First Measurment

[calihawker]

I don't think I did this to well. Hard to get everything straight and square while the poor guy's flopping around.:o Pretty close to 4-1/4. There are 2 this size, the others seem to be carching up quickly except for one. Happens to be the lightest yellow one too.



http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/calihawker/SD_Challenge/DSC01255.jpg

[Eddie]

Looking good Steve, definitely on/over the 4" mark! Great job!


Take care,

Eddie

[Chad Hughes]

Steve,

Looking good brother! Looks like we're neck and neck! ;)

Well done!

[acroken]

Steve,
that is a beautiful looking discus:) Great size, big and fat. He looks real healthy. Color is incredible.Very very nice.
Kenny

[wgtaylor]

Great job Steve, looks like you guys are outdoing my batch. If this trend continues I may have to increase my tds. Will wait another month or two to see if the trend continues.
Your fish look super, great job. :):)

Bill

[Chad Hughes]

Bill,

what's your TDS now? Just curious.

Best wishes!

[Scribbles]

Looks like all of the challenge fish are averaging one inch plus in the first month. This is some awesome stock, and of course they are getting the best of care. Keep up the good work.

Chris

[Mr Wild]

Bill was telling me he keeps his at 29ppm I think I recall from another post.

[Chad Hughes]

Bill was telling me he keeps his at 29ppm I think I recall from another post.

That's a bit low IMO.

[Mr Wild]

See this post :

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=71935

[calihawker]

I have very low tds as well but I'm supplimenting calcium in the diet.

Chad, mine actually measured 19ppm.

[Chad Hughes]

Wow. That's really low. I'm surprised you don't have issues with lathargic fish. I've seen tis in the past with LOW TDS issues. Interesting.

[calihawker]

Yeah, Bill and I talked about it at the beginning and we both decided to keep the water as it comes out of the tap. I suppliment in the diet and I beleive he does not.

Judging by the fact my fish are doing really good I'm a little hesitant to change anything, but if adding some salts would benefit I think I just might.

In my display tank I add A LOT of gh booster.

[MRQuad]

wow.. that is a good size you got in there.. keep up the good work!

[wgtaylor]

Sorry guys, I was off taking care of fish. Ya, my tds is about 30ppm, 65ms.
Discus blackwater in the Amazon is about about 9ppm so should be good. I raise a lot of wild discus and they are anything but lethargic, same with my contest discus. I agree Steve and I have really soft water compared to other parts of the country and glad Steve is using calcium supplements in their diet. I chose not to and will see if it has an effect on their growth as been claimed. I believe my contest discus have gained about an inch also. Other than possible slower growth discus in the wild do ok with the extreme soft water. This is one of my main objectives for participating in this contest. It is all a good learning experience.

Bill

[kpotter2]

Man I have had problems with keeping my TDS that low. I never lost a Discus to it,but my tank crashed and would not complete its cycle after I went from TDS of 250ppm to 35ppm in a weeks time I hope,but not sure. I achieved this by doing water changes with R/O water and not adding any hardness back in. It showed Ammonia in it for all most 6 weeks with me not figuring out what was going on until I raised my TDS and whala it completed or started back up what ever you want to call it. I am not sure it crashed or just stopped the cycle,but something happened. Discus acted just fine and eat like made devils the whole time. The only thing I noticed that gave me an idea to check was they would hide in a corner ever so often. I check the water and found the ammonia was high so I started my research for the problem. Ph was low also at about 6.5 or so and I was adding Prime.

Just thought I would add something to the mix

Thanks for the great pictures and it looks like Fish are growing well


Kyle

[Eddie]

Good information being put out here by everyone, really good info for the hobbyists.

Take care guys,

Eddie

[SriAngel]

Thanks Bill,

Im keeping my eyes glued on the results.

[Chad Hughes]

I'm starting to wonder if there is more to water chemistry than what we test for. I have seen discus die in water with TDS near the levels that these guys are keeping fish. I'm at a bit of a loss. I'm glad to hear that things are OK with you guys though!

Best wishes!

[Chad Hughes]

Man I have had problems with keeping my TDS that low. I never lost a Discus to it,but my tank crashed and would not complete its cycle after I went from TDS of 250ppm to 35ppm in a weeks time I hope,but not sure. I achieved this by doing water changes with R/O water and not adding any hardness back in. It showed Ammonia in it for all most 6 weeks with me not figuring out what was going on until I raised my TDS and whala it completed or started back up what ever you want to call it. I am not sure it crashed or just stopped the cycle,but something happened. Discus acted just fine and eat like made devils the whole time. The only thing I noticed that gave me an idea to check was they would hide in a corner ever so often. I check the water and found the ammonia was high so I started my research for the problem. Ph was low also at about 6.5 or so and I was adding Prime.

Just thought I would add something to the mix

Thanks for the great pictures and it looks like Fish are growing well


Kyle

Your cycle stalled or stoppeddue to low Ph. Low TDS is typically associated with a low TDS. This is why I think there is more going on with these guy's water than just low TDS. There is something else there.

Best wishes!

[Eddie]

I'm starting to wonder if there is more to water chemistry than what we test for. I have seen discus die in water with TDS near the levels that these guys are keeping fish. I'm at a bit of a loss. I'm glad to hear that things are OK with you guys though!

Best wishes!

I have always read that it boiled down to minerals absorption, whether it from the water or through diet. So if you are getting it from both....best of both worlds.


Eddie

[wgtaylor]

Hey Chad, hope this isn't getting things off track with your post. Don't want this discussion to distract from your success with your discus.


Man I have had problems with keeping my TDS that low. I never lost a Discus to it,but my tank crashed and would not complete its cycle after I went from TDS of 250ppm to 35ppm in a weeks time I hope,but not sure. I achieved this by doing water changes with R/O water and not adding any hardness back in. It showed Ammonia in it for all most 6 weeks with me not figuring out what was going on until I raised my TDS and whala it completed or started back up what ever you want to call it. I am not sure it crashed or just stopped the cycle,but something happened. Discus acted just fine and eat like made devils the whole time. The only thing I noticed that gave me an idea to check was they would hide in a corner ever so often. I check the water and found the ammonia was high so I started my research for the problem. Ph was low also at about 6.5 or so and I was adding Prime.

Just thought I would add something to the mix

Thanks for the great pictures and it looks like Fish are growing well


Kyle

Hi Kyle,
I wouldn't doubt adding pure ro water would have a effect on your bio filter. With my low conductance water I find it takes more bio media to maintain a colony of bacteria to keep ammonia and nitrates at 0. You can see pretty quick by the way they act, skittish or hanging back when your water is a little off. With the young discus and large water changes that is not as much a problem though. My gh and kh is less than 1 with the liquid drop test and have never experienced a ph crash. My water must have just enough buffers to keep it stable but will allow me to let the ph drift down to 4.5 - 5 in a little over a week. Just enough to set off breeding activity with some fish. My discus seem to love the soft water, must make them feel as if they are back in the wild again. :)

Bill

[Chad Hughes]

Bill,

No distractions here. I'm always in learning mode. I know how to keep discus with very few water changes. That's my MO. What I don't quite understand is how to keep discus in nearly pure RO without ill results. That is something that I have to wrap my mind around. LOL!

Best wishes!

[Mr Wild]

Well when you do please let me know! I am having trouble with the juvies I got from Rod failing to thrive. I will start another thread, please chime in anyone I need help!.

[Eddie]

Hey Chad, hope this isn't getting things off track with your post. Don't want this discussion to distract from your success with your discus.



Hi Kyle,
I wouldn't doubt adding pure ro water would have a effect on your bio filter. With my low conductance water I find it takes more bio media to maintain a colony of bacteria to keep ammonia and nitrates at 0. You can see pretty quick by the way they act, skittish or hanging back when your water is a little off. With the young discus and large water changes that is not as much a problem though. My gh and kh is less than 1 with the liquid drop test and have never experienced a ph crash. My water must have just enough buffers to keep it stable but will allow me to let the ph drift down to 4.5 - 5 in a little over a week. Just enough to set off breeding activity with some fish. My discus seem to love the soft water, must make them feel as if they are back in the wild again. :)

Bill

Bill, your water is exactly like mine!

Eddie

[calihawker]

I'm starting to wonder if there is more to water chemistry than what we test for. I have seen discus die in water with TDS near the levels that these guys are keeping fish. I'm at a bit of a loss. I'm glad to hear that things are OK with you guys though!

Best wishes!


Agree with Eddie, great info here.:) I'm wondering if these problems with low tds are associated with the use of RO water. My water is coming down from the mountains, lake water, snow melt. There are minerals in my water where RO is stripped.
Also could these problems be from a ph crash with no buffering. I'm changing water twice a day. Does that keep my ph from crashing? If I go a day or 2 without w/c will my ph crash?

I have a copy of our water report here somewhere. I'll try to get that posted here. Maybe like Chad said it's more than just gh/kh?

[calihawker]

Bill, your water is exactly like mine!

Eddie


And Eddie, you also grow out nice big fish with big water changes daily. There must be something to it.:)

[Armandi_Fishcarer]

Steve, looking good bro. Nice size & shape! :D

Regards
Ahmed ;)