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Thread: Finally some Pics

  1. #1
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    george melendez

    Default Finally some Pics

    20180123_133318.jpg20180128_124910.jpg20180128_124910.jpg20180205_131430.jpg20180306_074801.jpg


    I started a Discus tank about three months ago and have not been able to post pics. Ok here are my first pics and I hope they come out.

  2. #2
    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    What size is that tank, George?

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    450 gal Rogue

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    A few of my fish.541974171.jpg541974187.jpg541974192.jpg541974254.jpg

    These were gifted to me from my brother in law. There is seven, the largest a female going about 6 inches, the smallest goes about three inches. I originally wanted to keep 12 and all the same size, was gonna buy from Kenny...But what can you say about a gift lol. I was gonna call the 12 the apostles, but I'll settle now on the magnificent7.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    One more of the tank.542222459.jpg

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    ok, so after three months and the Discus now being with me about six weeks my water parameters are PH=6.6, Amm/nitrites=0, Nitrates=between 5 and 10ppm. I wanted to do water changes weekly but that didn't work out. Why? because the white sand shows all debri and I have three orange seam plecos which make quite a mess daily. So i vacuum my sand daily, while I do two major water changes right now of over 100 gallons i replace the water I took out vacuuming every other day. My lighting mimics a cloudy day where the sun pops in and out between the clouds, so it gets dark and then lightens up and gets dark etc etc, combine that with the tannins from the driftwood and the peat moss and it is basically a biotape black water tank. At 450 gallons with at least 400 gallons of water I have ten main fish...7 discus and three plecos, add about 100 tetras and 5 corys and the tank is under stocked a bit. I feed my fish once a day, live food, Dan's Calif Black worms, and i throw a little of Northfin Veggie Blend pellets a few times a week and mostly for my plecos. My plan as of now is to maintain a clean healthy tank for a few years just as it is now without adding any fish at all. I believe one of my mistakes in the past was moving my fish around from tank to tank, or constantly adding new fish to an established tank. Again I believe this messes with the fishes mental state, i think how would a different animal react to all of the sudden intruders coming into their territory out of no where to compete for food and living space? So i will continously measure my water parameters, waiting to see if they change in the future and if they do when and why. One of the things I do a little differently is I don't service my cannister pumps very often because I believe you can destroy the beneficial bacteria easily if your not careful and constantly read how other folks have problems after they service their pumps. So that's one of the reasons I will continuosly measure water parameters to see if my water changes before my pumps are cleaned.

  7. #7
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    Hi Geo. Nice work on your blackwater looking tank.
    Sorry if ive missed it in the thread , but what strain are your discus ?

    It seems like you have your discus keeping and maintenance routines under control and your low PH and being severely understocked sure helps a lot with keeping your discus healthy on the long run with just weekly WC and maintenance .

    The only suggestions that I may add are to up your feeding schedule , way up to at least 3 meals a day since your discus are very small and need more food to grow properly.
    Other suggestion would be to put a prefilter sponge or filter flooss wrap around your intake to keep your canister safe and clean on the long run without cleaning it at all , but just rinsing the prefilter bi weekly .

    Good luck with your grow out project Geo and please keep us updated about your progress.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    Thanks Filip and appreciate your comments. I probably didn't make myself very clear about my maintenance lol. I wanted to do just a weekly WC but that did not work out. I as of now am doing a major WC on Sunday's including tank and sand clean, sand clean on Mon, major WC on Tues and tank maint, sand clean on weds, sand clean and minor WC on thurs and Fri, sand clean on Sat and start over on Sunday. Your right about pumps, will check at about the 6 month interval and clean, until then I will monitor my water almost daily to make sure nothing unusal comes up. I'll think about increasing feeding but there is only two small discus and I'm in no hurry to enlarge them. They eat well and forage thru out the day, will monitor also just in case I do need to up the food. Thanx Filip.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    As far as the strains Filip,I'm not sure lol. One is an F1, which if I got the explanation right has a wild parent.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    Well my concept at the start of my Discus project was low maintenance and weekly water changes. That did not work out lol. I find that my white sand shows all dirt and debris to the point that I have to clean it daily, which also means I need to replace more water since vacuuming my large bed of sand means at least 50 gallons of water, so I'm replacing water about six out of the seven days per week with two of them being about 120 gallons and the rest about 50 gallons. This also means that I cannot afford to stabilize my water for a week as I have been doing previously, the best I can do is about 48 hours and then I need to use it to replace old water. No real biggie, but, I would be able to hold my PH at about 6.6/6.8 when acclimating water for 7days, now as I'm replacing water almost daily my PH is starting to stabilize at about 7.0/7.2, I liked 6.6/6.8 better but that's OK. My nitrates are almost non existent with that schedule of WC's. Also I've taken some advice from Filip, who suggested that I feed my fish a little more often than once a day. On my days off i feed them twice a day and on my work days only once, I do have three days off so they get fed twice three times a week, best i can do since I'm gone on work days for about 15 hours. The two small discus had me worried as I didn't see them eat much if at all, but they have started to come around and are eating better. The other 5 are pigs lol. So so far I'm real happy with where we are and where we look to be going.

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    That is an awesome tank for some Discus. Great swimming room.
    The only problem is reaching the bottom. I wouldn't worry about
    the debris on the sand. One vacuuming will clean it up and then
    the sand gets dirty again. Just have to accept it as part of the
    environment. Some long jungle val would look good in there.
    What kind of filtration are you using? Does it circulate the
    whole tank?

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    I can't look at the tank dirty lol Wanna so I have to clean it OCD lol. I use three filters, Eheims largest pump, Fluval 405 and Marineland's largest HOB. And yes it circulates entire tank.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    Some of my fish.544038592.jpgThis is Dimples. I don't know what type she is, I don't know about discus roundness and the like. She is at least 6inches and I think she's beautiful. This is Blue544038488.jpgHe is a blue Diamond, I have two, the second is smaller and lighter in color. This is Yellow544038529.jpgHe is the bully of the group so probably a male, goes about 4/5inches and the only one with red eyes. This one show one of my 7bars, 544038637.jpgI have three with the baby a 3incher being one, and one of these is an F1. I don't have any good pics of the rest but I'll get them with time.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    Well, seems like Yellow and one of my 7Bars decided to pair up and I actually got a bunch of eggs lol. They were gone in 48 hours and tho the two stay together in a corner and run everyone else off, they will probably continue with the eggs. I'll try a get some pics next time they have some eggs.

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    Default Re: Finally some Pics

    So I'm a little worried about one of my fishes, the smaller blue diamond mix. He's very thin. he doesn't eat very much and I see him spit a lot of his food back out. He is definitely stunted as the smallest discus has caught up to him and you can just tell by his shape also. But, he likes me very much and always comes up to greet me, I talk to him and he just hangs out and listens lol. I have gotten very attached to him and do not want to loose him. I have tried different foods, some pellets of krill and veggies, but he eats very little. I can see him trying to eat more, but as I mentioned, he spits a lot back out. I don't care if he stays thin i just don't want him to die.

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