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Getting my first Stendker discus next week, going into a 3ft grow out tank. I'll be following Stendker's advice on feeding and water changes, but I'd like to get some opinions on filtration.

For the grow out tank, I've got 2 sponge air driven filters and a small power head for some surface movement. Since I'm in a soft water area with a TDS of around 33, I don't plan on treating my tap water. I'll be dosing Prime and Stability during the initial fill and water changes, and I'll also add Colony on the first fill and stocking.

I'll prepare water for changes using Prime, and I'll have it heated and aerated for a week before using it.

Does this setup seem adequate? Should I be worried about buffering the tank or adding extra filtration?

Re: Growing Discus On

I'd like to know what your water parameters are. If your sponge filters are properly cycled, you should be in good shape. I don't think you need to pretreat your water for more than a day - a week seems excessive.

Re: Growing Discus On

What's the size of the discus you're bringing home? A week's prep for water changes seems excessive, adding prime when needed is the way to go. With aeration, doesn't that already take care of chlorine removal, making prime unnecessary?

Re: Growing Discus On

I'll be setting up my water change tank below the grow out tank, so when I siphon out the old water and pump in fresh, I'll just refill and heat it up for the next change.

I'll run a test now to see what my tap water parameters are, just to confirm.

Re: Growing Discus On

I took a look at your other thread, you're getting 2.5" discus - same size I started with. At this size, they'll need daily water changes of at least 50% to grow them big. I'm curious, what does Stendker recommend for discus of this size?

Re: Growing Discus On


Originally posted by lunar

How big are the discus your getting? Not sure if you want to add prime a week in advance. Think you should add when using it. Also since your aerating it won’t that remove the chlorine? Not sure you need prime. I don’t use or need it.


They're 6.5cm.
I'm not aware of any drawbacks to adding prime early. I just figured it would be a good idea to add it to the fresh water, then let it sit and aerate for a week. Hopefully, that'll remove the chlorine without any issues.

Re: Growing Discus On











Ok looked at your other thread . Your getting 2.5” discus. That’s what I did too. Now at this size they will need daily water changes of at least 50% to grow them big. What does Stendker suggest at this size?


Stendker actually recommends weekly water changes, same as the UK distributor. Apparently, there's no benefit to daily changes for Stendker fish. In fact, it's said they might not even like it.

Re: Growing Discus On

Just used Aquadip test strips on my tap water, here are the results:

GH - 25
No3 - 0
No2 - 0
Chlorine - 0.8
KH - 0
PH - 6.6

Looks like my tap water's quite soft, which is what I expected.

Re: Growing Discus On

I think you should let that water sit for a day, then retest it and see what changes. If you're aerating the water, shouldn't that remove the chlorine anyway? I've heard that adding prime can cause cloudy water when it sits for a bit.

I'd love to see how your discus grow with Stendker's suggested water change schedule, but to be honest, it goes against everything I've read. Most experienced breeders say daily water changes are a must for young discus.

What's Stendker's advice on feeding between water changes? I've always been told that discus need multiple small meals throughout the day, with beef heart being a staple. I'm curious to know what they recommend.

Originally posted by lunar

Ok now let that water sit for 24hrs and retest it. See if anything changes.
Reason with prime is your using to remove chlorine. Won’t the aerating remove the chlorine? Also I’ve heard of cloudy storage water when prime was added and water sat.
Well I’d like you to update the growth of your discus at Stendker’s suggested rate. It just goes against everything else I’ve read. Most of the pros will tell you to change water daily on discus that young.
What is Stendker saying to feed them daily in between water changes? Again most will say beef heart and at 6+x a day.

To be honest, I'm a bit surprised by Stendker's advice on water changes, it goes against most of what I've read. They are the experts, though, and it's a different game with their discus. I'll definitely keep my thread updated, and we'll see how it goes. As for feeding, Stendker advises using their beef heart feed, 3 times a day. They provide a feeding chart based on the size of the fish, so I'll follow that. They also say it's okay to give them the odd treat, so I might mix it up now and then with some flake or pellet.