Final update 6/01/2010

Hello everyone,

It looks like our contest is at a close. I have been absent for the past few months but I see that all of our challengers have done well with their fish. I'm amazed at the variation between the different groups.

For those who've been following my sporadic updates, you'll know that I started these guys in a bare-bottom 55 gallon with daily water changes of approximately 80 - 90% and multiple small feedings, usually 4 - 6 times a day. I eventually had to bump the water changes back to every other day because of my water bill (multiple tanks + daily water changes + no job for a few months = painful :().

I initially started these guys on bloodworms, ONF1 flakes and pellets, and beefheart. I learned pretty quickly that they didn't care much for the ONF1 pellets, so I tried them on Hikari Cichlid Gold and they ate it better. This has been their staple dry food, along with all of the large cichlids in my house. They still get beefheart, bloodworms, and the occasional frozen mysis, but I learned that they don't care for the mysis too much either.

I would have liked to have gotten more growth out of these fish but most have made it to about 5" SL (with the exception of a runt at about 4.5") and they are spawning now. They will eventually be moved to a much larger tank and it's possible that I'll see a spurt there.

Overall, this has been a healthy group of discus. They've never been very shy and they do not spook easily. I've treated them once with Prazi, just to be sure, and they were clean. I'd hoped to eventually try and get some fry from them, but right now they're more interested in spawning and immediately eating the eggs. I have two confirmed females with another one likely.

Please excuse the dark, blurry pictures. My fish room is dark and my camera is on its last leg. The flash almost whites out the entire photo, so most of the tank shots are taken without it. I also learned that the fish show more white markings in non-flash pictures. I can't see most of those markings just by looking at the fish under fluorescent tank lighting.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/799cac5e.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/07d12096.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/f6ac21ba.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/36c2f937.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/07d12096.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...t/e36a1aaf.jpg

Hi Ryan
Great looking group of discus you raised.
You do have quite a variety, goldens, spotted and they all look healthy and happy with erect fins. Especially in pic 5, wow big high dorsal on that one.
Awesome job you have done. :)
Take care,
Bill

Very nice looking group Ryan.

Those are some truly purdy Fish Ryan, Great Job!! This competition is going to be hard to judge with all the nice fish everybody raised. Good Luck.

Hope all is well Ryan, you've done a great job in this contest. You have a lovely look group and I envy that.

take care,

Ryan:

Enjoyed your updates throuh out the contest and really think that your fish look great. I like the way the blue background brings out a blue hue to them.
Good luck with the contest.
Larry

Ryan,

Looking good my friend! I think your shots are pretty good! :D

Best wishes and good luck!

Great job Ryan! Seems you got a diverse group of fish! Hard to pick your candidate?:D lol

Nice work on the control group Ryan! They look great!

Take care,

Eddie

Ryan, fantastic job you have done with this group. Keep up the great work my friend!

Regards
Ahmed ;)

Actually, I was just raising a control group. I don't have to pick a candidate or put a fish up for vote because I'm not in the contest. :) So I had the easy job. lol.

LOL, tell me about it. It was hard choosing which of my fishies would be "the one" Your fishies all look very nice. Very colorful! Thank you for sharing and spending your time raising the control group.

:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ryan Smith

Actually, I was just raising a control group. I don't have to pick a candidate or put a fish up for vote because I'm not in the contest. :) So I had the easy job. lol.

---

Oh, I didn't know that. :o

Nice looking group.

Chris