My first Discus tank

[ed8t]

It’s been about a year in reading and planning for my first Discus tank and a little over a week with my new fish. Without Simply, I wouldn’t have even thought about keeping these beautiful fish…all the reference books I’ve read seem so dated now.

I’m using Carol’s guidelines for my set-up:
65 gallon bare-bottom
300 watt heater
48” shoplight, 6500k tubes
AC500 with sponge and Biomax rings
2 Hydro IV sponges

Overkill on the filtration but if the fish are smiling, I’m not complaining :)

A visit to April gave me invaluable info about water changes and how to deal with our local water. She set me straight early onwards about where I should and should not buy my fish.

A big thanks to all the other Simply members who were kind and patient enough to answer my IM to them about their set-ups.

Another big thanks to Jason @ Superior Discus for raising such awesome fish and being so patient while I waited for my tank to cycle. I’ll see if I can post some pics...

[ed8t]

The flight from Jason’s airport to ours took about 9 hours. I was a little anxious waiting and knowing that the plane already touched down and the babies were not waiting there for me to pick-up. An hour and a half later they handed me my box. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait any longer to clear customs for my first online fish purchase.

[ed8t]

So safely back at home, believe what everybody else says…sure felt like Christmas came early. The box was well packed, the outside box was dry:

[ed8t]

Gotta feed those babies:

[ed8t]

So where’s the fish? A wee bit nervous about acclimation, but I followed Jason’s recommendations to the letter

[ed8t]

Siblings?

[ed8t]

Gotta admit, my biggest fear were the fish surviving the night, but the fish were fairly active and hungry the following morning.

There’s so many strains to choose from but I decided on a blue theme with just a little splash of colour:

5 Blue SS
3 BD
2 Gold based fish (I think PB SS – have to double check with Jason)

Jason’s tanks were full over the summer and I did what I could to help him reduce his stock. :) I ordered all 2” juveniles. From what I could tell, the BD are a little over 2”, the Blue SS and the PB are between 2.5 to 3.5" :)

Of course I’m biased, but to this newbie’s untrained eye, these fish look awesome. I especially like the BD, they’re really cute and quite spunky. The smaller fish are hearty eaters, the bigger fish are showing a little more restraint and being a bit more picky.

The group a week later:

[ed8t]

A little better lighting:

[ed8t]

Some size differences

[ed8t]

I think this is a gold based PB SS

[ed8t]

Maybe I should have ordered a few more Blue Diamonds?

[ed8t]

A little dark...

[ed8t]

o.k. last BD pic

[ed8t]

This bad boy is my largest fish, Blue SS, he has the most colour so far

[ed8t]

It has been a great purchase and learning experience and thanks again to Jason for making it go so smoothly. Still lots more to learn...

[maestro]

Wow thanks for the pics, enjoyed them loads, can i ask a coupel of q's

What type of filter is an ac500? ive heard them mentioned alot, is it a hang on type or evena canister? :confused:

Oh and what does blue SS stand for, im sorry i havent yet learnt all the the starins yet!

[Eddie]

I'm assuming an Aqua Clear 500

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I'm sorry, but to be blunt none of the pics are Snakeskins(SS). The eyes are a bit large in proportion to the body but with some TLC they should be okay. Some fish have clamped fins which might be a sign of something wrong. The Blue SS (Blue Snakeskins) might carry the genetics from the SS but it's definitely not Snakeskins. It looks like a Turq. SS has 14 stress bars.


Dan

[ed8t]

The AC500 is an AquaClear 500 hang on the back power filter made by Hagen. It has been rebadged and packed with Biomax (ceramic media) and sold as an AquaClear 110:

http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=107&PROD_ID=01006200020101

Thanks for your comments Dan, as to whether the fish are SS or Turq’s, I’ll leave that to the experts. My main focus is keeping the fish alive and healthy! No plans on breeding but I did wanted a blue theme for ultimately a display tank.

I haven't noticed clamped fins except for the larger gold...that's been the slowest one to come around eating and socializing so I've been watching him closely. His appetite's picked up quite a bit this week and he's getting feisty.

[Carol_Roberts]

Yep, those last two look like very nice red turks. The varieties you have chosen are an attractive color combination.

[ed8t]

o.k. just a quick update. I spent a little time going cross-eyed looking for and counting stress bars. I think this is a snake skin, +/- 14 stress bars, so it looks like I have 3 of these and 2 turqs...hard to tell when you don't see any stress bars on some of them.

[Carol_Roberts]

Yep, that's a snake skin

[Willie]

Give the fish a little while longer to get acclimated before passing judgement. Still, its refreshing to hear from a newbie that did homework before plunging into discus. You're doing a lot better than I did at the beginning.

Willie

[discusnutz]

nice fish ed8t,

and lucky fish too , for having someone like you that has done his homework:)

Well done!

Regards...........Brenda

[Northwestcoastdisc]

very nice fish,

give them lot of water changes and 2 tbs of salt for QT


Good luck.

Duncan

NWCD

[Jason]

Hi ED,

I'm sure you'll be able to grow them out nice and big :-)
the 2 turq types are Royal Blue X RT

[ed8t]

Thanks everybody. Thanks for the Turq's Jason. They're my favourite, the BD's are my kid's favourites the significant other likes the PB. Who says there's no pleasing everybody? :)

I essentially gave Jason an open ticket for what would look nice with mainly a blue theme. I assumed I received 5 SS but Jason didn't like the looks of some of the SS he was holding for me and swapped out a couple for the Turq's which were not even part of his Sept sale. I mentioned in passing that my preference were Turq's mainly because they should be hardier fish. Turned out to be the best looking fish IMO.