pls. help me dude

[cheguevarra]

hi i'm so happy that i've found this website guys i really need your help cause i'm planning to get back to my hobby again which is discus keeping this would be my second attempt in keeping this variety of fish cause the first one didn't went up nicely. I first kept it back in 1999 but unfortunately they all died of some fungal desease all i can say is that their bodies were covered with white somewhat slimmy crap and the other one wow the head is just rotting man so i need all the help that i can get so that i could back to my favorite hobby with joy and happiness, and not end up losing all that i've worked for so guys i need your help by giving me tips on regarding basic care, desease prevention, diagnosis and cure and water condition for optimal growth pls. guys i need your help and maybe i could return back the favor in case u ask something that i some knowledge cause i'm currently studying marine biology so guy hope to read your replies sooon

[April]

hi. welcome. perhaps this should be in general.....more responses.
glad your trying again.
first thing id do is get a nice group from one breeder and all at one time.
not 3 here and 2 here etc. safer for not getting viruses.

and get a group of 6 or more. how big is your tank?
tell us what you have in mind...and you will get lots of good advice.

where do you live? check out the banners here. mike(a discus dream) and cary(great lakes discus) are great....if you want to do an order to be shipped. they both have taught me alot and taken the time to help me out. they can also help you along the way...if you have questions.
they post on the forum.

[DarkDiscus]

Che,

I'd suggest that you read as much of the site as you possibly can, then formulate some specific questions.

General discus rules are:

1) Lots of Water changes. Perferably 20+% daily.
2) 1 fish per 10 gallons stocking levels.
3) Start out with bare bottom tanks for optimal cleanliness.
4) Like April said, buy all your fish from one source at the same time. Any new fish must be quaranined for at least 6 weeks.
5) Lots of good quality food.
6) Pay attention to your fish daily and keep track of any problems.

If you can commit to these rules, you should be fine with your discus.

Let us know how you are doing!

John

[larry lob]

hi,

welcome to the board first and second gulp!!!!

sounds like the fish you had suffered from hole in the head, fungus, velvet, and probably a whole host of other problems.

1st things 1st your tank needs to be set up and running for about 4 weeks b4 introducing your discus prefrably with some hardy run of the mill fish to get the bactiria up and running.

the water peramiters should be .... Ph. 6 - 7.....GH 4 - 14 no ammonia less than 0.1mg N/Ltr nitrite and 0 - 5 mg/l nitrate water temp between 84 - 88 F. if your tap doesn't produce these peramiters then you can filter, chemicaly control or buy a reverse osmosis unit to filter your water.

diet should be varyed try some good flake, frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp, myisis shrip, black worm, spinach and there are many pellets too. feed little often and varied.

don't over fill your tank with fish not forgetting they will grow so calculate a rule of thumb to be 1 fish per 10 gallons of water for adults.

as too desiase there are many and many symptoms which you can find info on in the disease section of this site.

the main thing is 1st find good healthy fish that approach the front of the front of the tank and don't hide, fish that breath equally through both gills, don't be shy to ask question... how long they had em, where they got em, how old they are, what water are they keeping them in and anything else you want to know.
second is great not good water plenty of water changes and clean the tank.
3rd food as mentions and definatly not last but observation of the fish, look for signs and learn them 90% of the time you will notice a problem b4 it becomes one.

read lots listen loads and keep up a routine you should be fine.

good luck and take care.

Larry

[cheguevarra]

thanks guys for replying, well currently live in davao city philippines right now and our water quality right here is one of the cleanest in the world. I heared that it has been ranked as second cleanest water in planet so i have no prob. in our water quality and the temp is a constant 80 to 85 degrees so no problem on heating the water. i've recently finished my inorganic chemistry which i expect that would really help me in water quality analysis and i'm planning to take up analytical chem next. semester so that would really help me in understanding water quality. but right now my primary concern is how pick a good discus from a great one. and i'm not concerning yet in breeding discus cause my primary concern right now is keep them alive and healthy. the water parameters that all you guys gave me really helped me a lot on visualizing the water quality discus demands, I know for the fact that if your keeping discus in your fish tank and you could provide them with healthy habitat you could be considered as an advanced aquarist. and right now i'm giving this hobby a second shot to see if i would up to the challenge, and rifht now i want to ask you guys how physically identify a good fish from a great one hope to read from you guys soon thanks in advance

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi cheguevarra,

I am glad you are taking the time to do your research and have decided to get back into discus. Anyway on your question regarding selecting discus, i have an article that I wrote just on this exact topic:

http://www.geocities.com/discusmagic/articles/chapter5.html

I hope it is a good start. Feel free to ask more questions and good luck!

PS. I wrote the article/learnt about discus selection after I purchased my discus so my discus are not that good of an example of shape...
Chong

[RAWesolowski]

Mabuhai Che,

Thanks for joining. You may want to go to the following thread that is located on this board under "Special Topics" as "Discus Crtiticisms". It has a nice flow about the perceived positive and negative traits of discus:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=2312

[Rikk]

hi cheguevarra

just read everything here and you won´´t make any mistakes

but if any thing goes wrong just mail us, we will be there
good luck with the second attempt and be patient

[cheguevarra]

Mabuhai Che,

Thanks for joining. You may want to go to the following thread that is located on this board under "Special Topics" as "Disc
us Crtiticisms". It has a nice flow about the perceived positive and negative traits of discus:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=2312



kumusta thanks for the help kabayan now i'm quite confident that i won't screw up this time i'll keep you all guys posted on how's my fishes are doing and by the time that i'm gonna take up my icthiology class i'll keep you posted so that i could return the favor once again salamat

[cheguevarra]

hello there anyone who knows discus pls feel free to write something cause i really need it

[EthanCote.com]

Hi,

My best advice for you is to take your time and read throught Simply. There are tonnes of useful info here.

And ofcourse, if you have specific questions, then please feel free to ask, since we are all here to help.


Cheers,

Chi.

[peety]

Words from a novice and a backyard full of catfood.....

Dont worry about the quality of discus yet worry about keeping them alive ::)

Get past the six month barrier then go for broke....

WC are a killer when you need to be out of town for a week and no one realises you actually meant daily ::)

peety