I am getting first four Discus today. Input???

[we4wieners]

These guys are on gonna be added this afternoon. My question is upon first look, waddya guys think? healthy, stunted, what strain? They should be 3 PB's and a turquoise. They are about 2.5-3" each. I commonly drip my fish prior to adding to hospital for a half hour. I've never kept discus. So, is it the same practice? Should I drip them longer or not? They're goin in with 5 small roselines, 3 lg CL's, cory's, BN pleco's, and pair blue mountain loaches.
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/first4_zps10e8483e.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/first4_zps10e8483e.jpg.html)

[Skip]

Orange yes..
blue no

[Skip]

Small eyes.. better

[we4wieners]

Orange yes..
blue no
Skip, please forgive me....huh? Keep in mind, I have never had discus before. Orange what and whats not blue? Baby gloves please, Ive been reading the strain sticky and am still struggling with what strain is what.

[joanstone]

I would not keep those discus with the fish you listed. You mentioned a hospital tank. I don't know what size it is, but that's where I'd keep them. It will give you a chance to do some research/reading up on discus and give them a chance to eat and grow. The fish you listed would be very intimidating and I don't think those discus would stand a chance of getting any food. I don't drip discus. The blue discus at least does look like it could be stunted to me. What size tank to do have?

[we4wieners]

I would not keep those discus with the fish you listed. You mentioned a hospital tank. I don't know what size it is, but that's where I'd keep them. It will give you a chance to do some research/reading up on discus and give them a chance to eat and grow. The fish you listed would be very intimidating and I don't think those discus would stand a chance of getting any food. I don't drip discus. The blue discus at least does look like it could be stunted to me. What size tank to do have?
Main tank is a 4' 120g, hospital is 20L. The cory's are no bigger than an inch. CL's are large, but rarely hit the mid to top level (had them for 6 years), roselines are almost fry, barely an inch. I feel comfortable with the existing stocks behavior to leave them alone. The tank has some height as it's 4' not 6'. I will certainly monitor and if there is any harassment and or robbing of food, I will 100% remove to hospital. Now I know I have to watch and be sure their getting food, thanks Joan.

[Skip]

I was pointing out color of the fish

[Bill63SG]

Blue guy looks more like a cobalt to me,and appears stunted.Football shaped,large eye for its size.

[sholvey]

Blue guy looks more like a cobalt to me,and appears stunted.Football shaped,large eye for its size.

agreed

The PB behind him may be also. Eyes look a little on the larger side, I could be wrong.

[Skip]

now that i am on computer.. they don't look so good at all..
how much they asking.. if its under $30.. then maybe.. but they all look kind of stunted now.. the blue one more so

[we4wieners]

I was give n the four of them for a flowerhorn. Apparently they came from someone in Brooklyn. here are some pics of them in the tank. Just got done acclimating them. Dropped some bloodworms in, very few, they ate them before they even started sinking. Very lively so far. They are very small though, from nose to tail maybe 1 3/4", possibly 2" Didn't expect them to be this small. However, they were, for the most part free. Stunted or not I want to be sure to provide them the best tank I can. If I were to add more down the road, do they need to be similar size?
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/DSC_1262_zpscda3a796.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/DSC_1262_zpscda3a796.jpg.html)
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/DSC_1263_zps82e091f7-1.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/DSC_1263_zps82e091f7-1.jpg.html)
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/DSC_1260_zps9023270f-1.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/DSC_1260_zps9023270f-1.jpg.html)
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/DSC_1254_zps5a59d37c-1.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/DSC_1254_zps5a59d37c-1.jpg.html)

[we4wieners]

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af341/we4wieners/Discus%201-14/DSC_1262_zpscda3a796-1.jpg (http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/we4wieners/media/Discus%201-14/DSC_1262_zpscda3a796-1.jpg.html)

[rdiscus]

Orange yes..
blue no

He means Orange yes ... PB
Blue no ... not turquoise ... it's blue cobalt

Don't need to feed them today, turn off the light, let them rest

Good luck with them

[we4wieners]

He means Orange yes ... PB
Blue no ... not turquoise ... it's blue cobalt

Don't need to feed them today, turn off the light, let them rest

Good luck with them
Will do with the lights, and thank you for the clarification. Do you believe by the above pics that they may be stunted as well?

[Bill63SG]

Will do with the lights, and thank you for the clarification. Do you believe by the above pics that they may be stunted as well?

Yes,with the clearer tank pics they appear stuntend.The cobalt,blue one,the most.the pb's,eyes not so bad but bodies getting football shaped.Bodies should be rounder.I wouldnt worry right now on getting more discus.I would read around on this forum,and raise/take care of these guys,and use them as a learning experience and see if you want to keep messing with discus.By then you'll either be done,or ready for better quality fish.

[troysdiiscus]

Agree with Bill, the PB in the first pic the one on right looks like pinched fore head and purtruding eyes. I would feed them well...if it was me I would have Bare Bottom tank with nothing in it and feed 5 to 6 times a day and see how they grow out...You might get some ok growth on them. Good luck...

[we4wieners]

Thanks for the input. Given they were for the most part freebies, I cant get oo upset. Ill work with what I got and treat them as if they were high quality.

[Trier20]

I'm not against getting sub par discus to start off with. Make sure you are able to keep them alive and greatly for 6 months to a year and the. You can dive in and get crazy. Keep the water quality up and the food going in and you might be surprised what you can pull off. Good luck with them!

[Bill63SG]

Yes,nothing helps right the wrongs like good food and plentiful,large water changes.

[Skip]

freebie is good way to start :)

[we4wieners]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asLb3TRXqnU&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asLb3TRXqnU&feature=youtu.be

[PP_GBR]

Very nice tank. Keep us posted here and good luck with your new arrivals.

[ct3737]

Great looking tank, I have almost the same breeds in my planted tank and my discus get along great with all of them. Just feed them well and do alot of water changes and see what happens. I have seen some make dramatic comebacks and will grow rapidly for you. Good luck!

[rdiscus]

The largest orange doesn't look good compare to the rest of group ... keep the eye on him ...
Make sure feed them good. Your tank is large, hard for them to find the food, and food got eaten by other fishes before discus find it

[we4wieners]

They all eat very well. I wasn't anticipating it. They eat b-worms, Mysis, and flakes. Gonna get some food from Hans tomorrow. Ill continue to watch them. That vid was taken no more than hour after adding them. Three days later, they are so active for lil guys. Ill post another vid to compare their activity level. My WC routine is 30% every three days.

[Bill63SG]

They all eat very well. I wasn't anticipating it. They eat b-worms, Mysis, and flakes. Gonna get some food from Hans tomorrow. Ill continue to watch them. That vid was taken no more than hour after adding them. Three days later, they are so active for lil guys. Ill post another vid to compare their activity level. My WC routine is 30% every three days.

Your call,but when it comes to growing out fish,we're doing 50% wc a day or more.Personally I do 75% to 90% on miine.No you have to decide what works for you.