They all seem to be doing ok bar one shy little fella, suppose there always has to be a runt. Feeding a variety of granules (Sera, Tetra, SHG, NorthFin krill), they are moderately keen on halibut filet (grated with a zester from frozen) but more keen on mussels. As I am not too keen on messy beefheart mixes do you think there would be any issues if I carry on feeding as above? Ciao
Thanks, I probably need a little luck for what seems to be the "runt" of the bunch. As I believe normal some are growing at a faster rate than others. There is one that, although not visibly smaller or thinner than the other little ones, is less coloured and shows less interest in food. He is the last to join the feeding and seems less keen to blow and pick up food from the bottom but more often just picks the smaller particles floating about. At least he does not appear to be bullied or otherwise shunned. Water parameters remain good with 50% daily wc, nitrates still undetectable with Sera liquid test that I reckon is pretty reliable. Ciao https://youtu.be/-Rw8KtxJnsM
They are looking really nice! I would just stay with your slow steady approach and not worry too much just yet. If you ask me it is far too soon to tell and if he is eating and not getting his booty kicked, then you should be fine.
I have seen many folks here post about a runt or one who seems to be behind the curve then BOOM growth spurt and that fish becomes the tank boss or one of the biggest.
Just look out for any obvious issues or problems, otherwise let nature take its course and I bet you will be surprised.
That being said, sometimes it happens, I recently had to re-home a fish that just wasn't cutting it in my tank and rather than see it slowly deteriorate I felt the need to find it anew location. Many people buy a big group knowing they will slim it out along the way. Others grow fond of their runts and they keep them just cause they have love for it and don't care that it's not a show fish...
All I can suggest as I said, is do your thing, feed good food as you are and do your water changes. The worst thing you can do, and what I often do, is try to resolve a problem that isn't really a problem, say by over feeding, or medicating or changing up something drastically that ends up causing more harm than good.
Congratulations Paul . Your patience and good planing has finnaly paid off .
Your Mellon's look pretty good in shape and colour and they do not show peppering as far as I can see from the videos.
Its too early to judge runts and growth potential at this stage , as Phil has said already .
Just , feed , change water , enjoy and document and share their monthly growth on photos with us here .
Thanks again, as long as the little fella is eating, even if it is mostly his favourite -mussels- I am happy. Just to be on the safe side I blanche the grated frozen mussels just as a precation, not so much to zap bacteria but more for the thiaminase (although probably already pre-cooked). Tomorrow evening the fish will have been in my tank a fortnight, not wormed them yet will probably wait a little longer but, although over here most discus keepers don't bother, I'd like to get it done for peace of mind.
Changed the 4 dodgy ebay LED rigid bars (the waterproof claim was wishful advertising) to some from amazon (lets hope). Put in 2 x 1 meter 2070 cool white and 2 x 1 meter 5050 RGB. Currently running lights no more than 15% on the tc420. Fish seem pretty chilled even with brighter light or during water changes so not regretting leaving the tank BB. The little fella is still plucking mostly small food particles from the water column rather than going for the more substantial ones on the bottom but as long as he is eating... At least the others seem to be growing steadily, they will be 4 months old next week. Ciao from Italy and wishing everyone a serene week-end
Last edited by Paul Sabucchi; 09-30-2017 at 02:47 PM.
During today's water change I fished out one of the juvies, he now is 8 cm or just over 3" tail included. So they have gained 1" in the next to 4 weeks I had them, alre we on track for 16 week old discus? Ciao
Last edited by Paul Sabucchi; 10-03-2017 at 02:42 PM.
Thank you for confirming that, so if I am not messing up too badly I suppose I'll carry on trying to encourage healthy growth with syphoning, 80% daily water changes and feeding every 3-4 hours in turn Northfin krill, Sera, Tetra and SHG granules, crushed Orijen Six Fish, grated mussels and halibut. Don't know uf it is correct but I am not focusing a lot on colour enhancing foods at this early stage on the understanding that fish of any age can pick up pigment while only in this early stage discus grow. Ciao
Another month has gone by, now 6 months old. I think we are on track. The bigger ones nudging 4" tl but even the smaller ones are eating ok so they should catch up eventually. Still feeding them mostly fish and mussels but increasing the granules (alternating northfin, sera, tetra, tropical, shg) as the ones the breeder kept and fed exclusively on discus gran are a lot redder.
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