startin new

[diskboy]

i am starting my first discus tank you guys heard that i was going to keep them in a 20 gal. but i am going to take the fish out of my 55 now and put them in the 20. what am i going to need i want to get a aquaclear is this good? what media should i get? what kind of sponge filter? i have a 200 watt heater is this ok or should i go higher? it will take a while but i will get some. first i need to get a hood, filter, and heater for the 20 but i will get the discus fine just need to do some extra chores.o and a light but i guess that will come with the hood that i am getting. i want to geyt some blue diamonds and some snow whites, maybe even some pigeon bloods, or marlboros, and at somethingphishy.com they have z mixed discus they look nice and are cheap to so i will save some money and hopefully get them b4 school starts again to get used to them you know?

thanks,
Kevin ;)

[RedScorpion21]

i was going to keep them in a 20 gal. but i am going to take the fish out of my 55 now and put them in the 20.

I'm glad to hear that! WHat fish were you keeping in your 55 gal, and did you have any existing filters in it? If so, you might want to look into cleaning it out with a bleach water formula (I'm not sure of the exact ratio of bleach to water)


am i going to need i want to get a aquaclear is this good?
An aquaclear 200 would do, maybe you should look into getting a sponge filter also for more filtration....


what kind of sponge filter?

I prefer the HYdro 5's


i have a 200 watt heater is this ok or should i go higher?

200 watts os fine, maybe you'd like a 100 on each end so if 1 of them goes out you are not totally screwed


i want to geyt some blue diamonds and some snow whites, maybe even some pigeon bloods, or marlboros, and at somethingphishy.com

Why not get some discus from the sponser's at this site? You know that you will get nothing but quality from them, where as a place like somethingphishy.com might not give you the best for your money (you get what you pay for)


hey have z mixed discus they look nice and are cheap to so i will save some money and hopefully get them b4 school starts again to get used to them you know?


Z mixed discus are nothing but culls which have something wrong with them...the fish you'd get are not what the pictures show :(


Hope that helps :D

[shaunn]

This is your thread, Diskboy. My advice would to be patient and everyone here will help you get on the right foot.

RedScorp is giving great advice (and please answerr his questions), but I will submit this: get some relatively inexpensive but good looking juveniles. I know this is your first time, so to speak, and I would hate for you to spend a bunch of money and lose your fish. That would be a total turn off.

Also think about maintenance. Get a 30 gallon (or 120 Quart) bucket from Home Depot or petco (Sterilyte brand is safe) so you can age your water for your water changes. I would suggest getting that aquaclear, an air pump, sponge filter, and then a powerhead for your water change bucket.

[hexed]

Kevin,
Ok, your going too fast. You need to slow down a little and tell us what you have so far.
What is in the 55 gallon right now? The reason why we ask is those fish might be too big to put all of them in a 20 gallon and if you do some will die. That wouldn't be fair would it?
Now I have 55 gallon tanks and I have the following in each: One large sponge filter (got them off Ebay really cheap), one AquaClear 500 (again off Ebay) and a Fluval 303 canister (again off Ebay). I purchased Fluval sponges from Petco or Petsmart and placed them inside the 3 compartments of the canister filter. The Aquaclear comes with media and I just used that, then when I changed the media I just got the sponge parts.
I have 2 300 watt heaters, one on each end of the tanks. I got them off Ebay as well because they were cheaper then a pet store and I got combined shipping and it was still much cheaper then the pet store. I got 2 heaters for the price of one that my LFS sold. I have 2 because I have one set at 84 degrees and the other set at 82 just in case one fails the other will come on.
I also suggest that you purchase from a sponser from here as well. Remember what you see on a website is not what you are getting at all. If you notice all the pictures are the same. What I am saying is this: they sell discus, lets say blue diamonds and they have the following sizes - 2 inch, 3 inch and 7 inch and the pictures they show for all of them are the same no matter what size they are. Again look at the pics on that website, same picture - same fish - different sizes. I know I paid a lot of money and was very disappointed when they arrived, nothing at all like the pictures. At least here you can see the pics of the fish you will be purchasing and the sellers will help you anyway they can. Heck one of the sellers could live near you and you can handpick you discus.
There are also some sellers on Aquabid that are very dependable like USBonsai and Amazing_betta whom I dealt with and was very very pleased with. Jeff at Discusfarm.us is giving top quailty discus at discount rates to members of NADA (www.discusnada.org). Al has nice discus as well, he is the owner of this site (brewmaster15). Ken at fishfarmusa has bat discus (gonna get me some bats one day!). What I am saying is you can find a veriety of discus right under your nose if you just look. Also like redscorpion said, you will get what you paid for.

Now where do you live? Are you getting good grades in school?

[hexed]

I AM SORRY BUT I CANNOT LET YOU BUY YOUR FIRST DISCUS FROM THAT WEBSITE!

If you do good in school and get good grades, do your chores for your Mom and she says it's ok and is willing to buy a new tank for you so those fish in the 55 gallon can remain in thier home (you can use the 20 gallon for a QT) -- now all must be done or this deal will not go through -- I will send you free -- yes FREE some of my marlboro juvies. I will even post a picture here so you know what they look like. And free means shipping as well and they will be the best of the bunch (little or no peppering) that I have!
I have read all your posts that you have made on this site and I know that you really really want discus and yes, being young makes it very difficult to purchase them. So I will help you get started in the hobby and I know that my babies will be well cared for. Now I am not asking for much, all you have to do is what I asked and I will send them to you. You can always work off the cost of the tank with your Mom by doing extra chores. I want you to email me at tiger9@aol.com put the words "free discus" in the subject line.
Frank

[shaunn]

Three cheers for Frank!!!

Good application of incentive.

[Greg Richardson]

Hi Frank. I'm a kid at heart. That count? Any more of those? LOL!

Way to go Frank!
I bet that kid never forgets you.
You made a huge impact in that young mans life.
And for the hobby!
Your actions are a great example for the rest of us.

[tpl*co]

Way to go Frank!

I agree with the other posters, get your fish from someone on this site. I got some fish mail order from a seller from aquabid (not the other 2 mentioned someone else) and I thought after numerous e-mails back and forth we had an understanding of what I was looking for. Well I ended up spending too much for stunted fish :(. One of the bunch was pretty much what I was looking for with the others being obviously stunted.

What were the fish you had again? For the 20 gallon, I'd probably just put the Krib pair in and trade the rest (maybe keep some cleaning crew if they're tough). I had a krib pair in a 20 gallon with other fish and they killed the other fish.

[dirk50merc]

Kevin, FRANKS offer is incredibly generous, most of us scrapped and scronge for our first fish. Take advantage of the savings and give them the best home possible. 55 makes much more sense and cents in a long run.

Frank, I'm not a kid nor in need of your generousity but I am curious to see some of your stock. Oh yeh major kudos glad to see someone promit goodwill amongst hobbiest.

Dirk

[Doug A]

This is what we need more of in this hobby.
FREE FISH :D
But seriously that is a very nice gesture Frank! :thumbsup:
I was thinking along the same lines. This kid needs some free (or very reduced cost) quality fish. I was hoping that someone that breeds discus would do this. If I had some fry I would have done the same.

Kevin
I highly recomend you take Frank up on his offer. Starting out with poor quality fish from some place called somethingfishy will only lead to problems and heartache. I suggest spending some time reading posts about how to properly care for your discus when you get them. Follow the great advice that is on this site and you will do fine.

Doug

[hexed]

Here's some in the tank along with a male blue ghost

[hexed]

close up

[hexed]

another

[RyanH]

Those are a helluva lot nicer than the fish that I started with. :D

You are the man Frank. This is what the hobby is all about. :)

[hexed]

another

[hexed]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
I did not ask for much, I just thought about everything I read and it touched my heart. Sheena Easton had said "sometimes it's not about you and me, if you give with your heart, it will come back three fold and if you just think of yourself no one will care."
I do not believe in killing something to gain something else. Life is life whether it is one fish or another and should be respected. I never thought of doing that so I can have discus. When I had cichlids and one died it hurt me just the same. These fish rely on us to take care of them just as our dogs and cats do. They greet you the same way discus do. I want Kevin to know and learn to respect life no matter what form it's in. I look at it this way, my breeding pair laid many many eggs and only these lived - makes them special in my book. I also want him to get a good education so he has a great start in life, that's the most important - someday he will do the same for someone else. Doing chores and listening to your mother builds character and makes you the person you will be. Kevin cleaning the tanks everyday that houses the baby discus teaches responsibility.
Good things come to those who are willing to wait!

[diskboy]

if you have not read my email frank i THANK YOU so much!!!!!!!!!!! for ythe rest of you i have 6 serpae tetras, 2 coolies, 1 male ram,1 male krib. dont worry they are the best of friends they never let each other out of their sight. and frank could you read it plz

[hexed]

Kevin, your welcome but be sure to read all my posts on this thread because you have to meet the requirements that I have asked.

[Carol_Roberts]

Go to the breeding section and read throuth "Breeding In A 55 Gallon" you can read the life story of these discus and watch them from eggs.

Great offer Frank!

[diskboy]

thanks carol i will and i will hex