# Help me Prepare for Discus!



## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

Right! so this year for my birthday, I'm buying myself a setup for discus as well as some lovely fish, hopefully from Stan's!

Here's what I have in stock and waiting for arrival-

55Gal. Tank setup + Accessories - See here:
55 Gallon Fish Tank w/ Stand & Accessories

Chemicals as follows:
Nutrafin Aqua+:
-Tapwater Conditioner
-Biological Aquarium supplement [Cycle]
-Biological Aquarium cleaner [waste control]

API Pimafix
API Liquid Super Ick cure

API 5/1 test strips.

Fish:

3 dwarf gourami
5 bleeding heart tetra
6 Julli Corydora
1 Clown pleco

i'll be moving or possibly selling my bamboo shrimp, since I don't want them to be eaten.

Food:
Freeze dried tubifex
Freeze dried blood worms
OmegaOne and Topfin fish flakes
TONS of Spiritulina Algae wafers

AWAITING: 2 BNP. Contemplating a 3rd. don't want to overload the bio.

SEARCHING FOR:
A good quality discus food that ships in canada. [Found one at a US retailer online but won't ship to canada due to the meat content.]

I plan on only getting 5 discus. Maybe a new filter to replace the one that's coming with the tank there. We'll see. C:

Suggestions anyone? C:


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Check out Ricks' (Canadian Aqua farm) freeze dried blackworm food I use it for my discus and they LOVE it. Its got a high protein content and you can buy color enhancing ones too  There super easy to feed as well you just take a cube and stick it to your glass/acrylic and they just peck it all off very excitedly.


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## guppygeorge (Sep 6, 2010)

What kid of "help" are you looking for ? I would suggest that you put all of your other fish in your 20 gal tank and prepare/condition your 55 gal tank for the discus. It's much better for the discus to start in their own sterile tank, just in case any of your other fish carry a disease  The 55 should be an ideal size for five juvies, say around 2-2 1/2 inches. Contact Stan and he will let you know how to set your water parameters, and he can also set you up with some some quality food….ask for some of his special recipe turkey heart....that will give you a great start


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## guppygeorge (Sep 6, 2010)

MEDHBSI said:


> Check out Ricks' (Canadian Aqua farm) freeze dried blackworm food I use it for my discus and they LOVE it. Its got a high protein content and you can buy color enhancing ones too  There super easy to feed as well you just take a cube and stick it to your glass/acrylic and they just peck it all off very excitedly.


The freeze dried blackworm is a good food. When your fish get bigger, you can also go to the live blackworms. Discus absolutely love them :big smile: and they are a great food&#8230;They are usually available locally&#8230;.I see that Stan advertised some recently. The only negative I find in feeding the live blackworms is that my fish really don't want anything else after they have tasted the live worms


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Discus Hans flakes is good . Start bare bottom. no other fish. Learn to keep discus first. Their behavior, their water, wcs, feeding amounts etc. get them growing . Feed, wc, feed, wc. Like a new baby human. You will be rewarded with growth. Buy some prime and don't worry about cycle, waste control, top fin food etc etc. keep things simple. Freeze dried black worms is the safest for no parasites. Don't use tubifex or cheap frozen bloodworms. If you must feed bloodworms make it hikari. Triple sterilized. 
Omega one is good food. Also cobalt discus Hans flakes. My discus like it. It has beef heart in it.


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

I'll take any and all advice I can. C:

Thanks, April! (We share the same name!  )

Which bottle of prime? May I have a link?


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Seachem prime. It's way more
Concentrated than the other brands and removes ammonia, nitrites and metals etc. just need a tiny bit. 


Sent by tapatalk in north Burnaby


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

April said:


> Seachem prime. It's way more
> Concentrated than the other brands and removes ammonia, nitrites and metals etc. just need a tiny bit.
> 
> Sent by tapatalk in north Burnaby


Ooohh. I'll buy a bottle. Thanks!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Also I would figure out how to minimize the effort for doing large regular water changes, whether that means getting a python or something else to make your life easier.


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## swd (Mar 18, 2014)

Recommend freeze dried blackworms from CAF.
I also feed tetra color granules and nutrafin max flakes.
temp 86f
water changes 
prime


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

How about this stuff?

Discus Trace [500 mL]

Useful?



SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Also I would figure out how to minimize the effort for doing large regular water changes, whether that means getting a python or something else to make your life easier.


Python? I'm guessing that's a tank cleaning accessory? >w<


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## guppygeorge (Sep 6, 2010)

Scampi said:


> Python? I'm guessing that's a tank cleaning accessory? >w<


You got it. Simply put, its a siphon and hose system (usual 25 or 50 feet of plastic hose) to siphon old water out of your tank and add new water from a tap. Many of your LFS will stock them. Check out King Ed pets. I know that they have them, and their prices are usually unbeatable


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

guppygeorge said:


> You got it. Simply put, its a siphon and hose system (usual 25 or 50 feet of plastic hose) to siphon old water out of your tank and add new water from a tap. Many of your LFS will stock them. Check out King Ed pets. I know that they have them, and their prices are usually unbeatable


Thanks George! Hey, do you have skype by chance?


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

You will hear a lot of different opinions.
My humble opinion, for whatever it is worth, is that the most important thing is to change a lot of water. You will hear the same from all the top experienced breeders/keepers on simplydiscus. Tony Tan, Ricky Lim, Lawerance Soon,... all change massive amount of water daily.
You do not need black water extract, or discus trace or anything like that, but it is just my opinion.
For diet I would just make sure you give your discus something from the ocean (for HUFA)and something with high protein(for growth and energy), vitamins (especially vitamin B & D for growth) and minerals (calcium, magnesium...). Freeze dried blackworm is a great food. Lots of very successful discus people use this food (e.g. April, Rick, Josie of Chicago Discus...etc.)
Good luck with your discus keeping.
Welcome to the discus world. Enjoy...


Scampi said:


> How about this stuff?
> 
> Discus Trace [500 mL]
> 
> ...


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

Thanks a lot, Rookie! <3

My only question with the large water changes; All good and fine getting water out... But I don't have a large enough sink or buckets to treat water first before putting it into the tank..! People are saying with the python, it goes straight from the sink to the tank???


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## swd (Mar 18, 2014)

I bought 5 gal buckets from Rona


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

Nah, i'm sure I'll get my hands on a python system.. 

Does anyone know how well the Aqueon water changer works in comparison to Python's?


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

You can just use tap water. Add prime and you are good to go. Dose exactly one cap full of prime for your 55 gallon.
Use a food grade hose to fill, and use another hose to suck the water out to your toliet, bath tub, back yard or whatever is convenient for you. You can buy a pump to speed things up. I attach a pump to my hose so I can suck the water out faster. But it really depends on you.
Don't make it too complicated or else you will not want to change your water often; if you add too many stuff in your water you may mess things up, just tap with prime/safe is fine.
This is just my opinion, and many people may disagree. I would suggest to get about 10 x 2-2.5" if you are going to get them at that size. Reason being when there are more of them they will be more aggressive during feeding. More food=faster growth. 5 gallon/adult is what I like (just my opinion), although some people go by 10 gallon/adult. It also depends on how much water you change. Obviously more water changes is needed if you feed a lot, but it is a good thing if they eat lots. More discus in the tank like this also reduces the chance of runting but again, it is just my own opinion.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck.


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

Fish rookie said:


> This is just my opinion, and many people may disagree. I would suggest to get about 10 x 2-2.5" if you are going to get them at that size. Reason being when there are more of them they will be more aggressive during feeding. More food=faster growth. 5 gallon/adult is what I like (just my opinion), although some people go by 10 gallon/adult. It also depends on how much water you change. Obviously more water changes is needed if you feed a lot, but it is a good thing if they eat lots. More discus in the tank like this also reduces the chance of runting but again, it is just my own opinion.
> Just my 2 cents. Good luck.


I'd love to get a whole bunch of discus. But if i'm going to grow them to Adults, only 5, TOPS 6 will fit in a 55gal. as FAR as I know.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree on more than 5. I'd say 8. Good chance you could
Lose one and you could always sell
A
Couple once
Bigger. They are more secure in a bigger group. 8 is always better than 6.


Sent by tapatalk in north Burnaby


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## Scampi (Apr 21, 2014)

April said:


> I agree on more than 5. I'd say 8. Good chance you could
> Lose one and you could always sell
> A
> Couple once
> ...


Fair statement, April!


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## guppygeorge (Sep 6, 2010)

Scampi said:


> Thanks George! Hey, do you have skype by chance?


Yep, I do have Skype, but I am currently in New Zealand. I would talk to either Stan or Rick&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.both of them have a wealth of experience, and I can't think of anyone in th slower mainland that would be more knowledgable&#8230;and they are both always willing to help a "newbie"  I know that Rick will give you very sound advice on water changes, as I have witnessed him change about 99% of his water on a large tank full of high-grade discus


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