(I dare say I have put this in the wrong place again)
Hello Everybody !
I would just like to say a big thank you to everybody who helped me out with all the suggestions in regard do's and dont's at the start up of my new tank.
As of today despite my best efforts to mess things up all my fish family have survived.
All my levels are now excellent.
must admit I had to do a few 20% water changes,(serves me right for getting impatient)
The turning point was when I was told to planted real plants as against plastic, that took care of the high Nitrite/nitrate in the water, that and hoovering up debris and putting the fish on a diet.
So now how difficult is it to keep Discus
regards Rat
Hi Rat
Well done! Glad all is going well and that you have been converted to the world of real plants
Discus need clean ,spot on water conditions and are best kept in a species tank. They need soft low pH water conditions and low nitrAte levels. Many people who keep them use RO water especially if their local tap water is hard and with a high pH. This is water that through the process of reverse osmosis, is purer and softer than just straight from the tap water.
We have some discus experts on here such as Sye who will be able to advise much better than I can. But generally they do require a bit more extra care than the average comnmunity fish
good to hear that you took all the advice on board, these folk do know what they're talking about
as for discuss, i think it would be wise to wait about a year at least, and really work on keeping your water A1, someone once told me that a discus keeper is really a water keeper ,
in the meantime do loadsa research on em................lots of knowledge and good water = success
it's my union flag and i want it back
bigeddd, a legend in my own lunch box..garden photo bloghttp://img405.imageshack.us/img_viewer_framed.php?g=1starum3ve.jpg
Well done Rat!
Proper plants are the way to go
Maintaining water quality and ensuring nitrates are low are all important for Discus - others no more about 'em than me so i'll let them answer
1xTrigon 1903 Clown Loaches,14 Cardinal Tetras,8 Rummynose Tetras,6 Cory Trileneatus,6 Hatchetfish,4 otocinclus,1 SAE,1 Bristlenose,, 10 amano Shrimp
Anubius Barteri,Crinum thianum,Limnophilia sessiflora, Echinodorus Blehri, nymphaea lotus, Ammania Senegelis, Crinum calimustratum, java moss, 1xRekord 60Empty at Present
12 litre tank - 4 japonica shrimp, 4 Red crystal shrimp, 5 High Spot Rasbora
Anubias Barteri, Glossostigma Elatanoides, Ammania Senegalisis, Limnophilia Sessiflora, Bacopa amplexicaulis
If/when you decide to go for discus, ask the shop/supplier if they're tank bred or wild as there's big difference to tolerances of water parameters.
Do as you are doing and get plenty of advice first before purchasing stock :)
Glad FC is helping you in the right directions
Hey glad you got there, and that we were of some help, dont forget fish keeping is a learning curve, and people like me who've kept fish for years are still learning things and i love it when someone asks a question im not sure of the answer too as i get to learn something new too, the best things to do is if your unsure just ask, even if its to confirm what you thought. Live plants make such a difference to tanks and people think they are hard work, but it truth they do make things easier and im sure the fish prefer them too. So the next thing is, is there any pics of this tank of your then, as we're all dying to see the finished result. Good luck and well done, di
Good to see your getting on well now.
As for discus, you could ask away to your hearts content in here:-
http://www.fishcrazy.co.uk/forums/7.aspx
FD
Hi firstly well done on your fish tank.
As for discus i have been keeping fish for twenty five+ years and still not brave enough to try discus................one day i will
As already said the water is harder than the discus to keep! but with dedication and knowledge you could keep discus!
I think I might wait a few months and get to know about Discus.
In the mean time I spent even more cash on a Eheim pro ll 2026 filter system after having a disasterious time trying to get the stage two filter out to wash, on my Biolife unit.
I have the tank on a very strong book cuboard arrangement however I didnt take into consideration the amount of tubes and wires coming out the back of the lid which now prevent the lid opening fully.
Eventually got the filter out and washed it but had the same problem putting it back in, only to put a huge cloud of c**p back in the water.[:'(]
Wimper!
I assume I can run both filter systems side by side until the eheim is ready to take over and I can get shot of the Biolife system.
Rat
Just add the new filter and leave it to run, yes they will run side by side but may be a few months until the new one is capable of sustaining the tank on its own, its best to set it up and leave it to run, i would add any boilife, youve life in your tank and there are just a waste. di
A product called Bactinettes helps quite quickly to establish the good bacteria as that is what the product is.
or you could just tranfer some of the filter media over, when i got my third external (ive three tanks) i transfered a third of the media from each cannister making each filter 2/3rds mature bacteria and one third new, left it for a couple of days and started adding fish. So if you put the half the media in the new one and filled each filter with new it would be the same. di
Thanks Di,
yes I was wondering whether to just take out some of the old Media and put it in the new filter, to kick start it!
Just got to establish what goes where with it as it still hasn't arrived yet.
I was going to get a unit with the heater Incorporated in it , but that was very expensive, so I just bought a heater guard and I will stick that back in.
It will be nice not to have that large Bio life filter in the tank.
The saga continues!
I finally managed to get my new Eheim Pro II fitted after Errm trimming the plastic lid on the tank to enable me to get all the plumbing in.
I wont bore you with the installation but lets say trying to fit this sort of unit to an old Hagen 88 tank which has a fitted hinged lid is not that simple!
Took me the best part of the day to take apart the wood surround housing the tank, disconnect electrics, air lines etc, get the lid off, cut slots in both sections of it, seal it up, reassemble the unit rewire it, rebuild the back of the wood cabinet having chopped holes in that too.
Also replaced both lighting tubes as one was flickering on its way out, guess what the new tubes have reflectors in them, which is all well and good if you have a modern lighting set up in the lid, mine isn't so the tubes are facing each other as against down into the tank. (typical)
Tidied everything up switched on old set up all still works, Hurray!
Now to turn on the new Pro II to get that established so I can remove the ugly and bloody awkward Biolife unit.
Whoops! I forgot to read about flow rate!
Having replanted about 25% of the plants which took the brunt of the jet wash life has returned to normal in the tank, (depending on what you call normal)
At this rate my poor fish will be on Valium too.
Rather you than me LOL!
Well done though Rat. Good that everything is back to 'normal'