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Doug A
04-18-2005, 06:54 AM
Hello all!

I just got my fish from Cary on Saturday. They all look nice and healthy! :D I will post pics as soon as they mellow out. When the lights are off they swim around the tank. As soon as I turn the lights on they race to the sponge filter and huddle together. I spoke with Cary and he said not to baby them, and if I wanted the light on, to turn it on. I did that and they didn't move for hours from where they were. I want to minimze the amount of stress at this point.
I draped a piece of black plastic over the light to dim it a bit to ease their stress. This seems to help a bit. Some will come out after a little while but stay at the bottom. Usually it is one or two in particular that are the first to go under the filter and are the last to come out of hiding. They are all eating (some more then others).
Any advise?
I am not new to discus. It's been several years since I last had them. When I had young discus in the past they always became stunted. :( I want to be successful in raising them to adult size this time.

Doug

Howie_W
04-18-2005, 08:23 AM
Hi Doug,

Congratulations on your new fish! :) What strains did you get?

A few basic questions for you;

What size tank? How many fish? Decribe your set-up; bare bottom, planted, decorations...etc.

Cary is right...no need to baby them. Being moved to a new home is stressful in general. Some fish respond like nothing at all happened, while others can take weeks to fully aclimate.

For the lighting, let the light come on and off on a regular schedule. At night it can help if you keep a small night light plugged in nearby; this can help reduce stress when the tank light comes back on in the morning.


Howie

Doug A
04-18-2005, 11:18 AM
Hi Howie!

I got 3 RSG's, 2 Scribbled Red Turquoise, 1 Red Leopard SS, and 2 Violet Reflections. They are all in the 2-3" range.

They are in a 55 Gal BB tank with 2 hydro sponge filters and a heater. I will move them to a bigger tank as they get bigger. I will be doing 50-75% W/C Daily. I may hook up a drip system so that water is changed 24/7. I have a light on at night for my reef tanks refugium. That gives off plenty of light into the room.

Should I just remove the plastic and let all the light into the tank?

Like I said in the first post I dimmed the light over the tank by drapeing a piece of black plastic over the light. Maybe that would be considered babying them, but I would rather have them comfortable at this time and smimming and eating, rather then staying in a corner and not moving. I plan to increase the amount of light by slowly removing the plastic over time as they become more comfortable with the tank.

Doug

babyjess210
04-18-2005, 02:35 PM
Hey DougGood to hear that you got your fish. When I received my fish from cary I had the lights on 24 hours then use a timer to turn on 1 hour before I walk in. If they come up to the glass and beg for food they get fed, if not I wait for the next feeding. They will eventually get use to your routine, so don't baby them.:)
HTH
Kenny

Howie_W
04-19-2005, 09:19 PM
Sounds great Doug...hope you enjoy your new fish. :)

It really up to you how much light you let in your tank, I'm sure they'll all be fine.


Post some pics when you get a chance.



Howie

Cosmo
04-19-2005, 09:35 PM
Hey Doug, sounds like you got yourself a nice assortment from Cary :) Like all before me said, they'll come around once they settle in.. something to keep in mind with juveniles is they need to be fed often, up to six times a day.. obviously, the portions need to be such that none is left to go bad between feedings if you're not home.

The Eheim autofeeders are great for this as you can program up to 4 feedings per day and vary the amount fed very easily. I used to feed my juvies CBW's, live Brine, and/or frozen bloodworms in the morning and evening, and let the autofeeder give them flake and pellets every couple of hours during the day while I was at work. This worked out very well for me and they grew like weeds :)

They're all grown up now though :cry: the time just flies by and before you know it, they're adults.. LOL

Sounds like you've got the water routine down, so no reason to think you shouldn't have success.. especially with fish from Cary..

We'll be waiting for the pics :)

Jim

Doug A
04-19-2005, 10:22 PM
Thank you all for the good wishes for my fishes :D

They are starting to come around and I am increasing the amount of light going into the tank. Ever so often they make a mad dash to hide under the filter but they come back out in a few min. They swim around the tank in a pack. :gossip:
During W/C's they huddle under the filter and come out about 5-10 min after I am done. Tonight they all came to the front of the tank and stared at me.

As for food. I am trying to get them to eat color bits and flake. I have the Ehiem auto feeder but am not using it til they will eat the dry foods. I feed Hikari FBW, Mysis or Frozen Brine in the morning. I have been coming home at lunch time and feeding them one of the above foods. When I come home from work they get one of the mentioned foods that have not been fed yet. I may feed them another time before feeding them Vealheart before W/c if there is time. They LOVE vealheart!!!!! :) They attack it like a pack of pihrana :shocked2:

Some of the fish are breathing a little heavy. I did one treatment of prazipro Monday night. I will dose again on wednesday or thursday.
Pics are in the photo gallery!! :D

Doug