I have been keeping Discus for three years now. Previously I have had African Cyclids and many kinds of marine aquariums since about 1975. Discus are quite a challenge. I have 9 that are over 5” now and three that stopped growing in the 3” to 4” range. I have a breeding pair of Turqs and one of Pegions. I got them all when they were about the size of a quarter. I have lost one to an accidental injury in transport and 4 to experimenting with filters and the resulting sickness.
I have two breeding tanks, 29 gallons each, and only use foam bubblers with weekly water changes of about 80% from the main tank. They are simply the healthiest tanks I have. My main tank is 240 gallons, drilled, with a 110 gallon sump remotely placed in my garage. I recently removed the Fluval FX-5 that contained the Purigen, which I no longer use and do not recommend with Discus. I am keeping it in ready standby in case something happens to the main sump. The one filter that has been an amazing success is the trickle down I constructed from Lowes 5 gallon buckets. I have two stacks with bio balls in the top of each and had the chemical filtration in the bottom buckets. (I no longer use and do not recomend chemical filtration with Discus unless there is something you need to remove short term.) The water from the tank passes through a 100 micron filter bag filled with floss into a 3” basket that is drilled to allow the water to trickle evenly onto the bio balls. I use computer fans ducted through a gutter type duct to keep fresh air in the bio chamber. That bucket sets down about 3” into the bottom bucket and is drilled to allow water to drain into the bottom chamber. The bottom chamber has holes at the bottom to allow water out. I fill the sump to just below the rim of the bottom bucket so the water has to pass through the bottom chamber. Currently I have Ehime substrate in the bottom chamber and am going to add some Pete. The heaters are in the sump and I use an air stone on one end and a small lift pump with an air tube in the other end to keep the water turning over and aerated in the sump. I use a gutter type piece to connect to the external pump and place a 200 micron filter bag in the inlet to keep the pump clear. The pump discharges through three 36 watt UV sterilizers in series back to a bottom fill PVC tube drilled at about 2” intervals so the water enters the tank evenly without strong currents. I also have a 1-1/4” siphon with ball valves and a 50 micron filter bag and return directly into the sump that I use to vacuum the tank. I change about 100 gallons weekly, more often if phosphates or nitrates start rising or there is too much algae blooming. I prepare the water in two 54 gallon trash cans with a bubbler, circulating pump, and heaters and use SeaChem Discus buffer to maintain 6.4 PH. I maintain the tank temperature to a precise 86.8 degrees to keep it above the temperature where most parasites can survive. I am an automation engineer so when I say 86.8 degrees I mean within .125 degrees. The whole system, including the lights are controlled with a Carrier 6400 programmable logic controller.

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