75 gallon freshwater better filtration ideas/advice?

[Anonymous]

I don't already have the canister. I was talking to an experienced keeper, on another site, who doesn't like canisters. And I can't say that I do either but my lack of knowledge and experience I though I was over looking them because of that. I like the 3 level idea though. That makes complete sense. I wonder if a sponge filter and another HOB would take care of any and all levels?

3 Hob's, and a large sponge filter is a crazy amount of filtration. You shouldn't have any water quality issues.

Its not one of my Discus tanks. I have them all bare bottom with two Hydro sponges per 55 and one per 29. I also do 50% water changes daily. The biggest issues with Discus and plants is temp. Most plants do not like the higher temps to be successful with Discus (mid to upper 80s best). Young Discus tend to need more/larger water changes to grow well. Any tanks I have with 4" or smaller discus get a 75% daily plus another rough 5% when I siphon food out before bed. Under 2" get two 50% plus the mentioned 5%. Excessive no, costly yes.

Side note if your Discus are 1yr old and not approaching or exceeded 5.5". 1. you bought inferior stock or 2. your water was not maintained properly. Sorry thats a hard truth, when I see people breeding 4" 2yr old fish I cringe

Ok onto my filter set-up in my in house displays. I really find it hard to beat well maintained Aquaclear filters. My 95 wave has two 110 and is very heavy stocked with 8 3" bodied angels, a breeding pr of Guianacara Stergoise, 14 Nanacara Buckles, 8 random apistos, and a breeding pr of BN plecos. Our other tank is newer set-up, 65g with a single 110. It houses a 4.5" Fahaka Puffer (Puffy McPufferson) who is a real pig and a brutal bio-load.

So I'm partial to Sponges and Aquaclears personally. Filtration is going to be one of your smaller issues. Discus are not as hard as people think as long as you don't get complacent and stick to a good water maintenance schedule.

Now these are my opinions and other may do it differently

This kind of intensity to keep one type of fish puts me off from keeping them.  Discus are amazing fish. But water changes everyday? There has got to be a way to stretch it out to 1 a week safely...

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

OK well that puts discus into perspective for me. With working full time and a house to take care of as well as chickens, dogs, cats, and a rabbit I don't think I could maintain the water to keep healthy discus. If I could be a stay at home I could.

So I think until I can stay at home to be able to do that many water changes I will need to hold off on discus. I still want to change the filters though.

 

[Anonymous]

IDK, defiantly requires more research... There has got to be a way to house these fish in a healthy manner without having to do water changes EVERY DAY. I swear not to long ago I was watching a video about a fish store display tank with Discus . The system filtration was a sump / freshwater refugium. The tank was fully planted, refugium was planted, and it had an algae scrubber inside the sump. The owner of the store claimed to do water changes like once every 3 months. And the fish and tank looked amazing. He also claimed with the algae scrubber not having to clean the glass but every few months.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

This kind of intensity to keep one type of fish puts me off from keeping them.  Discus are amazing fish. But water changes everyday? There has got to be a way to stretch it out to 1 a week safely...

Yeah, I fully agree. I watched a video of a guy who has a refugium and has done very few water changes over years. He just tops off and his breed like crazy.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Hey I wonder if we watched the same video lol. Sounds a bit different because this guy admitted he didn't do water changes. If I had the extra money I would just get a refugium. This is the plan when the tanks go in the wall though. Right now I just want to make it better until I can get the best

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

I just talked to another discus keeper who has an amazing beautiful and healthy tank and he said:
"I do 50-60% WC at least, weekly. All my first are at least sub-adults. Juveniles would do better with more frequent WC's and multiple heavy feedings daily to maximize growth. I don't have bare bottom tank to growout in, so I buy my discus at 4" minimum. Filtration for this tank is a 60g wet/dry sump. Tank is drilled with center overflow."

So that's not too bad. I would just take out 25% more than I already do from the tank and add better filtration. I was considering a refugium and making it myself out of acrylic.

 

[dwarfpike]

You'd be surprised at some discus hobbyist, their schedule makes Zach's seem light. Plus, some of the asian breeders do entire tank water changes 4x a day.

A drip system is probably the best way to split the middle though.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Wow, I like the looks of the fish. But I do have many other things in life which take priority and more care. If it was my income source that would be a totally different story.

 

[zach_discus]

Your missing the point, if you buy young fish 4" or smaller. You will need to take care of them correctly. Now if you lay down the extra $$ and buy adults they are much less labor intensive.

As for a once a week water 20% water change. Unless you have a well planted and seasoned aquarium that's over filtered, your just being lazy and selfish. You put your fish in a glass box and want them to grow and flourish in a cesspool your delusional.

There is a reason Discus are called the King of Aquarium fish and for the most part why most people do not do well with them. They take time and dedication. Would it help if I made a video and stated in it that "I have never done a water change and feed 20 times a day, but my water stays perfect in my 20g with 6 breeding prs in it". I would take alot of these claims with a grain of salt. I answer way more e-mails/calls/text with people asking advise on how to fix a problem than I do on folks asking what should I do with the 200 fry from there last spawn.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey I wonder if we watched the same video lol. Sounds a bit different because this guy admitted he didn't do water changes. If I had the extra money I would just get a refugium. This is the plan when the tanks go in the wall though. Right now I just want to make it better until I can get the best

Its possible it was the same video. I can search for it again. Bumped into it researching freshwater refugiums. Have plants and mosses growing in my sump with an LED light attached to the rim. Guess you can call it a refugium. I don't want to say what my nitrates are at. It seems to spark controversy....

You'd be surprised at some discus hobbyist, their schedule makes Zach's seem light. Plus, some of the asian breeders do entire tank water changes 4x a day.
A drip system is probably the best way to split the middle though.

Seems like the spectrum of Discus care is all over the place. Extreme maintenance to low maintenance. It's starting to seem Discus care depends on many factors . Water conditions, tank setup , parameters, ect.

So a "well seasoned" system, plants with heavy filtration and your good to go with a weekly water change.

 

[dwarfpike]

I think it's actually gotten harder for the normal aquarist as higher nitrate levels have become 'acceptable.' I cringe when I see people listing 40+ nitrate levels on other sites, when I first started 20ppm was reason for an immediate, near full blown water change. Nitrate sensitive fish like discus, blue rams, and some geo's were never allowed to get over 5ppm.

When you think 40 is normal and 60 is still 'okay', it's harder to put out the effort it takes on some species.

Just a thought (and not saying anyone in this thread keeps their nitrates that high).

 

[Madness]

Your missing the point, if you buy young fish 4" or smaller. You will need to take care of them correctly. Now if you lay down the extra $$ and buy adults they are much less labor intensive.

As for a once a week water 20% water change. Unless you have a well planted and seasoned aquarium that's over filtered, your just being lazy and selfish. You put your fish in a glass box and want them to grow and flourish in a cesspool your delusional.

There is a reason Discus are called the King of Aquarium fish and for the most part why most people do not do well with them. They take time and dedication. Would it help if I made a video and stated in it that "I have never done a water change and feed 20 times a day, but my water stays perfect in my 20g with 6 breeding prs in it". I would take alot of these claims with a grain of salt. I answer way more e-mails/calls/text with people asking advise on how to fix a problem than I do on folks asking what should I do with the 200 fry from there last spawn.

I could not agree more. I deal with the same issues in my CA species. Haitiensis, Festae, Beani, Istlanum, Grammode, Ornatum to just name a few, in order to get them past that delicate stage you need to be diligent in your maintenance. To think that you can buy them and just halfass the maintenance and expect results than you should take up a different hobby. But if you are taking on the challenge of these beautiful species than you must do your job.

There is a reason why you RARELY see adult species of the fish that I named above. Most people do not have the patience for them.

 

[zach_discus]

So a "well seasoned" system, plants with heavy filtration and your good to go with a weekly water change.

This is why I hate forums, people take a contextual statement and turn it into a absolute.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Your missing the point, if you buy young fish 4" or smaller. You will need to take care of them correctly. Now if you lay down the extra $$ and buy adults they are much less labor intensive.

As for a once a week water 20% water change. Unless you have a well planted and seasoned aquarium that's over filtered, your just being lazy and selfish. You put your fish in a glass box and want them to grow and flourish in a cesspool your delusional.

There is a reason Discus are called the King of Aquarium fish and for the most part why most people do not do well with them. They take time and dedication. Would it help if I made a video and stated in it that "I have never done a water change and feed 20 times a day, but my water stays perfect in my 20g with 6 breeding prs in it". I would take alot of these claims with a grain of salt. I answer way more e-mails/calls/text with people asking advise on how to fix a problem than I do on folks asking what should I do with the 200 fry from there last spawn.

Wow, little bit rude.. my tank has been setup for 3+ years already and yes it is already over filtered. I'm not missing the point and the last guy stated 4" or bigger. I never once said I planned on getting small discus IF! I got them. I'm trying to research them prior to getting them to see if I can handle the correct parameters they need. I do 25%-30% water changes weekly on my tanks now and all of them are already over filtered. I'm trying to see if there are better options than what I have now. I currently have breeding angels with females laying every 2-3 weeks. All of my tanks are even under stocked for their sizes currently. Thanks for being rude when at least I'm TRYING to research prior to buying a 'pretty' fish at the store and shoving it in a too small tank that's low on water, dirty and under filtered.

 

[zach_discus]

LOL again that was a response from another post. It just happened you wrote a response (a couple actually) in-between me replying to the one I was addressing.

 

[zach_discus]

"I do 50-60% WC at least, weekly.

Here is his key statement, that is the minimum recommended not the norm.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Quoting who you are addressing helps tremendously. Or stating the persons name in the post would help a lot. That way you are getting the correct information across to the correct people.

 

[zach_discus]

That way you are getting the correct information across to the correct people.

The info still applies to everyone and yes sometimes I am rude with my replies. It does help in some instances to drive a point home. "I don't mean to be rude but I tell it like it is" Kenny Chung a awesome discus breeder and importer, those are very true words.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

OP question edited too reduce conflicting.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

That way you are getting the correct information across to the correct people.

The info still applies to everyone and yes sometimes I am rude with my replies. It does help in some instances to drive a point home. "I don't mean to be rude but I tell it like it is" Kenny Chung a awesome discus breeder and importer, those are very true words.

People including myself, were listening to what you were saying. Some instances such as people asking a question and arguing with answers or not even listening to responses, yes, I get that you need to drive a point home. However, in this circumstance your input was being taken into account for and the semi-rude comments were unnecessary. I stayed away from this site for close to a year because of people being rude or not recognizing the info that they asked for because they thought they knew better. That ceased to exist or became very limited on here and that was my reason for return. To someone new to the forum or wanting information that is listening and replying to what you have for input shouldn't be treated this way. Not only does it deter from them asking questions, using forums, but it can also hurt your personal business due to your attitude towards people. IF I was going to buy Discus, you were one of those I would have been interested in buying from. The semi-rude comments kind of deters people from wanting to purchase. Whether it was me or others who read this thread and saw that. Please keep these things into consideration for comments.