75g w/ sump. Group of 25 discus grow out thread UPDATE: 2-7-16

[ericNH]

Your daughter saved that fish's life! Well done, Daughter of Ricardo!

[strawberryblonde]

So, later today I am leaving on a cruise for a couple of days. Guess what wakes me up? My daughter yelling and screaming saying that a discus was bullied out of the tank. She said she saw the while thing and the poor thing was on the floor when I got up and run to the tank. So, this may have been a great thing because I keep my top open and I always figured it wasn't so bad since it has the acrylic thick euro brace. I guess that wasn't enough, lol.

I placed egg crate on top of the two openings and will have to find a way to cover it when I come back.

I'm glad it happened right now though and not whilst I was already gone on the cruise.

Wouldn't you know it though, the biggest and best looking 14 bar was the one that jumped out. He looks fine but I won't be here for observation. Kind of worried but can't do anything about it now.

I use egg crate for my openings too, and never got around to anything more permanent, it works really well! If you don't like the color you can always spray paint it so that it blends in better.

Thank goodness your daughter saw the fish jump. Most of the time it doesn't hurt them at all. I've had a couple of jumpers, including one who landed over 6' away (he upended a piece of driftwood, knocked the heater off the wall of the tank and the egg crate flew off the top - needless to say, we all heard him! lol). That guy scared me the most because of all the banging around that he did, plus the hard landing so far from the tank, but after an hour in the tank he was fine. Lost his slime coat the next day and by the third day was totally normal again. They are tough fish!

[jmf3460]

dang ricardo, im glad your daughter was watching and not your cat/dog. hopefully he will be fine, maybe bruised and stunned a little but nothing he will die from.

[Filip]

The funny thing is that this kind of accidents almost always happens to our biggest and most favorite Fish .
I'll be glad if everything's end up good at the end.

[Jack L]

fish jump....use lids
w/o lid, expect deaths, all fish, not a Discus thing

i had and oscar that would jump out ROUTINELY, it would knock open canopy

[Loosir]

On the bright side, now you know how to feed that pet Osprey you have!
osprey.JPG

[rickztahone]

Your daughter saved that fish's life! Well done, Daughter of Ricardo!

I told her, she laughed, lol.

I use egg crate for my openings too, and never got around to anything more permanent, it works really well! If you don't like the color you can always spray paint it so that it blends in better.

Thank goodness your daughter saw the fish jump. Most of the time it doesn't hurt them at all. I've had a couple of jumpers, including one who landed over 6' away (he upended a piece of driftwood, knocked the heater off the wall of the tank and the egg crate flew off the top - needless to say, we all heard him! lol). That guy scared me the most because of all the banging around that he did, plus the hard landing so far from the tank, but after an hour in the tank he was fine. Lost his slime coat the next day and by the third day was totally normal again. They are tough fish!

I may have to leave the egg crate. I really don't like how it affects the lights I have on the tank though. You can tell how much it impacts the intensity by looking at the tank floor.

dang ricardo, im glad your daughter was watching and not your cat/dog. hopefully he will be fine, maybe bruised and stunned a little but nothing he will die from.

Came back from the cruise and the fish is fine. Had some frayed fins before I left and is back to normal now.

The funny thing is that this kind of accidents almost always happens to our biggest and most favorite Fish .
I'll be glad if everything's end up good at the end.

Yes, I have heard this for quite a few years, and it almost turned true with me.

fish jump....use lids
w/o lid, expect deaths, all fish, not a Discus thing

i had and oscar that would jump out ROUTINELY, it would knock open canopy

yup, I will keep covering from now on. Worked too hard to have them fly out.

On the bright side, now you know how to feed that pet Osprey you have!
osprey.JPG

Lol, my pet Osprey is way larger than that!

They got regular BH food today and a nice water change. Fish are happy again!

[rickztahone]

So, I have had the remaining group in my care for almost exactly 5 months. They are just about to hit 7 months I believe as they were born in mid June.

I updated the blog, but figured I'd update here as well (but sadly no pictures ). The "runt" of the group is still a runt, and while I do notice it growing vertically, it is still in the 4" mark. There is one other that is roughly that same size, but all the others are larger, and a few in the group are "much" larger.

The odd one out, or rather, the Cuipeua cross is by far the dominant discus of the bunch, and I am not at all surprised. This may sound weird to all, but I am sure Al can back me up, the Cuipeua parents are some of the most aggressive discus I have ever witnessed. I believe it is in their genes to be this aggressive, and this Cuipeua cross I have in my tank is absolutely no exception.

It will go after my hand many times when I place my hand in the tank, and it tries to bully everyone in the tank all the time. I measured it yesterday and it is a tad over 5". 2 other 9 bars are also this size and the total average of discus sizes is around 4.5".

This isn't the best growth I have ever seen from a whole group, but it is an acceptable rate for me. Keep in mind, I am not doing 100% WC's as I usually do. I do daily 60% WC and feed roughly 3-4x's a day now. BH twice a day when I can, but mainly FDBW as a staple when I work long hours.

I can see a few possibly making it to the 7" mark, but I believe most will cap out at 6-6.5", which I am completely fine with. I may reduce the group one more time shortly so that the main group gets more swimming room and more a share of the food. However, I have grown very close to each and every one of these discus and letting go of any is really making me sad. I will hold off on selling as long as possible, or until I start seeing way more aggression from the bunch.

Thanks for following along, and I will get some pics coming shortly.

[rickztahone]

As promised, video update. Sorry but I overexposed the video. I am great at taking pictures, but video work is not my strong suit. I hope you guys still enjoy


Remember, click on the "watch in youtube" to watch larger

[Second Hand Pat]

Great video and fish Ricardo. The fish are looking super with a great shape. I admit to not being totally up to date on the group. Where do the Cuipeua cross come from or was that your one which was different then the others?
Pat

[rickztahone]

Great video and fish Ricardo. The fish are looking super with a great shape. I admit to not being totally up to date on the group. Where do the Cuipeua cross come from or was that your one which was different then the others?
Pat

Yeah, that was the different one from the start. The way that Al has his fish room set up, they are racks, one above the other. What ended up happening was that this one particular one jumped from a top tank, went through the back of the rack and landed on the bottom tsnk. I ended up choosing him amongst my group thinking he was from the same batch, lol. It is an absolute bully

[Second Hand Pat]

Lucky fish lol

[rickztahone]

Lucky fish lol

Yeah no kidding. It reminds me of this one bird in nature that lays its eggs in the nest of others birds, and when it hatches, it feeds off the other birds in the nest.

[alcastro]

Great job you are doing, my other curipera are a bit different

[rickztahone]

Great job you are doing, my other curipera are a bit different

You have to show us Al! C'mon, you know the game