Hello from Medellin, Colombia

[DarkSceptor]

My name is Michael and my spouse is Gloria (she is the Colombian).

Currently we have no aquarium because we are searching to rent a 3 bedroom house. Once we are successful we plan to get an aquarium.

I am a retired programmer for the Department of Defense and moved here to live on my retirement. Between the cost of food, rent, and medical I can live on only my SSA money. Yeah.

We plan on setting up a 180 aquarium with a sump for discus, tetras, and hopefully Hillstream Loach.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Welcome!  You’re in the right place! Check out the aquarium co op channel on YouTube. There are tons of videos on there with lots of great information! Discus tend to be the most high maintenance freshwater fish. Something to keep in mind!

Maybe @DiscusLover can tell us what a normal day is like maintaining the discus tank. 

[DiscusLover]

I'm going to be keeping discus again soon, but for my experience make sure to keep your discus hot! Not extremely hot but 82-86 with 84 being the sweet spot. Unfortunately, hillstream loach and discus will not work as the water needed for each is different, however a good replacement would be sterbai corydoras, or a bn pleco. Remember to keep the water very oxygenated with aeration! Tetras can be a bit challenging with discus, I kept rummy nose and cardinal tetras with my discus at one point, but do know that you will have to grow them up and replace them often as high heat tends to reduce their life span. Also with discus, if you are getting them young less then 4 inches, it's highly recommended to have a separate grow-out tank and grow them at least 4 inches or bigger and then introduce them into main tank as small discus tend to grow the fastest so wc and good food is highly recommended! Good luck!

[DarkSceptor]

On 5/25/2023 at 8:10 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Welcome!  You’re in the right place! Check out the aquarium co op channel on YouTube. There are tons of videos on there with lots of great information! Discus tend to be the most high maintenance freshwater fish. Something to keep in mind!

Maybe @DiscusLover can tell us what a normal day is like maintaining the discus tank. 

Thank you. I'm actually in the opposite direction. I watched the videos on YouTube and in one he mentioned a post here on the forum.

[DarkSceptor]

On 5/26/2023 at 1:02 AM, DiscusLover said:

I'm going to be keeping discus again soon, but for my experience make sure to keep your discus hot! Not extremely hot but 82-86 with 84 being the sweet spot. Unfortunately, hillstream loach and discus will not work as the water needed for each is different, however a good replacement would be sterbai corydoras, or a bn pleco. Remember to keep the water very oxygenated with aeration! Tetras can be a bit challenging with discus, I kept rummy nose and cardinal tetras with my discus at one point, but do know that you will have to grow them up and replace them often as high heat tends to reduce their life span. Also with discus, if you are getting them young less then 4 inches, it's highly recommended to have a separate grow-out tank and grow them at least 4 inches or bigger and then introduce them into main tank as small discus tend to grow the fastest so wc and good food is highly recommended! Good luck!

I already plan on keeping them around 84 though even Cory said that Hillstream Loaches do well at higher temperatures. And, yes, I plan on installing a wave maker to keep the surface active. I also want to have a fluidized bed in my sump which will have lots of air moving the K1 as well. For cardinal tetras this is where they come from...the Rio Negro in the same waters that discus are living in.

By placing the dither fish along with a minimum of 10 discus, I expect the discus to do quite well in a 180 gallon tank. I also plan on at least 2 changes per week to keep the hormones down in the water. But if I can find Hillstream Loaches here they will be bred in water here which is about an hour away from the Rio Negra.

[Randall H]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:20 AM, DarkSceptor said:

I already plan on keeping them around 84 though even Cory said that Hillstream Loaches do well at higher temperatures. And, yes, I plan on installing a wave maker to keep the surface active. I also want to have a fluidized bed in my sump which will have lots of air moving the K1 as well. For cardinal tetras this is where they come from...the Rio Negro in the same waters that discus are living in.

By placing the dither fish along with a minimum of 10 discus, I expect the discus to do quite well in a 180 gallon tank. I also plan on at least 2 changes per week to keep the hormones down in the water. But if I can find Hillstream Loaches here they will be bred in water here which is about an hour away from the Rio Negra.

Once you start up the tank, I hope you go into the journal section and start up a journal with photos so we can follow along on the discus journey!  Discus are such beautiful fish.

[DarkSceptor]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:45 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Once you start up the tank, I hope you go into the journal section and start up a journal with photos so we can follow along on the discus journey!  Discus are such beautiful fish.

Definitely. Living in the "land of the discus" I have to post about it. jejejeje

[DiscusLover]

On 5/26/2023 at 12:20 AM, DarkSceptor said:

I already plan on keeping them around 84 though even Cory said that Hillstream Loaches do well at higher temperatures. And, yes, I plan on installing a wave maker to keep the surface active. I also want to have a fluidized bed in my sump which will have lots of air moving the K1 as well. For cardinal tetras this is where they come from...the Rio Negro in the same waters that discus are living in.

By placing the dither fish along with a minimum of 10 discus, I expect the discus to do quite well in a 180 gallon tank. I also plan on at least 2 changes per week to keep the hormones down in the water. But if I can find Hillstream Loaches here they will be bred in water here which is about an hour away from the Rio Negra.

Not at all cases, the highest temp a hillstream loach can go to thrive in is 79-80, and in the hobby its not to keep fish but we want them to also be thriving, and at 84 a hillstream loach will live a short but it won't thrive. I understand cory has his opinion but its also good to hear other people who have kept hillstream loach and see if it worked with them or not, not saying his opinion is invalid but its to get a bigger picture.

[DarkSceptor]

Well if they cannot thrive here they aren't sold here. Most of the shops sell only wild caught fish from the rivers here in Colombia. I would love to have these fish, but if they do not thrive in Discus water then they won't go in. I'm not a newbie, I've been raising fish since 1978. It is just my first tank since I came to live in Medellin with only 2 suitcases of belongings.

Edited May 27, 2023 by DarkSceptor

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/25/2023 at 1:38 PM, DarkSceptor said:

We plan on setting up a 180 aquarium with a sump for discus, tetras, and hopefully Hillstream Loach.

Sounds like a very worthwhile project!  Very excited for you and looking forward to see the progress.

Welcome to the forums! 🙂