Getting discus soon..

[derek0762]

I've set up my 300litre juwel rio tank, at the moment it's currently cycling with 6 goldfish after I recieved some advice from the breeder I'm getting my discus from.

I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice.. I'm getting some Stendker discus from a local breeder; Bob Grainger in Edinburgh (Scotland), I've had lots of positive advice about getting discus from this guy but i just wondered if anyone has had stendker discus before and were they good quality?

The fish I'm getting will be between 3"-4", how many times a day should I feed them?

[DiscusKev]

First, it is always a good idea to do a fishless cycle to ensure that the ammonia come from a clean source.

I have no experience with Stendker discus, I only keep Asian discus, but from looking at Hans discus (US Stendker distributor), the quality is fantastic!

It's hard to tell you since you didn't mention how many discus you plan to get, but generally 3-5 times daily would be good. Daily water changes of at least 50% would be beneficial too.

Just my opinion.

[derek0762]

Ideally I would have liked to have done a fishless cycle after reading various threads about it, I spoke to Bob and he said he had always used goldfish to cycle his tanks and has had no problems.

150 litres of water seems far too much to be replacing every day.. Would 30% every 2 days be sufficient? I'm getting 6 btw. Tank is BB.

[DerekFF]

Hey derek, im derek too!!! I think that 30% every other day would be fine. You could do the 30% every other day,and maybe to help keep the water clean as you dont want to do more water changes, maybe just do a quick bottom vac nightly to get any poo/left over food. You could probly get most of the poo and extra food in under a gallon. And the just top it off nightly. That way itll keep the tank cleaner for your 30% every other day changes. Also a fishless cycle would have been better, as goldfish are known to carry bacteria and other nasties, but to late for that now. Just watch your fish closely for the first month (hopefully you always watch your fish, otherwise why have them right!?) and watch for any gill/fin/unatural poo issues. And feedings of anywhere from 3-6 times a day is good. Dunno if theyll eat flake or pellets right away, but an autofeeder can help you with that many feedings if 3-6 isnt really feasable for you.

[derek0762]

Hey Derek thanks for the info! I could probably do 10% a night and 30% every other night. Yeah a bit late for the fishless cycle but ohwell I'll keep a very close eye for the first month or so..

I'm looking to get an external biological filter to add extra filteration to my tank, I only have the internal Juwel filter that came with the tank, any recommendations?

I've also noticed from testing my tap water that the ammonia level is 0.25, is this safe to put in the tank? or should I use a ammonia neutralizer etc? Ph is natrually at 7 which is nice, and seen as the breeder literally stays about 1.5 miles away the water should be pretty much the same.

[mmorris]

This might be useful. :)
http://forum.bidka.org/index.php