My tank and its new Discus

[krandrus]

These are the first photos of my fish. I love to see all of your photos and I would like your feedback on my new fish. As they are my first fish I would like to know if they are considered good shapes ect, and whether I can expect them to grow out properly (ie. not already stunted). The fish are currently 2-3"s long body length, not including tail. According to my LFS owner all of these fish are from Thailand, I hear that is not always a good thing - so does it appear that these were hormoned? I really appreciate your feedback, but please don't grind me for having non-biotope fish in there with them (the rainbows are very calm around the discus and the tank is very mellow).

Here is their debut.

[krandrus]

My Turqs...

[krandrus]

second turq

[krandrus]

PB - what will he grow up like?

[krandrus]

My BD - his colors picked right up when I brought him home.

[krandrus]

My snakeskin - can anyone tell me if he is a red or a blue? I am confused about this!

[krandrus]

Here is the second one

[krandrus]

Finally a group shot... you can see the cobalt here as well. Thanks for looking at my pics. I hope you can give me some feedback.

Kevin

[pcgamer02]

What kind of plants do you have in there? I assume your not runnig co2 or anything. I'd like to do a tank with easy to grow plants. Having a non BB tank might be trouble with juv discus. Good luck though, looks like a really nice setup.

[krandrus]

I have had good luck with plants so far in a fairly low light aquarium. Just over 1 watt per gallon and indirect sunlight. I believe the 3 secrets were laying down a 2 inch thick layer of laterite over the base of the soil, using flourish excel as well as the comprehensive, and using hardier plants.

The plants I am using are Jungel val, amazon swords, dwarf sageteria, bacopa monierri, Hydrocotyle leucocephala. I have a second Bacoba species in there that was damaged when I treated the tank with salt, other than that they are all thriving for me under these conditions and I am already having to pinch off growth.

The Jungel Val loves the Flourite and has spread enough shoots that it has tripled in number, I would caution you I have to trim it once a week and I would probably go with Spiral val next time as it does not grow as tall. The Hydrocotyle Leucocephala is the main ground cover and it has probably grown 400% since I purchased it. It is very resilient to the discus foraging in it as well. The amazon sword really likes the higher temperatures and has put out a runner since I increased the temperature. I have found I have mediocre luck with the dwarf sageteria, I like the look of it so I keep it but I have heard that it does not flourish due to the local water.

This is the second aquarium that I have used this combination of easy plants and flourite and it has worked well. I have never used CO2 and with my low light it appears that the flourish excel provides adequate carbon. Some more experienced plant keepers may want more exotic species, but I believe this looks beautiful.

I still have not heard much feedback on my fish. Could readers please tell me if I got half decent stock. They are looking healthier and healthier and I am going to try and buck the trend and grow out beautiful fish in a planted tank.

[Valik]

Very nice set of fish, I like them alot, especially that second snakeskin. Is that a little ram in there with them? I like him a lot, that is a extremely nice looking show tank!
Matt

[krandrus]

Thanks Valik,

I really hope that I can grow them out to their full potential. I have read alot about the problems with planted tanks. I hope with good care I do not have those problems.

I am thinking about trading in the Boesmani rainbows for either another discus or some panda cory's. Any opinions on that? At present the boesmanis only excite things when there is surface feeding, so I have taken the approach of thawing all food so it sinks and soaking pellets so they sink. That way the discuss can graze off of the bottom undisturbed?

Kevin

[Howie_W]

Hi krandrus,

Congratulations on your new fish! They all look quite nice.

What is your feeding and water change regimen? What are feeding, and how many times a day? All of this has an enormous impact on growing out your fish. It's certainly much more difficult to grow out and bulk up juveniles in a healthy tank.

Howie

[falcon]

Krandrus, you have a nice setup there. The fish look nice too. A couple of them might not be considered perferct as far as their shape(by some people's standards), but don't worry I have a couple less than perfect too. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The most important thing is that you like them and you enjoy them. When you want to breed them and sell them that's another story.

Now as far as the setup...

Had jouvies of various sizes in a planted 120g, community tank. Some didn't make it and the last four I have moved to a bb, 30g tank that I have setup to grow them out. Not sure at this stage how they will grow and I think a couple of them got stunted in the planted tank.

My experience hasn't been too rosy going the planted tank route but I hope yours is better. I don't know if other tankmakes contributed to the problem.

I left two 5-6" turq in the planted tank but find that they're hiding a lot and I suspect 'cause of luck of companion and am in a process of shopping for two more discus in the above 5" range.

I think on the plus side, it's good that all of the discus are similar size.

falcon

[krandrus]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I understand that the fish I have do not have perfect shape. I was under the understanding that this was part of their age. I have seen truly stunted fish in some LFS and these guys do not come close. Should I have been looking for perfectly round circles in 2.5 inch fish?

To answer your questions I have been feeding 3-4 times a day and doing a 30 percent water change 3 times a week (I try and do a change every second day. I have been feeding Wei Fen discus bits (I think that is how you spell it), blood worms, daphnia and mysis shrimp. Mixing it all up.

I think that I have decided to trade in the Rainbows.

So tell me honestly, for juevies should I be looking for fat little circles?

Kevin

[jules]

Hi Krandus very nice tank; being lightly planted makes it easier to vacuum the substrate.

Here's a link on discus selection:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=14703

[Howie_W]

So tell me honestly, for juevies should I be looking for fat little circles?

Kevin


Hi Kevin,

In a word, yes. Discus should look nice and round. This is only a tiny portion of what to look for. Other obvious things to look for; nice round, clear eyes that are not too big, chiped etc. The forehead should not be too thin, and curve gradually from the mouth, no hump etc. Another common defect are poor fins; ventral and dorsals should look strong, and not broken, or uneven.

There are many additional traits to look for, and your best bet is to get a couple good books that cover this in detail. Many juvenile discus do not have that perfect round look, but end up growing into that type of body.

Given your current water regimen, your Discus will never reach their full potential...large daily water changes are a must, along with removing any uneaten food. This why people use bare bottom to grow out their fish properly.

Howie

[krandrus]

Thank you for the feedback so far. Based on your input and that of the 2 LFS owners I have traded in the Rainbows. It was a hard decision. I become attached to my fish. Especially that beautiful group of Bosemani's, but it will at least lower the bio-load.

I will take your advice and try and increase my water change regime to daily. Unfortunately the plants are going to stay. We only have one tank and it is important to us that it be planted. Maybe in the future I will try barebottom.

Has anyone succeded in a planted aquarium? What were the secrets.

Kevin

[hooha]

I like the setup of your plants. It works well IMO

Did you have any compatibility problems between the rainbowfish and the discus? I'd like to consider putting rainbows in eventually with my discus, but the australian rainbows that I have in another tank are too agressive with feeding to fit well with discus.

If you have room for another 30 or 45 gallon tank, keep your eye out for a used tank, you should be able to get one for 15-20 bucks. Add a heater, air pump and sponge filter for another 20-30 bucks.

[krandrus]

Hey,

As I siad in my last post I traded in the rainbows yesterday. Rainbows are agressive surface feeders, but they do not feed off of the bottom much. As a result they were really good provided I fed sinking food. They only scared the discus flashing to the surface.

The rainbows were really good dither fish, and I can see that the discus are definitely more nervous now that they are gone. Hopefully this will change in the future and they will settle down once they forget about the rainbows. I know one thing, I have to feed half as much now that the rainbows are gone. They were little pigs even with the 4 times a day feedings.

To those of you who are following this post, I can definitely see that my fish have grown rounder over the past two weeks. I will get pictures again soon to illustrate the difference. In exchange for the rainbows I picked up a 3 inch red rose discus. The red rose has high fins and looked really good in the store, but it has quite large eyes.

Kevin

[1977]

Those are nice looking discus, especially for a lfs! Those ss have real potential, they are red ss.