustments to the return nozzle to deflect it and slow it down. The only other thing to watch would be nitrate levels. Nitrate is removed through water changes and not filtration so just make sure to keep a eye on that so it doesn't creep up on you. Nitrate is not nearly as toxic as ammonia, but can still cause issues if it builds up over time.
Thanks alot for your though, the flow is definitely a big concern on the tankfor discus ,I used to have a 300 gallon all african predator haps , this is my first time with discus ,your knowledge definitely helps alot for new people in the hobby . I appreciate you .
@@belam127 I have it set at 84° and would say that's a pretty common number for a lot of discus setups. You could go as low as 82° if it's a community setup, but 84° is probably better for the discus.
You can use it, but a refugium setup would be preferred. The goal is to create as stable an environment as possible for the fish and a refugium helps this the best. That being said, a HOB filter would be fine. I would just use a larger filter than recommended for your aquarium size.
For a couple reasons. Plant roots tend to get caught up in them and the pool filter sand I'm using is too fine for the undergravel filters I'm aware of. I'm not a big fan of them in general because they tend to get clogged up over time which decreases their flow rates and leads to anaerobic pockets. They also don't provide any mechanical filtration. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the vid. I think the only thing that scares me about overflow is the possibility of it failing. Can you explain a worst case scenario? Or is this essentially fail proof? In the event of a power outage the return pump would fail and the siphon would simply break and all water would just remain still right? I've been studying these setups for a while and that's the only part of it that confuses me. Can you help? Lol
Thanks for the comment! To answer your question, it depends on the setup. The way I have my overflow and return, there's no issue during power outages or pump failures. There is enough room in the refugium to allow the tank to drain until the plumbing is out of the water. The key is to make sure your refugium is tall/large enough to hold the extra water. Also, you need to have your plumbing high enough in the tank to minimize the amount of water that will drain to the refugium if power is lost. Even if something was to block my drain in the tank, the baffles in the refugium prevent too much water from entering the tank and causing overflow. While certain setups can lead to problems during power outages or blockages, a good one prevents them. When I get a chance I'll make a video on my overflow setup and show what happens in each of the above cases.
Hi Stephen - I don't want to dis this setup, as this video and its information is spot on. But when it comes to the drain, I do think that there is a substantial risk of flooding, not because of a power outage (for the reasons Discus101 states above) but because there is only a single drain line. If that drain line getting plugged by something, then the tank itself will overflow (as the pump in the sump keeps going but there is no longer a drain). I initially drilled my tank (it's set up in my office) for a single drain line, and then found it difficult to sleep at night for fear that I was going to flood my office in the event of a mis-hap. I eventually decided to redrill and install a bean-animal style drain using the Eshopps Large Overflow box. This is not only a completely silent drain, but it also has TWO alternate lines (one main drain, one overflow, and one emergency, so three total) so it is basically fool-proof. I would highly recommend going that route - the Eshopps box is about $100 and comes with a drilling template and bit, so you can install it easily. Then it is just a matter of getting your lines plumbed down to the sump. You can see some pics of my setup (which is based primarily on Discus101's guidance in this video) here: forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?129795-Fishless-Cycle-Almost-Complete-Last-Questions-Before-Ordering-From-Hans I hope that helps.
Thanks for the comment! I guess it depends on the setup. My setup has no risk of overflow even if the single drain is plugged. I have a separate video that shows what happens in the worst case scenarios (including a plugged drain). If you are using a refugium with baffles, there is a guard against flooding even if the single drain is plugged. Here's the video: ruclips.net/video/4oOgJfxfB_o/видео.html It looks to me like your setup (from what I can see in the pics) would be fine with a single drain as well. The baffle that separates the final compartment where the pump is from the plant compartment acts to limit the amount of water that can return to the aquarium. While the aquarium will fill with more water than normal, it will not overflow. There's not enough water in the pump compartment to overflow the tank. That being said, there's obviously nothing wrong with a second drain!
There are a lot of people that they want to have discuss tank bat they simply afraid of doing water changes each and every day like they have nothing else to doo
To spend 45 minutes making a water change every third day is not too time consuming. As I said to you in the other comment, my current setup allows weekly water changes instead of every 3-4 days. I would think if someone really wants to keep discus, weekly water changes shouldn't be that much of a deterrent (or they didn't really want to keep them in the first place).
ive suscribed good vid, ive bought myself a 400liter tank and planning to get discus, my concern is the water change. when i do a water change of 25% and i fill up the water, is all that i need to do is dechlorinise it heat the water up to the right temprature and add it?
Thanks for the comment! It depends some on your tap water. If the pH is right around 7 and the kH is 4-8 or so then you should be able to just add it after dechlorinating. If your pH is 8+ with high kH values then you would be best to use some RO water. You can usually judge the water temp by hand as you fill up the bucket from the faucet, but if you're not used to doing that you can just use a digital thermometer as you fill the bucket instead. If you try to heat the water up to the proper temp with an aquarium heater it will take quite a while and become a hassle. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
RO filtration is a semi-permeable membrane that removes contaminants, salts, carbonates, etc from water when it is passed through under pressure. You essentially hook the RO filter up to your tap water supply and it slowly filters the water leaving you with close to pure water. If you take some RO water (KH 0 because the carbonates have been removed) and add it to tap water with high KH levels, you can lower the KH value to something more suitable for discus. That being said, if your tap water is already in a range that works for discus you don't need to worry about RO water. For example, Stendker discus raised in Germany (and in Baltimore in the US) are raised in tap water because the parameters don't need to adjusted. You can test your tap water to see what the KH value is with a cheap test kit you can pick up on Amazon or at any fish store.
Discus101 ive been to my local fishstore here in the UK peterborough and they guy said the water here is quite hard. so what should i do if the water is hard? then the thing with stendker discus(i am german and used to live in germany) in germany the water quality is one of the best in the world u can drink straight out the tap cant taste any chemicals or chlorine so think thats why its possible to raise then easier in tap water. my bro in law had discus i filled up his tank straight from the tao at the right temprature. so again if the water here us quite hard what should i do?
great discus you got in there. just want to ask are you using 60 gallon marineland tank which has a 12.5 x 48 x 25 in size? i have same one. currently running on one 406 for 9 discus. can i add another 406? just for added filtration.
Thanks for the comment! My tank is the same as yours. You have a few options for filtration: You could add a 406 and that would be plenty, but I prefer to have different types of filtration if I can. A few other choices would be a refugium with a HOB overflow box (assuming the tank is not drilled) or a simple HOB filter. These can help with oxygenation and provide some surface agitation to keep from getting a biofilm on the water.
Thanks! The tubing from the drain to the sump came with the Eshopps sump. You can purchase the same thing here: www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18365&cmpid=03cseYY&ref=6194&subref=AA&cmpid=PLA_G_6194&gclid=CJ2uzrHHrtQCFUi1wAodDlgB7A. The tubing from the pump back to the tank was purchased at a local fish store.
I believe it would mess up the connection. It comes in several lengths, so you can order the size that's closest to what you need and it should work out.
You can use a GH and KH test kit sold at most fish stores or online (www.amazon.com/API-TEST-Freshwater-Aquarium-Water/dp/B003SNCHMA/ref=sr_1_2?crid=34MAOIT10LD2G&dchild=1&keywords=gh+test+kit+aquarium&qid=1588738885&sprefix=gh+test%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2). I would not use coral sand as this would raise your pH. I tend to use inert substrates like pool filter sand.
![AMAZING DISCUS FISH BREEDER!! [Tour]](/img/1.gif)
i only use sponge filter and water change once a week 40% sometimes only 20% no check this check that and cleaning once a month , my discus are alright and healthy, your maintenance seems so complicated lol
Is your tank fully planted with substrate?
One of the best videos about discus I have seen. Very real, true and honest the 60 gallon is good.
Thanks
Thanks for the kind words!
holy shit it's a full time job i think i'm gonna stick with a betta
Haha... Not quite a full time job, but definitely more work than a good old betta!
a lot less work than a dog!
But not quite expensive as most dogs I have 3 but I have my old fashioned working lines I have a endangered species called Bedlington I crossed her with a wippet had 7 wippet Bedlington cross kept one
And just to have a dearhound but he died
Salim S he makes it sound harder than it is
@@discus1018 Why do you do water changes so often? Is it Nitrate build up or something else?
Awesome aquarium man! Not sure it should be called how to set up a discus aquarium though! Seems like some serious over kill and a confusing unnecessary filter system for “how to set up a discus aquarium “
Thanks for the comment! There are many ways to set up an aquarium for discus, but I felt this was the best way to create a stable environment. In the end, stability of water parameters is what the goal is, especially with discus. The Stendker's in this tank run $100-150/fish so the filter system leading to the most stable environment seems like the best bet. Refugium setups are really not that complicated although it may look worse on video than when actually setting it up. However, if someone wanted the easiest setup, they should go with a bare bottom aquarium (maybe I should have titled it "How to Set Up a Planted Discus Aquarium"). As I said in the video, there are many ways to set up discus aquariums. This option has worked better than others and the discus have continue to be happy and healthy!
They are beautiful, I'm in awe!
Thanks!
One day I'll have the space to set up a large tank for Discus, preferably a big 230 gallon or so. One day.....
A_Frame Pleasantries has that day come yet?
I JUST GOT A 150 GALLON AND I WANT TO FILL IT WITH DISCUS THEY'RE MY FAV FISH BUT SEEM SO HARD TO CARE FOR
Thanks for the comment! If you really want discus you can do it with a little less work than I put in. If the pH of your tap water is under 7.5 or so you can just use that and not worry about RO water. Also, if you don't overstock the aquarium you shouldn't need to make water changes as often as I do. For a tank as large as yours I would make sure you have a way of using a pump for water changes to cut down on the amount of buckets you will need to dump. You can use a sump pump and run a house to a bathtub or out of the house and then pump the water from there to make water changes much quicker and easier. Good luck!
MistakezWeRMade _ your 150 will be an amazing discus tank! If you've had experience fish keeping, don't let all the hype of discus keeping stop you. We just added 10 discus fries (1.25" to 2.25") in a 75 gal planted community tank. Their tank mates include; (3) Corydoras melanistus, (1) Bristlenose pleco, (20) Pygmy corydoras, (3) Honey gouramies, (1) Bumble goby and around (18) ghost shrimp. We have a custom made 20 gal sump with nothing more than, 25 micron sump sock, 3" of polyester batting on top of 4" x 12" x 12" of ceramic media. We are running a 560 gph pump through a 9w U/V sterilizer. If you do plan on doing a substrate/planted setup, you MUST be vigilant on cleaning up after the feeding to make sure you are not trapping excess food waste under the hardscapes and around the plant roots. Best of luck and enjoy!
Jetli _Notme THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INFO ITS SO HELPFUL IMWHEN I READ ABOUT DISCUS IT DOES SCARE ME OFF TBH THEY’RE SO EXPENSIVE AND SEEM SO DELICATE I WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS PERFECT BEFOREHAND. I JUST GOT A REGULAR PUMP AND LED LIGHTS ABOVE WOTH MONTE CARLO CARPET PLANTS ALONG WITH SOME STEMMED PLANTS. Do I NEED BETTER LIGHTS?? And MORE PUMP FOR THE OXYGEN?
ID LOVE TO SEE YOUR TANKS I BET THEY’RE STUNNNING
Holy crap, keeping discus in the US is expensive! I set up a 65 gallon tank with six discus here in china, and spent less than $100 including all the fish. Granted, I did DIY lighting, free substrate and just a simple sponge filter, but still. Anyway, great info here, and the fish look excellent. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment! There are many ways to set up a discus aquarium, some cheaper than others. The DIY project and sponge filter certainly save a bunch of money, but as the discus get older I think the refugium setup provides a more stable environment. In the US you would be hard pressed to find quality discus in the 4" size for less than $100 each. There are used aquariums out there that can be purchased cheap, but a new 60 gallon aquarium in the US will run you $150-200 (not including substrate, filters, etc.). Thanks again for the comment!
Sure, thanks for the response! I am planning on moving back to the US eventually. Setting up a new discus tank seem daunting because of the pricing. I got my tank second hand for like $15, the lighting cost me about $10. My discus range between 3.5 and 5.5 inches, not precisely sure as I haven't measured them. They were a half inch or so smaller when I bought them, and cost about $60 for the group of six, but one of them has bad genetics. It's stunted and has a twisted mouth so it can't eat very well. It's a San Merah I think (all reddish orange), so it looks like a football. Poor thing. The Chinese are not the best for animal welfare. the tank I bought them out of was way overstocked. It's getting a bit bigger, but I don't think it will ever achieve full potential since it only succeed on eating about 1/3 of the things it tries to bite. Okay...rambling now. Thanks again~
No problem! Good luck on the move and thanks again for the comment!
Hi buddy your discus are moving live any other fish and mine go and stand on in corner plz help 😥😥😥😥
If you have rock and plants in the tank I would make sure to position them toward the back to keep the discus from hiding behind it. If there's no hardscape (rock or driftwood) in the tank try adding some and positioning it in the back of the aquarium. Hardscape can help make them feel more comfortable. Also, try your best to keep from making quick movements near the aquarium as this will likely spook them and lead to more hiding.
Love the fish at 4:16. It's so fluorescent. What do you use to keep the tank so clean? -Sophia
Thanks! I think the aquarium looks better today than it did when I made this video! I've dialed back the lighting some and have everything balanced so algae is minimal now. To keep the glass as clear as possible, I wipe it down with a rough cloth from the inside every time I clean it and then use a scraper to keep get rid of any stubborn algae. The lighting also helps give the fish a glow, but I've switched to a fluval 3.0 and dialed it back some. The fish still look great, but there's not quite as much red glow as I had with the color enhanced light of the finnex monster ray.
Gonna use this for my 55 gallon.. thanks!
Thanks for the comment! Glad the video helped!
Very pretty and round discus. How big were they when you put them in this tank? Have they grown since this was filmed?
Thanks for the comment! They were 3-4" when put into the tank. The biggest ones are roughly 7" now.
Tons of helpful information but it is overwhelming is there any way you could provide an equipment list and a step by step process from the beginning I would be willing to pay for such information also you never mentioned how you cycled the tank or if you could use laterelite base underneath the sand for the live plants or the lighting used .Can you give me your email address to discus this further? You should write a how to book. I always dreamed of owning a discus tank. But I understand it is a technical complexity.
Thanks for the comment! There's a fairly inclusive equipment list with prices in the description below the video, but here's a copy of it:
60 gallon aquarium - $200
Aquarium plumbing - $25
200 Watt Fluval "E" Series Heater - $50
50 lbs hth pool filter sand - $10
SUNSUN JVP series circulating fans (2) - $15
48" Finnex Planted+ 24/7 LED Light - $150
48" Finnex Monster Ray LED Light - $ 150 (optional)
Fluval 306 canister filter - $150 (optional)
Eshopps RS100 Sump - $230
10 lbs Miracle Mud 2 - $40
Aqua Top 2600 Pump - $45
Aqua UV 15 Watt Advantage+ - $130 (optional)
Pinpoint pH Monitor - $90 (optional)
AquaFX Barracuda - $170
My email address is adamchick39@gmail.com. Feel free to contact me and I can give you a summary of things I've learned through the years for free. I like the idea of writing an ebook. Maybe something I can work on in the future!
wow i'm over the moon can't wait to start mine
Very helpful info.. I am in a process of setting up the tank and always seeking good advise...
seems like a bit more work then my piranhas.. 🤔
Great content 👍🏻
Subbed 👊🏻
Thanks for the comment! Sorry it took so long to respond, I didn't see the comment until today.
I’m in nebraska to
Hello I hope you nice fishes doing fine . I Contacted you 2 years ago about information and i was happy from your reply.
I have a question how many discus I can keep in 125 L aquarium with a big eheim filter. And plants .
Thanks à lot
Sorry, I just saw the comment and question. 125 L is probably too small for discus in the long run. You could keep 3 inch (7.5 cm) or smaller in an aquarium like that for the short term, but as they grow, they will probably need a larger setup. I typically feel like 55-60 gallons (210-260 L) is the smaller end for an aquarium for discus. If you really wanted to keep discus in a 125 L aquarium I would go no more than 3 if they are bigger than 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) and you’ll really have to watch for issues with aggression.
@@discus1018 thanks a lot I agree . Here énergie prices increased madly that the reason the hobby became difficult.
My 125 L is planted aquarium with some fishes .
Yes 3 discus max. Thanks
great video. Real nice fish. Can you tell me how you acclimate your discus?
Thanks! My discus were shipped overnight from Baltimore. I placed the unopened bags in the aquarium for about 10 minutes. I then opened them and added a small amount aquarium water to each bag (about 1 cup) every 5 minutes. I believe I repeated this 5-6 times and then used a net to move the fish from the bag to the aquarium. Make sure not to dump the water from the transport bag directly into the aquarium!
Ive seen a few videos and by far this is the best!!!! I currently have a 29 gal planted tank and a reef and i was told that if i mastered the reef tank this would be easy for me ? Not sure if this is true? Id like to start with 6 discus and as you suggested a 60 gal would work, on the pool sand does this stay more on the white side or does it get as bad as the regular white gravel out in pet stores ?
Thanks for the comment! If you have experience with reef tanks I would think you will be able to put together a great planted discus tank! The sand itself does not degrade, but the color will become more of an off-white with time as algae and waste discolor it.. Inert substrates will limit your plant options to some degree. There are certainly plenty of plants that will still do well with it, but if you want carpets or more challenging plants you may do better with a plant substrate like Amazonia.
@@discus1018 I appreciate the feed back if there's anything else you feel i should know or a specific website to further research id be glad to know as I am watching RUclips vids and im getting a lot of mixed information and gets confusing. I am going to get a 75 and get 6 discus i feel the extra gallons will be good for that amount of fish any further feedback or advice on items that are essential for the discus that might differ from the community tank i currently have please let me know.. Thanks again for your videos
@@angelgonzalez-ke5nl no problem. I think the thing to keep in mind is there are many ways to have a successful discus tank. What works for one person isn't always the best fit for someone else. In the end, the goal is a stable set up. A lot of people use good quality canister filters as the sole filtration. Some people use refugiums, and some use wet-dry sumps. I started with the refugium, but have switched to a wet-dry filter. Both work pretty well and can be great options. In the future I hope to set up a larger tank with dimensions more conducive to a good planted aquascape. In this aquarium I will probably opt for canister filters. Regardless of which way you go, I'd just aim for over-filtration.
The biggest difference is likely to be in the water. If your city water is close to a pH of 7 you can just use that instead of adding RO water and that would make things quite a bit simpler. If your water is very alkaline then you will probably be stuck using RO water like I have to.
My biggest recommendation is to plan ahead and take your time. Allow the tank to properly cycle before adding discus. Once you add them, watch closely for the first week or two for any ammonia in the tank. If you start to see ammonia you will need to do at least daily changes until the tank has finished cycling and the ammonia is gone.
Hope that helps and good luck!
@@discus1018 Agreed what works for one doesn't work for the next. I started with weekly water changes in my reef tank and that caused problems so now i maybe do a water change every 3-5 months and all is stable.
On your recommendations with over filtering i am going to get the Oase canister filter that does upto 90 gallons and add the intank sponge filter this should be good filtration for a 75?
on the water changes i keep seeing are they really needed every day or every week or does this depend on filtration?
Again thanks for your feed back i think based on what you have said im on the rite path and will definitely take my take my time with the cycle. Thank you
@@angelgonzalez-ke5nl Ya, I would think that setup would work well. I like Oase filters, too. In regards to water changes, it depends on the filtration to some degree, but really on the amount of fish in the tank and what they're fed. Discus are often fed beef heart which is very messy and causes waste to build up in the water column. I adjust my water change schedule to the amount of nitrates in the water. I currently do water changes every 3-4 days and am actually changing about 80% of the water with each change. This keeps my nitrates between 5-20 ppm. If I fed them black worms or something different I'm sure I could stretch the water changes to weekly or more.
You forgot to tell the right temperature please
Amazing video
Amazing tank
Awesome fish
👏🏽👏🏽
My tank is set at 84°F (29°C), but you will see ranges of 82-86°F (28-30°C) with most people keeping discus at 84-86°F (29-30°C).
Excellent video. I currently keep African cichlids (mbuna) and do a weekly water change, but on a trip it has gone to 2 weeks. Mbuna are very hardy, fast moving fish (some would say aggresssive), so they do very well with a weekly water change. I always wanted to keep discus and Africans and I have had the mbuna for 3 years now. The very frequent water changes necessary to keep Discus is the only reason I am hesitant to try Discus.
Dean Morier Thanks for the comment! I've kept African cichlids off and on for years and have a 75 gallon setup right now that's been together for about 3 years. They are definitely hardy fish and fun to keep! Once a discus tank is well established and the fish are mature, you can back your water changes off some. I've been changing mine about once a week now for the past several months without issue. The tank is well-established and I have extra filtration which certainly helps.
Hi mate, I have a jewel rio 180. It's just under 50 us gallons. 101cm long x 41cm wide x 50cm deep. Do you think this is big enough to house say 4 discus and a few other community fish (tetras and rams)?
I would think that would probably work out ok. I would generally try for 6 discus to help with aggression, but in most cases you should be good with 4 and at 50 gal I would probably go with no more than 4.
@@discus1018 how often would you do water changes? And would 82F be OK or should I go warmer?
@@SpiritAquatics Water changes will depend on what you're feeding the discus, whether the tank is bare bottom, substrate-only, or planted and how many other fish are in the tank, but if you're using beef heart I would say you'll be changing water every 3 days or so. Beef heart is very messy and causes an increase in nitrate levels. You can judge how often to change by watching nitrates.
82° is on the lower end, but should probably be ok. If you're heater is in a sump, I would set it a little higher because the tank temp will be slightly less.
Do you think a 55 gallon would fit this even with a 3D background? I want to make sure they have enough space to thrive!
Thanks for the question! 55 and 60 gal tanks have a fairly narrow footprint. I would be a little reluctant to put a 3D background in a tank with those dimensions given how large adult discus can grow. If the 3D background is more than an inch deep I probably wouldn’t use it. A better option for a 3D background setup would probably be a standard 75 or 90 gal if you have the space.
Do you know where to buy a 75 gallon and if I could return the 55? My local petco doesn’t sell 75 at least I think! Thank you for the suggestion! I had one more if you don’t mind. Do you think it would be ok to have plecos with the discus?
I’m sorry! I just found out my local petco does have 75 gallons!
@@London.Donahoe If you recently purchased it and haven’t done anything to it yet I would think most stores would let you return it for credit to buy a 75 gal instead. Have you already purchased the background? Which background were you thinking of using?
I’ve never kept plecos with discus. I know several people who have without problems, but there are people out there who have had issues. I would think you could add one and watch closely for problems. If anything happens I would have a quick trigger to remove the pleco and either give it away or sell it to a local fish store. However, I would bet that it will end up being fine
Thank you for all your help!
get looking fish man awesome color,t thanks for all the info, see u on the next video👍
Thanks for the comment!
Finally someone with good eye ratio Discus
That’s a very pretty tank. Great fish selection too.
One thing I would say is overblown is the need for softer acidic water. My water is at 7.7 and my Discus are perfect. They are even breeding but since I’m not interested in rearing fry they never survive. Clean, stable water with very low nitrates is the key. Also keeping water warm at around 85 degrees.is very helpful.
Thanks for the comment! I would agree that in the video I was probably too focused on pH. It's more of a stability issue. I think if the average tank aims for a pH of 6-7 and keeps it stable that would be ideal for any discus they choose to keep. A warmer tank is ideal, but I've found that if I'm trying to keep a community setup the best temp for everything is more in the low 80's (82-83). While the discus like 85, a lot of the other fish I've kept with them don't haha. Thanks again for the comment!
Agree with everything you noted there. I keep my water extra warm because it raises their metabolism.and makes them hungrier to help them grow out quicker.
The rasborras, cardinals and cories in with them are fine with the increased temperatures.
Thank you for the video. Beautiful fish! One thing that I wondered about was, even though you do have one fish per gallon of water, plus some tets, the discus seem to be cramped into the tank and interacting with each other, not in a good way. Possibly there is too much going on in the tank as far as the number of plants, decor, etc., taking up space that the discus need???
Thanks for the comment! The tank is a little overstocked for its size and content, but the discus seem to interact ok to me. Even in a larger aquarium they will chase each other from time to time. In a smaller setup they may chase a little more often, but I've never seen it as too extreme. They're cichlids in the end and while they are more passive than many of their cousins, they can still be a little aggressive and territorial! That being said, a larger setup would be ideal in almost every way, but I was limited on the space where the tank had to be placed.
@@discus1018 Thank you!
I’m thinking about upgrading my 90 community tank. That would leave me with a 90 that I could keep discus. I have never had them but I’m seriously thinking about it. New sub😁
You should go for it! If you buy from a well-known breeder they are typically hardier than many people think.
Discus do much better if kept with other discus. Cardinal tetras in large schools are a beautiful addition to a planted discus tank. Make sure you do it right the first time.No other fish have given me as much satisfaction as have discus.
Those are some awesome fish plz check out air discus and man that is one nice setup oh yeah are those real plants
Thanks! Yes, they are real plants.
hello again, what do you think of peppering, is it more a low quality genetic issue or a environment problem. It seems like you have a dark background and your pigeon is fine......I've seen some pigeon juveniles with peppering going on and the breeder says with a light background it will clear up somewhat..
Thanks for the comment! Peppering is usually more of an environmental issue in my opinion. My pigeon bloods have some small amounts of peppering, but not significant. If the background was changed to a lighter color the peppering would usually improve some, but I don't think I've ever seen it go completely away. If the juveniles you are looking at have quite a bit of peppering without dark substrate or a dark background in their current tank, I would probably be a little hesitant to buy them as I'm not sure it would improve after being placed in a different tank.
subscribed cause you said you were in omaha! thats cool i live in lincoln and you never really see people from nebraska.
Haha I am in omaha as well... also looking at building 2.. 750 gallon tanks in my basement
Nice!
awesome info thanks for everything. I made a custom made tank 240lt with inside sump and a canister filter eheim 2215 with uv light. In the tank do i need an air stone pump i am beginner with discus
george poyiatzi Thanks for the comment! With live plants in the sump you shouldn't need an air stone. I would leave the light on in the sump 24 hours/day to help keep the environment in the tank as stable as possible. Are you keeping live plants in the tank as well?
Omaha??? Nice!!! I used to live in Omaha. I'm in Columbus now. Would love to start keeping a couple discuss. Thanks for the video!!!
No problem, thanks for the comment!
Loved the info, but the size of the aquarium's width (size) appears to be too thin. The fish seems to be a little stressed. Just my observation...
Wow. You r amazing but u scared me off about raising discus 😫
But then again I’m learning at this point. I think I’ll just start with angels. Maybe down the road I’ll take on Discus
Thanks for the comment! Angels are a great fish to start with. If you buy discus from a reputable breeder they will often be hardier. You could also go with a setup that is less complicated than mine. This is what works for me, but doing a single wet/dry filter should work well if you have a planted tank. Also, I would start out with adult discus first as they are much easier to care for than juveniles.
Go Huskers, Creighton prep, and BT.
Great video. I subscribed and I am looking forward to seeing more videos!
Thanks! It's been quite a while since I posted a video. I need to do an update on this and maybe a video on pressurized CO2.
Can discus tolerate more than 30 degree celcius and in 90 gallons tank how many can be kept
thank you for your reply.
I am looking to get Discus , great video. I need to do some homework and watch your video a few more times. So much information 😁
Thanks for the comment! Let me know if you have any questions!
Hey man! Great video. Great info, great display, beautiful and healthy fish and all of that under 10 minutes. PERFECT. I really badly want a discus. I already have 2 freshwater aquariums and I think I'll be able to take on the challenge of looking after discus. The only thing that discourages me is the price. Are they really worth it? I found some cheap baby discuses in Melbourne (where I live) but they don't look as round and as nice as the expensive ones. What would you recommend?
I meant under 20 minutes. My bad. Good luck with your fish keeping
Thanks for the comment! I would encourage you to spend the extra money to obtain discus from a well-respected breeder. Although it is more money up front, you will know you are getting quality fish that, if kept in proper conditions, will provide years of enjoyment. I have an African cichlid aquarium and Southeast Asian aquarium as well and can tell you that my discus tank is hands down my favorite. So for me, it is worth the extra cost and time commitment to keep the fish. From what you described, my only caution to you would be that juvenile discus typically require more water changes and stricter control of water parameters than adults. Thus, they can be a little more "fragile." You may want to look to see if some of your local breeders offer fish in the 4" range as they will likely be hardier and easier to keep if it's your first time (although more expensive). Not something that's a must, just a suggestion.
juvenile discuss are not round, when they get bigger, thats when you will know they are round or football shape. You need to be careful with juvies too because you cant really tell yet if their growth is stunted, their are signs like eyes are too big, head is too thing,fish is not aggressive, fins are always kept. it took me months to decide to buy a discus, so I started with 4, and so far, im getting the hang on the maintenance and feeding them 3 full meals a day.
Dank Memovich
I’m in Omaha area too. Wanting to set up new tank in next few months.
Sounds good! The new Fish Freaks store has good selection for supplies and tanks. They sell discus, but I would stick to some of the big name dealers out there instead (Stendker, Kenny's Discus, etc).
Gorgeous fish. Where'd you get the purplish one? Wow.
Thanks for the comment! I bought all of my discus from Hans (www.discus-hans-usa.com). They are expensive, but you get what you pay for!
Liked and subbed
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing Discus101.
Beautiful fish and a great set up. And a very concise and helpful video. 👍🏻
I want to have a discus tank in my family room. One of my concerns is that I have two little ones who love running around. Is noise and too much activity a problem?
Omer Syed, Thanks! My tank is in our family room and we have an active dog that runs around it quite a bit. For the most part, it doesn't seem to bother the fish, but if the kids are likely to tap on the glass or bump into it much, then you may want to set it up somewhere else. I like mine in the family room because we spend so much time there. If I put it somewhere else, I wouldn't see the fish nearly as much.
I you don't like to change water search for AWAB
Thx for the video. I really enjoyed your point of view.
+Codak Provision Thanks for the comment, glad you liked it!
thanks for such a great video, use to be in to salt water tanks but got out of it long story. but your video
has me wanting to do a set up like your...thanks
Thanks for the comment! I had a saltwater setup in the distant past as well, but have since concentrated on discus and African cichlid tanks.
So glad I found this video. I have been researching Discus aquarium setups and this video truly gave me great ideas. I was wondering if you have any updates on you setup since this was done 3 years ago. Thank you
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad the video helped! The tank is still up and the same discus are in it. If I could go back and make a few changes to the video I would probably add/change the following:
1. I still like refugiums and would recommend them for tanks that are lightly planted or mostly hardscape. However, if the tank is heavily planted, I would go with a wet-dry filter instead (easier to maintain and no light required which may help with algae control). A refugium is probably overkill for a heavily planted aquarium as there are already a bunch of plants filtering the water in that way. I have since switched to a wet-dry filter (eshopps wd-125cs).
2. Stable pH can be a great indicator of water stability, but KH is probably better. Shortly after this video was made I added pressurized CO2 and feel it was the best addition to the tank. Not only do the plants thrive, but algae is essentially non-existent. When running CO2, pH levels temporarily change making KH a better measure of stability.
3. Skip the UV filter. Some people swear by them, but I ended up removing it. I can't remember how much I spoke of it in the video, but after a while I removed it and noticed no real change in the health of the fish.
Those are the things that come to mind. Let me know if you have any questions!
Great info.
I am thinking about getting a discus thank. I have looked online for information about if I have enough oxygen in my thank. If the temperature rises the oxygen will drop so do i need plants to keep it up or is a sump enough moving water?
Sorry, long answer haha: You are right that as the temperature of water increases the amount of dissolved oxygen will decrease. However, the difference in dissolved oxygen between 77° and 84°F is not really that substantial (roughly 0.6 mg/L difference). Generally speaking, if your sump has good enough flow with an area where the water cascades down through a sock or overtop of bioballs (like a wet-dry setup), I would think you would be okay. In instances where I increase the temps to the upper 80's or around 90°F to treat a sick tank, I add an airstone to the sump to help boost dissolved oxygen levels just to safe. Adding it to the sump on the same side as the return pump will keep it out of the main tank and and can at least help raise the levels a little. If you want live plants for the look and health (natural filtration) of the tank AND are okay with the work that goes into keeping them, then go for it! However, if you are thinking of adding them just for the oxygen, I wouldn't recommend it. Plants only produce oxygen during photosynthesis. Most aquariums have their lights on for 6-8 hours. That means you are only increasing oxygen during that timeframe. When the lights are off, plants actually produce CO2 and no oxygen. Thus, in the aquarium, for 16-18 hours a day no oxygen will be produced by the plants. Hope that helps!
One other thing: in the end, the best way to determine if you need to change your setup is fish behavior. If the fish are feeding well and healthy, then your oxygen levels are fine. If they are hanging around the top of the water a lot, add an airstone to the sump.
@@discus1018 thank you very much for your fast and helpfull message! You just saved me a lot of problems! Have a nice day.
@@discus1018 i would alsow like to ask you, if you got any socialmedia where you do updates i would love to see some more updates!
@@tf7386 I don't have any other accounts where I post updates on the tank. I have always meant to make more videos, but never seem to get around to it. I've had several other people ask for an update on the tank so I'll try to make another video in the next couple days that shows updates and changes to the tank/setup. I'll let you know when I post it!
Gorgeous tank and fish... My only suggestion would be Cardinals rather than Neons... Cardinals tolerate hot water better.
Thanks for the comment and good suggestion! I should have gone with Cardinals, but the local store only had Neons. Next time I will probably order Cardinals online instead.
@@discus1018 I had to order mine too. LFS only rarely get them
Beautifull healthy discus
Thanks!
Woody's Discus (FB)
Very nice ! I just went from a 60 to a 150 gallon aquarium . Cannot wait to have ALL my sand in so I can plant. Are you not concerned about gas pockets ? I love Carib Sea live sand . Be Careful, you shoukd be able to "stir up" your sand . Maybe the roots are helping you out ?
That's awesome! I'm hoping to get larger aquarium in the basement later this year. The layer of substrate I have is pretty thin so that helps some of the gas pockets from forming. I think you're right that the roots are also helping as well. The tank has changed since this video was made and is now a dutch-ish style with some rummy nose tetras in addition to the discus. The plants look great now, but are taking up a little more space than I would like. I just found your FB group and sent a request!
"Bruno's Discus" (FB) Also uses pool filter sand. Great looking tank and Discus !
Sweet Looking Tank, My questions are 1- How many discus should one keep together? ; 2. How long was your tank up/running before you added your discus? ; 3. Did you add all 6 at the same time?
Thanks! I would keep no fewer than 5-6 together. Less than that and aggression may become an issue. Form there, it depends on tank size. For a rough estimate, you can typically keep 1 discus/10 gallons. If I remember correctly, my tank was up for about 4 months before adding discus. I had Corys and Neons in the tank for several months before adding the discus as well. Obviously, it's important to watch your water parameters very closely after adding fish to make sure the tank is not stressed. I actually added them in groups of 3 about 1-2 weeks apart. It was probably overly cautious, but I wanted to see how the tank would handle the additional fish. Stendker discus are not cheap and I wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong. Most people would probably say to put the 6 in at the same time. Hope that helps!
Good info for me as I am setting up a 150. Regarding Miracle Mud or Flourite substrate, would it be beneficial to layer it under sand? I am planning Amazon plants, Dwarf Hair Grass and Mangrove
Generally speaking, layering is not necessary. My aquarium has changed some since this video and is now dutch-ish in style with Anacharis, Ludwigia, Rotala, TIger Lotus and Amazon Swords. I still use only pool filter sand and the plants are doing great (maybe too well as they have started to take up too much room). I have added CO2 and provide ferts several times a week, though. For an aquarium, I would go with Fluorite if you want to layer though. I've used it in the past and it does not stir up nearly as easily as Miracle Mud. I like Miracle Mud in refugiums, but not in the main tank. Hope that helps!
Great video mate. One of the best I’ve seen. Awesome looking fish too
Thanks!
Very nice video and thank you for your time. Ok if you put I think 60% of ro water and 40% of tap water to buffer it when you do a water change how do you make your water is it all tap water or all to water or is it 60% to 40% ratio?How do you hold your pH?
The amount of r/o water I need to achieve the stable pH I was looking for has changed since this video was made. Following water changes I like my pH to be 6.9-7.0 and this requires about 20% r/o water for my conditions. I keep a basin of pure r/o water ready in the laundry room and when I'm ready to make water changes, I use a 5 gallon bucket. I add roughly 20% r/o water first and then fill the rest up with tap water. I add the chlorine remover and then pour it into the tank. At this time, I usually change 25-30 gallons once a week, so that takes about 5-6 buckets.
To answer your second question, the pH will tend to hold fairly steady with the buffer provided by tap water. You can check the pH and kH of your tap water and if it's like mine, there are plenty of carbonates to help buffer your tank. Most municipal water supplies have more CaCO3 in them than you need and that's where the r/o water helps. If your water is already at a pH of 7 and has a reasonable amount of CaCO3 in it then you may not need r/o water. I don't talk about kH in the video, but it is worth watching your kH values from time to time to make sure they are stable as this is the driving factor for a stable pH. If your kH values are too low you may start to have issues with wild pH swings. Hope that helps!
i heard you mention bleach and i came to the comments expecting 50 people saying that was a bad idea. guess i'm the first! lol
wingsOfAnthrax, Thanks for the comment. There is no problem using bleach to clean the filter socks as they are thoroughly rinsed twice and left to air dry and sit unused for weeks after the washing. Without going into detail, sodium hypochlorite has no longterm residual effects and is not of concern. Obviously, I would not recommend using it if you are planning on cleaning the sock and immediately putting it back in the tank.
Great video! Beautiful and perfect tank!
Thanks for the comment!
Thank you sir! Liked and subbed!
Really good job on your tank. very nice!
Thanks for the comment!
where u like to shop for fish in Omaha?
I like Fish Freaks and Nebraska Aquatic Supply, but the discus in this tank were ordered from Hans in Baltimore.
Omaha! North Platte here I'm breeding Angels and thinking about stepping up into Discus. :)
You should go for it! I think you'd really enjoy it if you like Angels.
Discus101 looking into it.
Excellent info, thanks.
Thanks!
One of the best presentation I've seen. How do you keep the same Ph level? How and what do you use to feed the Discus?
Thanks! My pH level fluctuates some, from about 6.7-7.1. Frequent water changes help keep it stable. The pH starts out around 7.1 after the water change and slowly drops to 6.7-6.8 before the next change. When I'm out of town, I leave a bucket of dechlorinated tap water by the tank and a neighbor feeds the fish and puts 2 glasses of the tap water in per day. My tap water is alkaline, so this adds a small amount of buffer each day to help keep the water stable while I'm gone. I feed them a combination of blood worms, beef heart and brine shrimp (mostly beef heart). They usually get fed twice/day and do well. I need to make a new batch of beef heart soon, so I'll try to make a video of the recipe and add it to my channel. Hope that helps!
Just a thought,it maybe a good idea if you explain like we are all from Mars?
What part did you not comprehend? Perhaps I can explain it to you.
Great setup, my two discus fish are not eating others are eating but they are doing well can you suggest what to do? I have canister filter for my 55 gl, should filter run 24 hours or turn off at night time?
Thanks for the comment! A canister filter should run 24/7. What are you feeding the discus? Were they eating prior to this and then stopped or are they new to the aquarium and haven't started eating yet?
Thanks for the reply, they have been with me 2+ weeks now and found they have been going to the corner of the tank when I start feeding from day one, One started eating granules from yesterday, (red melon 2+ inches only still staying near filter inlet), others are 3 and 3+ plus inches and always looking for food when I pass near by. I feed discus grain d-50 plus two times a day and blood worms and beef hearts two times a week. I have one more question that I have 3 pearl gouramies , 2 gold gouramies and 2 red dwarf gouramies in my tank, they are eating those food and looks their belly looks big, what will happen to them if it goes like this or I should get rid off them?
@@nizarbreathus2440 It sounds like you are feeding a really nice variety of foods. I'll start by saying there are a lot of opinions and preferences when it comes to discus and you would likely get a different recommendation from someone else. With that being said, I would probably remove the gouramis for the time being. If you are able to put them in a different tank, that would probably be best, but if that's not an option you could give them away or to a local fish store. Sometimes it's best to allow younger discus a chance to come into their own and gouramis can occasionally be aggressive. In addition, if the gouramis are aggressively eating the food, there's less time for the small discus to become interested and try the food.
New discus can sometimes be pretty slow to start eating and it can even take up to 4 weeks before they eat! Keep offering the foods and I think they will all be eating soon. If you want try flavoring the food to encourage them to eat you can buy some garlic guard by seachem, but I bet they will start eating if you continue to offer food. I would also recommend feeding beef heart more often than twice a week, but if the other discus are eating and happy you can keep with what's working. Hope that helps!
Discus101 thanks for the information, you are right, after seeing the yellow one started eating I strongly feel the other will start eating soon.
@@nizarbreathus2440 I'm curious to know when the other one finally starts eating. Keep me posted!
I have a 142 gallon (planted) it's 150 cm long, 60 cm tall and 50 cm deep. I have
10 Cardinaltetras
5 Rasboras
8 Cory doras
6 Platies
1 Dwarf Gourami
4 Yoyo loaches
Can I have Discus in the tank, if so how many? Or do you recommend that I wait until I can get a bigger tank? The temperature is just 26 celsius now
As far as size goes, you would be fine adding discus, as long as it's not very densely planted. You will have to watch closely to make sure the gourami doesn't bother them as they can sometimes do that, but the other fish should probably be fine. As for how many, it depends on the amount of plants, but I would think you should be able to do 8-10 with the other fish (the dimensions given comes out to a 120 gallon when I calculate it, but even if it's 142 gal I would probably go with 8-10). Some people like to overstock discus to help with aggression, but I have never found this to be necessary as long as you have at least 6 in the tank. The temp will have to come up for discus (around 28°C) and this will often stress the other fish. There's a pretty good chance that even if you increase it gradually you will lose some of them. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@discus1018 yeah it's was suppose to say 150×60×60 cm so it is 540 liter (around 142 gallon) measured it before :) I'm gonna make some more space in the tank and more heat :)
@@Lyxuria 👍🏻 Sounds good! I'd go up very slowly on the heat, raising it 2°C over the course of a week or so. If the fish start to appear stressed, then you can back it down a little and give it more time.
@@discus1018 Absolutely :) I'm very careful with my fish, they're my babies ^^
A sump and a bucket filter , do you think that you have enough filtration. Crazy people..
I mean it’s just a tiny bit overkill isn’t it. Do you have the too much money or what. I understand that you don’t want under filtration, but this is ridiculous. For 6 Discus wow
The aquarium is overstocked and too much filtration is not a bad thing. The canister filter came from an old tank so I didn't need to purchase it new and allowed for the addition of pressurized CO2 after this video was made. I travel a lot (I believe I mentioned this in the video, but I haven't watched it in a couple years) and extra filtration is an "insurance policy" when traveling. And when your discus cost $800, plus all of the time and effort invested, I don't believe extra filtration is crazy.
African cichlids vs discus discus yay
Hi There Your vedio are really simple and nice. I watch all of them , I would like your help please. I always dream to have discus fish , I am living in Belgium and when I go to buy them then most of the shop keeper they tell me it is hard it is difficult and so on then I bought cichild Malawi and I really did not like them because I love to have discus, I have already set up some soft rocks in my aquarium plus a coral rock made from prclin so it is not real , now I really want to try discuss.
I have 240 L juwel aquarium inside that I have the juwel filter, I also installed fluval FX 6 and Eheim 250experience external filters so over filtration, I don't know why but I really foes not like to have real plants and shops tell me I have to use real plants as well as ozmoze water ?? I saw some people use normal water with treatments such as aqua safe and some benefits bacteria products and they keep discuss.so please help me
1- do i really need to have ozmoze water in order to have discus?
2_ do i really need real plants or artfisal plants will be ok?
3- do i need to take out all the rocks and the coral Reef rock or I can leave some soft rocks ? Please note the coral Reef rock is have some sharp ends .?
What else do you advise me to do so I can buy the discuss fish and which type of discuss can be good for me as a bigner?
Please note I have very much strong water change plan and also maintenance plann for the aquarium I use
Aqua safe from tetra when changing water
Easylife beneficial bacteria as per instruction of use and Aqueille F nitrate and phosphate removel which I change every six month and it acts like carbon dioxide.
Finally if I have to plant the aquarium can i use anubia because I think it is easy to plant, my substrate gravel is around 1_ 2 mm I have E fluval heater 300 w.
I wait for your reply.
Please note if you want photo of the rocks i can send it to you
Thank you
Nasir
Sorry that it took me so long to reply. RUclips flagged the comment for some reason and I didn't notice it until today. I'll do my best to answer your questions:
1. As far as R/O water goes, it depends on your tap water. As long as the tap water you have access to is not very alkaline and hard you will probably be ok not using R/O water. Poor a bucket of tap water and let it sit for a few days. After that you should test it for KH, GH and pH. If the KH is somewhere between 4-10, the GH around 5-15, and the pH less than 7.5 you will probably be fine without using R/O water. If the pH is greater than 8 or the KH/GH are really high, then you would benefit from using R/O water.
2. You do not need real plants. Many people (perhaps even most people) keep discus in bare bottom aquariums with no plants. Live plants have the advantage of natural filtration, but they are certainly not a requirement for keeping discus.
3. I would remove any reef rocks. For one thing, the sharp edges can be a problem and cut/scratch the discus. Also, many rocks meant for saltwater reef aquariums will cause the pH of the water to increase because they release carbonates into the water. If you choose to keep any rocks or hardscape in the aquarium, I would stick with inert objects (things that will not change the pH and water parameters).
I prefer Stendker discus because they are not only some of the most beautiful discus in the hobby, but are also very hardy when compared to other breeders.
@@discus1018 Hi there thank you very much for remembering me and for reply I appreciated this very much . I bought the discus stendker and I have 8 of them Peginon blood and blue diamond.
I like your fish very much
Specially the blue one and the blue with stripe,and the one with blue with orange fins ,please tell me are they stendker? If yes please tell me the name cause I am planning to bring two more discus.
I had very difficult time with my discus but now 2 month after they are doing good.
if you please let's keep our contact so I can benefit from your experience.
My email
algezouliabdul@yahoo.com
My name is nasir from Belgium.
Thanks
@@elgezouliabdul4973 I'll send you my email address so you have it. Yes, all of my discus are Stendker's, bought from Hans out of Baltimore in the US. I'm glad to hear that your discus are doing better. The blue discus with stripes is a Brilliant Turquoise and the blue one with spots and kind of reddish orange fins is a Leopard. The all blue one is a Cobalt, the all orange/red one is a Fire Red, the red/white one that is more red (and bigger) is a Checkerboard, and the orange/white one (a little smaller) is a Blue Pigeon Blood.
Such an amazing video thank you for that
Thanks for the comment!
Thank you! Great info.
No problem, glad it helped!
Oh I just came over I'm your neighbor
Haha... I guessed that after you stopped by!
Lovely tank there!
I plan to get a 99litre (approx 26gallon) tank(Boyu EA-60) that measures 24 inches by 15 inches and 26 inches high.
Which filter should I choose? Eheim Classic 250 (440L/hr) or Eheim classic 350(620L/HR)
I know its small, but that's the maximum space I have for the tank.
How you you recommend stocking Discus in the tank? I plan to have 3-4 Discus with around 15 neon tetras.
Whats your view?
A typical rule of thumb is to stock 1 discus per 10 gallons of water and most people would recommend no fewer than 5 discus in an aquarium, which would make a minimum tank size of 50 gallons. If you don't have enough room for an aquarium of that size, I would encourage you to choose fish that are smaller in size than discus. Adult discus can grow to upwards of 8" and would really struggle in a 20-30 gallon setup. That being said, if you really want to try discus in that aquarium, I would probably go with 4 to help disperse aggression. I would then stick to around 10 neons. If possible, as the fish mature and grow, you should really try to make room for a 50-60 gallon aquarium which will allow for proper development. As for the filter choices, I would go with the 350 only because the tank would be over-stocked and it's almost never wrong to go with more filtration. Hope that helps!
Discus101 Thanks for the tips. I went ahead and have booked a 40 gallon, 150L tank. It will arrive early next week.
Glad I could help! Enjoy the new tank!
awesome info thanks for everything. I made a custom made tank 240lt with inside sump and a canister filter eheim 2215 with uv light. In the tank do i need an air stone pump i am beginner with discus
Great info! I'm getting ready to set up my 85gal discus tank
Thanks! Congrats on the new tank! Take plenty of time with the setup to get it just the way you want and it will provide you years of enjoyment!
That's quite beautiful
Thanks!
Very nice discus fish 👍🏻 , nice set up too
Thanks!
You think a marine land 360 is too little for 8 discus and 20 cardinals in a 75? I got around 50% planted tank too
From a gph standpoint you will probably be ok. It's really more about your maintenance and water quality in the end. If you make frequent water changes and keep the nitrate levels in check you will be fine.
Can anyone tell me why a refugium is necessary with all the live plants in the main tank? Just thinking the live plants in the main tank and canister filter is enough. Please advise. Thanks
This is one of several topics I wish I had been more clear on in the video. The goal with any filtration system is water stability and a refugium is one option that provides a very stable environment. There are several ways you can set up a refugium. You can keep the light on for 24 hours/day or just for 12 hours and set it to come on when your aquarium lights turn off. This can help keep CO2/O2 levels, as well as nutrient levels, more stable. That being said, if you have a heavily planted tank and want to go a different route with filtration I would think you will be fine. In fact, I'm hoping to set up a much larger discus aquarium (heavily planted) later this year and will probably go with a wet/dry sump instead.
Is 3 discus fine? Or should i add more?
Joystikz_, You should always try to keep 5-6 discus at minimum, but it depends on the tank size and setup. With 3 you may find 1 gets picked on too much. 5-6 will help disperse the aggression.
Hello ,you have a very nice tank that I love , I’m about to have the same tank and will stock it to 6 discus fish , I have a Fluval FX6 laying around , I would love to hear from you since you are a successful discus keeper. Will a Fluval FX6 too powerful or under power for a 60 gallon tank with 6 discus ?
Thanks for the comment! The FX6 would be plenty of filtration in my opinion. A lot of people would probably tell you that it's overkill, but overfiltration is not a bad thing and if you already have it I would say use it! The only concern I would have is the amount of flow coming back into the tank. I would set it up and make sure that it's not too much for the fish. As long as it doesn't push the fish all around the tank then it should work well. If there's too much flow you could make some adjustments to the return nozzle to deflect it and slow it down. The only other thing to watch would be nitrate levels. Nitrate is removed through water changes and not filtration so just make sure to keep a eye on that so it doesn't creep up on you. Nitrate is not nearly as toxic as ammonia, but can still cause issues if it builds up over time.
Thanks alot for your though, the flow is definitely a big concern on the tankfor discus ,I used to have a 300 gallon all african predator haps , this is my first time with discus ,your knowledge definitely helps alot for new people in the hobby . I appreciate you .
@@belam127 No problem, glad it helps!
Can you tell me what temperature you are running on your discus tank ,and what do you recommend on temperature?
@@belam127 I have it set at 84° and would say that's a pretty common number for a lot of discus setups. You could go as low as 82° if it's a community setup, but 84° is probably better for the discus.
Can i use hanging filter for the discus tank?
You can use it, but a refugium setup would be preferred. The goal is to create as stable an environment as possible for the fish and a refugium helps this the best. That being said, a HOB filter would be fine. I would just use a larger filter than recommended for your aquarium size.
Curious why you dont use under gravel filters???????
For a couple reasons. Plant roots tend to get caught up in them and the pool filter sand I'm using is too fine for the undergravel filters I'm aware of. I'm not a big fan of them in general because they tend to get clogged up over time which decreases their flow rates and leads to anaerobic pockets. They also don't provide any mechanical filtration. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the vid.
I think the only thing that scares me about overflow is the possibility of it failing. Can you explain a worst case scenario? Or is this essentially fail proof? In the event of a power outage the return pump would fail and the siphon would simply break and all water would just remain still right? I've been studying these setups for a while and that's the only part of it that confuses me.
Can you help? Lol
Thanks for the comment! To answer your question, it depends on the setup. The way I have my overflow and return, there's no issue during power outages or pump failures. There is enough room in the refugium to allow the tank to drain until the plumbing is out of the water. The key is to make sure your refugium is tall/large enough to hold the extra water. Also, you need to have your plumbing high enough in the tank to minimize the amount of water that will drain to the refugium if power is lost.
Even if something was to block my drain in the tank, the baffles in the refugium prevent too much water from entering the tank and causing overflow. While certain setups can lead to problems during power outages or blockages, a good one prevents them. When I get a chance I'll make a video on my overflow setup and show what happens in each of the above cases.
Hi Stephen - I don't want to dis this setup, as this video and its information is spot on. But when it comes to the drain, I do think that there is a substantial risk of flooding, not because of a power outage (for the reasons Discus101 states above) but because there is only a single drain line. If that drain line getting plugged by something, then the tank itself will overflow (as the pump in the sump keeps going but there is no longer a drain). I initially drilled my tank (it's set up in my office) for a single drain line, and then found it difficult to sleep at night for fear that I was going to flood my office in the event of a mis-hap.
I eventually decided to redrill and install a bean-animal style drain using the Eshopps Large Overflow box. This is not only a completely silent drain, but it also has TWO alternate lines (one main drain, one overflow, and one emergency, so three total) so it is basically fool-proof. I would highly recommend going that route - the Eshopps box is about $100 and comes with a drilling template and bit, so you can install it easily. Then it is just a matter of getting your lines plumbed down to the sump. You can see some pics of my setup (which is based primarily on Discus101's guidance in this video) here: forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?129795-Fishless-Cycle-Almost-Complete-Last-Questions-Before-Ordering-From-Hans
I hope that helps.
Thanks for the comment! I guess it depends on the setup. My setup has no risk of overflow even if the single drain is plugged. I have a separate video that shows what happens in the worst case scenarios (including a plugged drain). If you are using a refugium with baffles, there is a guard against flooding even if the single drain is plugged. Here's the video: ruclips.net/video/4oOgJfxfB_o/видео.html
It looks to me like your setup (from what I can see in the pics) would be fine with a single drain as well. The baffle that separates the final compartment where the pump is from the plant compartment acts to limit the amount of water that can return to the aquarium. While the aquarium will fill with more water than normal, it will not overflow. There's not enough water in the pump compartment to overflow the tank. That being said, there's obviously nothing wrong with a second drain!
redwinger59, Awesome setup by the way!
There are a lot of people that they want to have discuss tank bat they simply afraid of doing water changes each and every day like they have nothing else to doo
To spend 45 minutes making a water change every third day is not too time consuming. As I said to you in the other comment, my current setup allows weekly water changes instead of every 3-4 days. I would think if someone really wants to keep discus, weekly water changes shouldn't be that much of a deterrent (or they didn't really want to keep them in the first place).
whats your tank's height? like in inches or ft? can you tell me pls. thank you.
24" high (48" long and 13" deep)
ive suscribed good vid, ive bought myself a 400liter tank and planning to get discus, my concern is the water change. when i do a water change of 25% and i fill up the water, is all that i need to do is dechlorinise it heat the water up to the right temprature and add it?
Thanks for the comment! It depends some on your tap water. If the pH is right around 7 and the kH is 4-8 or so then you should be able to just add it after dechlorinating. If your pH is 8+ with high kH values then you would be best to use some RO water. You can usually judge the water temp by hand as you fill up the bucket from the faucet, but if you're not used to doing that you can just use a digital thermometer as you fill the bucket instead. If you try to heat the water up to the proper temp with an aquarium heater it will take quite a while and become a hassle. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Discus101 the thing with RO water i have no idea how it work . is it a special filter or what is it
RO filtration is a semi-permeable membrane that removes contaminants, salts, carbonates, etc from water when it is passed through under pressure. You essentially hook the RO filter up to your tap water supply and it slowly filters the water leaving you with close to pure water. If you take some RO water (KH 0 because the carbonates have been removed) and add it to tap water with high KH levels, you can lower the KH value to something more suitable for discus. That being said, if your tap water is already in a range that works for discus you don't need to worry about RO water. For example, Stendker discus raised in Germany (and in Baltimore in the US) are raised in tap water because the parameters don't need to adjusted. You can test your tap water to see what the KH value is with a cheap test kit you can pick up on Amazon or at any fish store.
Discus101 ive been to my local fishstore here in the UK peterborough and they guy said the water here is quite hard. so what should i do if the water is hard? then the thing with stendker discus(i am german and used to live in germany) in germany the water quality is one of the best in the world u can drink straight out the tap cant taste any chemicals or chlorine so think thats why its possible to raise then easier in tap water. my bro in law had discus i filled up his tank straight from the tao at the right temprature. so again if the water here us quite hard what should i do?
Discus101 so ive had a look at RO systems and how to install it, apparently the water comes out very slow, what size tank do you have?
Awesome tank thank you so much for this
+Involved Spirit Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful.
great discus you got in there. just want to ask are you using 60 gallon marineland tank which has a 12.5 x 48 x 25 in size? i have same one. currently running on one 406 for 9 discus. can i add another 406? just for added filtration.
Thanks for the comment! My tank is the same as yours. You have a few options for filtration: You could add a 406 and that would be plenty, but I prefer to have different types of filtration if I can. A few other choices would be a refugium with a HOB overflow box (assuming the tank is not drilled) or a simple HOB filter. These can help with oxygenation and provide some surface agitation to keep from getting a biofilm on the water.
Where did you get the flexible tubing? Awesome tank!
Thanks! The tubing from the drain to the sump came with the Eshopps sump. You can purchase the same thing here: www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18365&cmpid=03cseYY&ref=6194&subref=AA&cmpid=PLA_G_6194&gclid=CJ2uzrHHrtQCFUi1wAodDlgB7A. The tubing from the pump back to the tank was purchased at a local fish store.
Discus101 can it be cut to size needed or will that mess up end connection?
I believe it would mess up the connection. It comes in several lengths, so you can order the size that's closest to what you need and it should work out.
God I hate the 55g foot print. It's so narrow. Good looking discus tho.
Hi how do I check the hardness or softness of the water and? Is coral sand ok for the discus which I have at the moment
You can use a GH and KH test kit sold at most fish stores or online (www.amazon.com/API-TEST-Freshwater-Aquarium-Water/dp/B003SNCHMA/ref=sr_1_2?crid=34MAOIT10LD2G&dchild=1&keywords=gh+test+kit+aquarium&qid=1588738885&sprefix=gh+test%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2). I would not use coral sand as this would raise your pH. I tend to use inert substrates like pool filter sand.
Absolutely beautiful!! 🥰
Thanks!
nice tank bro...!!
Thanks!
I have a 65 gallon tank but it's not suitable for discus it's not long enough
nice
Thanks!