New to Discus and the Forum

[Jody]

Hello Simply,

My name is Jody, and I am new to the Discus hobby. I have been researching Discus for some months now by lurking forums, watching YouTube videos (King of DIY et al.), and have finally taken the plunge.

On 9/12 I will be receiving 2 Blue Diamond discus (3in~) and 3 Leopard Turquoise (3.5in~) from Uncle Sam's Discus out in L.A.

They will have 4 cory catfish companions, 2 albino corys, and 2 bronze corys.

My current tank setup is a 40 gallon breeder display tank, and a 40 gallon breeder sump bringing the total water volume to somewhere around 70~ gallons.

I have some filter socks, bags of biological media, and 2 biocenosis clarification baskets for anoxic filtration (experimenting).

Water temp is 84 degrees, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all very low near 0, PH is 7.0 and GH is about 60ppm.

I am happy to have joined the forum and community and hope to attend NADA maybe in 2019 if it all works out to meet some folks.

Any pearls of advice for a new hobbyist are very welcome!

Jody-

[RogueDiscus]

Hi Jody and welcome to SD.
Uncle Sam's is one of our sponsors, so good choice :)
Thanks for sharing your set up info. Others may assume this from your setup, but it's not my specialty. Is your tank planted, with a substrate? With the juvies you are expecting, the main recommendations/or question you will hear are likely about water changes; what's you plan, the more the better. We also like pics :)

Steve

[LizStreithorst]

Welcome to Simply!

The catfish may not like the high temps. Sterbai's would be be a better choice, or you might consider some Bristle Nose Plecos (They stay small).

You have chosen a good importer. My advice to you it to keep it simple, feed often, and do lots of WC's with stable water. Do those things and your fish will be happy, healthy and grow big.

Best of luck to you!

[Jody]

Welcome to Simply!

The catfish may not like the high temps. Sterbai's would be be a better choice, or you might consider some Bristle Nose Plecos (They stay small).

You have chosen a good importer. My advice to you it to keep it simple, feed often, and do lots of WC's with stable water. Do those things and your fish will be happy, healthy and grow big.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks, Liz!

I plan to do a lot of WC and ensure they get a good amount of quality food - I am keeping an eye on the catfish to make sure they are not stressed or fatigued and will be vigilant about making changes as necessary.

Thank you for the heads up!

[Paul Sabucchi]

Welcome to Simply Discus from me too, always nice to meet a new discus keeper. Wishing you to get as much joy from your new fish as we do. Looking forward to photos

[Jody]

Hi Jody and welcome to SD.
Uncle Sam's is one of our sponsors, so good choice :)
Thanks for sharing your set up info. Others may assume this from your setup, but it's not my specialty. Is your tank planted, with a substrate? With the juvies you are expecting, the main recommendations/or question you will hear are likely about water changes; what's you plan, the more the better. We also like pics :)

Steve


Welcome to Simply Discus from me too, always nice to meet a new discus keeper. Wishing you to get as much joy from your new fish as we do. Looking forward to photos

As promised, here are the photos of my setup!

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo211/scottclapton/IMG_2704_zps5apvnpts.jpg
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo211/scottclapton/IMG_2705_zps80b2bqvq.jpg

Jody-

[Filip]

HI and welcome Jody.
You have a very nice and simple discus grow out set up there. I would add more bio media to fill up your sump and turn that wavemaker upwards to break the water surface for extra oxigenation IIWY .
Im looking forward seeing your new discus collection from Uncle Sam .

[fljones3]

Welcome Jody. Look forward to seeing your progress.

[Pices]

Welcome to Simply Discus. Can’t wait to see your new fish. Are you getting excited yet? Your tank looks so clean and clear. Nice set up.
Patty

[LizStreithorst]

As promised, here are the photos of my setup!

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo211/scottclapton/IMG_2704_zps5apvnpts.jpg
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo211/scottclapton/IMG_2705_zps80b2bqvq.jpg

Jody-

Very clean work on the tank and the plumbing. For sure better than I could do. I'm impressed.

[Jody]

Very clean work on the tank and the plumbing. For sure better than I could do. I'm impressed.

Thank you! I did a ton of research before I drilled the tank and plumbed it. I also built the stand to accommodate a larger tank in the future up to 125 gallons.


Welcome to Simply Discus. Can’t wait to see your new fish. Are you getting excited yet? Your tank looks so clean and clear. Nice set up.
Patty

The fish come tomorrow morning, Patty! I am so excited... Thank you for the compliment on the tank clarity.

I have a 1250gph pump and a 32 gallon brute trash can that can drain my display at a rate of 20 gallons per minute.

I am trying to up the efficiency of water changes as I have a wife and an 8 month old baby girl.


Welcome Jody. Look forward to seeing your progress.

Thank you!


HI and welcome Jody.
You have a very nice and simple discus grow out set up there. I would add more bio media to fill up your sump and turn that wavemaker upwards to break the water surface for extra oxigenation IIWY .
I'm looking forward seeing your new discus collection from Uncle Sam .

Thank's Filip! I will add some more bio media. I actually have 2 wave makers, one in the display tank to move the detritus into the weir, and another more powerful pump in the sump for oxygenation.

It's in the bottom-right of the picture, kind of hard to see. I'll post when I get my new fish!!

[two utes]

Very well done Jody. Looking forward to seeing the occupants real soon. Good luck with everything.

[Jody]

Very well done Jody. Looking forward to seeing the occupants real soon. Good luck with everything.

The discus have arrived and are all in good health!

I have the tank lights off and am letting them acclimate to their new home.

Very happy with Uncle Sam's Discus and would buy from them again.

More photos to come once the lights are back on tomorrow!

118016

[Mr.BigBlock]

Welcome aboard, nice setup!

[two utes]

The discus have arrived and are all in good health!

I have the tank lights off and am letting them acclimate to their new home.

Very happy with Uncle Sam's Discus and would buy from them again.

More photos to come once the lights are back on tomorrow!



Thanks for sharing Jody. Exciting times ahead. Good luck with your group...I'm sure that they will turn out great with your care.

[Jody]

Thanks for sharing Jody. Exciting times ahead. Good luck with your group...I'm sure that they will turn out great with your care.

Much appreciated! Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to get a pair.


Welcome aboard, nice setup!

Appreciate it!

[Jody]

Of the two blue diamonds that I received, one has yellow eyes, and one has red eyes.

Yellow eyes may be a recessive gene, but I like the ability to distinguish the two from one another.

I will post a picture when I turn the lights on tomorrow morning.

[Filip]

Congrats Jody . They look great on their arrival photo .
Looking forward seeing them with lights on .
Keeping the light off for a full day or two upon their arrival only shows how patient and dedicated discus keeper you are .
Not many can endure this teaser that long :)

[Jody]

Congrats Jody . They look great on their arrival photo .
Looking forward seeing them with lights on .
Keeping the light off for a full day or two upon their arrival only shows how patient and dedicated discus keeper you are .
Not many can endure this teaser that long :)

Here they are with the lights on!

Now to get them to eat.

118055

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Jody, welcome to SD and that is a nice looking crew you have there. Best of luck with them. :D
Pat

[two utes]

Here they are with the lights on!

Now to get them to eat.



Lovely. Don't stress about them not eating straight away, but maybe contact your supplier and see what they were on. If you haven't already got some, get yourself some Freeze Dried Black Worms. You can buy it direct form Al on here. It's the same product that i use here in Australia, and every discus i've owned has always been feed it. Its unresistible.

look forward seeing further updates on their progress.

[Jody]

Lovely. Don't stress about them not eating straight away, but maybe contact your supplier and see what they were on. If you haven't already got some, get yourself some Freeze Dried Black Worms. You can buy it direct form Al on here. It's the same product that i use here in Australia, and every discus i've owned has always been feed it. Its unresistible.

look forward seeing further updates on their progress.

Sounds like I need to get some freeze dried black worms then!

[Pices]

Jody,
I just saw your quote-I love it-too funny!
Your discus look so healthy and beautiful. You must be over the moon with these guys!
I get the freeze dried black worms with spinach and mine love it! It’s the surf in their surf and turf.
Patty

[two utes]

Sounds like I need to get some freeze dried black worms then!

I highly recommend it...its also easy and clean.

[Jody]

Jody,
I just saw your quote-I love it-too funny!
Your discus look so healthy and beautiful. You must be over the moon with these guys!
I get the freeze dried black worms with spinach and mine love it! It’s the surf in their surf and turf.
Patty

I bought some freeze dried black worms from Al last night!

They have taken to the granules as well which will be good when I am at work.

[Tshethar]

Congrats and nice going on the clean setup for grow out. Looks like you've been researching well and are setup for success. The FDBW are definitely a great addition to the menu, as I think everyone without exception will tell you. I especially like them after my evening water change because (as mentioned above) they're really clean to feed and won't foul the water like homemade foods especially and, to a certain extent, the pelleted and flake foods that can produce some dust.

Depending on how the pecking order shakes out, or to keep the cubes in place, you might want to pick up a couple of worm feeding cones and stick them inverted on your front glass to hold a cube on either side of the tank, so everyone can get as much as they want.

There are also some good threads you can search up if you like on most nutritious or accepted types of pellets and flakes, as well as recipes for homemade mixes if you start feeling ambitious. Al sells some high quality pellets (though I haven't tried them yet) and in general a lot of folks (myself included) try to find stuff without too much by way of fillers, wheat, or generic "fish meal" as high percentage ingredients. Anyway, hope you have fun and nice to hear your new guests are dining happily! With your setup you can feed them several times a day and watch them grow.... :)

[Jody]

Congrats and nice going on the clean setup for grow out. Looks like you've been researching well and are setup for success. The FDBW are definitely a great addition to the menu, as I think everyone without exception will tell you. I especially like them after my evening water change because (as mentioned above) they're really clean to feed and won't foul the water like homemade foods especially and, to a certain extent, the pelleted and flake foods that can produce some dust.

Depending on how the pecking order shakes out, or to keep the cubes in place, you might want to pick up a couple of worm feeding cones and stick them inverted on your front glass to hold a cube on either side of the tank, so everyone can get as much as they want.

There are also some good threads you can search up if you like on most nutritious or accepted types of pellets and flakes, as well as recipes for homemade mixes if you start feeling ambitious. Al sells some high quality pellets (though I haven't tried them yet) and in general a lot of folks (myself included) try to find stuff without too much by way of fillers, wheat, or generic "fish meal" as high percentage ingredients. Anyway, hope you have fun and nice to hear your new guests are dining happily! With your setup you can feed them several times a day and watch them grow.... :)

I will look into the worm feeding cones and keep researching food - thank you for the help!