Geoff’s Contest Thread

[Loosir]

Here’s my newest tank, it’s a 30gal with 11 Silver pigeons from Hans.115871

[Gabriel13]

I've always liked those. They look amazing. They would make a very cool in a species tank.

[Loosir]

Thanks I have always loved the white bodies with the red ring I’m hoping my best to grow these out and maybe even get a pair of them

[Gabriel13]

They are a very beautiful strain.

[Pices]

Geoff,
Now I want a silver pigeon! We like are discus fat and round, like these beauties, but the colorings on these really are heavenly. I like your taste in fish and get to watch them grow with you. This is turning into quite an exciting contest.

[Loosir]

Haha! Nice, thanks Pices.

[danotaylor]

+1 with the other blokes & gals...stunning fish mate, great choice...Hans, you've done it again!

[Second Hand Pat]

+1 with the other blokes & gals...stunning fish mate, great choice...Hans, you've done it again!

These are gorgeous Geoff :) They are really turning out nice!
Pat

[Loosir]

Thanks Pat!!

[Loosir]

Daniel,
To answer your question from the other post, I started feeding them a set amount but I’ve realized that they eat different amounts each day. Normally they’ll finish off the equivalent of two of my fingers in 15 min. So what I do now is just dump in abut that much and wait to see if I should add more or if they’ve lost interest. That’s usually 20 min. If I leave any food overnight it’s always gone by morning.
As far as moving them to a bigger tank? I have no idea yet. I have the 55 gal with my 4year old Stendkers just to the left of this one and I’ll add them to that when I ready. I separated them in the beginning because I though the juvies would not get enough food with the adults eating it, but now I think the adults would starve because they’re not fast enough.

[Neo922]

Hi Geoff, how does the heating work in this setup.. is it part of the filtration system outside the tank?

[Loosir]

Yes, I have two tanks and a sump all connected, the heaters in the main tank and the water turns over quick enough that it only loses a degree or two. I tried putting it in the sump but it’s a 300 watt and didn’t fit

[sanjay21]

They look awesome ! some quality stock you got there :)

[Loosir]

Here's a close up:D
115924

[Gabriel13]

Wow so so pretty. Will you show us your sump. I'm thinking of plumbing in a sump but I'm not sure. I only have room for a 20 gallon sump. I saw a glimpse of your setup on the other thread. How do you like it with discus? Pros or cons to running a sump with discus? I have had tanks with a sump before but I was just wanting to discuss what you thought of it.

[Loosir]

Thanks Gabriel!
Here’s my sump. It’s a 20 gallon and I love it with my Discus, it’s actually the key to my success. It does a bunch of things for me, one it allows me to house a Hamburg Matten filter. I have three sheets of Poret foam that house the beneficial bacteria that filters my tank. I have my pump which is a ehiem that sends water to the main tank. I’ve put a drain from that tank and plumbed to the next one which is the 30 gallon that has the silver pigeons in it and then I have a drain that returns back to the sump. The way the drains are drilled is at the top so if there’s a power outage I will only lose one inch of water from each tank which goes directly into the sump and so no flooding. Another thing that I have down there is my UV sterilizer which I run my water through on the way up to the top. I change water with a drip system. I have hot and cold water lines running into a carbon filter that slowly drips into the pump side. where return water comes into the sump I have an overflow that goes down into my basement out to the garden. basically one drip of water raises the water level of the sump and one drip of water goes out into the garden, this is constantly changing my water. The last thing you can see that I have here is an algae scrubber and that is basically another Eheim pump that runs water up over a piece of plastic mesh with those two hydroponic lights on either side. this grows algae that removes nutrients from the water and I clean the algae off but once every two weeks. Hope you like it!116015

[danotaylor]

very interesting sump set up indeed...can you tell me approx what % of water is changed each day/week using the "drip system" you have set up? Have you specifically dialed in your water change rate to target a certain TDS or nitrate level? Thnaks for sharing mate. Very cool!

[brewmaster15]

Silver Pigeons are some of my Favorites Geoff. You got some beauties there from Hans. Looking forward to seeing more of them.

Good luck!

al

[Loosir]

Hey Daniel I haven’t actually adjusted my drip system in a long time so I went and measured the flow. It looks like I’m changing about 45 gallons a day. the main tank is 55 gallons the side is 30 and the sump is 20 so little less than half daily water change. I don’t check nitrates anymore but my TDS is 200 out of the tap and right now with 16 Discus in 105 gallons the TDS is 256.

[danotaylor]

Thanks for the info Geoff...seeing your SP's has made me want some bad...they're beautiful...I love the solid silver ones and the yellow facial marking are just beautiful!

[Pardal]

Geoff
Love your silver Pigeons and how they are coming up , you had done an awesome job growing them.

[Pices]

Geoff,
That fish is so perfect! Wow, really nice!
Patty

[goldfish]

Beautiful discus. How long ago have you setup this tank? what size did you start the discus from and diet?

[Loosir]

Hey goldfish!
I got these silvers at 2.5" right around thanksgiving. Here's a photo from 12/2/2017 with my daughter Elliott.
116190

[Loosir]

She's feeding them beefheart mix, I've been making it for a few years now and I'll post about it soon. I'm down to the last bag and will be making some more this week.
116191

[danotaylor]

Geoff at what size did you start to notice that some would have more pattern and some be more solid color? I am planning to get some SP's from Hans myself at the same size you started with...

Looking forward to seeing your beef heart recipe. Do you turn off your return pump when feeding beef heart or does your automatic water change system still keep up wit the additional bioload beef heart adds to your aquarium?

Cheers mate,

Danny

[Loosir]

Hey Danny,
Its easy to tell at 2.5" which have pattern and which are solid. My dilemma was I didn't want too white of a fish without the red halo, I've seen Silvers all white and just a hint of red, but then on the flip side I've seen Silvers who never lost their red spots on the body. I decided to go with both and see what happens.

I don't turn off the pump, the BH sinks and I scoop away what comes out of the fish. With that said the return dumps into the sump between two sheets of foam and I do squeeze those out every month or so.

[danotaylor]

Thanks Geoff. Did you request some of both from Hans or did you just know you would get a mix by buying the number you did?

Don't forget your BH recipe ;)

[Loosir]

Just another photo of the group
116276

[Loosir]

I also went out to the store tonight and got my beef heart ingredients here’s the photo. I’ve got beef hearts, shrimp, bananas, paprika, spinach and salmon. I’ll make it tomorrow.
116277

[danotaylor]

Do you grind or blend/vitamize your mix? Can you tell me why you add banana's and paprika? Thanks Geoff!

[Loosir]

Hey Daniel I used to use vitamins, I would grind them in a coffee grinder but I haven’t done that for the last couple times because I didn’t have any vitamins laying around. it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference so I just stoped doing it. I add shrimp and bananas because those two ingredients besides their nutrition have helped keep the beef heart from dissolving into the water, it’s kind of a binder. The paprika brings out the red in the fish. If I had yellows I wouldn’t add it.

[Loosir]

Half way done trimming!
116304

[Loosir]

No fat or tissue!
116305

[Loosir]

Ready for the blender!
116306

[Loosir]

Ready for the freezer!
116307

[danotaylor]

Looks great Geoff! Thanks for the tips and answering my questions. I will be saving my deer hearts this hunting season as well. Deer is so lean, almost completely fat free, so will be a great addition in a heart mixture.
Do you remember approx how long it took you to raise the SP's from 2.5" to 4"? When I am ready I will be buying from Hans as well in the 2.5-3" range.
You SP's look amazing. I like the solids best. Hopefully Hans can pick 4 for me. They will look great with the flachen and fire reds.
Cheers mate!
Danny

[goldfish]

Great information Geoff! It is too much work for me. I will with more simpler beefmeat from the supermarket.

[Loosir]

Thanks Daniel! I would say it took about 3 months to get them from 2.5 to 4. They grow fast at that age. Just remember that silvers pepper vey easily, but clean water and a white bottom of the tank will keep them clean!

[Loosir]

Thanks goldfish! As with most things in life, there’s no one best way of doing something. Just do what’s best for you and makes you happy and it’ll be a huge success!

[danotaylor]

Thanks Daniel! I would say it took about 3 months to get them from 2.5 to 4. They grow fast at that age. Just remember that silvers pepper vey easily, but clean water and a white bottom of the tank will keep them clean!
Thanks for the tips and info mate. Glad it's a pretty quick run to the safety of a 4-inch + discus.
My tank is currently painted black on the rear glass. So that may not be the best hey? I had planned to leave it black as I'm getting flachens and fire reds so I thought might make the colors pop nicely but if it's going to make the Silvers prone to peppering maybe I will change it. Do you think of white bottom with clean water and a black background will work?
Cheers mate!

[Loosir]

I think the reds and silvers will pepper the same. The bottom seems to be the most influential. I’ve tried different backgrounds but when I painted the bottom white or used white sand in my previous tank, the pepper was the least. I have a ss pigeon and pigeon red from Hans that are pepper free in that tank.

[goldfish]

Hey Geoff, that is a very impressive dedication for caring and preparing for those discus of your. They are very lucky to have you as daddy.

[danotaylor]

I think the reds and silvers will pepper the same. The bottom seems to be the most influential. I’ve tried different backgrounds but when I painted the bottom white or used white sand in my previous tank, the pepper was the least. I have a ss pigeon and pigeon red from Hans that are pepper free in that tank.
Thanks Jeff. I will paint the bottom of the tank white once I get it emptied then. I have a buy a pending for all my African cichlids and hope to seal the deal by the weekend. Then I can clean my tank and order my fish from Hans next week. Pretty stoked to get some Stendkers happening. I hope mine grow out to be as clean and beautiful as yours 😀

[danotaylor]

sorry my auto-correct misspelled your name when I was text to typing the other morning after work...:blushing:

[Loosir]

Morning photo!
116421

[Loosir]

http://youtu.be/hHf34KqluUc

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Geoff, remove the "s" from the "https" to make the video show up as embedded in the post. That tank almost seems too small now. Fish look great. :)
Pat

[Loosir]

Thanks Pat, I was trying to figure out how to make it show up! Yes the tank does seem small now. Haha

[Pices]

Pat is right! You should let me take one of those off your hands:evilgrin:::evilgrin::evilgrin:
Patty

[Loosir]

;)

[Loosir]

Hey Daniel,
Sorry I never answered your question. I live in Philly and my wife’s sister lives in Baltimore. We go there often enough that it’s really easy for me to stop at Hans’s show room while we’re down there. I really love going, it’s so much fun except he keeps the warehouse at 86° so it can be a little hot. We always walk the whole place even if we know what we’re going to get. this time I did let my daughters pick From the tank of silvers and then I looked at what we had and picked the last two just to try and get half of solid and half spotted.

[Loosir]

116442

[Loosir]

116443

[Loosir]

F116444

[Loosir]

116445

[Loosir]

116446

[Pices]

116443

Is that the one you’ve picked out for me? Ha ha
Patty

[Loosir]

Sorry for the dark photos, this phone is not as good as my camera, but man is it easier!:evilgrin:

[Loosir]

Haha! Do you want individual pics of all 11 just to see which one you want to choose? I can send her in an envelope and a $.49 stamp right?

[Pices]

Haha! Do you want individual pics of all 11 just to see which one you want to choose? I can send her in an envelope and a $.49 stamp right?
No need, I’ll take any one of them! Ha ha. They are gorgeous though.
Patty

[Loosir]

Thank you so much I really appreciate hearing that. I do feel like my thread might be a little boring, the tank׳s stable and there’s no drama happening. I’m not sure much is going to happen besides growing another inch over the next couple months LOL

[Pices]

They are the drama! All with just a little different markings. I’d like to see a pic of each one. Do you have a favorite?
Patty

[Swedgin]

Thank you so much I really appreciate hearing that. I do feel like my thread might be a little boring, the tank׳s stable and there’s no drama happening. I’m not sure much is going to happen besides growing another inch over the next couple months LOL

When it comes to working with animals in my experience and opinion, BORING IS GOOD. If everything’ Going as planned, don’t knock it, there might come a time you wish it would go back to boring, been there.

As for the thread, not boring at all. I’m not hugely into domestics, but your fish are very beautiful and look well conditioned.

[Pices]

Hi Geoff,
I need a pic of those silvers. It’s been 2 weeks and I miss them.
Patty

[Loosir]

Haha thanks Patty! I think I’ve busted this thread:eek: I went to NADA today and picked up 4 little RTs. Valerie my 8 year old picked them out. Needless to say the Pigeons are now in the main tank and the Turks are in the breeder. Not sure if the thread is supposed to continue with the pigeons or with the tank!:sorry:

[Loosir]

116689

[Loosir]

116690

[Pices]

Nice Geoff,
Those silvers really needed more room. The RT’s look so little in comparison.
Patty