Six months of daily 50% water changes on my grow out tank and the size difference is kind of wild
Picked up eight juvenile discus back in the spring, all around the size of a silver dollar, maybe two inches. Every discus forum and breeder I talked to said the same thing: big frequent water changes are what actually separates fish that stay stunted at four inches from fish that hit six or seven. I was skeptical it would matter that much versus just running a good filter and feeding well, but I committed to it anyway since I had the tank bare bottom with just a sponge filter and a heater.
Routine has been 50% change every single day, sometimes 60% if I overfed the day before. Temp held at 86F, pH around 6.4 out of the tap after it sits in a barrel with peat for a day. Feeding is beefheart mix in the morning, frozen bloodworms midday, and a pellet feeding in the evening, four times a day total when I can manage it.
The growth on these guys has honestly surprised me. Two of them are already pushing five inches and it has only been six months. I lost one early on to what I think was internal parasites, gave the rest a round of metro just in case, but the other seven have been rock solid since. My back is a little tired of hauling buckets every night but looking at them cruising around the tank now compared to the tiny things I brought home, it's been worth every bucket.
Curious if anyone here has tried dropping down to every other day changes once they hit adult size, or if you all just keep the same schedule for life. Part of me wonders if the daily grind is only necessary during the growth phase.