ronrca

Thanks for the info. I have tons of questions! LOL! What kind of sand are use using? What are you using for the background and lighting? Thanks

And the last one for now. I will be switching foods soon to NLS. Im excited to see the improvements.

Some juvs I currently growing out. They are Passion Melons.

My favorites! I hope they will pair up.

And some more

I took some pics of some of my discus last night. Im slowly trying to build up my adult strains with breeding in mind. These are the strains I currently have.

Finally managed to remember to take a pic of my RO setup. Its a little crud at the moment as Im still experimenting with the tap/RO mix. Here's how it works: Feed water goes first thru the booster pump, then into the 5micron, 1micron and 2 carbon blocks. I like 2 carbon blocks to help rid chloramines. Chlorine and chloramines destroy the membranes. After the carbon blocks, the water goes into the membranes. Once thru the membranes, the waste water flows thru the orange tubing and into the flush valve assembly. The flush valve assembly incorporates a flow restrictor to limit waste and increase efficiency. However, when not using the RO, it is recommended to 'flush' the membranes 1-2 a week to hinder bacteria/mineral buildup on the membrane surface. The good water flows from the membrane thru the blue tubing and in the GAC (Granular Activated Carbon). After that into the holding barrels. Pretty simple! HTH

Looks Great! Where did you get the rocks? Im thinking of revonating my 90G planted into the african cichlids tank sometime. Looking for ideas and inexpensive decor!

Sorry to hear this! Discus are not the easiest fun to take care of and especially when they become sick. Dick Au mentioned in his presentation that the finding the right source to buy discus is very hard. Never buy discus that are sick already even if they are free. The best source to buy from is a local breeder as the discus are accustomed to the water parameters plus they have been thru less stress from shipping from who knows where not to mention contact with other fish, etc, etc. Since you are attempting to treat them, have patience. It takes time. Id not recommend continuing to add meds as it is expensive and since your not seeing them working anyways. Medicated food is very good so let the heat and food take its course. Another thing I forgot to mention before. You have 7 discus but all in different tanks. Perhaps a reason they are nervous as discus are schooling fish therefore at least 6 should be kept together.

Id be careful with ebays units. Some are cheap because that is what you are getting. Some are good though. It will depend on what components they are using for example if they are using John Guest connections or what brand of membrane. Regarding pressure, the best is to buy a pressure gauge from Home Depot for $7-8 and connect it. Or even better is ask a local plumber what the pressure would be. Low pressure will make the membrane less efficient or in other words, less output. Rather than 50gpd, you may be getting only 30gpd. However, you can increase the pressure by using a pressure pump. This can greatly increase the efficiency. I believe the membranes are rated at 50psi therefore if your pressure is lower, less efficient and visa versa. How much RO do you need? If depends on your wc requirements. You can calculate how much water you need and go from there. For example, if you have 3x 50G tanks and preform 25% weekly, thats only around 40G you need so a 200gpd perhaps is overkill. Another consideration is what storage container you are filling. If you have a 50G barrel you storage water in and a 50gpd RO unit, guess what, your RO will be running the whole day. May not be a bad thing I suppose. I also use my RO unit for use as well. It tastes really good! Yes assuming the unit is running at 100% efficiency and all the parameters are met like pressure/ temperature plus the RO is running 24/7. Maybe I'll mention temperature also. Membranes are rated at 77F(25C). Here again, like pressure, temperature also affects efficiency. It is recommended that cold water only be used. Why? If you were to mix hot/cold and have your RO running all day, someone is going to flush the toilet or use the dishwasher/sink, etc. Membranes are sensitve to temperature changes and it will destroy the membrane. Therefore, it is best to only use cold and only the pressure will change if someone uses water else where in the house. I'll try to remember to take a pic of my RO unit tonight and explain some of the basics.

The first thing to find out is the difference between RO and distillers. Distillers use heat or evaportion to purify the water. The drawback is that gases are not removed this way. Another drawback is heat generated from the distiller. My parents have a distiller and in the summer they need to have it sitting outside. It generates a lot of heat. RO uses pressure to force water molecules thry a very small membrane. RO removes everything, even 02. If you are looking for actual 'pure' water, RO is the way to go. Typically ime, I have found RO units to be overpriced. I just priced a RO unit out yesterday. For a 5 Stage 50GPD RO unit, I would pay around $400Cdn including shipping. Construction of the RO unit is important. It is better to have more prefilters otherwise you will be changing your membrane often. The membrane is the most expensive part of the RO unit. RO coolers are not filters. You buy the bottled water at $1/g. The only problem I have with boughten water is that you never know what you are really getting. I have heard that they do mix tap and RO together anyways therefore its not so pure anymore. If you want more info, let me know. Id be glad to help. I just finished putting together my 7 Stage 200gpd RO filter this last weekend. Im very happy with the preformance. Here is a good reference website. Unfortunately they dont ship to Canada....yet! http://www.airwaterice.com/ HTH

I think I found a place for those perhaps also looking. Distiller Warehouse 9704-39 Avenue 437-0303 or 437-0311 Edmonton They sell RO parts and filter replacements. They have John Guest fittings and can order in also. Regarding prices, pretty much the same as anyone else in town (Home Depot for example). $10 for sediment prefilters, $25 for inline GACs. Carbon blocks have to be ordered in though. High pressure (higher than 100psi) also needs to be ordered. The nice thing is they are 2 blocks from where I work! Btw, regarding replacement filters, let me know and I can direct you to much cheaper filters. I bulk order them from the US and be happy to add anyone who needs them to the order.

Tap water actually in Wetaskiwin! :thumbs: Sorry to hear that! Ive been an active member for over 3 years and never got that impression. Certainly I dont think that way as my fishroom is dedicated to discus and Im going to be starting a breeding program shortly. If my discus only have a 4 year life span, I better find another hobby or fish. If it had not been for simplydiscus, Id of given up a long time ago as I was trying to lower ph with no luck (ph crashed). Just like any forum, they are members that are misinformed and simply isnt free of them. There are members that are very opinionated and lack solid info. For the knowledgable members that I have come to know and respect, 4 years discus keeping isnt considered long term and they are not in it for the short term. Send me a pm perhaps with some specifics. Great link btw. dhp has excellant info.

Sweet! Just in time as Im putting 2 60Gs and a 90G together. Is that only in Calgary or also in Edmonton? Thanks for the fyi! Btw, do still have your discus?

Hmmm! I need a place to go for meds also as many effective meds can not be bought or sold in Canada (but can be bought and sold in the US). The petstore meds are so diluted that they are not effective. The only way I can get meds is if prescribed by a vet. Do you know this vet personnally or can I phone a vet to ask them? I just dont want them thinking that Im going to use it myself (this being the case why Canada has banned them)! Btw, this is the dosage I have for Metro intended for discus! Metronidazole Internal flagellate protozoans Hexamita and Spironucleus Treatment: Dosage - 1teaspoon(400mg)/10g every 8 hours for 3 days Temperature - 94F for 10 days Medicated Food - 250mg per 100gr of beefheart Notes Will not harm the biofilter. Cannot mix with Flubendazole

I keep discus and have of over 3 years. The best place for disease help is simplydiscus.com! Im by far no expert in the disease side as my discus have not been sick yet and to be honest, I hope never to be an expert on disease. Simplydiscus is the best site when it comes to discus. My water parameters for my discus (you guys better sit down). My pH is 8.4, around 300ppm gh/kh, temp 84F. My discus are in bare bottom tanks to ease maintance. On my juv discus, I do 50% wc daily with an 80% once a week. My adults get a 50% and a 80% weekly. Id like to really stress this next point. Discus must have stable water parameters. Your wc water parameters must be the same as your tank water parameters. Your tap water is fine for discus as long as you age it (heated and aerated). Why age it? My tap water has a ph of 7.0 however when heated/aerated for 6 hours, the ph rising to 8.4 because of C02 dissapation. Regarding RO water, you dont need it unless your breeding. It get as simple as that. Id recommend placing your discus in a quarantine tank, raising the temp to 90F with lots of aeration. Dont medicate till you find out exactly what the issues are and how to treat them. Many times adding med after med is counterproductive not to mention expensive. If someone was at Dick Au's presentation on discus, you will remember that he also mentioned that his med cabinet hardly gets opened. Any you sure that the discus are not passing tapeworm eggs? Just a thought. O, get you post some pics also. Seeing them sometimes helps the diagnosis.

Sorry! Reverse Osmosis.

Anyone know a good place in Edmonton to get RO parts? Just finding 1/4" high pressure tubing is tough nevermind John Guest connectors. Must not be looking in the right place for some reason. Thanks

Hmmm! Ime, you cant score and break glass smaller than its thickness. Glass shops may be able to using some fancy tools/machines but not diy. Ive built a number of tanks and breaking less than 1/4" (6mm), sometimes even 1/2" (12mm) results in a bad break like only half breaking off or breaking the opposite direction. A huge PITA factor. For 2mm, Id sand or as mentioned, go to a glass shop.

What you are looking for is some diamond grit sand paper. You can buy them from glass shops and diy. Or call any glass shop close to you and ask them how much it would cost if they were to sand it for you. I buy my diamond grit from a place around 47Avenue and 95 Street (Edmonton). Cant remember what they are called atm. HTH

Imo, if your plants are doing well, why change it. Sometimes if you change even 1 parameter, you may be looking at trouble. Give it another couple of weeks and see how it looks also.

I heard that the paintball C02 cylinders have some kind of oil in them therefore may not be the best for a tank. My C02 bottle I use is a 10lb that I bought from OxyPro. I believe I paid $100 for the bottle and refills are around $1/lb. Not bad at all.

I found this calculator very usefull. http://www.garf.org/Tank/BuildTank.asp

Check out Acklands if Home Depot doesnt have what your looking for. I use Dow Corning RTV Sealant Silicon. Not sure if it comes in black but worth to check out.

I have a number of mag pumps and not problems with them at all. Good gallon/hour for your buck. Cant go wrong with them. I order my pumps thru jlaquatics.com in BC.