I feed my discus 3 times a day and the amount of water change I can do is 30 percent. How can I get the best result by doing 10 percent water change after each feeding or 30 percent after last feeding?

Reply:
The main reason to change water is to keep water quality constant and good.
If the water quality is stable and good, there is no need to change water often.

After feeding the water quality will be affected by the left over food and the waste of the fish. Both will pollute the water, so changing water is necessary.
If you have a filtering system to manage waste (ammonia) from the fish, then do not overfeed so that there will be no left over food to decay at the bottom of the tank. You can then do less water change and only do it to remove left over food.

The best time to change water is after feeding.

I have four fish,they lived very calmly for about 8 months but now, two of them have started fighting with each other. One of them changes it’s color into a lighter color, at the same time the other, changes it’s color into a much brighter color. One is much weaker and it does not seem that he wants to continue in fighting.
Still the other one is attacking him. What is the problem with my fish? And what can I do?

Reply:
It indicates many things when discus fish is fighting.
a) Bully B) Mating C) Spawning d) Showing off

If (a): Remove her temporary to another tank, then return.
If (b) and (c): Remove the rest for the pair to breed.
If (d): Increase the population and make her tired.

Find out the reason why then do what you think necessary.

I have a community tank. It consists of 4 med sized black angels, 3 med tri-color sharks, 3 different corys, one med opaline gourami 9 neons and 2 3in Discus.
My tank is very clean and disease free. It is fairly well planted with Amazon swords, java ferns, and some crinkly type tall grassy looking plant which the name evades me at the moment. I have heard that placing Discus with Angels is not a good idea..but so far so good. I was wondering how they are going to be with the other fish in the tank.
So far they all seem to be getting along well with few minor territorial squabbles..but they are fiesty themselves. Can you give me some direction on how to care for these young discus. I am feeding them blood worms, tubifex worms (both dried and desease bacteria free ones) and of course some Tetra Min Tropical Flake food which the discus seem to only have heartedly eat. The current PH in the tank is at 6.7. Nitrates/Nitrites are at 0ppm..I keep up with weekly water changes. Use buffers too. The tank size is only 40 gallons.

Reply:
The two discus fish can get along well with all the tank-mates you have in the tank. I think you need not worry too much about the angels. As long as you can keep the tank free from disease.

Necessary precaution you should bear in mind when you change water. Check the in coming water with the chlorine tester. So you know the concentration of chlorine at this moment. Sometimes water contains no chlorine. Water conditioners you apply vary all the time.

Amount of water you change (25% or 50%) does not matter. You can even change 100% (We always do).
After you have topped up the water, add the water conditioners gradually. Check the water with the chlorine tester every time you add in the water conditioner, until you are satisfied and make sure there is no more chlorine.

I bought 8 baby discus about 2 to 3 inch. They can’t get along with each other. What can I do for them to stop fighting?

Reply:
This is normal as some kids are active and energetic.
It cannot keep still and like to bully.
Take him out in separate tank for sometime then return to the tank.
Or introduce more fish in the tank. He will get tired soon.

I just wanted to know if it is safe to use Carbon filter For Discus fish. I was also interested in getting a RO unit what doyou think? I have a 46 Bow front Tank with 7 Discus.

How many water changes shall I do a week? Also vacuum gravel?

Reply:

Personally I do not like to use carbon filter, especially for discus. Many trace elements and minerals required by discus fish will be disappeared.

We use water direct from pipe. What we need to do is to neutralize the Chlorine with Chlorine conditioner.

If it is a show tank with complete set ups, you need to change 20 to 50% of water a week.
The important thing is that: do not overfeed your fish.

I will be moving home shortly and  will be upgrading from a 27 gallon tank to a  72 gallon tank.  I wish to change the decor to incorporate more and better live plants. Would you recommend sand with bog wood and running a under ground filters with my external filters. Also what is the best method to transport discus and hold them before a new tank system is ready? Would a clean plastic dustbin be OK ?

Reply:

You can get live plants, drift wood and gravel from the local pet shop.
Yes, you can use clean plastic dust bin to hold the fish temporary.

Provided there must be enough oxygen with air bubbles.

I am setting up a 72 gal. Bow front tank for Discus. I want to use plants but am considering fake plants in case the Discus get sick. I don’t want the plants to die if the Discus were medicated for disease. I assume that plants can be changed out if the Discus were medicated. If fake plants are fine, what type of fabric texture should I purchase in order not to damage the Discus?

Reply:

It is true that many chemicals will kill the plants. You are right using fake plants can avoid the medication problems. You will purchase from the pet shop specially meant for aquarium. You need not buy a lot of fake plants.
You would decorate the tank with big stones, small stones and gravel. Drift wood would also make your tank look attractive.

I am having trouble with water becoming infected with ammonia. I do part water changes daily. The tanks are 30 gal bare bottom. Fillters were sponge and box but I have since changed to internal canisters. I feed discus frozen worm , discus meal, twice a day. May be I am over feeding them?

Reply:
Over-feeding is a bad practice or habit of feeding.
Feed the amount they can eat within 5 minutes.
Feed them little bit at a time.
Allow them to have time picking up uneaten food.

Any type of filters will be good as long as you do not overfeed them.
Once the uneaten food get into the filter system, it will circulate the ammonia instead.

Can you please tell me why my fish disdus change to dark color and it does not eat about a week. It doen’t seem sick, acted normal. I keep it with 3 other discus those are eat a lot. Is it okay to keep a baby silver arowana together with discus fishes?

Reply:

The fish changes dark in color mean she is not feeling well. She will be sick later on. Put her in a hospital tank. Treat her with Acriflavine solution plus salt. Change water and repeat the treatment for a few days. It will not be okay to keep Arowana together with discus fish.