There are so many kinds. TFT, CFT, HIS. I know the HIS make the purest water, but does it have to be THAT pure, or will a TFT do OK? I spent alot of money on filtration-Eheim wet/dry 2227 for biological and a Filstar running through a UV sterilizer for mechanical filtration. I am just clueless about the RO and cant seem to find any info on it. Thanks for any help.

you can do without RO water but it would surely help your discus

No need for Ro.Never had to use RO and never will use Ro.

My local tap water is fairly hard. Would you mind sharing your method of water treatment? I just want to provide the best home I can for my fish. Any suggestions for a n00b? Thanks.

I agree, there's absolutely no need at all for an R.O. (Reverse Osmosis) system.

How hard is your water.I really don't check for hardness.There is several ways to set your water for Discus.Using drift wood,any form of aquarium peat.

Tap water is....kH=16.....GH=20....pH=8.0. I can buy peat pouches for my Filstar, would that be enough? I am setting up a 65 gal. hex, plenty of hiding spots. Tell me what you think.

Tank is nice, remember peat sometimes turns water color like a tea color not bad for fish but some people don't like it. kh and gh are high but it can be done. ph you can drop with sodium biphosphate its a powder wardleys is one company that puts it out.Another company aquim pharm. puts a product out proper ph 6.5 this also works.

Ordinary ph can be 8 which is too high for discus

Thanks for all your help guys. I will update with pics as soon as the tank cycles, and I have a handle on the water quality. How many do you suggest I start out with?

THATS A NICE HEX U GOT THERE !!

up to 4 but prefer 2 because of shape of tank (hex)

Thank you very much!

And fishhouse, you say 2 to 4, but that is just to start right? I see alot of discus tanks smaller than mine with 6 to 8. Is the hex shape a BAD thing? Thanks again for all your help bro!

Again, thanks for the advice. I have an African black knifefish about 5 inches long, two standard plecos about 4 inches each, and a 4 inch electric blue crayfish in the tank right now. Are any of these suitable tankmates with discus? "

All your help is much appreciated! I will update when I put my first dicus in and they settle in.

Why Round head would you tell someone to declaw,thats like me saying round head we should cut off your hands.Just don't put the blue lobster or crawfish in the tank simple as that.

2-4 discus if you want them to get full size.The more fish more water chages,its up to you.I want you to enjoy having discus not to have alot of working doing so.

I already have a deal worked out with a LFS to buy 5 at one time for a good deal. This will be my first try with discus, and experience is always the best teacher. As far as the water changes go, I dont mind doing daily water changes. I look forward to getting home from work every day to take care of my 3 aquariums. As far as my "blue lobster" (lol) he shows no sign of aggression toward either one of my plecos, they are all over each other sometimes. Now the crayfish and my smaller pleco share the same daytime hiding spot, and seem to be buddies. I'm gonna leave him in until I see reason not to, I really like him, and he keeps the floor of the tank nice and clean. Thanks for all your advice guys, and I will update when I add my discus to the tank.

RO2 also remove everything inside the water the benefit one I mean mineral etc and after you have to add alot of the mineral back which to me I use peat in filter to help. Which works better for me then ro2.

After alot of thaught, I decided against a discus tank. I am too much into hybrids and breeding right now, and need all the tank space I can get. I think I an going to put my new SS in my hex tank. Thanks for the input though.

That is the best info, and the most encouraging thing I have heard yet Bilbo! Me and the woman were just talking about a community tank for Christmas, and we were trying to decide what kind of fish could live together. If I could set up a Discus and Ram community, that would be awesome. Could you tell me the ideal number of Discus and rams I could keep in a 75 gallon tank, 48" x 18" x 22"? I dont want a planted tank, just artificial plants and some ornaments.
And one more question, how many times a week would I have to change the water, and what %? Thank you so much bro, you have made my woman very happy. We want this to be our show tank in our living room.

Thanks bro! What about the frequency and % of water changes?

www.airwaterice.com

They sell quality built ro units for a good price. I use RO because alot of fishes I get in are use to ro only, then i slowly adjust them to higher ph.

Thanks a million bro. Could I order some rams from you when I get ready?
And can you recommend a discuss breeder? Sorry for all the questions, you have just got me all psyched up about this!!

When I go to www.hepsdiscuscenter.com, I just get the flash intro page, with no links to stock or anything. I think it may be because of my web browser, I use FireFox. Do you have a link for his home page? Thanks.

Also try Great Lakes Discus.
Cary helped Mike from Hep long ago when he first began.
Warlok, if I were you, I would get all of the discus from one source so that you won't have any problems with diseases. Import discus are notorious for unknown diseases.

Damn right about the import Bilbo.
And that is what I was trying to tell you before.
No money breeding your own discus for sale.
The power and water will kill you alone. You got to sell quarter size BD or MR for $100.00 a pop if you want to stay in business. And it was this price that J.W. get for them in the 70s and 80s until our Asian friend became interested.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the discus was responsible for the Asian breeding frenzy of the flowerhorns and other hybrids.
But I believe Cary is still in business very Strong. Last I heard he had a new shop.
That CAry guy is a freakin medicine man; he knows just about every sickness in the aquatic world.
I would get discus from Cary any day; very honest, straight forward, and a damn nice person to say the least. Cary was responsible for me getting back into the discus a few years ago.

Thanks for all the great info. I finally got the link to work, had to use IE. There are still a few sites that dont like FireFox. Man, I love those long fin "bat wing" discus. I should buy the smallest ones I can get, right?