Posted by Michele on August 30, 2002 at 03:31:54:
In Reply to: Re: New to discus... posted by PHSplendens on August 06, 2002 at 01:11:38:
stable at 7.6 then your Discus should be fine...you may have difficulty should you ever decide to consider breeding Discus in which case you might look into partial R/O water.
The size of your tank, however, really eliminates Discus. If you had a 55 gallon, I would say try it...but not in a 35g. There just isn't enough room.
::Hi! I am cycling my first tank. It's a 35 gal. one and is filtered by an aquaclear 300 with sponge and charcoal.
::I was wondering if growing Discus(Not breeding neither do i want them to grow at their adult size the fastest possible as some want them to) is impossible for a new hobbyist.
::Then i'd like to know how many i can have in that tank (36x12x18). I was guessing 4 or so beacause they recommend not to have less then that. Anyway everybody says something different so i decided to go with 4. Would 4 be too much?
::Also, my tap water is slightly hard at 100 ppm and my carbonate hardness is 80ppm. Ph is really stable at 7.6. I have read a post where some1 had frys at 7.4 so i guess they could accomodate with 7.6 right? If it stays at 7.6 all the time of course.
::I was planning a weekly 25% w/c , the tank will be well planted and i have the time to feed many times daily so i will feed very sparingly everytime. Is this enough? Remember, i don'T want to breed them.
::Substrate is a fine black gravel i bought at the pet store. Would that be ok?
::Sorry for the long post but there are so many different opinions on Discus keeping that it is hard to be certain. I would like a confirmation that my plan would work or that some1 tells me what's wrong.
::I want to get 2-3 inches red turquoise.
::Thanks!
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:When you try to prevent a fish from growing at a normal rate you are stunting it's growth, which in turn causes stress, disease, and eventually death. Since discus can get around 8 inches a 35-gallon tank is too small for more than one and will stunt their growth. It will also make keeping the water parameters at a comfortable level difficult at best.
:It wouldn't be impossible to keep them in your pH, but it will be difficult. IMO what you are planning should not be attempted, and it would be wise to consider getting another type of cichlid if what you really want are cichlids.
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