Thinking about converting :)

I've been thinking about this for a few months now and been researching about converting from Africans cichlids into discus and community tank. I'm almost there I'm just on the boarder line of jumping haha but one thing is stopping me. It's how can I make a c02 tank big enough for 100-120 gallon and don't know how to sell off all my Africans. Any input?

Just got to get the word out that the fish are for sale. Here is one place to start. Then the dreaded Craigslist people and check with your local fish stores and see if any might give you some credit. I have had strange fish to sell and have always managed to sell them just took a bit of time.

id be interested in your africans depending how far away you are from me!

See how easy that was.

InfamousRedlineZ wrote:I've been thinking about this for a few months now and been researching about converting from Africans cichlids into discus and community tank. I'm almost there I'm just on the boarder line of jumping haha but one thing is stopping me. It's how can I make a c02 tank big enough for 100-120 gallon and don't know how to sell off all my Africans. Any input?

What do you mean,"make a CO2 tank big enough"? I use one 5 lb CO2 tank on 2 planted tanks, a 140 gallon and a 30 gallon planted. Are you thinking about a DYI system? Once I made a DYI CO2 system for a 56 gallon out of two 2L pop bottles. Worked well, I just didn't like the inconsistency of DYI CO2 systems, but you could make 2 of these DYI for a 100g tank...

you can easily purchase a co2 tank substantial enough to feed a 125 gallon tank, even a 5lb tank would do it for several months depending on how much you want to push in there.

InfamousRedlineZ wrote:... converting from Africans cichlids into discus and community tank.

 

I'd recommend trying discus without co2. At the temperatures that discus thrive at, that doesn't leave a whole lot of oxygen in the water to begin with. On top of that lots of plants don't thrive in hot water. There are definitely plants you can make work in that hot of water, but trying to do really high end planted tanks and discus is hard to pull off.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was looking to a DIY tank thingy jig. but I don't know if I want to do a planted discus thus why I need co2. As for my sets of african Im going to try to sell them as a set first before I part ten out slowly. Once again thanks so much guys.

Like I said I might be interested in buying all of them depending on how far out u r pm me and let me know!

converting from Africans to discus? hell yea!(really did anyone think id leave this one alone?) ive got two discus tanks, and neither use co2, theyre a bit more sparsely planed now than befoe...I go in phases...sometimes I prefer underwater jungles, now im moving more toward more open swimming space...I have a co2 setup, but I never use it...and really don't need it at all

I cobbled my setup together for about 150 (controller, regulator and 5 lb bottle) but with good substrate, and youll have no need of the stuff. I regularly give or throw away large portions of plants without it.

I keep my tanks at 82-83 degrees and while I had some die-off when I briefly moved the temps closer to 90, most of my plants were hardy enough to survive. cory mentioned oxygenation, which has been a higher priority to me since my incident when I lost all but one of my discus to suffocation. the plants didn't make things easier, as they consume oxygen at night- theyre not the cause of the problem, but they didn't help...but air stones, wet dry filters, and venturi jets from power heads all serve to remove co2 from the tank, so youd effectively be working at cross purposes keeping your fish oxygenated while pumping your plants with co2. a second reason I pulled the system is the probe I was using quickly became unreliable. it was a cheap Chinese one, and I have yet to try another probe, the tanke is doing well enough without it


soooo...that's a long roundabout way of saying, just changeover....don't worry about co2, you really don't need it at all. choose your substrate wisely, and watch your water quality. discus really aren't that hard to keep, just expensive to buy good ones and hard to stop once you start..

   But I will second the water quality. We are talking at least 3 times more water changes than with your Africans. All the Discus breeders I now, run their tanks off of a very unique UV sterilizer wall, and either do water changes every other day, but not going more than every 3rd day, or a constant drip system that cycles the water in their tanks at least once every 24 hours and feeding them quality foods.

Those seem like a huge pain in the ass if you're not doing one of these crazy systems, but they are stunning in person... I can totally see why so many people are into them, but I couldn't see myself doing that much work just for something pretty looking

They are super easy if you don't overstock. most people heavily overstock their tanks. Like a 75g tank holds 5 adult discus. Plant it up and do water changes at your leisure.

If you're breeding them and raising fry or have way too much load in a smaller tank then yes they'll be a pain. Just like every other fish in the world. Overcrowded = harder.

Fishylady you got a PM

Betty I know right Im sad to even think of them leaving me but I have taken a big interested in them ever since I saw how active they were at Cory's Shop and thanks to Cory and Angelman I am willing to make the jump. haha

Thanks for all the advice guys! (Madness, Nick, Cory, DMD, Chad and Hobbyo!)

I have been looking at videos all day and I really like the open water. Ill either go with a nice root driftwood to make it look more natural or do one center piece of fake plants.

I will be getting a camera and snap each baby I have for sale. Most likely as a group first but be ready for heavy picture! Again Thank You Guys been great help ever since I started this hobby!

Looking forward to pics when your set up!

a few things to keep in mind:
overstocking- cory hit the nail on the head right there. my 90 gal. has 6 discus, my 75 gal has 2. id like more in the 75 but for everyone concerned, its best to just leave it at two

as for maintenance and filtration goes- for truly stunning setups, you maintain it like madness said. for just average results, stock low and keep a close eye on water quality. I can actually go awhile between water changes, but then my water hardness starts creeping up and you can see it in the fish. ive got a turbotwist uv sterilizer that I bounce between tanks as needed, and a pair of eheims chugging away keeping my water clean

another lesson ive learned is pick your stock carefully...and im not talking about coloration or shape- those are obvious. in the 90 gal, I have an older discus who is mellow almost to a fault and is easily picked on or intimidated. because my stockage choices revolved around this guy, I would look for discus who have the color I like ....and then look for the least dominant of the group (easy at kings discus since that's pretty much all they carry). I still have cichlid squabbles and minor personality conflicts, but as a whole everything is much more peaceful than my previous group where I looked only at color/shape

if you ever find yourself in federal way..let me know ahead of time and if im not running around as usual, stop by & take a look at my discus tanks

Thanks nick! I will definitely hit you up when I'm in the area and hopefully you would be free so I can check out the discus tanks. I just need to start selling my Africans haha

if you come to the swap meet, like ron I too live in federal way

judging by how things are going, I will probably have my breeders watching over eggs that day as well

Nice! Which discus do you have and any pictures? haha As for the meet I might be able to go depend on my work schedule.

heres pics [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
the pair on top lay eggs about every 6 days or so. the current clutch of eggs has been on the leaf for about 48 hrs or so right now, soooo...if the mom doesn't decide she wants sushi tomorrow, oppefully ill have wigglers in the tank when I get home....
she tends to eat her young though

They look absolutely gorgeous! I cant wait to hopefully get a couple off your hand once they are at size!

Kings discus in chinatown has some of the nicest collection of discus you can check out. He changes water twice a day. Maybe expensive, but just to get an idea to set your goals.

Frequent water changes is something I would not be thrilled about doing it..

I do my changes every 3 days when im not busy....I tend to slip up sometimes and have gone as long as a week and a half...they aren't too picky or fragile, at least I don't see them to be more so than any other fish, but they do like consistency.

as far as baby discus, I really haven't had time to commit to make sure they are successful..i let them do what they gotta do in the community tank, and if I get young...well, great but I have no where for them to grow out

kings discus is really good in that most stores may have a few discus...one or two of each variant that they have, kings may have several tanks full of the same variant, so you have a lot more leeway to be picky- like I mentioned, temperament is as important to me as appearance and you never see that at some places where there may be only one or two discus in a tank

Yeah I always do water changes for my tank so it won't be a problem. The longest I ever went without changing water was a week normally every a week. Normally change every 3 days