Guests and Lurkers.. or .....non posters

[April]

Heh all of you.......we're happy your reading this forum....and happy all you members are reading that dont post.....but how about some of you guys introduce yourselves. we love to meet new members and guests and beginner discus keepers are more than welcome!
we all had to start somewhere and we all were first time posters at one time.
so any question or if you'd like to introduce yourselves....this may be the perfect thread.
I know a few who have registered or read ....so come on!!
you dont have to be a novelist like our friend "Goldfish_in_a_bowl".....or and english scholar..we would like to meet newcomers and see who reads this..
and love to hear about your discus. or what strains youd like to have if you dont have any yet!!! ;D ;D :fish: :balloon: :book: :computer: :cool4: :gorgeous: :hat: :jester: :drummer: :juggle: :mickey: :santa: :wave: :thumbsup: :singer: :antlers: :bandana: :guitarist: :idea2: :idea: :gossip: :bounce: :heart1: :alien: :angel: :bounce2: :coffee: :wave:we're all different but all have the same interest.

[Ardan]

Hi April,
I have been a "guest" a few times, finally registered yesterday. (thank you) :)
Why am I here? Well,.... Maybe I should  head to your bio section? ???
Well here goes. (You asked, you receive) :)
I am 44, married (21 yrs this month), 3 teenagers (that's where my fish $ go right now, school) He He, Its worth it, wonderful kids. (losing hair though)HE HE (from the kids, certainly never from marriage HE HE)  :)
Anyway sometimes my posts get  a bit winded (still with me?)
I only recently took the "risk"and joined a couple of fish forums and found I knew a little bit and that I could actually, once in a while help someone. That was a "good feeling". I am also learning a lot. And I have met some wonderful people. I see some of you here. Hope I haven't posted anything too Stupid or hurt anyones feelings, that surely is not my intent. (If it happens, I know how to apologize, let me know) That's part of the "risk" I was afraid of.
Anyway, for the past twenty years I have been a welder/metalfabricator (make things like handrails, beams for buildings, water tanks, anything out of steel, stainless or aluminum). Before that I was in the army for 4 years in the medical field in Texas, LA, and Germany.
I grew up in Montana, live in WI.
Oh Yes, fish, I love the science of this hobby,  8)Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, Medical, mechanical. etc
I have been keeping fish for 25+years, including Discus off and on. I have breed many fish, but the Discus has eluded me (learned a lot from mistakes). This time may be the charm. In Feb I bought 8 beautiful PBS from Cary. They are really doing well so far in a 50 gal BB tank. I have about a dozen tanks, 4 in use right now for various fish. (will fill them all again someday!!)
I like computers,fish, yard work, birds, woodworking, fish, trees, fish, home improvement, fish......he he he
Right now work is very slow and my wife is working second shift, so I am fortunate to have all of you to share some time with.
Ardan (steelhead) I'll just copy and paste a bio.HE HE

[DarkDiscus]

Steelhead,

Welcome aboard!  Thanks for the Bio - we'll move it for you to the bio section at some point!

From your post it seems evident that you know Cary - he's infected you with his HEE HEEs...

;)

John

[April]

thanks steelhead. nice to meet you. im sure you do have lots to share.....and also as you can see by some posts....we're also here just to enjoy each others company sometimes as well. thanks for sharing. now we will know who we're talking to when we see your name.
oh.....my kids told me apparently its your fish who give you the grey hairs! everytime i get another shipment the stress does it so they say.....LOL

[daninthesand]

Hi Ardan (steelhead)

I have only recently joined these forums and have found a wealth of information. And it is interesting to see that people out there are even more fanatical about these fish than I am!

Welcome :wave:

[April]

Ok whos next?
come on.......speak up! see? Steelhead was brave.....and we all have some interesting stuff to tell  right?
Its always interesting to see who has common interests and jobs as others. or........even the same fishies from the same breeders!!!!!  ;D
step up.

[joanr]

Hi April and everyone,

I just want to say how excited I am to have found this forum! You folks are really supportive and friendly. I was using the usenet rec. aquaria topics and though informative they have their drawbacks. No Discus specific groups and a whole lot of BS flaming. Not for me....

To be brief, if that's possible, I live in Colorado Springs and I'm presently working for LVW Electronics. I'm their webmaster and all around IT & IS person. It's a cool workplace and I enjoy it immensely, but not as much as my Discus hobby which my husband also shares. We've had salt, and just about every other fish in the book but after the first few weeks with our discus we knew we were hooked.....how intelligent are these fish? I've seen them do things that amaze me. I think they are telepathic. But that's another story.

Well to wrap up I'm here to learn as much as possible, make some online friends and have a place to vent :) with other people who share the same obsession. Maybe someday I'll know enough to pay it back.

BTW, April, I fell in love with Mike's Sans and am waiting for his next batch to grow out to buy some...also looking forward to a few of Cary's SSPB's. Your little ones are awsome.

JR

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Steelhead - I recognize your name from Cary's forum, and hi again to you too Joan.  

We're a tight knit community here.  We get to know each other pretty well. Everything from who has hard water wells, to who's bought what fish from where, even a little about each other's families and problems.

Everybody brings a different mix of abilities.  That's why I like the bios.  I ask myself, does this person have similiar water to mine - maybe they found a solution to a problem I'm having, etc.

You can get aquarium help here from biologists, doctors, and electricians.  We have guys that own rock quarrys and work in water treatment plants.  Not to mention all the do-it-yourself inventors . . .

OK, who do I get to meet next?

Carol :heart1:

[Don_Lee]

Welcome Ardan and Joan!  I am glad to see that such nice people have found their way to this board, you will add alot of knowledge and experience.

Don

[King_Daddy_Cat]

Hello my name is Matt Linton and I am a daily lurker. ;D   I'm 33, been in the military for 12 years, live in Woodbridge, VA, married and have two beautiful children Alex and Tara.  I just started keeping discus about two months ago (wife hates it) with alot of help from Joe at Enchanted Discus.   And I became addicated from day one!  Right now I currently have 10 discus (3 bulldog x leapord's, 2 wg x bd's, 2 oriental leopard, 2 super brillant's and 1 bd all from Joe).   I check out most of the discus forum's daily, but I find myself coming to this one first and learn something new everyday.  
 
Matt Linton

[April]

Great Welcome Matt! we have anoterh Matt also...so I guess your king matt!
hope you enjoy it and hope you enjoy your visits and dont be afraid to ask questions or share experiences!

[DarkDiscus]

Matt,

Hey!  Welcome and stop by more often!  How old are your WG X BD crosses?  I'm hoping to breed some RSG x BD crosses and I'd be curious to see how they come out!

John

[King_Daddy_Cat]

John,

    I got them just about a month ago and they are only 2.5, they look great so far.  I think Joe just got an adult WG x BD in this week.  I'm sure he will post a photo soon.

Matt Linton

Hello to all the new people. Sit down, and make yourselfs to home.
Steelhead, hows it going? From what i read, i think you can help alot of people. Remember the things we say are what has worked for US. If someone disagrees so be it. We try to help with our own experiences and what might work great for us might not for others. So help out where and when you can.
Hello Joan, keep comming back.
And to"King Matt" I am your humble servant Matt. LOL
The other Matt as April would say. :P
See you all around i hope, Matt "the peasant."

[April]

Lol Matt...not sure i'd go so far as to call you a peasant......how about mr. Matt the totally dedicated!
so dedicated that he takes his favourite discus with him no matter where he goes!!!!!

I can take mine with me also.....but on my palm pilot! downloaded! far less time to download than yours were! Oh and I have colour on mine also! ::) :o ;D

[scotz]

Ok - OK I guess I will identify myself. My name is Scott, I'm 44, been married for 24 yrs this yr, have 3 kids - 1 married, 1 done with college and working and not living at home :), 1 just finished high school and living at home for now. My occupation is a corn geneticist - heh I breed corn - actually quite a cool job! I travel quite a bit with my job so I get to see quite a bit of the country. I have kept fish since I was 5 yrs old - even in college (I was the guy with the fish tank in his dorm room). I used to raise angelfish while in grad school for extra cash, but for the last 15 yrs have been dabbling in salt water, reef, africans, tetra's, guppies, and now discus. I am dumping the africans ;D and moving to discus. I am quite excited about getting in. Hope to make some new friends 8). Scott

[brewmaster15]

April,
 This post was a great Idea! Last Time  I moved  it took the community welcome wagon 2 years to find us, and heres April  doing it under a month! ;D

 Welcome       everyone!   :sunshine: :sunshine: :fish: :fish: :fish: :)  Anybody out there still lurking? Say  HELLO!  You can post here as  a guest if you feel better about it,  or sign on as a member. The choice is yours. But  if I was  you I would sign on,  as  our next Discus contest is going to be announced  soon, and  discus are the reason you are lurking , aren't they?  ;)  Face  it , you are addicted and  need help, we know the only cure, but cant share it with you if  we don't know who you are! ???

Seriously,  welcome everyone!
-al

[April]

yah......this is great fun!! Welcome Scott....if your a geneticist......then you ought to have a great time with discus genetics......same thing.....different shape! oh....and they may have a bit more personality than your corn! but Im sure your quite proud of your corn accomplishments also!
NOw get going and get some more Discus to play genetics on! And be sure to enter our up and coming contest!  ;D
maybe you can help us all out on genetics in a bit!
Oh Scott....I can tell you what the next step in this addiction will be.....you wont go on any travel work trips without first finding out which of us discus phenatics you can go visit when you get there! anytime anyone says thier going on a trip now.....I think who do I know there?

[brewmaster15]

Scott,
   thats phenatics  for you phenotypes! ;)

CT has a bit of history in the Corn genetics.The Connecticut Agricultural experiment Station did some some  pioneer work decades ago.  Dekalb is located here.  If you ever make out  this way let me  know!
-al

[DarkDiscus]

Scott,

Yeah, what Al said.  If you ever make it out to CT, there are at least 2 discus junkies out here to visit with!  Welcome to the board!  Now you not only get to read the posts, but you have a bunch of lunatics who know who you are as well!

John

[April]

Oh....and don't forget Vancouver.....not sure how we are on corn.....but our Fraser Valley is all corn....and everyone swears our Chilliwack corn is the best ever! NO one can live without it! I for one would like to know if we have something special or we're full of it!
Oh your moneys worth lots up here! LOL.
Oh a friend of mine here had an ethanol plant in Montana. Brimm energy. But he sold it. Made from corn.
ok whos next?
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Ardan]

Hi Everybody,
Thank you so much for the kind and warm welcome.
April,I think your kids could be on to something with the grey hair. I'll keep track in my fishkeeping records. HE HE
And welcome to all the rest of you coming aboard!

One question ???, How long am I doomed to carry the title of "lurker" ?....... alright, alright......please turn off the bright aquarium light...... I was lurking.  :) You caught me. HE HE HE
Carol, I do like that bio section too, can learn about everyone and their backrounds. Now if I can only start remembering it all. A lot of interesting and friendly people here. Sure a lot of knowledge to share.
Matt, Al , Don and Dan, sounds like I sure can learn a lot from all of you. Thanks much for the welcome.
Your friend
Ardan

[April]

Ardan  .......you have already lost your lurker status!! YOu are one of us now!! Also the rest of you new guys who become brave! We promise to never breathe the word lurker to you again! LOl.
;D
We really are here to help the beginnners and the hobbyists and even ones with no discus yet! That is what we want for this forum.
I know i was very intimidated at first.....and my bestest buddy Ed.......aka goldfish in a bowl.....emailed me and welcomed me and I felt like it wasnt so scary after that! we now really are best buddies....and I thank her !
Thanks Karen! Through her I got to meet alot of other people who she encouraged me to email or post to. and I have met many other great people. And lately ive had a few come to vancouver.....and it was great meeting them and we had no shortage of things to say to each other....as we all know alot of the same people and of course we love the same fish! ;D

Hi Scotz,
how about breeding discus and their genetics, are you currently doing any (selective) breeding? etc?

thanks = )

[scotz]

Thanks everybody for welcoming me on. You my live to regret it though  :o ! Currently I am not working on any discus genetics but you can bet I soon will be - ok maybe in a couple of months - I guess that depends on the fish  ;) . I do travel out to the east coast a couple of times a year - so you guys on the east coast look out I may stop by - don't worry I always bring presents!! I do most of my traveling around the midwest however. Always on the lookout for a new fish store - you know how it goes - check out and see what's new, buy some stuff, then rush home and try to put it away before the wife finds out  :o Oh well, once again thanks to all.

  Scot  

[harryJ]

Hey Matt, just keep at it and pretty soon your wife will come around and start loving those discus. :thumbsup: I can almost guarantee it because Karin did it to me.  :bounce: :bounce: Since then she has had me in Canada, Oregon and who knows where we will go next. :crazy: :crazy: And the thing is I love it and you meet so many nice people. 8) 8) Hang in there Harry

[April]

Scot......if your wife doesnt come around......theres a thread on this forum just for her! theres  a wife of fish husbands support group!!!! . Debbie Burney wants to get togeather with or talk to other wives.. who want  to talk about anything other than fish!  ;D
:fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Scott:
There hasn't been much work done on discus genetics (at least not published). I hope you do become involved with that area and start sorting it out for all of us . . .
Carol :heart1:

[jim_shedden]

Ok , I guess that I should throw my hat into the ring, after all you folks have helped me out tremendously. My name is Jim, I am 45, divorced, living with a significant other (is that how you say it?). I have 3 great kids of which 2 live with me (water changers) and the other is playing baseball in the states. I am a retired professional ball player. I came back to Canada after my career ended because of injury. Ironically, I have been in every state in the US but I have only been as far west in Canada as Winnipeg. So April, I will have to come and visit (your fish). As for a living, I am a polymer specialist. I work with the Pulp & Paper companies and the mining companies helping them prevent chemical spills with polymer tank linings and stuff like that. I originally started breeding discus when I was 16, totally by accident. It seemed that everything I put in this tank had babies so the pet store gave me 2 brown discus and said that if I can get these to breed he would give me a 50 gal. tank. Well, they bred. I have been away from hobby for sometime because of travelling but now things are more stable and I can look after them. I picked up a 90 gallon tank and saved a couple of discus from a lfs and I was hooked again. A couple of months ago I drove 9 hours down and 9 hours back to visit Cary and picked up 9 beautiful fish and thats were I am today. I really appreciate the help and no bs that this forum has to offer, you folks are great. By the way I live in Sudbury, Ontario.

Thanks : Jim

wow, what a group of lurkers so far! jim, next time you make a trip to toronto, look me up, although i haven't yet found those fish you were looking for on your last trip, ive got some for sale if you are interested. there are a LOT of retired professional baseball players in torono, it is too bad a lot of them are playing for the bluejays. they don't seem too injured, they just can't or won't play. glad you got some fish from cary, you will be very happy!

steelhead a buddy of mine does metal fab, awnings, railings, production lines etc. have you dropped any pieces on molten metal into your shorts lately. he did. actually in his shirt, and out of his boot. OUCH!! it burned all the way down. he he. there's a mental picture for you huh?

hey joan, you got some of those pidgeon snakes from cary too? i got a bunch of them, and have some very interesting fish growing out here. i'll try to post some pics, maybe you'd like to too? (i'll show you mine if you show me yours.)

gee a corn geneticist, i have some experience in corn. 'take my wife- PLEASE!' it is nice to have some rep's from the scientific community, there is a lot of stuff we get stumped on that is likely fairly simple given the right kind of logic.

and a tip for all of those people whose significant others are not into the fish thing... you are not doing it right. start them with the 'necessary feedings' when you are not there, making sure that they watch the fish carefully and report back as to what happened. listen intently, and give a few tips for what to watch out for next time, how to feed properly, etc. once they are hooked, all you have to do is keep reeling them in. after that it is all uphill! seriously, it is nice to share the 'looking at the fish' thing with the wife, it makes it more fun.

have a nice day,
rick hawkins
toronto, canada

[devin]

my neighbor is a retired (injured) ball player from the bluejays...actually their club in florida....small world

lots of neat people here...makes it a great place to hang-out and learn a few things...

rick - my wife got hooked when i received the babies form the contest - i wasnt here and she had to unpack them (no small feat - jeff's packing was incredible) and put them into their new home - now she is checking on them several times a day - next i'll have her feeding them...hehe

d

[jim_shedden]

Hi Rick : Actually I am going to Bowmanville on Sunday to visit my mom for mother's day and then on Monday and Tuesdayt I am doing seminars at Dofasco and Stelco. I will make my usual trip to Big Al's just to see if there is anything (discus) that needs resueing. By the way, what youngsters are you selling?

Jim

[Carol_Roberts]

It's official :smash: Ardan, Joan, Matt L, Scott and Jim have joined the ranks of the regulars posters :smash:

Carol :heart1:

[Lynn]

Hi April, Carol, Brew, DarkDiscus, and Everyone:

I have only been a lurker for a short time! So with this thread I'll say "HI" and do a short intro....

I've been a fish addict since the age of 12, and have only recently moved up to hard core discus keeping!  ;D
I have a group of LFS bluediamonds for just over a year, a group of red pigeon bloods from Cary for about 4 months, and a mixed bag from Wattley for about 2 months. I just recently won a lottery, so I'll be adding on!!! :) :)

I really enjoy fully planted tanks, BUT believe discus should grow up(BB) before moving into the deeelux apartment !

I read Jedds and GLD boards, but do not post much, because I feel I still am learning and do not want to give inaccurate information.

Take care, ;)
Lynn

[Ardan]

Carol
Thank You, Your Honor! :) (I think when I was "lurking" I saw you use that hammer once before, I LOL, just can't remember if someone was in trouble or not? HE HE HE)(You can throw the hammer at me :blockhead: if you want)
I feel at home now.
I promise to continue posting and obey all water change rules. HE HE HE
Looks like you really know how to use that *:smash:
smiley, Carol! LOL :thumbsup:
Take Care,
Ardan :sunshine:
p.s. I was afraid to register when I saw that *:smash: come slamming down, so I lurked for 1 more day, then I thought, aw what the heck, looks like fun. *:)join em!!!

[Ryan]

Hi Lynn,

Welcome aboard! It sounds like you're off to a great start. Out of curiosity, which breeder are the lottery fish coming from? Please tell us so we can all be green with envy and wish we were you!

I, personally, don't think you can provide inaccurate information if you're posting what has worked for you. That's why you'll see so many people say IMO (in my opinion) or IME (in my experience), because everyone has their own way of doing things. You're welcome to share with us whatever you'd like!

Oh, and if you have a camera, we'd love to see pictures of your aquachildren :)

Ryan

[Ryan]

Duh, I completely forgot to finish my post... I was going to give a big :wave: to Joan, Ardan, Jim, Matt the King, Dan, and all of our other wonderful new members! April, this was a great idea for a post. I love the community we have here, and it's always nice to see new faces. You guys and gals can all post some info about yourselves in the Member Biographies forum if you'd like. Then when other newcomers join, they can read all about you there. So much stuff gets posted here on the General Discussions board, I'd hate to lose your bios here!

Ryan

[Ardan]

Hi Lynn,
Welcome! I saw you won that lottery, congratulations!!
Yes I too am envious, probably can't bear to look at any pictures :waaa: HE HE
WOuld love to see pictures of all the fish. SOunds like you have quite a group of fish and I'll bet you have learned a lot and could really teach us a thing or two.
I'm always "stepping in it" giving my 2 cents, then along comes another idea. I am really learning. I pull out my books too for info, ask a lot of questions and watch all the pros go to work. Really a lot of people with a lot of ideas around. Would love to hear and learn from your experiences too.
And a  :wave: back to you too Ryan, thank you.
Ardan  :sunshine:

[Lynn]

Thank you for the welcome Ryan!

I do not have a digital camera, so I have to do it the old fashion way and scan the pics. Kind of a PITA :thumbsdown:  I am spending all of my $$$ on fishie stuff!

I was lucky enough to win the wild discus from Pat Meuret. ;D I haven't got them yet because I have to go through this termite thing next staurday, and I don't want new arrivals to go through that much noise!!! Plus I am a little worried about getting them settled in. I just moved my other tanks and can't believe how long its taking for the stress to subside!

Anyhow, I am glad to participate with my fellow junkies!!

Lynn

[Ryan]

Ooooh, you won Pat's wilds! Lucky you! :o ;D :thumbsup:

I bet you will love them!

Ryan

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Lynn:
You're going to hafta start saving for the digital camera . . . it's really MUCH more fun to get new fish AND post pictures of them ;) Soon you'll have enough fish equipment (you know about the online discount catalogs don't you) and with all the water changes you won't have time to eat out or go to movies anymore . . . think of all the money you'll save . . .

. . . .  and there is nothing wrong with telling us how you solved a problem.  Maybe you found a solution that can help one of us or if it's something you shouldn't be doing we'll tell you in a nice way.  No flaming and name calling here. . .

Carol :heart1:

[April]

ok the welcoming committee is back on line! Have to be a good girl and work hard on Saturdays....as the big bad boss is in!!
Welcome Lynn....glad to have you aboard!
great hearing about all of you. Congrats on the wilds you won! Hope you eradicate those rotten termites!
Don't worrying about not posting.....as there is always something you can add even if its just having fun and socializing. doesnt always have to be all technical. you can tell us about your fish updates....etc etc. sounds like you have some nice group of fish . get that regular old camera out.....or find a fish friend with a digital one...and bribe him with somethin! thats what i did at first! till I got my own! ;D
the camera goes with the addiction as someone said. theres a pattern. the fish the supplies more fish more supplies....then the camera....then more fish to take more pics of! i had to wait also. your just a bit behind me!

[Ardan]

Say Lynn,
Finally my old brain clicked in, I remember your termite problem. Also knew I read a biography and someone worked with that kind of thing, just couldn't put the two together, so went back through some of those bios and I see Beth, A. used to work with tearing out termite damage and such. Maybe you could talk to her and maybe she might have some more ideas about protecting your fish. (maybe your already ahead of me (I'm slow sometimes, I'll blame it on the age and grey hair Ha ha)
Anyway, just a thought.
Carol, you are right yet again, those bios come in handy to learn things about people and see who are the experts!!
hth
take care
Ardan :sunshine:

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Areden:
Yep, they do come in handy.  It sounds like you enjoy researching. Have you been to all the different discus sites?  Discus Page Holland has lots of good articles.  The discus Resource Page has an article section that I still refer to from time to time. . .  

Save this site:    http://discus.pagina.nl/

Carol :heart1:

[Ardan]

Thanks Carol,
Well I'm trying to check different sites and learn as much as possible, there's so much to learn, makes my head spin, but sure is interesting to me.
I'm trying to read all the back posts too, lot of good info. Lot of intelligent people with a lot of different experiences and knowledge. Just trying to remember whos who and who knows what, all that sort of thing. I guess will take time to get a handle on all of it. But I'm having fun, better than sitting in the ole easy chair and snoozing in front of the tube. HE HE HE Although that is one way  I enjoy reptiles. Watching the crocodile hunter. Reptiles are interesting, but I think I'll let steve Erwin and I think AL (saw a croc picture somewhere) handle them for real.
Anyway here is that long winded thing of mine. I better post and rest the old fingers.
Boy really got off on a tangent that time. Hope noone fell asleep.  :) :)
Take Care
Ardan :sunshine:

[April]

heh Ardan.......steve is my hero! LOl.
one of our posters here.....Rod lives near him. and Ari. who just joined!
As a matter of fact....my daughter made his webpage for him all for the price of a crocodile hunter shirt. he had to go and get it for her. Her hero!only show we watch actually......we have agro the 6 foot stuffed croc here in our house!
oh im getting fishies from him next week!! not sTeve.... Rod . LOl.

[scotz]

Hey all, just wanted you to know that tomorrow the 75 gal. africans are out, and I will be setting up house for new discus. Talked to Cary today - nice guy, helped with all my ? soon will be having some of his beauties swimming around in my tank !! :D I can hardly wait!!
I will post a picture once all is accomplished !

Scot

[Ardan]

April, You have AGRO????
Good thing he's stuffed, I think he's the one ate all the lawn mowers LOL *Yeah I like that show, couple other learning shows I like too, mostly tlc, animal planet, National Geaographic, Health, also like some movies like Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, I'm not good with the names, usually know if its good by the faces. Oh well, those snakes and reptiles are really something to watch, but I'll stick with the fish handling. Haven't been bit yet.LOL
No Way!! *:noway:We have some of his neighbors here? WOW :cool4:
Your daughter did his WEB PaGE? * :computer:I had to read it twice to catch it. THat's really something, I must say. Congratulations!!
More fish too? If you need to move Agro out to make room for all the fish you have, maybe I could enter a contest to win him???LOL A lot of nice fish you have. Looks like you spend a lot of time with them.
Talk to you later.
Any "inside scoop on the Croc Hunter" I'd like to hear. Interesting stuff!
Ardan :sunshine:

[April]

Heh.....Ardon. the latest news on Steve is he got gangrene in African from some thorn bush that went right through his hand. He was in hospital "flat out like a lizard drinking water " Terri said.
No...Arden you can' t have AGRO!!! Maybe I'll take a pic of him for you though!He sleeps with my son on his bed.  Heres the website my daughter made. www.lewisdiscus.com
O.k. ..........so I see we have a few new members today........come on you brand new members...hop on board and make your first big post! Or....how about a teeny weeny post? YOu can even post if you are a goldfish owner. they have gills...and swim.......right?

[Ardan]

Alright April,
I'll settle for the pic of Agro. Those gators sure seem to have a lot of personality (at least the way they portray them on the show) . I wonder how Stevo is doing with that gangrene? Nasty stuff. That could really be a major problem. :sick:
Nice website! I think your daughter did an excellent job! I've never made a website. Amazing what the kids are learning today.  :computer:
Take care
Ardan :sunshine:

[kpix99]

O.K. my turn. My name is Kent. I'm 42. (eeesh!) I've been married to Cathy (awesome lady) for 3 years. We live in Madison Heights MI. We met through our 11 year old daughters who were best friends in school. We have 3 cats and 2 dogs. Don't ask how many discus, I'm not sure.  I've been keeping discus for about 15 years. I've become interested in breeding them over the last 3 years, and have had some success. My intent is to quit my job and breed full time. I'm in the third year of that 5 year plan. I've met Cary, and seen his operation. Totally top-notch, and a great help to me. It's nice to find new friends to share info and chat with. I currently have 3 pair breeding, and have some more coming soon. The pairs are as follows:Female White Diamond (7") Male Snakeskin(7"); Female Gold Pigeon(5") Male Orange Pigeon(6"); Last but not least are a pair of Snakeskins both about 5.5". They've just had their first successful spawn. I am trying to set up an automatic water exchange system and could use some advice. None of my tanks are tapped, so I need a syphon system. Any ideas. Sorry this was so long, but you asked for it. 8-)

[kpix99]

Sorry, I forgot to add this on my intro post........................GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ;D

[Ardan]

Welcome Kent,
I use a siphon system for the drain. A siphon tube goes to an old hang on the side filter (not being used for filtration), and I drilled the side of the old filter, at the level I wanted to keep the tank level at, for a drain. I then used a pvc "threaded male fitting" thru the filter, put an "O " ring and teflon tape on the inside with a "female pvc fitting" on the inside. I then used clear silicone caulk on the inside and outside and let it cure a couple days (to help seal) This can then drain into more pvc or vinyl hose to the drain.
Two things I do though. and I feel its "IMPORTANT", if I decide to siphon the tank lower for any reason, I always discontinue the siphon, otherwise water siphons backward from the hang on the side filter into the tank and could contain bacteria. I also clean the hang on the side filter every week with pp or bleach.
hth
Ardan :sunshine:

[kpix99]

I was thinking of pvc out of all the tanks into a main pvc line. Each tank's pvc line would have a valve and so would the main line. I will be refilling from my holding tank constantly. I'm not sure if this will work though. I'm only at the stage of having these plans in my head. I'll do a test first to see if it is fesible. I'll keep you posted.

[Ardan]

Hi Kent,
 the end of the pvc out of the tank has to stay under water, otherwise air replaces the water in the pipe and then you lose the siphon.
Just my thoughts and experience if I understand correctly.
hth
Ardan :sunshine:

[Ardan]

P.s. KEnt,
That valve might be a great idea, rather than breaking and restarting the siphon as I do. I'm going to put on my thinking hat, possibly pull out the plumbers tools (maybe the big 24 inch pipe wrench)HE HE HE
Thanks for the idea!!
Ardan :sunshine:

[Ardan]

One more thought Kent,
Controlling the water level in the tank. THats why I have the hang on the side gizmo, with the drain hole at the height of the water level I want to keep the tank at. But the valve could be in the siphon pipe itself.
Ardan :sunshine:

[Lynn]

Hi Kent!

Welcome!
Sounds like you have quite a few pairs going, and are truly a slave to your discus :o ;D.

Once you get your plumbing situation working can you post back or email me? I don't have any drilled tanks either, but I would like to set up a drip system but need how-to instructions! :book:
Thanks
Lynn

[April]

hi Kent and welcome. sounds like you are going to have alot of fry coming up very quick!!
good luck....and hope you get that system going.
They may have to rename  Madison heights .....discus heights.  ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Kent:

Didn't Dave Clubine just have a thread about water changers.  See if this has any information for you.
Carol :heart1:

http://www.simplydiscus.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=10203571 57

[kpix99]

WOW you guys are awesome! Just one idea and you are running! I'll let everyone know how my new system is working. Right now Cathy has Bob Seger cranking on the stereo and we are having a good time with Mom's Day

[jdr3366]

Hi everyone,

I just recently joined the group. My father introduced me to tropical fish keeping when I was about 10 years old. That's 42 years ago! I started with fresh water fish (guppies, tetras, swordtails, etc) in a rote-iron, slate bottom tank (remember them); raised and sold African ciclids; maintained a salt water aquarium for a while; and got interested in keeping discus about 3 years ago. My wife liked them so it made it easy to justify the expense.

Recently, I set up a CO2 injection system (M3) and after a rocky start, finally (I hope) got it running well. My tank is a 75 gallon half round acrylic tank. My 3 discus share the space with 3 angel fish, one black tetra, and 3 albino cat fish.

Keeping the discus alive is my first priority, but most of my efforts seem to be in getting the plants to grow and have a natural looking tank.

Glad to be here. The members have helped me with some questions I had in the last couple of weeks. Thanks.

I have one question today. Does anybody know of a guy in northern New Jersey known as the Discus King? He used to raise great looking and very healthy discus, but moved from his space in a store in Fort Lee about a year ago. I would like to contact him and see if he is still in the hobby.

John  Russo, Jr.

[ari_wh]

Hello everyone,  :)

While everyone else is introducing themselves, I thought I might as well.  :)

My name is Ari from Brisbane, Australia. And yes, Steve Erwin's park is only 1.5 hours from my place... I am new to discus, only a few months now. I've always had fish ever since I was 8 though, started with molies, tropical fish, goldfish, etc. I avoided discus in the past, since I heard they required a lot of work. And now, I know!!!  :o

I only have 1 planted display tank now, soon becomes 2 (touch wood), and have no plan whatsoever to start breeding. I just think I can't cope with the workload, as I also work as an engineer. My partner, supports my 'new' hobby, as he was the one that started me on it. I will be quite happy having 2 nice tanks with healthy discus in it   ;) .

I know I will enjoy myself and learn a lot from this forum. So, thanks April for telling me about this.

Regards, Ari  ;D

[April]

hi Ari!! yah Aris one of our Australian who live by steve. and she has also been to Rods hatchery and saw my new fishies! right Ari?????? he wouldnt let her buy them!!
Are you back from your holiday Ari?
I met Ari in holland chat. so invited her over..LOL.
anyhow.....welcome...and love seeing you here.
Ari surely you can cope with two tanks though right?
I'm sure you need just a few of Rods fishies....LOL.
wecome John rousso.....good to hear about your hobby also.,
The interesting thing im seeing is almost all of us started at about 8 to 10 year olds ......got given a first tank......and carried on the interest forever! really neat.
Obviously that first tank made a very big impression on most of us.

[Tad]

Must be my turn to introduce myself   I too am a newbie to the Simplydiscus Forum.  My name is Tad and I live in the Central Valley of California.  I am about 100 miles south west of San Francisco and about 100 miles west of Yosemite.  I am new to the discus hobby and visit this site often in my attempts to glean information on raising this stunning fish.  I first started to raise fish almost 40 years ago as a young lad and maintained many 20 gallon tanks with guppys, tetras and cichlids.   I got away from the hobby when my time was spent being a teenager and have now at the age of almost 52 rediscoved the joy of owning an aquarium.  This rebirth occured as the result of a Xmas present I recieved from my wife Judi this last year.  It was a small tank and when we visited the local fish store to purchase some fish for it I was amazed at all of the new technology and types of fish that were being offered.  Thus in January of this year we purchased a 60 gallon glass tank and proceeded to evaluate what types of fish we would stock it with.  My wife and I are not ones to be shy of a new challenge and after reading different books on fresh water tropical fish we decided on the king of fishes.  It was decided early that we would have a community tank.  We both read the forums and we know that it is not the purist way(community vs bare bottom) to raise these fish but took this undertaking with great dedication on making it work.   We went through the arduous cycling, purchased RO filtration and UV sterilization and now have a great community tank that includes 5 discus (blue diamond, red torquoise, blue cobalt, pigeon blood and a red marlboro) with cardinals, black neons, t-bone rasboras, emperor tetras and green fire tetras)  It is my plan to purchase a second tank soon and to create a bare bottom tank simply for discus.  After seeing the wilds my interest has peaked again and may try some wilds or I may see Bing Seto who's operations is about an hour from where I live and purchase some raised by him.   On the personal side  I have been married to Judi for 3.5 years.  Believe it or not we met on the internet and put together our family which includes 2 boys 21yrs and 14yrs,  2 girls 16yrs and 17 yrs from my wife and my only child a son who will be 20 this year.  I currently have all the kids at home with us except Patrick my oldest step son who attends college in Fresno Ca.  (obviously you can see Judi and I  must be nuts anyway, and discus and raising children has so many things in common).  I am a career firefighter currently at the rank of Battalion Chief.  I hope to retire in less than 4 years.   Interesting enough I have had many hobbys during my life and in fact probably have too many hobbys at this moment but I am preparing for retirement and adding more will only make my life ater "Fire" more entertaining.   What I hope to gain from this forum is a lot of knowledge, insight and contacts in helping me take care of my brood. I rarely post except to send public thank you's to people who have helped me with my fish, people like the Brewmaster.  Yes I am new to this hobby but no I dont have much expertise to post in the manner of helping people but I am well on my way learning as much as possible.  Thanks for the forums and for all the people who share their experiences and expertise.

Tad

[April]

Tad. great bio! you guys sound like you have a great fun time togeather ! and what better way to douse those flames in your job than to play with water!!
well your a lucky guy living so close to bing seto. when you do go come back and tell us about your visit. you dont have to have help info. we also love to hear about discus trips to hatcheries....and we love pics. so feel free to share. happy to have you aboard! sounds like your starting a brand new life in all areas not just discus. but really neat if your spouse and you can enjoy it togeather.

[ari_wh]

Yes April,  :)

I definitely have to get another tank. My partner and I have decided, so it is a matter of choosing one and getting it set up. I have a spare matured filter so, cycling would not be a problem. After that, it is a matter of going to Rod's place and force him to sell me 'your fish'. LOL, just kidding!!!  ;D

When are you getting them now? Have you sorted out the fedex??

No, I am not back from my holiday yet, just have some time to kill today, so I surf the internet, using my laptop. Be back next Monday.

Regards, Ari    :D

[April]

Ari. I get my fish next Sunday,. so if Rodney is not in Holland....its because he is packing my fishies for their flight on Quantas!! the only airline who has never crashed!! LOL.
i got my money order cancelled and i have the money back from my bank. but fedex is still searching. LOL
so anyhow.....you cant steal my fish cause rods got them under 24 hour armed guard by Rusty the snake killer!!!!! I hope hes doing his job!! Doesn't look like much of a guard dog to me! Is he?
see you in Holland on wednesday then maybe.
oh forgot its monday there now. so ok may not see you in Holland then till the Wednesday after.

we seem to have a lot of newbies who are hesitant to post due to the fact that they might ask a dumb question. don't worry about that, no-one will fault anyone else for not knowing something. we all need to learn something, that is why this forum was started.

but more importantly, when you are having a problem, the mere act of writing it down in a logical manner for others to understand, often puts the answer right in front of you too. everyone benefits from participitation, and a good command of the english language is not necessary either. there are people from all over here, and no-one is going to make fun of someone trying to write in a foreign language. just don't be offended if someone corrects your language.

the other thing abut this forum is, that everyone communicates in a friendly, respectful manner. there's no need to argue, just to have fun with the fish.

rick

[April]

well said Rick! we're not here to judge. just here to listen and advice if we can and also to learn . and also friendship.
We all started out the same way. We never stop learning.
we're all here for the same reason we love our discus.  ;D
whether its one discus named Fluffy  or a bunch we all still have the same thing in common.

[Ardan]

Carol,
Thanks for posting that link about water changers by Dave and the rest. Looks like some excellent work there. I want to give it some more looks myself.
Thank you

Ari, Welcome, and if you ever get over to the Croc Hunters place and see Steve, tell him we don't have any big snakes or Crocs in WIsconsin in the USA, but we have the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, I believe.(Great Lakes) Anyway maybe he could come and take a look and I could meet him. HE HE HE I like the show, Australia looks very, very interesting, but also very dangerous!! HE HE HE  (because of the wild animals)

Take care
Ardan :sunshine:

[ari_wh]

Ardan,  :)

Australia is not as dangerous as potrayed in the show. Although, if you go to the bush, you probably see them. I am currently on holiday to Northern Territory, in a little town called Gove. I have not seen crocs here, but apparently, it is a home of biggest salt water crocs. But, if I stay away from salt water creek with mangrove, I will be right. That's where they hang out.  ;)

And as far as snakes concerned, they will not hang around, where people go. So, most of the time, if you stay in the tracks, you won't see them. Australia got the most poisonous snakes....  :o and yet, I have not seen them yet in the wild (touch wood!!), maybe a tiny harmless one. Admittedly, I don't go off the track.

Regards, Ari  :D

[April]

oh good Ari......cause it was the only fear i had of Austrailia. the snakes and the sidney tunnel spiders!I'll be right over! guess its the same as the black bears. there there.....but try to avoid you unless you become a threat or they have cubs.

[brewmaster15]

Hmmm..... gators, crocs, snakes, spiders... Now thats my kind of critter...

http://a7.cpimg.com/image/FF/21/9595647-291b-02000182-.jpg

and ...

[brewmaster15]

Then theres this one here... I had the hardest time keeping my discus.... Every night I would lose some, just vanished... Then I saw it..... and never *slept again...

[Kagan]

Hi everybody.

  I am new to the forum too. Just did not have time to post my bio because of the exams and projects... Well, I live in Ankara/Turkey. I am 24 years old (or young ;D ;D). I hope to become a materials science engineer at the end of this semester, hmmmm.. in fact only a month left..(God help me, do not let anything to go wrong!!!). I like and do/did lots of sports. I am also a muscle car mania. Owned '67, '69 mach1, '70 boss302, '73 Grande Mustangs and now we have '70 Cougar and a '62 Falcon. As a result; I listen Rock & Roll and have a cd collection. It also includes some of the important country legends (Favorite is Patsy Cline).
  When we come to fish; I have raised and bred (and as a result sold) some of the cichlid types.  For the last two years I have been raising discus. I have some pairs since january 2002. Now I am trying to get some fry and raise (hope to spend much more time after university).. I have three tank running and two spares.
  Well... That's all I can write for now. c u all later.

Kagan

[April]

;D ;D ;D ;DHi Kagan.....thanks for posting!! I know Kagan from HOlland also! right Kagan?
welcome to Simply discus!! oh......and the best part is...we have your flag over here for you !!!!!!!!!!
hope you pop in often.....and hope all goes well with the end of your university semester! see you around! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Kagan]

Thanks April. I saw the flag as you can notice ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D.... Also I want to add that you got a real fine forum here. Congratulations. see you all around here..

Kagan

[DarkDiscus]

Kagan,

Welcome to the board!  I have a good friend who came from Turkey and was an exchange student here in the States.

You will find that us discus junkies are a lot of fun and can offer support during exams and projects:

"Test, what test?  Go buy more discus!"

John

[Kagan]

Thank you John. I think I am at the right place for preparing for my exams then. hahaha.... c u..

Kagan

[rjnf]

Greetings,

My names Robert and I'm from Country Victoria in Australia. *I've kept tropicals for some time and took the opportunity of moving to start up a Discus tank after admiring them for some time. *I have only 4 at the moment in my 4 foot tank due to a heater failure overnight 2 days after introducing the fish knocked off the 2 smallest fish. *:'( * Minor setback in the scheme of things. *Live and learn. *

I enjoy watching the banter and hope to join in at times, and know that I will have some questions.

Thanks to April for pointing me in the direction of this board.

Happy to be on board, * *;D
Robert

[DarkDiscus]

Robert,

Welcome aboard!  Sorry to hear about your heater malfucntion.  What brand was it?  

In any event, we're always glad to have new members.  When you get a chance, post a bio in the appropriate section so we can get to know you better.

John

[April]

Welcome Robert!!!! sorry to hear about your poor fishies. happens.
Glad to meet you and see you onboard!
The AUSTRALIANS are coming!!!! I think we have 7 or 8 now.I see we had another one sign up last night.  And also think thier on a mission to win this contest coming up seeming they may get a chance at a prize this time!!!!!
Perhaps this board will be taken over?
It could happen!
we have alot of Canadians also. and of course our token guy from Turkey! find any more discus guys over there yet Kagan?
Poor Kagan has trouble getting discus to Turkey.
o.k. whos next?
come on......sure theres more guests and non posters out there.  ;D ;D ;D

[Kagan]

LoL April... Yeah, poor me.. Wish there were lots... But I met only a 3-4 of them here. All the people are in cichlid life. So they need some more time to upgrade to Discus  ;)... hahaha... c u soon....

Kagan, "the only Turk on the net!!!"  ;D ;D

[mench]

Kagan,ALRIGHT...another car guy,I have a 71 Chevelle convt.that currently is getting a new nice and strong..400hp engine.Also 49 Hudson and 39 chevy street rod.AHHHH cars fish and rock and roll does life get any better?????
Hey we need a car icon?????
good day to all you Aussies that are new,glad to have ya on board.If ya ever need to get rid of some of those pesky cockatoos ya have over there,fee free to send some over our way...I really like them.
Nice to hear from all the new people,keep it up.

Mench

Hi All: First time poster in this forum and a brief introduction of myself. I've been contributing in another forums for the past 6 years with a pseudonum as
Frank Endine due to the mud slinging and immature comments by some self proclaimed experts. I'm a hobbyist at 51 of age, have been keeping tropical fish since the age of 7 when my older brother  gave me his old tank.  I used to catch wild green sword tails and guppies from the river which ran next  to  my house to the beach in Hong Kong. I kept both salt and fresh water fish since I was good at catching them.  Tubifax worms and mosquito lavae can be found in the rivers and rain puddles. I was able to keep  any kind of fish for free and was able to breed any fish caught from the rivers, rice fields and the sea without any care and maintenance. Feeding was mostly done automatically with frying insects under a porch light at night. By simply returning to a "discus owner"  his lost  Big German Sheppard guard dog I found at my doorsteps at the age of 16.  He rewarded me with  6 very rare and expensive  Brown discus and I was able to breed them due to the natural rain water in Hong Kong.  Never knew anything about water parameters. Water hardness ,PH  nitrates and ammonia were new to me when I came to Toronto, Canada as an exchanged student  and experienced many failures with PH crash and diseases which wiped out all my discus. I'm sure had my share of failure and had to quit keeping them when my post-grad. studies was too demanding. Bought Some discus with my first pay-cheque and  has been keeping them for almost 25 years. I'm now have 20 tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 150 gallons. Presently only breed selectively and help friends with problem pairs which failed to produce fry. Training and returning them with fry on their back. I just  simply enjoy the challenge discus can offer. Discus is fun.

[brewmaster15]

Frank Endine! or should I say Jimmy L! Its Great to see  you  here!!!! I was  wondering where you were!   You are very welcome  here!  :-)

-al

Ps no mudslinging  will occur here, trust me on that! ;)

[taybelZ]

Hey Robert,
hows it going? haven't got a reply from you.. haha thought u might of died! joki'ng
Anyway i'm glad you made it over here!
PS. feel free to contact me if you ever run into any problems yeh?

[Kagan]

Hi Mench.

hmmm.... You got something beautiful there. 400 hp will make it even better ;D ;D.... I agree that life cannot be better... c u around.

Kagan

[DarkDiscus]

Jimmy,

Welcome to the board and thanks for the interesting bio.  I'd bet you would make a great spotlight!

Like Al said, mudslinging will not be tolerated.  This is a family forum!

John

[April]

Welcone Jimmy L. Although..........I'm sure I will always think of you as Frank Endine...... Learn somethin new everyday! Nice to know more about you though!
Only one thing you need to add now. your canadian flag!!
Now........should I be calling you Jimmy Or Frank?

I'll use Jimmy until some war hero decided to  shoot all Asian.  ;D ;D ;DThen Frank will be back. :P :P
JimmyL.

[mench]

Welcome,Jimmy,frank,I mean Jimmy,Frank...what the heck.HI !   Gald you are here,where in Canada are you.Man there are a ton of discus people in the Great White North...I guess the cold keeps ya inside with the fish a lot!!!LOL
Again welcome aboard.

Mench

[April]

Jimmy. don't think there will any problems with any nationalities posting! this is an international board....and I for one love meeting different people from different places ......and I think it makes things more interesting.
We are based in Usa I suppose...but our posters and our discus have come from many far away lands.  ;D
Mench.........theres tons of us from Canada! Better watch it we may take over!
I know tons  here in Vancouver that read the forum....but havent gotten brave enough to actually post yet! I'm workin on them though!
POST HERE PLEASE AND TELL US ABOUT YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty please with sugar on top?

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi :wave: to all the newcomers and to the new "oldtimers".   JimmyL are you still going to be Frank E. on the other boards?

I see Jouni Vielma signed in today too.

Carol :heart1:

[bobbdd]

Hello.  I guess this is the opportunity to say thank you for this forum.  My name is Bob and I live in San Mateo, California.  I had tropical fish most of my adult life and stopped collecting about 15 years ago.  One day I went to a shop that specializes in discus and was won over.  I currently have a 37 gallon with some red checker turgouise and blue angels and tomorrow will be setting up my 80 gallon tank !!!  I also have a 25 gallon which is not in use.  I truly value the information that I read here and hope that no one minds the basic questions that probalby have been asked and learned 1 million times over.

I really want to grow some beautiful fish "out" and be able to admire them for just the beauty. (famous last words).  So, bear with me and someday I hope I can help others learn this hobby that must be the best in tropicals.

Thank you everyone!!!

[April]

HI Bob. and thanks for telling us a bit about yourself.
If you keep reading this forum.......I'm sure you will do fine. sounds like you got some nice discus to start with.
YOu'll love having your bigger tank set up. Believe me this may only be the beginning of all good things to come. you will be amazed how fast they do grow.And sounds like they have already grown on you!!
;D

Hi all
Im 46 years old.
I live since 5 years in south florida. Was born in Georgia
USA and grew up in europa (France, Belgium and the longest stay was in Germany)
I have been kepping Discus about 10 to 15 years
can't remember exactly , then made a 3 year pause and am finaly back to my daily w/c.
Even though im not a great poster I am a daily visitor
on a few forums, you can never learn enough  :)
As you can read my english is also not the best hehe.
Besides Discus... is that possible ? I like motorcycleing
with my Wife, playing a little bit on the guitar, and  Right
those darn computers hehe.

[April]

hi Ronald......and welcome! dont worry about your english..........we're not english teachers! we may mark scores on  contests.......but no one marking spelling errors or quotation marks!!
Its amazing to see how many people read the forums and have had alot of experience with discus!! 'My friend was telling me that awhile ago.....that theres alot out there that dont read forums or post. I know alot who read but dont post. Actually it took me awhile to be brave enough. but i learnt alot just from hearing it over and over again.  ;D
I still have alot to learn. the more i read the more i realize i have alot to learn.

The Great White North has a big group of discus nuts especially in Toronto Area. We have a big group of knowlegable breeders who are willing to pass along information without restrictions. But most of them are too shy to post due to the language barriers and afraid that thier ways of keeping discus are somewhat different than the rest of the world. They keep their Asian way which will not be accepted by the Western world. We will not get involve with any immuture comments and arguments from others. We 're lovers who enjoy our hobby and not fighters that make everybody miserable. I hope this borad adopt a different attitude than the other forums and let the East meets the West without putting each others down due to different cultures and practices. You know how many adult discus I keep in my 150 G. show tank? 45 and they don't have much room to move around but they're all dancing to each others ready to spawn. No sickness and broken fins. Why?? I think I still have room for a few more. HaHaHa.
JimmyL

[gump]

Hi Jimmy, & welcome here.  You have perked my interest. Although I have been keeping tropical fish for 20 years +, I am new to Discus & all that I know I have learned on the forums.  Could you please explain the different philosophy & methods the Asian community uses to raise Discus.... Extremely interessted..A tank full of healthy Discuss like that sounds awsome.
Pierre

[brewmaster15]

Hi Jimmy,
     You are going to like this board. :) We value everyones  experiences here, irregardless of what country they hail from. Because of this Hobby I have had the pleasure and honor to meet people from around the world and learn about their cultures and beliefs, and most importantly ... become friends with them.  I hope others here will have the same experience.
    Take care,
al

[April]

Heh Jimmy......Toronto isnt much different than Vancouver. OUr town is almost half asian.....and they are the ones who are the biggest discus collectors. MOst of my Discus contacts here are asian. I also have one friend who keeps buying discus.....and keeps putting them in his 125 gallon tank! I think he has about 45 in there! Considering he has so many.......he really hasnt had too many problems. He orders with me almost every order.
I used to adhere to the 1 per 10 gallon rule like it was written in stone. Cause i was made to feel like an unfit mother if I had one over! Lately.....mainly cause i keep buying more....I have added more ......and believe it or not their a happier more secure bunch. I do large changes though. And I have enough experience now I can watch their behaviour and know what to watch for . for problems .

[Carol_Roberts]

I think that's the key April,  having enough experience that you can watch their behaviour and know what problems to watch for.  

Once you know what you're doing and why, you can break the rules that help newcomers be successful with their discus.

Carol :heart1:

[Karl]

Hey Jimmy, so you are from Hong Kong, the place where I'm living! *:oDid you remember once in another board you told me to drip the tank water down to the street in HK when I have to left my house for vacation?...haha! Which area have you been living? Remember to tell me when you plan to visit HK next time!

Karl

[John]

OK April :scared:
I have been reading for the last month in the background. So I will now come foreward for all to see !

This may get abit lengthy  ;D but it is the only way I can expain how I ended up here  :bounce:

Hello, My name is John Slade and I live in SImcoe Ontario Canada.
It is about an hour and a half south of Toronto on Lake Erie.
I started keeping South American Cichlids & breeding a few (real tough job) throw them into a tank and pick put the fry out so they don't become food. I have also cared for and breed Africans. I had tried discus earlier and quit after I gave the death sentence to about 10 discus due to my own stupidity.

What do I do  ???

I retired (early) from Stelco Steel Company, I did water testing and enviromental testing, refrigeration, water treatment, transportation of dangerous good, stn. engineer, emerg response and gas testing.

I now own a computer business, mostly commercial internet, networking, and special apps setups.
I am president of the local minor hockey organization (4 years now)
a Shriner to help the kids, 20 years now
a hockey trainer on a couple junior hockey team. over 20 years.

I have a wonderful wife of 21 years,that thinks fish are a waste of time and money and two teenage boys both just starting to drive. If I could keep the money I pay for car insurance I could open my own breeding farm  ;D I am now 52 year young

Discus came my way for our local pet shop. I received a call from the owner that a guy had dropped off 5 discus, he had given up on keeping these dumb fish and went back to Africians. Since he had no setup for discus, did I want them  ??? Could I turn them down  ??? NOPE  ;D

I rushed in and found 5 fish in bags of water I could barely see through. Home they came.
I had a 65 gal tall tank that the Angels got evicted from and put the 5 into it.
They were a sad bunch, not eating, peeling, covered with fungus, thin and one had advanced fin rot. so I hit the net.
I came across DPH web site and Davis & Fred & Dougall have helped me keep these fish alive and on the way to repair and I thank them very much> I learned alot quickly about Metro, Salt Baths, EM Tablets, water conditions etc. Boy I figured I got into something again that is one big pain in the """.

Well I now have a breeding pair, One Blue and One Red Torqu. from the resued fish. they are back to full health and happy in a 77 gal tank. They haven't done anything but they stick together like velcro. They are about 7" long. One of the other also is a blue turq. is fine again and is about 4 ".  There is one PB Orange about 4 - 4.5", best I can describe, also back to full heath.
The final one is blue solid with red & blue fins, no idea waht he/she is but was on the edge of death when I received it. It was razor thin, not eating, covered with just about everything, Thanks to the guys at DPH he is eating and slowly recovering in a 35 gal hospital Tank.

I was referred here from one of the guys on DPH that siad it ways also one of the best forums on discus, and he was right on.

Getting long winded so will rap up.

Fish room - 2 hagan 77 gal, 1 - 65 gal tall,  2 - 35 gal, 2 - 10 gal hospital tanks.

In use is the 65 with the one sick rescued discus, and one 77 gal with the other 3 recused discus. All the other tanks are setup and running now for more discus.

I use 2 fluval 404 on each of the larger tanks with spray disfusers (horse shoe shaped) & on the 35's I have 204s setup, each tank has twin heaters.

I now age water for 24 hours with a fluval 404, heater and air pump attached to the reserve.

I will be adding more by Tuesday as I have 9 new discus arriving.

I enjoy this board because of the no BS and the fast help and opinions from everyone.

Well here Ya go April. Glad to be here

John Slade: The only discus keeper near Lake Erie ( as far as I know)

[jouniv]

Hi all

Not too many Europeans over here, yet. Well I'm from the upper right corner,  :santa: Finland, of the old continent. I've been following boards for quite many years already, but post infrequently. It is hard to follow the tracks of discus nuts in the www. It was much easier when there were just one or two forums.

This place looks nice. I'm always looking for discussions dealing with the biological side of discus keeping, esp. genetics, nutrition, breeding behaviour, and Al has the touch for these things, too.
:book:

I'm a small hobbyist with currently just 3-4 tanks. I'm into wild discus and trying to breed a group of discus imported last November from the Amazon. I also breed cory cats, C. sterbai, which heal the wounds nicely after frustrating work with the discus. Finland is not an easy place for discus fan. Although the big European markets are very close by, good fish rarely find way over here. It is a too small market with only 5 milliion people, and one has to be active to come up with new stock of fish.
:drummer:

I'm planning to be at Duisburg this autumn so perhaps I'll meet some of you there.

Jouni

[April]

geez........I step away from my computer and Discus for a few hours.....and two new posters to greet!
John. I go to Dph also. and also holland chat . Are you the one that Davis and Dougall and Fred helped with the salt dip? I read all that. Oh.......and which guy told you to come over? come on......gotta know these things!
LOL.Glad your here! And also glad another Canadian! Be sure to be on line for the contest! Canadians can win this time!
Jouni. Great to have you here also. Nice to see another Flag flying! from another country. I want to go to Duisburg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *;D :drummer: :thumbsup: :cool4: :drummer: :wave: :thumbsup: :fish: :sunshine: :balloon:
KEEP ON POSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[John]

Hi April and Thanks

Yep I am the dummy that jumped in over my head.

I sure have made alot of changes to my fish keeping from storage and aging water to UV and peat moss treatment. (I think the peat moss sucks) but I am not going to get into an RO unit yet.
I think it was Davis that refered me over but not sure as I was more concerned with the fish at the time.

Nice to meet you and if there is anyone else from Ontario's South Coast keeping discus let me know

Thanks, this is my first stop in the morning before I head of to work. I will soon need another room for all the printouts of treatment, advice  and support articals that I have been referred to.

Keep Up the great work, I sure need the help.

:o This site has been a great eye opener and I just could sit and watch these guys for hours.

Guess I am getting hooked on Discus

Newbee to Discus

John S

[April]

Hmmmmm..........LOl. We have Phishphantasy who is in thunder Bay....... John Sheddon is up higher......and of course theres Cary and Mike on the underside of lake erie. So any water questions.....they use the same water.And theres Davis and Aspen and Jimmy L. in Toronto. All I can think of right now.

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi John:
Doesn't it feel good to figure out what to do and have your patients recover?  There sure is a lot of help on the internet - if you just know where to find it.

Hi Jouni:
I've read your posts on all the different forums - glad to see you posting here. Fish are more than just a hobby for you, it's also your profession.  Why don't you tell us a little about what you do?

Carol :heart1:

Hi April and all !
Thanks for the invite to post on what if I'm correct is your "new forum". Looks very interesting !! I usually lurk around a few of the forums as time permits and must say there is always something new to learn.
I have been keeping Discus for about 20 years or so and it all started with varieties of the Discus which I got from a friend who was the importer of all tropical fish for all the retail stores in my area of the country. I live about 25 miles out of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. I am also a fancier of the German Shepherd Dog, and at this point in time have two, usually we have more than just the two. My wife and I are also distributors of a "raw" fresh frozen line of dog food which we distribute in mainly the Manitoba area and well as into a few of the northern states.
Also forgot to mention that I keep African Cichlids as well. I am presently running a 135 gal, a 125 gal, a 90 gal, and a 25 gal.
With everything taken into account, we're pretty busy to say the least.
Have a great day !
Regards
Doug

[daninthesand]

Welcome Doug  :) :) :) :)

FINALLY another discus addict loser to my neck of the woods.

:bounce:  :bounce2: :bounce: :bounce2:

I also live in Winnipeg.

I have only been on these forums for about 3 to 4 weeks now and have found them to be indespensible. I too have  a ton of info I've downloaded to my hard dirve.

Save those trees!  ;D

Well, good to have your here, Doug.

BTW the next Aquarium Society of Winnpeg's meeting is on Tuesday June 11. See the website to find out where to meet.

http://www.winnipeg.aquariumsociety.com/oldasw/index.htm

I'll be there and so will (likely) Dave_C who also is a member of this forum. And another Winnipegger!

Welcome Welcome.

[daninthesand]

Doh!

SORRY DOUG. :-[

That was supposed to read "FINALLY another discus addict CLOSER (not loser!) to my neck of the woods."

oops :funny:

[April]

HI Doug. Yahoo another canuck! LOL. get that flag up..
we're taking over! LOL.
Someone said we have to stay in our igloos and have nothing better to do than play with our fishies. they may be right.
I remember reading about your dog food company now. Im sure I read a whole article about it in the newspaper or a dog magazine. As Im in the pet grooming business.
well welcome.......and hope you pop in often.

[mench]

Jimmy L.I am about 3 hrs from you guys,the other side of Buffalo.I think me and my "road Trip" buddy Gary just may have to start planning a trip north some Sat this summer to meet a few of you "Northern Discus nuts".I will get in touch with you and see if we can set something up,that is if it is ok with you guys ..eh....See I can already speak the lingoLOL

Mench

[April]

Heh Mench......thats not fair!!!!!! you gotta keep going west!!!!!! Davis is there also......and also Aspen.,,,,,,who else?
add another two weeks and it will be the roadtrip of your life. never forget it.

[Tyler]

Hi, i just found this forum and registered today.  Perfect timing with that post, its what made me register!  I'm 13,  and am an avid fish lover.  I have had 3 tanks running for a while now and am now starting up my first discus tank.  I'm busy searching the web trying to pick up any tidbits of info that might help me.  I think i hit the jackpot here!  Thanks for the worm welcoming!

[April]

Tyler welcome!! im glad you found us.....and glad to have some young up and coming discus phenatics in our midst. make sure you read alot before you jump in as they do have special requirements. we hope your first discus tank will be a success. dont want you to get discouraged.
there are a few rules to start. get them all  at the same time and same size. and 6 if you can. if you buy one here and one there....there could be problems. and try and find a local breeder or hobbyist . better fish to start and easier to keep them in good shape if you start with good fish.
let us know any time you need help and ask any questions. we all would love to see you succeed.
dont be afraid to ask. us adults have made alot of silly mistakes or asked alot of questions also. we all had to start the same way. trial and error.
;D

[Tyler]

Thanks for the welcome.  I am sucking in all the information i can to make sure that my first try is a success.  Don't expect that i am not ready for discus by my age though, as i have four completely succesfull tanks running already :).  So far i am doing everything right!
See you on the board!

[korbi_doc]

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Hi all, just found this board & see that there are many of you that I've read before on other forums. My name is Dottie Miller, am a practising small animal vet in NJ. I've had fish for many years, but had gotten away from them for several years due to time contraints. Breed, raise & show Arabian horses, & show my young Doberman Pinscher in ob, & agility. Decided to get my tanks back up & running & when I found the varieties of discus on the net "That was it" I totally lost it & dove in head first. Now have a 90g,37g, & 2 20g tanks (only 1 salt tank left) for the 16 discus I have. Am planning to set up my next 90g (to match the 1st) in the next weeks between horse shows. Nice to read you folks, April, Carol, John, Steelhead et al. Wish I could get to Atlanta ACA this year to meet everyone, but prev. committment won't allow, perhaps the next mtg. Dottie  ;D ;D

[daninthesand]

Hi Dottie. :wave:

Welcome to this forum. I am rather new here and to forums in general, but you will find that there's a bunch of very knowledgeable and experienced discus fanatics. here.

Good to meet you!

Dan

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Dottie :wave:

We're happy you found us.  It's not polite to post messages asking folks to join a new forum on most of the "other" boards so we've been leaving little bread crumb trails in hopes everyone would find their way here.  

Be sure to invite any of your friends we may have missed.

Carol :heart1:

[April]

Hi dottie and welcome. and nice to hear a bit about you. a vet. my kind of person!! Im a pet grooomer. been doing it forever.
Yes.......we willl be sending each new member a bag of bread crumbs to spread. LOL ;D
glad your addicted!!!

[Ryan]

Wow! I guess I am running behind!!

A big hello and welcome to Jouni, John, Doug, Tyler, Dottie, and all of our other new members that have recently signed up. We're glad you found us! We love to watch our discus family grow.

Tyler, don't worry, I bred angels and other South American cichlids very successfully at your age, and discus aren't really difficult, just require a little more effort and special attention. You can do it! Read up as much as you can before you dive in! If you email me or send me an instant message, I'll tell you a little about how I got started!

I hope everyone's ready for the discus contest coming up :)

Ryan

[brewmaster15]

Ryan,
I'm running behind here too.... WELCOME Everyone! !!!!

 Jouni , I am very glad you were able to find the time to  visit here!! Its great seeing you here!  If you ever feel like writing something up on  fish nutrition please  feel  free to post it!

 Hi Dottie, I am glad you found us as well. Its always  a pleasure  when another discus addict visits here, only thing better is  when they visit regularly! ;D

John S  and  Doug, I see  our canadian welcoming crew has already gotten to you so I'll just add mine in.  Welcome to the board :)

Hi Tyler! I  envy  you ! 13 years old and already into Discus. I wish  I had started  that  young! I'm just thinking about  all the fish I could have by now! its a great  hobby , enjoy it. You are already  far ahead  of many , you are trying to learn  about them  as well as just keep them. Breeders watch out, I can see "Tyler's Hatchery and discus Galleries " in the near  future! Theres a great group of people here to help if you need it.

Hope I haven't missed anyone?!

For any body out there thats new to the board.  Ryan , I , and this boards great staff of moderators are easy to reach, by IM and email  .

you can pretty much contact me  by IM here, i'm usually on most of the time. my emails
   Brewmaster15@att.net
  al.sabetta@diabetesdisc.com
 
And my home phone is 203- 484-0175.  I'm in CT, USA  so its eastern time-try not calling too late :), but if you have problem/emergency and theres nobody here  that  can help, give a shout. i'll help if I can. :) of course if you just want to talk  fish , thats fine too.

Take care,
al

[NateLA]

Hi,

My name is Nate and I'm located Santa Monica.  I previously kept fish over a 5 year period before moving to Los Angeles in 1999.  I'm now at a point where it is again feasible to set up a tank.  I would like to set up a 46 gallon bow front with a couple of Discus, but I'm running into hurdles.  First, the water in Santa Monica has a Ph of 7.4 and is slightly hard.  Second, I'm having trouble locating any dealers in the area and I'm a little worried about mail ordering fish.  At this point I'm continuing to accumlate funds for my tank and fish and am researching while doing so.  I've been lurking for a couple months now and am happy to finally join :).
-Nate

[April]

Hi Nate and welcome. ;D I'm not too sure on the water thing.....but maybe someone here knows more. im sure theres breeders there also. Maybe you can post that your looking for fellow La area members who know the water and any breeders. I know theres some in the San Francisco area.....
maybe you better enter the contest and win some fishies!!
First get that tank bought and up and running....then you can find some water info.
Anyone here know about the La water?

[brewmaster15]

Hi Nate,
* Welcome!, *I *don't know about LA's water but I do know *about *that pH. All my non-breeding *discus are kept at pH 7.6-7.8 , medium hard well water and they do fine. The lower pH's are great if you have them, but for keeping domestics its not necessary from my experiences. Whats more necessary is a stable pH. If you really want some great advise, post your water parameters in the water section, and I'm sure many can help you out.
*As for mail order, most of us have gotten great fish that route. Theres some great breeders out there... Mike wells (ADiscusDream), Cary strong(Greatlakes), Al Johnson(Rocky Mountain Discus) all come to mind. *Theres also a few members here *closer to you that breed and *sell fish.
Jeff Doty *in Oregon comes to mind, though there are many others.

Last *comment... Enter our free contest *coming up very soon and *your decision may be made *for you! ;D
*Take care!
-al

[Tyler]

hmmmm.........."Tyler's Hatchery and Discus Galleries", i like the sound of that  ;).  Hey, i already got some kribs breeding, maybe discus arent to far off............... Thanks for the encouragement, i cant wait to get started!

OK... Its time for me to take the plung. *
My name is Julie, am 41 years young and live in the Twin City area (look out Pat here I come). *Been married 18 years but won't be for long if I don't quit buying "Fish Crap" (quote from the hubby). * **
* I too should belong to DA (Discus-oholics Anomymous) and have been a lurker for some time now. *Besides Discus, I have 3 tanks of Angels (1 55 gallon and 2 20's with unsuccessful breeders) *and grow Orchids under artificial lighting in my basement. *
Before Discus I used to enjoy: *Riding my mortorcycle (1993 Harley Sportster), working in the yard, fiddling with my orchids/houseplants, watching TV, cleaning the house (yes really!) spending time with the family (kidding.. *still love that) Chatting with my best friend on the phone (named Julie/Julz too.... is a lurker and has Discus/Orchids as well (sorry Julz, had to put you in there some where)) snowmobiling, fishing, drinking beer (ok, now I'm lying, the beer didn't go. *I just drink it while I Discus watch) *etc.etc.etc *
My craze began in March of this year and my husband swears I have since reduced our familys income to nearly half. Currently, I have 11 Discus between 2 tanks (46 bow and 55 gallon). *2 Wild Gr/Brn (so the LFS says), 2 Rd/Tourq, 1 Tourq, 3 PB's, 1 Brn, 1 red, and 1 Cobalt. *All were purchased at LFS, which explains part of the lost income . *After seeing the various photos out there I sometimes wished I would have been more choosey, but love them all just the same. *That could also mean the Angels with have to pack there little bags soon. *After all I did have a whole school of communities (dollars, barbs, kribs, tetras, glass cats, bla.. bla.. bla..) pack their bags 2 weeks ago, for the same reason.

Well I could ramble on but that should cover it for now. *I must add tho, this forum has done me a world of good and I look forward to future chats.

Julz

Welcome one and all.
Julz, you dont live to far from me. I live in green Bay Wi. About 3 1/2 hrs from Pat.
JimmyL, I would love to hear how other people keep there fish. I know a few other people close by who keep discus and not one of us does it the same. Im sure we all could learn a thing or two new about keeping our fish. If not, none of us would bother to read the forums. Thats why there here, to learn. Please share some of your secrets. LOL
It is great to see all these new people. April, way to go. Great idea.
Keep comming back everyone, Matt

1 question as a "New Poster" (I am sure there will be lots more) how the heck to you apply them darned smiley's? *I tried it by just simply clicking on it, but it applied the only the name of the smiley, like wise with the fonts, and where might I find the spell checker? *

Guess I need Forum poster 101, but I elect Discus 101 instead.

Julz

[April]

Hi Julz......you sound like you enjoy life and are no different than any of us. Get a little obsessed with your hobby!
I think you ought to take a drive over and see matts fish. I know he has some very nice fish.
As far a s the computer questions go......thats ryans department . but yes just click on the smilies. you will see the words.......but when you click post it will come up the smily. be brave ....try it. youcan also fix it later if you dont like it by clicking modify in the top right corner of your post.
well I'm glad your enjoying this forum and post away!  ;D
get those angels packing and get a few more discus! LOL.
Matt dont you have a few for sale right now?
;)

[Ryan]

Hi Julz,

Welcome to the board! I'm glad you decided to post. As for the smilies, when you are composing a new message and you click on them, the "smiley code" gets inserted into the message. That's why you see names instead of pictures. However, when you click post, the code will turn into the pictures, I promise :) Just try it.

I'm afraid we don't have a spell checker :-\

When you are using the YABBC tags at the top of each message (all the icons above the smilies), it inserts the code into your message. In order to use these, type your text in between the tags it inserts. For instance, when you click on Bold at the top, it will put this into your message: [ b ][ /b ] ... For bold text you type in between those: [ b ]Bold text goes in here[ /b ]... It works this way for every tag above.

Fonts are the same way. When you click the font tab, it inserts this: [ font=Verdana ][ /font ].. Change "Verdana" to the name of the font you want (even though not all computers have the same fonts, so some might not show up for other people), and then type your message. For instance: [ font=Verdana ]The text you want in the font Verdana goes here[ /font ].

Hope this little lesson helped :)

Ryan

[April]

Thanks Ryan....think it may have even helped me!!!!! ::)

Matt...
I guess I should have included in my USED to like items...  Watching the PACK, actually I sill love to..  Good or bad games.  I used to live in Milwaukee and have been a Packer fan (ut oh..  opening a can of bloodworms (he he) am I?) since 1982......

As far as how I keep my Discus...  I will get alot of tisk tisk's from this one.  Definietly not BB.  I don't fancy the look of a BB tank.  I am a plant nut so couldn't stand a tank with out them.  And get this, I do not use live...  Another tisk tisk?  Can't seem to master that one.  I can grow orchids but not live plants in an aquarium.  Go figure.  I run RO (using RO right) in all my tanks and it also is used to water my orchids in the cellar.  My PH is currently on the high side due to the lack of RO filter changes.  I have since changed them and am keeping an eye on it.  I usually keep my tanks at 120 to 150 ppm, altho from doing some heavy reading I see that I may need to increase it on the 46 bow which houses the babies.  I may need to do it in the 55 I am finding that they are still juvy's as well.  Feeding....  Currently I use BioPure everthing (Bloodworm, shrimp, Mega Angel, Mega Marine etc. etc.) and Jacks Discus food, as far as frozen.  BioPure claim cleanliness, and so far I don't believe there is a problem with it.  The babies are fed 5 times daily and Juvy's 3 times.  Both tanks are set up with automatic feeders using 4 varieties of flake food (they love it).  I wish there was another way to feed, but this is my only option as I am gone 13 hrs a day M,T,Th,and F.  So when I get home from work and on the other 3 days of the week I spoil the heck out of them with the frozen.  I do have some problems with my Tourq (thats her (his ?) name by the way, have names for all of them)  but thats another post.....
Well need to get some sleep, been workin all night so I hope I am making sence.

toodles....
Julz

[brewmaster15]

Hi Julz and  welcome!
   what kinds of plants  do you use in the tank , plastic? One of mods here , Carol Roberts , is the queen of the silk plant aquarium look- or at least was!
 Orchid lover hmmm.... What kind do  you keep? I love those plants myself , and keep several.  Though I prefer  to take their pictures- especially the wilds... here  one  to welcome  you....
http://a6.cpimg.com/image/CE/CC/10172366-7339-01690200-.jpg
 
Take care, al

Hey Julz, i wont hold you being a Packer fan against you. ;D
No tisk, tisk here, what ever works for you is what you should do. Only a few musts with discus, clean water, and good food. Give them those two things and they will do good.
April, yes i do have a few odds and ends i wish to sell off. I also have lots of babies right now. In two months ill be slammed with fish. :D Damn the bad luck. LOL
Thanks for bringing it up. I do need to move some adults to make room for the fry. Dave W. is comming back up this Sat. to get a few 40 breeders and a few adults. That will help a little.
How are all the new fish doing. Will they accept beefheart or is it to different from kangaroo. LOL
Take care, Matt

[April]

LOL Matt. guess i better ask Rod if he was using kangaroo meat. yes they are doing great Matt. eating but still a tad shy. dont think i look much like their beloved Daddy.
the big ones are not shy . Their my new computer buddies. right beside it.
so there you go Julz........go meet Matt and seee his managerie. watch out for biting birds!!!!!! ::) ;D

My bird only bites men. It just loves women, especially my girlfriend. I can play with him if she is not around, but if she is home i have to be carefull. It trys to protect her.
Cant you just hear him....." rebel want to bite you", or " give me a cracker now dumb a$$"
We named him Rebel for a reason. The people that had him before us could not handle him at all. With a little love and affection he is a different bird.
Matt
http://noraspets.homestead.com/files/PC090054.JPG

[April]

Matt nice birdie. hope you have someone to pass him down to . he will live longer than you!!!!!

Hey thanks to Ryan and April for your welcome and Smiley & Fonts 101.  Will have to give it a try. Hows this for starters?  :)

Al, I use both Plastic and Silk.  Would love to see some pics of Carols tanks. Thanks for the great welcome photo.  hmmm.  A Paphiodedilum AKA LadySlipper Orchid.  That is also Minnnesota's state flower .  Or a Phragmipedium, they look a lot alike.  I could be wrong on both tho.  I collect mostly Paphs, Phrags, Phals, Vanda's, Cymbidiums and 1 or 2 of many others.  There are hundreds (if not thousands) of different species, its hard to name all that I have.  All in all I have close to 75 of them, maybe less maybe more as I haven't counted lately.  They say that a lot of Orchids lovers also keep aquariums, and visa-versa.  I once counted 60 house plants alone, but have since given some away.  I love the "Jungle Look".  Some day i will have to give another planted tank a try.   :-/

Matt....  Cool Parrot.  I used to have a Sun Conure.  Was a beauty but loud.  He made it hard when I worked nights, as he always knew I was home during the day!  I love the Discus and Orchids as they are nice a quiet.

Should have caught all your welcomes before I replied to Matt yesterday morning, but I am a slow typer and my home PC is even slower.  ::)

Well April.....You asked for us lurkers to come out and now you won't be able to shut this one up.

Take care.
Julz

[April]

Julz......thats fine....this forum is for all you guys to visit and learn and talk on. Love to hear all you all have to say. See I have learnt somethin new already! had no idea there were wild orchids.well ok thats a stupid statement. obviously they came from somewhere. LOl. I've heard of ladies slippers....but didn't know they were the orchid family.
I used to want my house to be a jungle also. My sons trying to turn his room into a rainforest. After we move.....im sure he will. He has 4 lizards.
Oh and Julz......i think they have dual addcition programs........ LOL. ;D ::)

April.....

Dual addiction....  Too funny.  My husband is now wondering... whats next  ???.  Guess it could be worse.  At least its not drugs and alcohol.    :fried:

I am anxious for Contest #2.  June 1st and 2nd.  Hmmm  The 2nd is my hubby's B-day.  I will have to do all my homework before then.  Another  :argue: if I spend the whole day on the PC.  

Julz

;D :fish::fish: ;D Hey everybody! I'd like to DISCUS fish with everyone! It all started for me when I bought a 75 gallon... I decorated the tank using real wood and only plants from the amazon. I had maybe 10 angelfish (whom I decorated my tank for), a corydoras, 4 plecos, a bumble bee and 2 rainbow fish.

After a lesson in cycling  :-[ and less a few fish from the experience... :( I soon learned the success for keeping fish.  :thumbsup: I went to the LFS and this guy talked me into buying a baby molted pigeon blood, telling me my new little fish wouldn't eat right away, would hide, etc, etc. but to not be alarmed for it would all pass. I brought him home and put him with my angelfish and he ate right away and swam everywhere! He was just stunning.... had the coolest personality and he seemed to be in heaven in his new tank.

I just loved  :heart2: him... and decided if I did well with him for 1 month, I would go buy another. I spoil my little guy (who's not real little anymore) with a variety of food. (frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, Jack Wattley discus formula, Jack Wattley community health food with garlic, plankton flakes, tetra color flakes, ColorBits, Hikari Krill, Ocean Nutrition Saltwater flake, frozen mosquito larvae and I also made my own frozen food from recipes I had found on the web. (bananas, spinach, beef heart, crab legs, shrimp, garlic, flakes, etc.) As you can see from his diet, he did very well and was very happy!!!

So, I bought 2 more discus, only this time from Bangkok. A cobalt blue and a turquoise. My orginal pigeon blood did not like them and immediately chased and terrorized  :furious: them... Nonstop! He soon inherited the name "orange monster" and I was in big trouble. My 2 newcomers, who cost way more than my orange monster, were extremely stressed out, dark, peeling, hiding and catching a breathe only when my orange monster would swim and hang with the angelfish or if it was feeding time. So, I moved the 2 from Bangkok into their own tank, a 40 gallon. As you have read my obsession with food for my discus, it immediately evolved into medication for them... to save them. So, I went to the LFS and bought one of everything! Ha Ha... I love choice.

Overtime, this fixed them, which prompted me to buy more!! Of course more does not fit into a 40 gallon tank!! So, I re-decorated my 75 gallon and put all my discus together, and moved the angelfish to a 40 gallon.

This fixed my orange monster, who along with his new friends were all taken back by their new home. I now have 9 discus. (my orange monster, the 2 from bangkok, a wild green brown from the amazon, a red, a brown, a solid pigeon blood, red turquoise and a blue.) All have tripled in size within a few months and continue to grow!

I look forward in meeting all of you discus nuts  :jester: (Julz is my best friend) and am interested in learning how others keep their discus and anything that would benefit my fish! :sunshine:

[April]

welcome......and it sounds like to me you've only just begun!!!!!! well hope you enjoy our forum....and post away!!
and tomorrow........run out and buy a 100 gallon tank....and then enter the contest coming up!!!!
you could win!!! if not....go buy some more discus! You guys live in the same town? you could share shipping if you ever buy from a breeder. thats what i do with my discus friends. we all order togeather and get them shipped togeather...and far cheaper. and more fun.
kinda like xmas when we pull all the bags out with our names on and hand them out.  ;D

[DarkDiscus]

Julz & Spluweze,

Welcome to the board and to Discus Addicts Anonymous!  It's always good to see good junkies around!

John

[Don_Lee]

Welcome Julz and Splueze, always nice to see new members coming in with new pics and information!  I am in Rockford, IL, not too far from Milwaukee.  As far as the Packers go, I am a Bears fan, enough said! :-X  LOL, either of you going to the GCCA classic this weekend in Chicago.  There are some great discus related speakers there this w/e, not to mention the giant auction on Sunday.

Don

[Goldfish_in_a_bowl]

Well lets see... I am a GUEST, A LURKER ;) ;) and a NON POSTER! ;D
It is REALLY GREAT to see all of these New Names and Faces added to our"DISCUS FAMILY"!!
WELCOME! and Stick around as there are SO MANY GREAT PEOPLE with SO MUCH GREAT INFO and HELP HERE! ;D
TAKE CARE! ;D
Karen :gorgeous:
oh ......and I am the Family member they all warned you about!! the one they Told you when they give you the single.... PULL THE BLINDS!! TURN OFF THE LIGHTS!!!! and STAY LOW!!!! LOL

Hi April, DarkDiscus and Don Lee.  ;D Thanks for the welcome! No, I am not going to Chicago to the DCAA Classic.  :( April, yes I live down the road from Julz. I am Juelzz too, but to not confuse anyone, just call me Spluweze, that is my screen name.

Like Julz had posted, I also collect orchids. (Have about 200+) I also use a heated 100 gallon a day R.O. unit and use this water on  my fish.

I am a computer graphics artist who works for 6 animal doctors. One of them is an Aqua doc. I do not use trace minerals in my water. My Aqua doctor said it does not matter whether they get it through food or water... just as long as they get it! With the wide variety of food I feed my fish, they meet those nutritional needs through their food supply.

My water stays at a constant pH of 6.8 / 7, nitrites/ammonia zero and nitrates are usually between 7-10 ppm. TDS is currently at 130. I also do water changes every 3-6 days, and keep my temperature around 84-86 degrees.

As far as the 100 gallon tank... I would rather have a 250 gallon so I can have more, more, more discus!!!
Ha Ha  :bounce:

What do you guys have and use for your discus?

[April]

welcome you you you lurker you!!
hope you can come back often . we need you mrs. fish bowl!!! ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Julz and Spluweze :wave: do those names mean something in another language? Welcome to our board.  I loved the combination discus/orchid picture.  Do you have orchids in the fish room - I bet they'd love the humidity.

Hi Karen :wave: less soccer, more discus, less soccer, more discus, less soccer . . .

Carol :heart1:

Hi Karen. I am Juelzz  :bounce2: (my name is julie) and am best friends with Julz  :bounce: (the Julie who took the first plunge in joining the forum). Since we both have the same name, she pronounces hers Julz and we just added the "e" to pronounce mine a little different. Spluweze is my screen name on the web, and I just made it up! Ha Ha. I wanted something no one had, but none of the spellings mean anything in a different language.

Thanks for the compliment on my picture. No my orchids are not in the same room as my fish. I keep my orchids down in my basement and the humidity is very good... my plants do love it!!! My discus (the ones in my orchid discus picture) are in my bedroom. That way I am always comfortable in my bed when I watch my discus!! Ha Ha. I had them at one time in my living room, but could never enjoy them because I hang out in my room! (I have a huge bedroom and hate TV). My angelfish were moved to the living room in the 40 gallon.

[Carol_Roberts]

LOL, I have three tanks in my bedroom.  The filters lull me to sleep.
Carol :heart1:

This would be my ideal tank!!! Here are just a few of my discus, (the molted pigeon blood is my orange monster) and just a few of my orchids. However, my orchids are not in my aquarium!!!

[discusmith]

I'm new to this site but not to discus keeping.  Lets just say I've been keeping discus long enough to remember when anyone who bred them was next to God himself and then they were only the very hardy browns.  I would have to consider myself the posterboy for everything bad that can happen by mailordering discus to the point where I will never again buy fish sight unseen.   It puts me in an unenviable situation here in Madsion though as quality fish do not exist here.

I have a question for anyone who might know.  I am trying to buy a copy of Jonny Yip's book "Asian Discus  Vol. 2" but cannot find it.  Annyone know where it can be found?

[discusmith]

3 Questions.  Why can't I modify my own message?  I am wondering how those of you who use a heated RO system have it set up?  I am thinking of a way to do it but before I do I am interested in what's already been done.  If you used a cold system and then switched how much increase in product did you see?

Yes, in Hong Kong...  :o but you'll need a translator!
http://www.animalpassion.fr/produits.htm

Hi Discusmith... I use cold water when running it through the R.O. unit, but have a submersible aquarium heater in my 100 g a day R.O. tank to match the temperature in my discus tank. It's really easy and my plants like it better as well! This then allows me to keep my temperature when doing water changes. The fish love it.

Go to the top right corner of your message and you will see quote, "modify" and remove there. Click on it and modify your message, then click save.

[discusmith]

Spluwese.  I understand that's how it's supposed to work.  The problem was when I did that I got a message that said " You cannot modify this message."  

As to the RO I thought when you said you used a heated RO system that you preheated the water not the product in your storage.  I do that as well but am considering preheating the water in the summer by sending through a fancoil and blowing ambient air over it to cool my house and preheat the water so the RO works better.

[April]

Hi Discussmith.....and welcome! when Ryan gets here...he can tell you why your having problems modifying. should work.
Glad your posting.....and it sounds like you have a wealth of fish history you can share with us.
Asian discus 2. try ray kosaka in discus hawaii. heres his email.ray kosaka

 discushi@pixi.com

thats where i got mine.

Hey Discusmith, are you in Madison Wi? If so im in Green Bay. There are a few of us discus freaks around. If you are ok with a used book i have one. Just drop me an email or IM and il try to hook you up.
Take care, Matt

[discusmith]

Hi Matt.  Yes I am in the Mad city.  I spent time up in GB when my kid played for the Gamblers.  Never got to a fish store while there though.  That's one thing I like to do.  He started in St. Louis and is now in Omaha.  St. Louis had some good places but so far I have found nothing in Omaha.

[Ryan]

Hi Discusmith, and welcome aboard! I'm stumped, unfortunately, about your problem with modifying a message. Try to log out and log back in. All you have to do is hit "Modify" and it should work. Make sure you hit "Modify" on your portion of the message thread, if you hit that on anyone elses' name, you'll get an error. You have to be logged in to edit your messages. Other than that, I can't think of anything :-/ Sorry...

Ryan

[rsawest]

Hello,

My name is Linda and I've been a long-time lurker in the various discus forums and have finally decided to de-lurk, so here goes!  

My dad is also a hobbyist (both salt and fresh) so I've raised fish for as long as I can remember.  I 've had discus for about 2 years, and I'm totally hooked now.  I currently have a total of 9 tanks, varying from a 75 to a 29, filled with various sizes of discus.

On a personal note, I'm a 34 year attorney who lives in the Twin Cities. (There seems to be several of us Twin Cities folks on this board.) My other interests include film, music (all genres, from classical and opera to "modern rock" and everything else in between. And BTW Ryan, I'm a big Sophie B. Hawkins fan and I've been to your sodium fire site.) I also enjoy reading and MST3K(Mystery Science Theater 3000).  So anyone who is interested in these topics, I'd love to exchange e-mails with you and chat some more! Feel free to e-mail me.

I bought my first discus, three Red Turqs, from a LFS and I never looked back.  Currently, I buy my discus from a local breeder, Paul Methven, a very helpful, friendly person.  Some of the strains I have included PB, Blue SS, Cary's dreamsicles, Marlboro Red, Alenquers, Red SS, Blue Turqs, and Red Turqs.

Last weekend, my dad and I went to Detroit and visited Cary's hatchery.  We got some fabulous fish, including some great PB x BD, BD x SS, and Oriental Reds.  I'm really happy with new  fish, and I had a hard time choosing.  And even though he wasn't feeling well that day, Cary was really great, patiently answering my numerous questions.  

I also recently purchased 2 green tefes and 1 heckel.  I really like them I'm enjoying the learning process that comes with wilds.  They ate almsot immediately, so thus far, they're doing all right. (knock on wood.) I want to get some more wild discus now that I've seen Pat's wilds.  (Pat, you'll be hearing from me soon!)

And I got a nice suprise yesterday morning, two PBs spawned in my 75, filled with tap water and several other adult discus.  My weekend project is get a 20 set up for this pair and see what happens next.  I never thought they a pair would spawn under those conditions, but who knows?

That's all for now.  I'll go back to lurking status and I'm looking foward to learning some more from this fabulous board.

Linda

[Ryan]

Linda! It's such a small word (errr... Internet)! I don't think I've ever met anyone else who's been to my Sophie site AND my discus site... lol. As you can see, this is what's keeping me busy, in case you were wondering why Sodium Fire got put on hold. I still work on it though and it'll be a nice detailed site when it's finished. The new album that's coming up should force me to have things finished :)

Welcome to the board. It's great to know I'm not the only person with those two common interests. I just never thought much of Sophie fans as discus keepers I guess!

Ryan

[April]

Linda . welcome.....and sounds like you have alot of nice fish. Any your a lucky girl....getting to go to Carys hatchery....
I don't think you should go back to non-posting status though....Im sure theres things you can add of offer...or just post for the fun and socializing aspect.
;D
Ryan don't we have a down on our knees begging emotican?  ??? ???

[Don_Lee]

RE:  Asian Discus Volume 2

An earlier poster asked about Asian Discus 2, I got mine from UniversalDiscus.com.  If I find something that I actually know about I must post, as there is little in this group of experts that I can post on!  LOL, I do not want to be a junior forever!

Don

;) :coffee: :wave:

[uk_mike]

Hi All,
I haven't posted for a while but as I couldn't see any UK flags in this thread I thought that I had better write something :D
I only have three discus plus an assortment of other fish.  I have four tanks...a 300ltr, 180ltr, 127ltr and a 88ltr.

I am retired (which means I do the housework ;) ), I live in the West Country area of England and I started my discus journey about a year ago.

Regards,
Mike :sunshine:

[Goldfish_in_a_bowl]

Hi Linda and Mike! WELCOME! ;D ;D
the best advice I could ever give anyone.. Okay concerning Discus..... ;)
Was Read and be part of this Great Family!
JUST INCREDIBLE what you can learn and Save you're self Tons of heartache throught Trial and Error.. I myself really like getting stuck on the *ERROR* part of the Deal! LOL
Take care and Glad to see so many new FRESH FACES! :sunshine:
Karen :gorgeous:

RYAN.....oh WYAN..... ;) ;D :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
Who is that man on you're Icon!!!?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO BABY! ROTFLMAO!
You got my Endlers yet? Huh huh huh?? lol
TTYS

[April]

heh sponge bob goldfish bowl lady. nice to seeyou posting !!!!!!!!
Aprils computer is toast! has to go to the emergency room. im using my daughters computer. hence no msn this morning.

[tango0806]

Hello Everyone:

May as well start with us. We just joined a couple
of days ago. My wife and I have been keeping Discus
for 7 years. We consider them supreme and they
are the ONLY fish for us. We enjoy the groups
the information is first rate. If we learn even one
thing new everyday about these beauties we
consider it a good day. We will try to contribute
whenever  possible if it's something that we have
had experience with. Along with our love for Discus
I am an Animal Control Officer, my wife and I both
work in a local shelter, she is the adoption coordinator and our other passion is doing rescue work and finding homes for unwanted dogs and cats.

John & Kathy G.

[Ryan]

Welcome John and Kathy! We're glad to have you aboard to share your experiences, thoughts, and opinions with us! The hobby sure has come a long way in 7 years, hasn't it? Just out of curiosity, what strains do you keep now? And have you changed your approach at all over the years with all the new suggestions, recommendations, etc...? It's always great to hear from people who've been doing this for a while. I wanted discus 7 years ago, but I didn't start actually keeping them until recently.

Ryan

[DarkDiscus]

John & Kathy,

Welcome to the board.  I know I learn something new every day here, so I'm hoping you will too...  Enjoy and thanks for coming to visit!

John

[April]

hI uk mIKE. i KNOW YOU  from dph. glad to see you here.
and welcome. ;D
and nice to meet you John and Cathy. sounds like you guys have alot to offer. we'd love to hear what kinds of discus  you have, etc etc.
so share away!  ;D

[scottwheels]

Hi everyone.  I've been lurking around these posts for a couple of weeks now, as my wife is a member here and she tells me to check out various threads.  Her name is Ari -  I'm sure some of you are familiar with her.  I won't say too much about her, since she will be sure to read this post ;)  We got into discus quite by accident about a year ago, when we bought a pair of 1 1/2" fuji reds.  (Well, that what they were called, I've never come across them since.)  I thought the discus looked great in the heavily planted 500ltr community tank of neons, columbians, pristellas etc, but why did they look black and sit on the bottom??  Why don't they eat with the tetras?  And so began a great journey of discovery into the world of discus ;D  I feel like we have only scratched the surface of the vast pool of knowledge out there!

So now the tetras are relegated to a 3' tank, and we have white pigeons, pb's, marlboro red, SS, golden SS, BD, and red turqs, as well as some weird hybrids like white butterfly x ss x pb (looks like a "golden ribbon"). And of course our trusty fuji red, sadly stunted by our lack of knowledge but a good "doer" all the same.  Our biggest is approaching 4", since we bought all our discus as babies - much cheaper but you don't really know what you have until they grow up a bit.  We don't intend to breed, but with such a mixed bag, we could get some odd couples  ;D.  Now Ari has discovered wild strains, so we need another tank.  Our 120g is bursting at the seams! This one will not be planted - but I like the look of potted swords!

I'm an engineer at a refinery in the Northern Territory that makes Al2O3, the raw material for aluminium (or aluminum for the Americans among us ;)).  There is no road access for 9 months of the year, so I fly in/fly out of Brisbane.  I only see our discus 1 week in every 5 :waaa:.  Since I've been up here, I've discovered a treasure trove of rainbow fish (Melanotaenia trifasciata and M. splendida)  So I have some wild caught rainbows in my quarters here, which are a tough as nails and don't ming being left alone with a holiday block when I go on R&R for a week  ;D.  Of course what I really want is my fix of discus!!! :bounce:

BTW, Ari will string me up for telling you this, but she harbours a secret activity - she keeps ornamental goldfish as well.  For the discus purists, this may well represent the ultimate in wasted tank space, but the little fellas are kind of cute, and they are great feng shui in an octagonal tank!  We also have 3 cats (burmese, red persian and seal point himmy), 2 dogs, (weimerana x wolfhound and GS pointer x dalmatian) and lime fisher (like a peach face lovebird but smaller).  So, no, we don't have human kids!!

Well, thanks for reading this far, and hopefully I can post more as my workload permits (here's hoping my boss has a looooong vacation this time ;D).  I don't know how much help we'll be on this board, but we can always back up other people's arguments!! ;) ;)  Cheers guys, and keep up the postings.  Simply Discus has got to be one of the best forums out there!

Scott

[Ardan]

Hi Scott,
Nice to meet you. Ari tells me you live near Stevo the croc hunter! ANyway she said, I believe, that its not that wild there, but I see it seems you maybe get off the beaten path a bit, so is it wild?? HE HE Just curious about that great land.
Say btw, my wife has some  fancy goldfish in "my", "our" 30 gallon Discus tank, I mean goldfish tank,  They are kind of neat in there own way. I even do the wc!

Nice to hear from you
Take Care
Ardan :sunshine:

[ari_wh]

Hi everyone  :)

My two worlds have colided  :o....... that is my discus world and my private world......... My husband is posting at simplydiscus as well........ Oh well, never mind, I guess.  :-/

Yes, Ardan, we live near the Steve, croc hunter. But where Scott is working is the croc territory. You can't swim in the estuary (spelling?) there where the mangrove is, cause you can actually see salt water crocodile. If you are not careful, you can be his lunch  :waaa:. Some of them are huge!!!! I have not seen them myself, but apparently some of the very big ones are there....... I usually stay away from the mangrove bit . Far too scary for me. And yes, Ardan, it is very remote there....... that is what you call the real 'whoop whoop'. Good fishing though, if you are into outdoor living.

Regards, Ari  ;D

[scottwheels]

Hi Ardan.  Yep, it's frontier territory alright.  The rangers just shot 3 feral buffalo that were chasing golfers (how's that for a hazard?).  I haven't seen any crocs yet, but I'm staying away from the areas they are known to inhabit.  Unfortunately, crocs have been caught in a trap that is set at the same lagoon where I catch my rainbow fish.  I just use a different location each time!  Crocs are cunning creatures that will wait for a pattern of behavior to emerge in their prey to improve their strike rate.  Of course, entering the water is just an open invitation.  I use a bait trap and a net with a looong handle.  Cheers, Scott :cowboy:

[Ardan]

Thanks Scott and Ari,
I will watch from here!! HE HE ;D
Keep me posted on anything of interest. Nice pic!
Ardan :sunshine:

[April]

Hi Scott and welcome. I talk to Ari alot on chat. Nice water buffalo! LOL.
well keep on catching those nice rainbows as Rods waiting for more. but.......I dont want to hear stories later that the rainbows were caught......but Scott is gone!!!!!!  ::) :o
nice to meet you.
and get that tank ready . you really do need more discus!!

[uk_mike]

Hi April  :wave:

Thanks for the welcome......yes you are right, I go to dph quite often (and a few more).

I would encourage anyone who has a question to 'ask away' in a forum,  I have been helped greatly in the past by friends in the forums coming forward to offer advice with different problems I have encountered.

I still have loads of 'stupid' questions but hey...I know that everyone had similar 'stupid' questions a one time....each daft question is a stepping stone to that big storeroom of Discus knowledge.......mind you I've got a long way to go to even get close :D .......... but what a great journey it is  :bounce: :bounce2: :bounce: :bounce2:

Regards from Somerset,

Mike   :sunshine:

[luvfishies]

*whew*!!!!

What a LOT of reading! Nice bunch of discus nuts here, I see.

Well, I'm a "new" discus nut. I just got my first discus about 4 months ago when I happened on what I think were beauties at the LFS. Turns out I don't have too bad an eye. So 3 blue turqs came home and were placed in a lightly planted QT (20g). Of course, 2 ganged up on the 1, so now I have the 2 in a 55g planted with rams, lemon tetras, and a betta for tankmates.

Just 2 weeks ago a well-meaning "african cichlid" friend gifted me with 8 (!!!!!) dime-sized marlboro red x pidginblood fry. He has NO idea what he did! But hey, I could hardly refuse the gift, as they came from Ottawa (about 2.5 hrs from me).

Now the "littles" are in the 20g QT, getting fed 4x daily with 25% daily waterchanges....some are growing faster tha others, but they ALL rush to meet me when I hover over the tank with FOOD! :D The plan is to grow them out and keep the nicest/biggest 3 for the 55 and the lfs gets the rest.

OK....here's the OTHER tanks:
65g mbunas, 13" pleco
33g heavily planted, gouramis, rams, harlequin rasboras, pencilfish, yoyo loaches, clown loaches, clown plecs, corys, and a lace cat
20g QT lightly planted
20g empty/cycled "just in case"
2x10g with breeding kribs, planted, one sand bottomed
10g neolamp brevis, neolamp elongatus brichardis, planted, sand bottomed (the brevis will get their own tank once the grow a little)
5.5g divided, planted, male betta on each side
5.5 planted, sand bottom, female betta, white clouds
2x2.5g planted, male betta.

137g and 110g still in Ottawa...trying to work out the logistics of getting them here and IN the house....ugh...my back hurts just thinking about it!

Oh, and I got my first tank in Feb 2001, fishless cycled it after surfing the net, and now have NO LIFE!!! LOL! Just kidding (about no life, I'm an avid golfer and curler).

And I'm no lurker, just found this board thru Jedds and GLDforum...so off I go to read and absorb whatever I can!

Sorry for the loooong post all.....

[tango0806]

Hello Ryan:

Thank You for the welcome. Yes things have certainly
changed over the years. In the beginning it was touch
and go for me and I almost gave up. Now I tell anyone
who will listen "Hey Discus are not so difficult once
you unlock the key to their needs the rest is easy"
For me the basics are the key.  Proper water parameters
daily water changes, keep it clean, good nutrition and
don't get lazy! Discus are too unforgiven when you
ignore them. Although I like all of them I am partial
to the spotted strains. My wife likes the bright solid
colors. So we pick and choose what we want and now
we have what we feel is a nice collection of different
strains and colors.

Again thank-you for the welcome
John & Kathy G

[April]

heh luvfishies welcome!!!!!!
now go straight to the poll and put in your from canada!!!!!! we're trying to win this thing!!!!! Yahoo another Canadian. We're gonna take over Ardan!!
YOU need to get those tanks moved.....how can you live without them?
just think more fishies for you!!
anyhow....welcome and post away . or at least read away.
;D

[Denny]

hi,

i first found this site when i was having problems with my fish. i appreciate the way everyone goes out of their way to try and help when needed. i have been raising fish of one kind or another for about 26 years(there is no way it could be THAT long) now. i always wanted to have a pet store of my own but that never happened.  now i own a cabinetry shop that keeps me very busy. it is relaxing to come home at the end of the day and see 125 gallons of discus greeting me with the hey! whats for supper? look.

and it's nice to read all the posts when it isn't your fish that are having difficulties (although my little one still won't eat. i think he's doomed but i can't give up).

anyway there isn't much experience that i can add to the topics but if anyone in minnesota or the surrounding area needs a one of a kind display stand built, there i can help. soon as i figure out how to post a picture on here i'll display some of my babies(the wooden ones)

[luvfishies]

Hi denjahn.....as soon as I read what you do I thought "hmmmm I need 2 stands" LOL! What kind of dollars are we talking for a 110g (53"x24") and a 65g (48"x18"). What the heck...toss in for the 137g (60"x24")......

Ugh..I might be sorry I asked..the shipping alone will kill me!

[Denny]

luvfishies,

the stands vary depending on what you want and what it is built with. i am in the process of doing a stand for my 125 gal out of solid black walnut. i build canopies that accomodate retro fit compact fluorescent  kits and can include vents and fans if necessary. an excellent option is to add soft dropping hinges that prevent lids from dropping and scaring your prize fishies to death.

an example of price is a maple stand i have at my lfs that totally encloses a 65 gallon tank on 3 sides so it looks like a built in tv. with the soft down hinges and crown molding on thetop it sells for $700 but it is very trick and custom with 6 coats of finish.

my shop rates are $35/hr plus materials and i build what you can't buy

as for shipping, that will definitely suck! maybe i need to design a knock-down setup so i can ship it flat.

hey how is the weather there? i flew over once on my way to deutchland but all we could see is fog!-go figure

[drleahy]

Hello April et al,

I'm new to this forum and look forward to learning from so many others who share this passion for discus.  It' been almost a year since my 11 discus arrived to my northern MN home from a most excellent breeder, Cary.  Despite numerous misguided efforts by me to perfect a system (ie. water chem, temp, feed, etc.), all 11 have grown and flourished.

My collection of discus is both a cultural mosaic (Canadian) and a melting pot (USA) just like me (USA), my wife(Canada) and three grown boys (both).

I have three M.Reds, two sunrise R., two red T., one snakeskin R., one leopard, one blue T., and one blue H.  Three pairs have already laid eggs, but no wrigglers yet.  (leopard/redT., M.red/blueT. = "melting pot" ) I plan to try raising these wonderful fish once I establish the pairs in breeding tanks.  

My "operation" consists of three 55gal and one 30gal.tanks.  I will soon be installing an R/O system in order to provide optimal conditions in the breeding tank.   I will use one 55 as a grow out tank for the anticipated fry.

I am a former high school principal and teacher for 30yrs./ my wife is a doctor, and the children have all left the nest...........thus opening the door to this exceptional pastime.

Thanks for the opportunity to be part of this forum.

[April]

Well,......Welcome to the forum Dr. Leahy! I'm sure you have some very nice discus seeming they came from Cary.
so whens the next tank going up? LOL.
Glad to hear your wife is Canadian. think that counts enough to add Canada to the poll?
we're trying to win here......but I think we're beginning to trail behind. but.....i feel better now that luvfishies said we have 1/10th the population so in fact we're winning!!!!!
hope to see you around alot.  :fish: :drummer: :thumbsup: :wave:

[taybelZ]

hi Caroline,
glad you made it over to simplydiscus!!!!
Enjoy your stay and next time you see me on msn msg me, so i remeber to send you those pics of mine...
s.Allen tells me you wanted to see them

[luvfishies]

Hi TaybelZ!

Sure will message you!

Hello,
  My name is Miles and I use to raise discus back in the stone age, 79-82. After talking with Gabe and few others I have once again decided to start raising discus. Boy times sure have changed alot of the things I use to do are nowadays big NO, No's. But what the heck it is 2002 and times do change!
 I am a full time airline mechanic that gets my fair share of going places. I did 20 years in the Navy and have seen alot of nice places.
 My present tanks are 1-90, and 4-75 gallons and only the 90 is running, (cycling).
 Miles

[April]

hi and welcome MIles. wow souds like your ahead of the game. you  already have the tanks.!! most of us start off with just that one tank and i will be happy.
and if youget to travel......even better. you can stop by and see hatcheries and pick up fish?
well dont forget to stop in in Vancouver......im surewe have a plane with  mechanical problems somewhere.....
gotta make sure all the planes who bring me my fish are in good working order!! ;D

April,
   Thanks alot. Yes Horizon does fly your way ALL the time.
Miles

[seadude]

Hi everyone,

 I just join last week. Mike from a discus dream force me too  ;D   He is a good guy.  Anyway, I am really happy to meet so many discus hobblists. I work for a high tech company as an electronic circuit design engineer. It's quite a interesting job.

  I started raising discus (12 1" red turq) in my college year. They are so beautiful... Luckily, I am able to raise them up and have 2 very beautiful pairs that breed regularly (about once per month). They help me pay for rent for my last year of college.  I have to sold all of them when I graduate  :(  Need money for a car and stuffs for my new job... wooo... I miss them....

  I just started again last year. I built a small room in my garage. Fill my room with discus. I have about 31 discus now ( 10 peg, 10 Oriental Lep, 5 blue dia and 6 red tur). My pegs is about 6 inch now and two of them seem pairing up.  :D  ;D

 I live in Portland, Oregon and hoping to meet some discus hobblists in the Northwest (OR/WA/ Vancouver)... within driving distance. Love to visit them if they have baby discus for sale.

 That's all for me. Very nice to meet you all.

Regards,
Seadude

[April]

heh welcome seadude. glad to meet someone from our side of north america. i live in vancouver. and no fry yet....but i have most of mikes and carys fish at my house. lots laying so hopefully. but if ever up this way your welcome to come and see . remember ....your money is worth a fortune up here! LOL great place for a holiday.  ;D
well glad mike forced you to join.  :fish: :balloon: :drummer: :thumbsup: :wave: :bounce2: :balloon: :fish: :sunshine:

[seadude]

My gf and I go to whistler during winter every year for snowboarding. Let me know if you have frys, I can pick them up on my way home during next christmas vacation.

Seadude

[DarkDiscus]

Seadude,

Welcome to simplydiscus.  You will fit right in with the discus lunatics here.  Mike was right to force you to come here.  Now you cannot escape!

John

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Seadude:
I live in Oregon too! I'm about 200 miles south of you on I-5.  Jeffrey Doty lives in your neck of the woods.
Carol :heart1:

Seadude,
    Welcome. I live south of ya on I-5 in Albany. I am a mechanic for Horizon Air Line. So I get to Portland (PDX) tuesday - saturday.
Miles

[Carol_Roberts]

Hey Miles - I didn't realize you were from Oregon too! I remember reading the airline mechanic part.  That's quite a communte.  Isn't it more than an hour?
Carol :heart1:

[April]

well there you go.....you oregonians can have your own discus meeting. Carol will supply the paper plates and plastic forks. LOL
seadude. thats great. I hope i do have some discus for you to pick up when you come to whistler. i will aim for it. if not i may be selling some nice ones by then. from some nice breeders.
also jeff doty has fry. and he lives not too far fromyou.
so you better set up a few more tanks!! ;D

Carol,
      Oh what a fun drive it is. Lets put it this way a good day is 1 1/2 and other days pick a holiday will (has) taken 3+ hours one way.
Miles

[seadude]

How can I find Jeff? I try to use the search engine, but got 0 result. Is he live in Portland/Beaverton Oregon?? Can someone tell me how to contact Jeff please?? Thanks.

Seadude.

[Carol_Roberts]

Here is a link to one of Jeff's first posts here.  click on his name and you will get his bio with e-mail
http://www.simplydiscus.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=contests;action=display;num=1018109 691

Carol :heart1:

[seadude]

Thanks Carol, Jeff really live very close to me. I work in Hillsboro. Maybe I will drop by his place some time after work.

Seadude

[mikeos]

Hi guys,

Finally found an extensive diskus site, great.

about me... 41, married & 1 son aged 7, Just getting back into fishkeeping after several years, & loving it. ;D ;D

currently keeping red turquoise highfins & sunset tigers, still small but growing fast. 8)

Have visited on several occasions & decided I had to join after reading so much good advice :D

How about a chat room?

other intrests are malawi's & Rams & fish & fish....... i am currently planning a fish house & advice would be appreciated.

[April]

welcome MIke! glad your getting back into fish. ;D
where is your flag from?
we are indeed planning a chat room. just had a few very busy months. but i will get that whip our after
Ryan as alot have been asking. :computer: :whip:
im sure there are some here who have a fish house or room who can help you with ideas.  ;D

[mikeos]

Hi April

flag is for Wales in the UK

[April]

great. cool flag. ;D

[jhinze]

I only found this site a couple days ago when I found the GLD site/forum.

I'm in the process of learing about Discus in the hopes of getting a new tank in here to begin keeping them. So far I'm quite intrigued.

I was peppering the folks on GLD forum with a number of questions (thanks steelhead) before it was temporarly??? closed. :(

[DarkDiscus]

Jhinze,

Research first is always the best way to jump into any new aquarium projects.  I'm sure you will find a lot of useful information here!

Welcome!

John

[April]

Jhinze . welcome aboard. and i hope you do enjoy your visits and learn alot from us here. dont be afraid to ask questions so you can get everything set up and ready for your new fish.  ;D
and keep us posted on when you get your first fish. we all love hearing about everyones new babies.  ;D

[TOMMY]

Hello Everybody!!!  My name is Tom and I am a Discusaholic!!!    8) 8) 8)  :P

[April]

Hi Tom! glad you can admit you are a discaholic !!
tell us about your fishies? how many do you have and are you on your first tank or are you counting tanks in your sleep?  ;D
glad to have you aboard.
hope you enjoy your visits. and jump right in. the waters fine.  ;D

[TOMMY]

Well..... let's start a year ago my other half gave me a 45g for my birthday and there went my life...down the python!!!  ;D ;D ;D
I now have a 72g bow with an assortment of 10 discus collected from here and there...    my 45g moved into our bedroom housing whatever my mate decides to buy and a 29g breeder replacing the unused bar!  I have a 2.5g betta tank housing 3 crowntail bettas (Red, white & blue) and my latest addition... a baby red-eared snapper in the guest room.

Lord grant me the strength to continue to change(water), the knowledge to know what I can't (my love for the fishies) and the wisdom to know their illnesses!

Thanks for the grand welcome! I'm happy to be here! ;)  And yes, the water feels great!

[DarkDiscus]

Tom,

You'll fit in very well here in discus junkie heaven!

Welcome aboard!

John

[TOMMY]

Thanks guys!!!  I'm feeling at home already!!!   So when is that next shipment coming in???  ;) ;) ;)

[DarkDiscus]

Tom,

Heh.  You'll do just fine!

:fish:

John

[Aquatic_Design]

Hi everyone!
I only recently found this forum and really like it. Everyone is so nice here. :)
I have only had discus for about the last 8-9 months and I really love them. I have had angelfish for a long time and never thought I would have anything alse. I now find myself looking at the angelfish and wondering how many more discus I could get if I get rid of the rest of them. I know the day will come soon when the last four tanks of angels will be switched over to discus.

I look forward to learning everything I can from this forum and keeping my discus happy and healthy with that info.

Donna

[April]

Hi donna and welcome.  ;D
sounds like your having alot of fun with that new discus family of yours.
shall we all make a bet how long teh angels get to room and board at your house?
actually though......if they breed they can pay for your discus' food and new tanks?

[DarkDiscus]

Donna,

You're right in line!  Who needs angels when there are DISCUS!  

I got rid of all my other fish except my pair of Nicaraguans that I've had forever.  Even then I still wonder how many more discus I will buy when they go to the big fishbowl in the sky!

John

[TOMMY]

Awww...... that's not nice! *:( :( * *All living creatures need a home. *That is why instead of getting rid of my community tank in the bedroom, I'm getting rid of my bed! *That is the only way I can make room for my upcoming discus fries! *:P :P :P * Anyone in the market for a 6 month old queen size poster bed??!!!

[April]

Tommy. sure....i could use one as i got rid of my bed, couch, kitchen table etc etc. only furniture that got to stay was furniture that could withstand the weight of water. now im moving.....and gotta replace! ;D
perhaps you can sleep standing up in a closet?

[Aquatic_Design]

Thanks for the welcome.
I can tell you that the angels are getting nervous. They have noticed that some of their friends have been disappearing and I'm sure they're wondering if they are next. I have a 55g and 3-40br that still have angels. I REALLY want to get rid of the angels and have those tanks for future discus.
Maybe soon.  ;D

Donna

[TOMMY]

April! That is what those futons are for! They fold up nicely into a sofa so you can just sit there being mesmerized by their beauty.  When you get tired you simply pull the thing out and turn it into a bed!  :o :o

Donna! What types of angels do you have? Are you selling them or are they up for adoption?


-Tom-

[mikeos]

Hi all, esp Tom & Donna,

nice to know I am not alone with my addiction  ;D
how do you persuade thw other half to let you have tanks everywear?

Wheres ther spll chequer gorn?

[DarkDiscus]

Mike Os

How do you persuade the other half to let you carry on with the addicion?

Bribery, begging and anything else you can think of!

Welcome to the board!

John

[TOMMY]

You don't ask them...... you just do it!  Make sure you have at least 4 hours.  Go get all the equipment ready first.  As soon as they leave start setting up. If you are bare-bottoming it would be even faster.  Next take water from an established tank (as if to do a water change) and put it in the new one.  Hook all heaters, filters, lights, UV's.   Throw the fish in.  Fill up the other tank.  When the other half argues, tell them to MOVE it if they can!    Works for me all the time!.....also helps that my other half doesn't dislike animals!  

HTH - Tom-

[DarkDiscus]

Tom,

Heh.  I wish it was that simple!  I'd have 50 tanks.

John

[TOMMY]

John, I have to admit that sometimes it pays to lie, cheat & steal to at least get to where you're going..... the payback is the hard part! *::) ::) ::)
In this case I can deal with the payback...... beautiful, beautiful fishies! *Now no one can say no to that!
What do you need 50 tanks for? Were you thinking about going into business??*
-Tom-

[mikeos]

50 tanks ==Heaven,  well nearly,  ;D

so many fish, so little spacemmike

[Aquatic_Design]

Tom,
The angels are for sale or trade. Right now what I have left are close to breeding size german blue blushers, chocolate german blues, a marble pearlscale, and some nickle to quarter size koi angels.

Mike,
I think I just have the best husband in the world. He pretty much let's me do whatever I want and I TRY not to take advantage of that fact. When my husband and I met he had never had a pet before. Then he married me and acquired my entire crew. We have two horses, twelve Jack Russell Terriers, one German Shepard, and now quite a few discus. I couldn't believe when he gave up his garage to me for some of my tanks! I think he figures that way I will at least limit the tanks inside to the four that are in here now.

Donna

[ari_wh]

Well, what my husband did was getting into the hobbies and then moved away for work (he is working 4 weeks away and 1 week back). So, I have to look after the fish.... and of course, since I love fish to begin with.... I am hooked. So now, I am more a discus addict than him.... And now I am the one who is moving furniture to fit more fish tanks in.... Funny that !!!!!! ::)

Regards, Ari  ;D

[DarkDiscus]

Ari,

Maybe your husband is a REALLY smart guy and he planned it all along!

I have to think about trying that!

John

[mohorny]

Hello April and to all members of Simplydiscus forum.

I   :crazy: have been a guest, gawker,  or onlooker on

this forum for the past 4 months, looking for tips and

advise of how to raise demanding discus.  Athough I

were not a memeber of this forum at that time, I had l

learnt a lot and still am learning the do and don't on how

to raise discus successfully by reading messages posted

by  members of this forum.  I whole-heartily thank all

contributing memebers of Simplydiscus who have been

my guiding light into demanding hobby of this discus

keepings.  :crazy: :waaa: :funny: :scared: :sunshine: :blockhead: :fish: :balloon: :noway: :bounce: :bomb: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gorgeous: :santa: :rolleyes: :mickey: :flame: :wave: :jester:

One important I learnt about raising discus is the

important of water changes affect health of discus.  In

the past prior to coming to this forum, I did wc  5 gallons

every two weeks.  That's not adquate. I used to buy

drinking water to do wc on my 50 gallon tank.  

Everytime I changed water, discus shed their slime and

stress. I now condition tap water in a garbage container to do wc.  

MY water's paramters

are:

PH: 6.4 to 6.6

Hardness: I don't know because I don't have a  

conductivity meter ( I don't intend to breed discus).

Filtration: Fluval 404 - it's pain to do maintance on filter,

but I like the way it performs.

I had used peat to lower PH from 8.0+ tap water to 6.4,

but determined that it was a mess.  Following advises

given by members of this forum, I now use muriatic acid

to lower PH and aerate  water in a garbage container

before putting it in aquarium - it has been working

fantastic eversince; my discus are happy campers.  In

the past, discus I kept in the tank died in a year or two

because they succumbed to disease eventhough my

tank had sufficient filtrations.  Finally, My sincere thanks

to all members of this forum including moderators:April,

Carol_Roberts, DarkDiscus, Beth_A.  All members of this

forum, SimplyDiscus, had helped me enjoy my discus

hobby to the fullest and definitely a less costly ones.

(discus are expensive.)

[DarkDiscus]

MH,

Glad we could help out!  And welcome to the forum, even though you've been here for a while, in secret.

Thanks for the kind words and we're all glad your fish are much happier!

John

[luvfishies]

Aquatic Design, check your PMs..I'm interested in angels. I love my discus, but angels are pretty special too!

Welcome all the lurkers..I still don't post much....but READ READ READ and then READ some more!

Do I count?

[brewmaster15]

Welcome back Steve :)
-al

[gump]

Donna....
Your husband gave up the garage for more tanks!!!! It must be love.. hang on to him LOL... I would have to draw the line there I think!  
Pierre

[April]

Mohorny. nice to meet you and i am very pleased that you have learnt to care for your babies from us. that is what we want this forum to be all about. for the people to learn and enjoy thier discus. with better care and better health you have a much better experience and can have  a very enjoyable hobby. i always tell everyone you need to go by their smiles on their faces. once you learn to see a happy well discus....you just know when its time for a water change and alot of times you can go by a sense that they need something.
keep on posting and reading....and dont be afraid to ask.

Discus_Dude. of course you count.....and its about time you stoppped lurking and got posting again.  ;D ;D
hows the fish buying going? did you fill your hatchery back up with fish yet? are you in full tilt?
tell us what you have going and if you got any new fishies in your life lately?

[Pamela]

Hello all,

Well, I guess now I am officially a non-lurker  ;D (you shamed me into it  :P)

Little about myself - I've had aquariums for almost 20 years.  Started out with the typical beginners unsuccessful 10 gallon community tank.  Over the years had black-veil angels, fancy goldfish, a small-mouth bass, sunfish, and ending with a large community with angels and various tetras.  I moved from Oregon to Southern California in December and set up a 80 gallon planted discus tank.  Made some beginners mistakes - started with 3 Marlburo reds.  After a month, 1 of them (being very aggressive) had tripled in size while the other 2 stayed the same.  Decided to add 2 more (blue diamonds) and things got a little better, but started netting the dominent Marlburo while the others ate.  (Boy, did that make him mad)  After another 2 weeks, I added 2 more - making a total of 7 discus - and things have mostly gotten peaceful now.  In April, I upgraded my lighting system (now have 3 40-watt strips) and bought my first computer.  Have learned more since than I learned from my 20 years experience and all the books I have bought.  I added DIY Co2 - now have so much growth I now longer have anywhere to put anymore starts!!  So, currently I have my 80 gallon, heavily planted tank containing 7 discus, about 12 rummynose tetras, half dozen blackwidow tetras, a couple of neons (whats left after one of discus learned how to stalk them!), 1 clown loach, and a couple of cory cats.  Need to get an algae eater.  I also have a 20 gallon set up ready to move 2 of my Marlburo Reds that have been laying into soon as I get a sponge filter (probably this weekend).  Anything else?  Oh, keep my ph at 6.2 - 6.5, KH 5.  Have 2 filters on tank, Fluval 204, and Penguin 330.  Change 25-30 gallons water about every 3 days, 5 gallons tap - the rest RO.  The tap water here is like liquid rock.   Have a 45 gallon in storage that I plan on setting up soon as we find a bigger house.

Hope that was not too long winded.   ;)

Pamela

[TOMMY]

Welcome Pamela. Sounds like a nice set-up.
How big were your discus when you added the CO2?

-Tom-

[Pamela]

Hi Tom,  

Reread my post (should have proofread), should clarify that the plants have taken off growing  ;D although the fish are still growing too.  Most of my discus are around 4 inches + now.  I have 1 runt (1 1/2") - probably because its one of the original hiders (although the other one is still growing).  When I can set up my 45-long, I will probably put the 3 Marlburo reds in it, and leave the 4 blues in the 80 gallon.  If I would have had a computer when I set up my tank, I would have bought my discus from a dealer on-line, instead of LFS.  Maybe someday - but everyone is doing well now, so there is no reason to replace any of them.

Pamela

[DarkDiscus]

Pamela,

Welcome to non-lurkerhood!  

Glad to have you!

As for your set up, it sounds pretty good to me.  It's tough to jump right to discus in a planted tank, but you seem to have done it as well as can be expected.  It's tough to get them to grow well in planted environments, from what I hear, but clearly it can be done with lots of W/C and TLC!

John

[April]

hi Pamela. welcome. glad to see you have a computer and can join us. I learnt alot from reading all the forums.
if you ever get pics.....we'd love to see them
;D

[Pamela]

Thankyou John,

I know I would probably be better off with a bb - the breeding tank I set up is - but I don't want a bb tank in my living room.  Have always loved plants, now in love with discus too.  Realize I am probably sacrificing some size on the discus in the planted tank - but willing to make the comprimise as long as the discus stay healthy.  I set the parameters for the discus first - plants second.  If a plant doesn't do well in the acid water and high temps, I toss it and try another. (and I have tossed plenty!)  I also feed my discus 4 or 5 times a day, even though it means I have to be alot more deligent about my cleaning.  So far I have been lucky - no major illnesses to contend with and no fish losses.  Double knock on wood  :juggle:   Am so glad I got my computer - now I have a place to go if I do have problems!!!   ;D

Pamela