One Year Fish-anniversary!!

[fishtanktenderfoot]

One year ago today, my fish arrived on my doorstep, and my foray into discus keeping began. Wow, what a year! I wanted to share my before and after pictures. All pics on the left are from a few days after their arrival on September 3, 2014. The pics on the right are from this week. I tried to make the side-by-side comparison easy, but the lighting is really different, so I'm not sure how well they will come across, but here they are anyway... Hope you enjoy!

First, the tank shots. Over the year, I changed the décor, added some filtration, changed the lighting, added a temp controller, changed the way I do my water changes, etc. I also messed with cardinals, rams and plants - none of which were very successful... It took me probably 6 months to feel like I had a good "stable" maintenance routine that worked. I still do a 50% WC daily. I talked a while ago about backing off, but I never have. I guess I just like it too much!

Also, before I start going crazy with the pics, I really do need to thank this forum!! I relied very heavily on this resource and all your combined expertise... It amazes me the time and consideration offered here, so thanks to each and every one of you!


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Steph

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Now for the fishies. These first two were 4" when they arrived. They were the smallest, although they caught up pretty fast with the rest. The blue (reflection D cross) is female and was the last to start laying eggs. The yellow is weird and tries to fertilize the FDBW when I stick them on the side of the aquarium.

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[Braydon00]

Great looking fish! I really like seeing what a full year of good growth looks like. Great job!

[fishtanktenderfoot]

These guys were purchased as 4.5". Funny they grew at different rates.

The golden carnation turk is female, but she's somewhat of a nervous Nellie. She hates it when I wipe down the front of the tank (she'll go hide) when no one else cares.

The super rose red paired up almost immediately with the biggest female (she's last in all the pics posted), and he was MEAN. A real terror, going out of his way to war with anyone and everyone he could see. In fact, I made him my hero fish when I needed one, just to give the main tank a break. He naturally calmed down after 3-4 months, but since he never ate all that time (too busy wooing his girlfriend and chasing off bad guys), he's probably my smallest fish today. And, although he is a DEDICATED egg fanner, he has never once tried to fertilize - he just watches her lay eggs and then moves in to start fanning them. Not my brightest fish.

89623

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Rats, I don't know how I added the duplicate picture in post #4? If someone can tell me how to edit it, I will fix it.

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Ok, these guys were also 4.5" at purchase, and they are by far the biggest pigs. The Red Eagle is the smartest fish in the tank. He figures things out the fastest (how food moves in the current, that I have food in my hand), and he even eats out of a tablespoon I use for pellets. He's fearless, too.

The red melon is the most docile. Even though he's one of the biggest fish, he let's everyone push him around (except when there's food involved.)

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[fishtanktenderfoot]

And last but not least... this is "Big Baby", named because I bought her at 5", so she was the biggest, but also the biggest pansy. I know, not nice, but when she arrived, she drifted to the bottom of the tank and laid there like she was dead for a couple of hours. Seriously scared me to death - I posted a panicky plea for help - and then she recovered like nothing happened. She paired up immediately and started laying eggs within 9 or 10 days. She pretty much ruled the roost for the first few months until the other females started to stand up to her. Now she fights non-stop with the golden carnation. I call them "catfish" fights.

89627

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Great looking fish! I really like seeing what a full year of good growth looks like. Great job!

Thank you! I was new to discus (new to fish keeping of any kind really) so I was careful to buy as close to adult as I could manage, so I can't take a lot of credit. They were mostly grown already, all I had to do was make sure they stayed healthy. But even with that said, they HAVE grown and changed (and gotten much fatter) in the last year, so thank you!

[DonMD]

I can't take a lot of credit.

Well, I think you do deserve credit. You obviously researched and read up before committing yourself, and now you have experienced great success. So many of us begin by making all kinds of mistakes. You were smart! -Don

[rickztahone]

Great looking group and thanks for sharing with us your nice journey! They look amazing. It is amazing how much the Red Eagle changed in one year. I really like the carnation Turk, the black on the fins is something I actually like on it. Again, thanks for sharing.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Steph, very nice progression pictures. You have done well and the fish look great. Here's to a successfully second year.
Well done,
Pat

[Four2one]

Really fun to see the before and after's and how much they have changed! They look great!!

[Lighthouse7]

These guys were purchased as 4.5". Funny they grew at different rates.

The golden carnation turk is female, but she's somewhat of a nervous Nellie. She hates it when I wipe down the front of the tank (she'll go hide) when no one else cares.

The super rose red paired up almost immediately with the biggest female (she's last in all the pics posted), and he was MEAN. A real terror, going out of his way to war with anyone and everyone he could see. In fact, I made him my hero fish when I needed one, just to give the main tank a break. He naturally calmed down after 3-4 months, but since he never ate all that time (too busy wooing his girlfriend and chasing off bad guys), he's probably my smallest fish today. And, although he is a DEDICATED egg fanner, he has never once tried to fertilize - he just watches her lay eggs and then moves in to start fanning them. Not my brightest fish.

89623

What are the 2 top discus? - Lighthouse

[Jason.M]

They look great! I hope my first year will be as successful as yours.

[neontetra777]

great progress! but on a side note, it would appear the fish were affected hormones and thus were showing more vibrant colors when young. I was told this is a common practice in Asia. I have no personal opinion toward this practice tho.

[Captcomm]

Great to be ables to see a years work, aside from the daily 50% wc. Do you use regular tap water, and what do you feed?

[Filip]

Great looking fish and good thread.
Did you raise them all the way in this sandy bottom planted tank from the first pic.?
And do you have journal thread of the progress that we can follow?

[Hart24601]

Wow. That yellow that turned yellow with red highlights might be my new favorite strain. What is it exactly?

[Jack L]

i missed this thread, they look good. thanks for posting the b4/after its crazy how much they change!

what happened with the cardinals?

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Hello again! Looks like I have really dropped the ball here, so I am going to take some time to catch up on some of your questions:

First, thank you everyone for your kind comments. I am really enjoying this hobby, and it is FUN to share my pics and progress (or lack thereof) with folks who find it as interesting as I do! So thanks for reading and commenting....!

Lighthouse7 - the discus you asked about is a Golden Carnation Turk. All I know about my fish are the names I purchased them buy. I don't know about strains, so I can't help much beyond that! Other than she is a pigeon blood variation and not an albino. (I know, the depth of my knowledge is awesome...)

Neontetra777 - I can't comment on suppliers use of hormones, but a couple of mine seem to have changed quite a bit in the time I have had them. I am going to follow this post up with a picture timeline of the one I think changed the most, but that's mostly due to his pattern, not as much his color, although it has faded... I know foods impact this, too, and mine are healthy, so I have no complaints.

Captcomm - Yep, all tap water (aged, heated, aerated) from city of Nashville who only uses chlorine, no chloramines, so it is easier to treat. Food staples have been FDBW and Hikari pellets and frozen bloodworms. Plus various other pellets.

Filip - I bought them all at 4" or 4.5" and from there they have all been raised with pool filter sand bottom and potted plants. Although, for the past 2 months or so, they've been bare bottom without plants while I fiddle around. I had some algae, so I took it all out, and I just haven't had time to put it all back together. Hoping over Christmas break, I can do some fishy maintenance! In the meantime, they are enjoying an extra clean environment.

Hart24601 - the yellow guy is a Golden Diamond. I'm sure it is the pellets I feed that made him red. I stopped the pellets for a while, but the red doesn't fade, so I gave up and enjoy him in all his color(s). I think the pellets are otherwise important for his balanced nutrition.

Jack L - I tried tank mates too early in my discus keeping career. It was so much work to quarantine and I ended up introducing something anyway that had the discus scratching. In the end it was so not worth it, because all but 3 of my 12 cardinals died. I don't really attribute their mortality to anything other than "normal" for the LFS fish they were. The 3 I have left are hardy for sure, though. I don't do anything special for them, and they seem happy enough. I certainly have no plans to try to maintain the minimum recommendation for schooling fish. When they are gone, they're gone!

Thanks again! I'll be posting more updates shortly.

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Time for my 15 month update!

All is well in fishville, I have a few minor (?) projects planned in the next month. First, I want to paint the rear of my tank. Right now, I have a background taped to foam that is velcroed to the outside of my aquarium. My initial thought when setting it up was that I could pull it off and then be able to see to do vacuuming and WC from that side. However, I never did this. I think in the beginning, they were nervous so I avoided it. Now, after 15 months, it would be a serious surprise to them for me to remove the velcroed back, so I just want to paint it instead.

Secondly, I need to find some quality suction cups! I want to relocate air lines, etc, but I'm having trouble getting my suctions cups to stick where I want them to. Am I missing something obvious? I remove them and scrub them, and I wipe down the tank walls, and I make sure there is no air under them, but they pop off. It's driving me crazy. Maybe they are just old and have lost their flexibility. Geez, it shouldn't be this hard!

Third, I bought some silicone so I can repot my plants into glass dishes. The silicone is for the bottom, so I don't crack glass against glass.

If I get those items done, I'll be happy for a while!

Ok, onto the fish. Someone asked about a log, and I haven't kept one, but I do try to take pictures on a regular basis. Below is the Red Eagle I purchased when he was 4.5". Viewing the pics in clockwise order, this is what he looked like in 3 month increments:

9/7/2014 - 12/11/2014 - 3/19/2015
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12/3/2015 - 9/1/2015 - 5/26/2015

Hope you enjoy!

[ericNH]

Super cool! Perfectly documented progession of your tank. Thank you for putting in the effort - the way you've done this makes the changes over time so clear to see and understand. And it all looks so clean and healthy! It's extremely interesting and useful to see your progress laid out this way.

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Thanks, ericNH! I admit that when I bought "sub-adult" I thought that I was buying the "end product" so to speak. Since I was getting as near adult as I could reasonably afford, I did not expect as much change as they have experienced, so it has been a pleasant surprise to still enjoy seeing such growth. I can see the result of regular WC and good food.

This next set of pictures are not nearly as good. Because she is a blue fish with a blue background, the camera lighting seems way off. I need to adjust my tank lights for the next photo shoot to the whitest of white setting. I think it will help! Regardless, you can see she's grown quite a bit. I bought her at 4", and now she's one of the thickest I have.

The dates are the same as the timeline I posted above:
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[fishtanktenderfoot]

Here's one more picture timeline of the golden diamond. He arrived at 4" and has grown well, but it is coloring that has changed the most. He also has a short left ventral fin (hence the occasional nickname "Lefty") and a somewhat short gill plate. I thought these might correct themselves, but I guess they don't... I'm wondering if his coloring will eventually smooth out:

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[Lighthouse7]

92384 are these 2 the same? And where did you get them? - Lighthouse

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Lighthouse - yes, all 6 of those blue pictures are the same fish. (Just taken at 3 month increments over the past 15 months.) That fish is called a "Reflection D Cross" that I purchased from Kenny's Discus. She has gotten much bluer as she has gotten older. When she is in egg laying mode, she's really blue. A very pretty fish!

[Filip]

You did a wonderfull job growing them and documenting the whole proces with pictures and dates .
Very nice discus , my favorite is the round fat blue, PB is also beautiful and i acctually like the red tint on your yellow discus better.

[Jack L]

agree w/ filip, nice timelapse
i should have taken period photos was well, oh well, maybe next time.

is the blue a Hi-fin?

[fishtanktenderfoot]

Jack L, the blue fish is a reflection D cross. I don't think she was purposely bred as a high fin, but she is definitely taller than she is long. And she's thicker at the bottom than at the top. Kind of makes me think of Alfred Hitchcock when I look at her. :)

[Kyla]

love the timeline photos, to see the changes! thanks for posting

[fishtanktenderfoot]

I'm sharing a quick 18 month update. All is well, but my tank is in transition... Here's a quick pic of the gang. Still fat and happy for the most part. I came back from vacation a while ago and had some algae, so I pulled the plants and substrate to scrub it all down. I STILL haven't replaced it, but I will soon. I pulled down the background because the glass was getting dirty, and I loved the brightness and cleanness of that look. They initially seemed fine with it, but I scare them sometimes while working behind the tank, so I will paint it soon.

I did replace all the suction cups with magnetics which I absolutely LOVE. It lets me put stuff where I want it and holds really strong. Next up is to replace my small air stones with a bar or a circle that will sit on the tank floor. I want the bubbles going even when my water level is at its lowest.

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[Filip]

Great bunch of discus you got there Steph.

[Jbell]

Fantastic write up! Thanks for keep us posted on the progress of your awesome fish.

[Phillydubs]

You need to put those fish on a diet! They are toooo fat! Hahaha! Maybe a discus treadmill?

Lolol, nah they look great so thick and such nice shapes!! Keep the pics coming... Can we see the full tank?