My First Discus Since Katrina!

[nacra99]

Hooray!!! They finally arrived! After having lost all my fish in august, I finally have discus again! Here are a few pics to share.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/heckels%201.JPG

[nacra99]

This was barely 30 minutes after coming out of the bucket. (drip acclimatized or 2 hours). Fins are still a bit tattered from the shipping.

These guys are not shy at all!!!

For those who heard about my glosso woes... check out the horible glosso on the ground.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hmwong/simply/heckels%202.JPG

[nacra99]

In fact... they're even eating right away! I guess wilds are indeed more robust than domestics.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hmwong/simply/heckels%204.JPG

[pcsb23]

Very very nice indeed. Other than the fin damage you mentioned they look very good indeed. With some decent water their fins won't take long to heal.

[ItsGeoff]

very nice. where did you get those?


oh and i think your glosso is panted wrong. the right way is a pain in the butt. you gotta stick each individual plant intot he ground. i found and articale aroudn somewhere with it

[nacra99]

ItsGeoff,
I got them from tony at sunrisetropicals.

I think you may be right about the glosso. I planted them in bunches, so they actually hold each other up pretty well... which whould explain why they are growing upwards. It's gonna be a pain to uproot them an plant every single stem tho...

thanks
Marc

[MiamiDan]

Hi Marc; I'm in the same boat with you... lost some precious Discus during Hurricane Wilma....four days without electricity. I would hate this to happen again, so I'm trying to prepare for next storm season. Bought a 5000 W gasoline generator, that I figure I should be able to use to power an air pump w/multi airlines, as well as heaters. This will be good for 6-8 hours daily. Meanwhile I will also buy a power inverter, running out of a deep-cycle battery. So when the generator is not in, then the battery/power invertor should take over for at least another 2-4 hours daily. Water changes will be done manually, 10% daily while the power is out. I might heat up water with a gas stove & place floating jugs in the tanks. Still working on my emergency plans, but think about all the money & time invested in stock....and believe me sooner or later another nasty storm will hit...:( Maybe you should think about it too.

[Jarrod]

Marc...glad to see you getting back up and running!!...Has to be a wonderful feeling I'm sure!...:D :D The wilds look like they're gonna do well!!...congrats on getting them and getting set back up...
Jarrod

[ItsGeoff]

well i must say im glad that you both are doing well since the hurricane. that is what i should have said first.

the site i was trying to find with the big glosso page is now gone apparently so i cant spread its wealth. it did say to pull it apart and plant each littel plantlet and yes it is time consuming and borning. but it forms a better lawn that way

[pcsb23]

well i must say im glad that you both are doing well since the hurricane. that is what i should have said first.

the site i was trying to find with the big glosso page is now gone apparently so i cant spread its wealth. it did say to pull it apart and plant each littel plantlet and yes it is time consuming and borning. but it forms a better lawn that way
I remember reading that somewhere too, one reason why I don't do glosso now, right pain in the butt!

[nicholas76]

WOW



awsum fish !!


time for a pic update :) please!!!!!!!!!!!

[diskboy]

very nice i want some lol

[nightowl1250]

Nice looking fish for just out of the bag. Sorry you lost yours during Katrina, but you are much more important than the fish you lost.

[bennyblanco]

i live in new orleans my self and I'm praying that we dont have another Katrina coming this way this year..but anyway your fish look awesome!!!!

[nacra99]

Thanks for the well wishes guys... it means a lot. I'm sure the others who experienced hurricanes appreciate it too. The weather's crajee these days... hurricanes... landslides...tornados.... scary stuff

Benny, you're in NOLA too?? Cool! More discus hobbyists around =)

Dan, I'm prepared this time... generators , battery driven air pumps and the all important gas cooking grill... all stocked and ready to go!

Nightowl, r u the same Nightowl from TAF?? Your SN sounds very familiar

Wel nicholas... you asked for an update.... this is probably more suited in the "planted tank" section... but i guess since they are heckels.... it's ok for them to be here??
Anyway..within one week since my first post... this happens
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/algae.JPG

[nacra99]

Phosphates in the tapwater......I tried 72hr blackouts, cranking up the co2, algaeFix, even bought a huge clump of hornwort and floated it in the tank to act as a sponge for the phosphate... nothing worked effectively... so i went out and bought a big bottle of PhosGuard and placed it in the filter. 30% w/c and 2 days later... Voila!!!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/1.JPG

[nacra99]

I can even see end-to-end
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/2.JPG

[nacra99]

I took Geoff's advice and replanted the glosso individually... still a little wiry... but looks much better than little clumps... time for some pruning
You can just make out the CO2 tubing going straight into the eheim intake
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/3.JPG

[nacra99]

last for now. I love those ozelots. They are starting to show some nice color...
I LOVE WILDS!!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/4.JPG

[Spices]

Super!!! Looking great,Marc. Great recovery, too.
Good to know that the Phosguard cleared your dilema. Cool.;)

**Angie**

[bennyblanco]

yo nacra99 next time you want to get some discus let me know so i can order some 2 from the same source and we go half and half on shipping!!! let me know what you think I'm going to add you 2 my friend list if thats cool with you!! let me know!!!:D :D

[Giniel]

HEY!!!! Marc,,they look great and the tank is awsome..Good to see your back into discus. do you have betta also??

Debbie

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Marc!

I am so chiming in late on this one ~ sorry! Great tank you have ~ what a great recovery ~ I hope all good things as far as weather is concerned in your area!


Your wilds are nice ~ Very nice!



Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_2_20.gif

[pcsb23]

Marc,

Tanks looking good as a re the fish. Be watchful with the Phos Guard, once it gets saturated it will dump back into the tank. In the past I've used Rowa Phos, slightly expensive, but its an excellent product that won't dump back into the tank wen full.

I'd be tempted to put some fast growing stem plants in there for now, until the other stuff gets fully established, it will help keep the nutrients under control. Also stuff like tetra color bits up the phosphates too!

If you do put some stem plants in keep trimming them weekly.

hth,

[nacra99]

Thanks again for the well wishes (and i speak for all folks that were affected).

I have some Ludwigia on the way.. to add some color to the tank. But yep, i'll keep in mind not to leave the phosGuard in there for too long.

Debbie, yep.. still got bettas. I was trying to breed some CT melanos last night, but when the female got a glimpse of the male, she immediately dropped all her eggs! Wasted spawn... talk about first date jitters...

[ItsGeoff]

just give the glosso time buddy. it will look really nice once its all filled in right. your tank is avery cool looking. i like it alot. it would appear to be a 75 gallon?

oh and those ozolets look more like red melons. the ozolet generally has spots on the leaves.