catdoc
07-29-2003, 11:48 PM
I've long been fascinated by discus and wanting to try my hand at them, always being scared off by the way they are made out to be so fragile. My other fish/tanks are thriving, so I'm doing something right. Started thinking again about the discus and jumped the gun. I know I deserve a good scolding, but I purchased some discus at the ACA auction and now I'm in panic mode that I've really done the wrong thing. I bought a wild-caught green (sub-adult or stunted adult, I'm guessing) and 2 juvenile red turquoise. Several problems already, hope I can remedy them quickly.
1. Tank situation: wanting to move them into my 30-gallon tank until I can get the big tank (125+) I've been looking for. Right now, there are 5 angels I've been growing out in there. I can move them into the 55 with their parents but I'm concerned that the 30 still won't be safe for the discus due to the potential for angel-transmitted diseases. Do I need to treat the tank once the angels are relocated or can I go ahead and put the discus in there. (For now, they are in a teensy 10-gallon with a cycled sponge filter, 2 plastic plants and just enough gravel to block their reflections from the bottom. Need to move them asap,obviously.)
2. Eating: they aren't. At least not as well as I'd like. The juvies sampled some frozen bloodworms, but not much. They also tasted some sinking granules. I finally convinced the larger one to eat several live mosquito larvae (collected from a rubbermaid container that I've got in the backyard, full of driftwood that I'm trying to get waterlogged so it'll sink). Hope the larvae weren't too awful an idea but this guy needs to eat something. Spoke with my LFS owner today (her shop was closed but I was able to talk to her) and going to pick up some blackworms or other live food tomorrow. Recommendations?
3. Poor judgement on my part: Don't think I'll buy at an auction again, too hard to eval the fish prior to purchase. The wild-caught is not in the best of shape and maybe not worth my effort--head has the "sunken" look that I now know is bad. What do I do? All I read is that you want to avoid fish that look like this, but nothing that says what it MEANS. Does it mean he's been malnourished or has parasites or something else altogether?
Go ahead and flame me, as I know I deserve it. Never never never buy fish unprepared... I know better and screwed it up anyway. :(
They are being kept at 86F, pH 7.0, well-cycled sponge filter, unlit tank in a room with a lot of natural light. Ummm, what else...daily water changes but that's only been 48 hrs. Water hardness 3 degrees (tap). Not offering food too often yet since I haven't found what they like and didn't want to foul the water too much.
Any help greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading all I can find.
Christy
1. Tank situation: wanting to move them into my 30-gallon tank until I can get the big tank (125+) I've been looking for. Right now, there are 5 angels I've been growing out in there. I can move them into the 55 with their parents but I'm concerned that the 30 still won't be safe for the discus due to the potential for angel-transmitted diseases. Do I need to treat the tank once the angels are relocated or can I go ahead and put the discus in there. (For now, they are in a teensy 10-gallon with a cycled sponge filter, 2 plastic plants and just enough gravel to block their reflections from the bottom. Need to move them asap,obviously.)
2. Eating: they aren't. At least not as well as I'd like. The juvies sampled some frozen bloodworms, but not much. They also tasted some sinking granules. I finally convinced the larger one to eat several live mosquito larvae (collected from a rubbermaid container that I've got in the backyard, full of driftwood that I'm trying to get waterlogged so it'll sink). Hope the larvae weren't too awful an idea but this guy needs to eat something. Spoke with my LFS owner today (her shop was closed but I was able to talk to her) and going to pick up some blackworms or other live food tomorrow. Recommendations?
3. Poor judgement on my part: Don't think I'll buy at an auction again, too hard to eval the fish prior to purchase. The wild-caught is not in the best of shape and maybe not worth my effort--head has the "sunken" look that I now know is bad. What do I do? All I read is that you want to avoid fish that look like this, but nothing that says what it MEANS. Does it mean he's been malnourished or has parasites or something else altogether?
Go ahead and flame me, as I know I deserve it. Never never never buy fish unprepared... I know better and screwed it up anyway. :(
They are being kept at 86F, pH 7.0, well-cycled sponge filter, unlit tank in a room with a lot of natural light. Ummm, what else...daily water changes but that's only been 48 hrs. Water hardness 3 degrees (tap). Not offering food too often yet since I haven't found what they like and didn't want to foul the water too much.
Any help greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading all I can find.
Christy