Discussin' Discus, Bare Bottom Tank discussion continues

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for Discussin' Discus, Bare Bottom Tank discussion continues

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Craig Woodhull - 7 years ago

Scuba,
I have had Discus for almost 40 years now. Raised them, made my own food etc. Never have I used Beef Heart. As you know Discus are a very hardy fish, just not for the lazy fish keeper. All Discus need clean water, as you well know. My Discus live grow mate ALL WITHOUT B.H. There are way to many fantastic foods out today. Just my 2 cents. With all your knowledge, I am very surprised you use beef heart.
Way to many newbies keeping Discus to even talk about BH.
Woody

reef guy 92 - 7 years ago

is that all you run in your tank two sponge filters and your heater?

Scuba Steve - 7 years ago

+fish mad Sponges are perfect for discus.

ph4s3sh1ft - 8 years ago

Bare bottom all the way. I love the look big ol' churnin' sponge filters too... Where did you get your filters Scuba Steve? Do you have a hob too?

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+ph4s3sh1ft Got the sponges from eBay. HOB is a Marineland penguin from eBay too. Thanks for the feedback!

Maurice Aquariums - 8 years ago

Steve I agree with you. For growing discus bare bottom is best, but i know, you know I don't have a bare bottom tank lol. My juveniles are all in a barebottom tank though, and I will always encourage new discus keepers to go barebottom until their fish reach adults. It's a more sterile and clean environment to grow your fish in.

Ravin Krishnan - 8 years ago

is just seachem acid buffer and seachem fresh trace required to replace all elements required for a softwater planted discus tank
or is seachem equilibruim/replenish required as well?
thanks in advance

Ravin Krishnan - 8 years ago

thank you very much your vids are a very useful source of information for free thank you

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Ravin Krishnan That depends on what kind of plants you have. I did a video on plants in a discus tank. Please check out that video. Replenish is for plants that get their nutrients out of the water column where the roots are exposed if I recall correctly. But what most aquatic plants use is kh. So you'll need the alkaline buffer. Please check out that other vid, it'll help I'm sure!

Sean Conroy - 8 years ago

Great video as always I haven't looked back since I went bare bottom so much cleaner and fish look healthier too

MStebbz36 Cichlids - 8 years ago

interesting subject steve..great video fella, keep em coming. Peace.

Hugo Mondragon G - 8 years ago

great video bro i wuz thinking to get some of those great looking fish

DWSDARIUS FISH TANKS - 8 years ago

Great video...yeah I use gravel in all of my tanks and it definitely holds a lot of waste! Great tip!

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Discus don't cope well with high bacteria loads like most other ornamental fish can. If the beginning hobbyist can grasp that concept, keeping discus is a lot of fun and very rewarding. They just need a lot of water changes and most people in the hobby just can't see doing 50% water changes 4 times a week. LOL!

10. comment for Discussin' Discus, Bare Bottom Tank discussion continues

Young Tank - 8 years ago

Great video bro I can tell in the video that you're really patient about this hobby and what you do don't worry about the haters keep doing what you do haters everywhere

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+young tank Thanks bro; I appreciate the support. I'm just out to have some fun and be involved. Tank on bro!

AQUA NUT - 8 years ago

Right on scuba great video brother. You will be the first person i go to if i ever decide to keep these guys. The fish are looking great as always, thanks for the info.

AQUA NUT - 8 years ago

Well i was a little worried about it at first but after watching your videos over the last few months i have come a long way.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Hope you do decide to get a school for your collection! They'd be in great hands with you!

Rich's Fishes - 8 years ago

good info once again Steve. I'll always be a firm believer of growing out juvenile discus in a bare bottom tank. I still think that adults (once fully grown and determined to be good and healthy....maybe at 18-24 months old and up) should do perfectly fine in a tank with substrate (assuming that proper maintenance and husbandry is still being done). It is of course easier to maintain and keep a bare bottom tank pristine no matter the age of the fish.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Rich's Fishes Couldn't agree with you more and thanks for the feedback; I value your thoughts on the subject as should others.

Russ Polk - 8 years ago

hey steve what other fish are u going to put in there. looking good nice and clean

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Russ Polk I never thought about that!

Russ Polk - 8 years ago

+Scuba Steve you know what would look nice is getting another backround same as the one u have and put it on the floor or the tank .that would look nice

Russ Polk - 8 years ago

I wish u the best of luck man.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Russ Polk You know, in the Stendker discus book, they advise NOT to mix their discus with any other fish but, they say if you're going to do it anyway, then take one of the discus and put it in a separate tank and see how the discus responds after a week. To me, I read that and it's just nuts. Why would I risk a beautiful discus and cross my fingers hoping that the bacteria strains are going to be compatible? You're absolutely right, after the last fiasco, I'd be stupid to do something like that again. If you could see all of the pm I get with people seeing the same thing as I had with my last tank, that parasite is spreading and the spores are so hardy. There's just no way I'm doing that again.

Russ Polk - 8 years ago

+Scuba Steve I feel you.especially after what u went through with the last set up.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Russ Polk I'm not going to put anything else in there. I'm going to get more Rams but I'll be keeping them in another tank. It's too risky for me personally to mix something else that can be carrying a different strain of bacteria that my fish haven't been exposed to.

IFG - 8 years ago

Great info Scuba. Keep brining it to the people bro.

IFG - 8 years ago

+Scuba Steve lol.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks bro! I appreciate the support but I know what time it is!

Sherry L - 8 years ago

Tank looks gorgeous Steve!

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks for the support!

dope sack - 8 years ago

you're right Steve bare bottom is good but I have a plan tank with this is angel fish discus catfish and Tetris and they lived perfectly happy

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

And there are a lot of folks just like you that have a lot of success with discus in a planted tank!

Rico Suave - 8 years ago

The stuff I see in my planted tank gravel is amazing bare bottom is THE way to go for best results

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

My man! Thanks for voicing your thoughts. I value highly your opinion.

Kyle B - 8 years ago

I've been keeping my discus in planted aquariums, but in the past I did have a thicker layer of substrate used to plant in - big mistake, was always having issues with water clarity. This time around I've made a compromise, 1/4inch layer of sand and all plants are attached to driftwood which is all removed to clean the sand during water changes. also plenty of bottom feeders to try keep the base clean. Not as good as bare bottom but as close as I'm willing to go for a display tank :)

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

There's always good compromises like sand that can help keep the waste from sinking too deep and hiding.. Thanks for the comment!

DEA- Exotics - 8 years ago

that is great Advice and I also agree I would never do a video just to bash some one those people are haters and they are destroying the hobby for some people .

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks buddy!

20. comment for Discussin' Discus, Bare Bottom Tank discussion continues

Corey Hecker - 8 years ago

Great info Steve! I wish I had more tanks! Discus are amazing!

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

They are easy to keep too. They just need a lot more water changes than normal ornamental fish tanks require.

Zach's Exotics - 8 years ago

:) nice video

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks bud!

Robert Westbury - 8 years ago

G-day Steve, feel like your talking about me ..lol...and my planted tank, if i went bare bottom where do i grow plants? i have a African cichlid tank and they wont allow..lol. i,m restricted to a 200lt 4ft tank and with discus they like groups so the best i can do is 5/6 in that size tank, point is if they grew to full size id only be able to have like 2, so the growing big as is not a thing to me..

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

+Robert Westbury LOL, I'd never talk about anyone specifically. There have been hobbyists that have posed these questions to me on the best way to keep them and to line out the pros and cons. A lot of people grow plants by keeping them in pots; limiting the amount of substrate that can collect detritus and making it much easier to clean. So it seems like I hit the nail on the head where some folks like yourself don't mind it if the discus is stunted a little. There are a lot of folks that are just like you and that's not the goal. They just want the fish to be healthy, they don't mind it if the fish doesn't reach it's jumbo size potential in a fast amount of time. They like the planted tank look and they like the discus swimming around looking happy and colorful. I think it's great! One thing I'd never suggest anyone do is to go and remove the substrate once it's there. That could trigger a mini-cycle by removing the beneficial bacteria. If you ever change your mind, remove the substrate slowly and if you do go that route, put the discus in a bucket with an air stone and heater while you do it. You could release toxic gas into the water that is trapped in the substrate which could poison your fish. I love your tank by the way!

j03yYunG Aquariums - 8 years ago

Agreed. There's trade off when going with substrate. You do lose the quality end of the Discus. Just something I've noticed since I've been keeping them in planted tanks.

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Great comment my friend! Happy to have you weighing in on this subject.

Teng Xue - 8 years ago

Nice video as always, bare bottom is the best

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks for the support!

T Holz Aquariums - 8 years ago

Bare bottom the only way to go! Wish I would have done more research before I started keeping discus. Live and learn. Good video Steve!!

Scuba Steve - 8 years ago

Thanks my friend!

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