Getting back into Discus

[Filip]

Wow . Excellent colours and patterns Joe .
What kind of light do you use in this tank ?
It just makes fish look amazing.
Good job .

[two utes]

Wow . Excellent colours and patterns Joe .
What kind of light do you use in this tank ?
It just makes fish look amazing.
Good job .

Thanks for that Filip.
Nothing special about the light, just a household 30 inch florescent tube. I think the black background and white sand really sets them off though.

[Poppa Ryno]

Love this group. Great to have a wonderful local breeder, Im jealous. Lol. Cant wait to see the lil BD's your waiting on too.

[two utes]

Love this group. Great to have a wonderful local breeder, Im jealous. Lol. Cant wait to see the lil BD's your waiting on too.

Thanks Ryan.
Yes l know! He lives only a couple of miles away. Its great that l can drop in at anytime during the day in between jobs and watch him do his thing. Its also good to have someone local that l can turn too if need be. I have learnt lots from him, and l think he enjoys the distraction while l'm there.
I'm keeping an eye on those Blue Diamonds....wish my tank would hurry up and finish its cycle already

[Poppa Ryno]

Im sure he loves that your into it. I gotta get some people addicted to discus out here in the wheat, lol. Lookin forward to the updates.

[two utes]

As l mentioned last week, one of the discus had bad abrasions on it which blistered up, or maybe it was just scales about to flake off?



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I was a little concerned that it would leave some sort of a scar, but l'm happy to say that it has completely dissapeared. I'm so glad because l really like its shape and it will probably be in the short list of the fish that l plan to keep

[two utes]

Here's a shot l managed to take this afternoon of the discus that was injured.

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[Filip]

He is as good as new Joe :-)
It allomost look like it was something bacterial or infected from the first pic . I'm glad its recovered.
The strain and colours are just amazing .

[Phillydubs]

Joe,

Not sure how I missed this as I was very intersted when I first saw your progress and methods. I happily caught up last night and I enjoyed it very much. Your group is looking better by the day. Happy to see how the other bounced back. What caused such marks? I found that rather odd and don't think I've seen that happen much but again he looks great so kudos to you for keeping the water clean and getting him back.

What's the final plan with this tank? What size tank will they be in? You sound hesitant to narrow down and I don't blame you as you have great fish. Can't keep them all?

How's the other tabk going. Is the breeder saving those 12 bd for you?

What will be your plan with those. Same process ?

You are lucky to have a guy like that so close as others have stated. Very cool!

[two utes]

He is as good as new Joe :-)
It allomost look like it was something bacterial or infected from the first pic . I'm glad its recovered.
The strain and colours are just amazing .

Thanks Filip. I'm not sure either, but l'm glad its been sorted

Joe,

Not sure how I missed this as I was very intersted when I first saw your progress and methods. I happily caught up last night and I enjoyed it very much. Your group is looking better by the day. Happy to see how the other bounced back. What caused such marks? I found that rather odd and don't think I've seen that happen much but again he looks great so kudos to you for keeping the water clean and getting him back.

What's the final plan with this tank? What size tank will they be in? You sound hesitant to narrow down and I don't blame you as you have great fish. Can't keep them all?

How's the other tabk going. Is the breeder saving those 12 bd for you?

What will be your plan with those. Same process ?

You are lucky to have a guy like that so close as others have stated. Very cool!

Hi Phil
I'm glad that you were able to come back and see the progress, and thanks heaps for the lovely comments....it means alot.

When l first attempted to catch the first group, l may have been a bit rough, and caused them to spook. Still having the timber in the tank didn't help either, and a few of them ended up with scrap marks. After l settled, l very slowly removed the timber and very slow movements removed the discus l wanted to take out. Only this one fish ended up with the blisters, and l kept a close eye on them. Like you mentioned though, l think the clean water was the key to all their quick recovery.

The final plan with this tank is to leave the set up the same with the best 8 of the group. Because of its location in the house it needs to be set up as a display tank, so l'm hoping that l will end up with good looking healthy fish. You are right when you say that l am hesitant to narrow down the group because l like them all, but reluctantly 4 more will have to go.

The other tank has been set up purely to 'have a go' at breeding. My goal is to go full circle. By that l mean raise a group of juveniles, and in turn raise a group of their young as well. So from the 8 Spotted Eruptions l will pick out a pair once, and if, they group up, lay eggs, and hopefully produce wrigglers. But this will not happen for awhile yet so in the meantime, l'm going to enjoy raising another group in there till that time comes.....Hopefully l will not get so attached to the Blue Diamonds, which l doubt, as they will have to go as soon as l have a proven breeding pair of Spotted Eruptions.

Yes, l am very lucky to have the breeder so close. Only yesterday l took my wife over for the very first time, and she was fascinated with his set up, and seeing discus in all stages. He's got this beautiful group of.....l think he calls them 'Giant Floras'? Which look absolutely amazing. he is waiting for them to pair up for breeding, so l think somewhere down the track l will set up another tank in the lounge room. But yes, he has lots of groups of Blue Diamonds at different stages so once the other tank in the bathroom has cycled to my satisfaction, l will be good to go

I am lucky to have lots of space in my home, and also outside for more tanks, but l really have to try an restrain myself for now, as l really love traveling, and as you know the key to discus success is good maintenance. I still have one son living at home who helps out when l'm away, but l don't want to overburden him either. Maybe down the track when l settle down with less time away from home l will re evaluate the situation.

Sorry for the long reply, but I hope l have answered all your questions Phil, and thanks again for your interest

[Disgirl]

Joe, I just now looked through this whole thread. Your tank and fish are just beautiful!
Barb

[two utes]

Joe, I just now looked through this whole thread. Your tank and fish are just beautiful!
Barb

Thanks Barb, your comments are much appreciated. Now you know why l ordered one of your very special cones, and besides, l want to be the first to own one in Australia

[two utes]

I did an ammonia check on the tank that's being cycled this morning, and its showing .5-1 PPM so l'm not too far off reaching the mark. I also went to visit my local discus breeder to tell him where l'm at, and he pointed out this small group of about 20 Blue Diamonds that he is keen for me to take as soon as my tank is ready. The first thing l thought was that they are bit small for me to take, but it will be a good learning curve for me to take care and raise such small fry. He told me that he never releases fish that small, but l'd be doing him a big favor as he is running out of tanks, and that he has confidence in my ability......talk about pressure

Hopefully l'll have these little guys in my tank before too long




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[Poppa Ryno]

Youll do just fine, Joe. Look how great your eruptions are doing. You got this.

[two utes]

Youll do just fine, Joe. Look how great your eruptions are doing. You got this.

Thanks Ryan. Much appreciated