Willie's Grow Out Challenge

[brewmaster15]

Tshethar;

Over the years, I've tried to simplify things. All the tanks in my fishroom are on two racks. (The bottom rack is just a water reservoir tank.) All the fish are on top racks. You can see a pair of Liz's half blacks on the left and Kenny's Red Eagle on the right.

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Every morning, I drained each tank with a Python. I use two Pythons at a time and there's enough time to wipe down the tank bottoms as well. After the tank drains, conditioned water is pumped up while dechlor is added. So I change 350 - 400 gallons every morning and the entire manual process takes about an hour and 30 minutes.

The bottom tanks are filled from the tap, where it's heated and aerated. The process repeats the following morning. The tank sits on 1" styrofoam and is covered by the same. Three sides are wrapped with the silver insulation. You can see a water pump, two heaters and an airstone. It takes 12 minutes to fill a 125 gallon tank.

Easy as pie, Willie

Willie I have a few tanks set up like this also... 55 gal at the top and bottom and use the bottom for the reservoir.

[Willie]

Happiness is a clean discus tank. Every tank gets the sponges squeezed out, a complete wipe down, followed by a water change on the weekend.

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These guys always move to the front of the tank when I go over, expecting their beefheart.

Sorry for the reflection, but it's not easy getting all the fry into one picture.

Willie

[Willie]

I get my beefheart from California Blackworms here and they come in 1-LB sheets roughly 3/8th - 1/2" thickness. I cut up the sheets into cubes ~1/2" per side to simplify my life in the mornings. Tonight, I'm feeding the third cube to these guys. They must really like it because 3 cubes is what my 75 gal tank with 5 adults are getting.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Willie, is the BH frozen or freeze dried?
Pat

[Willie]

I get my frozen beefheart from California Blackworms. Every so often, I'll cut it up into cubes so my hands don't get dirty feeding discus in the morning!

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I'm leaving for another week long trip in a couple of hours so they'll be getting an entire cube whenever my wife remembers.

Willie

[Willie]

I can't keep up with either the photography skills or the number of posts in this section, but here's the latest.

I've been on an overseas trip for seven days. When I'm gone, the better half tosses in one cube of the aforementioned beefheart daily. They can easily eat 3 - 4 per day, but the reduced rations is to maintain water quality. I'm not sure if growth was reduced, but the water was clean when I got back this morning.

After the water change, I certainly felt better. I counted 10 fish and saw no floaters, so everything is good.

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I'm envious of Brian's grow out. Like him, I believe that males and female fry do not grow differently under optimal conditions. I use to have a partner in the game, where I bred discus and he grew them out. My friend was disabled and stayed home all day. So the fry got a 40% water change after every meal. He only fed flakes, but they grew like champions. More importantly, you could not pick the males out from the females at 2".

That's not going to happen with my travel schedule. I'm gone again on Wednesday for four days and there won't be any feedings until I get back.

Willie

[warblad79]

I can't keep up with either the photography skills or the number of posts in this section, but here's the latest.

I've been on an overseas trip for seven days. When I'm gone, the better half tosses in one cube of the aforementioned beefheart daily. They can easily eat 3 - 4 per day, but the reduced rations is to maintain water quality. I'm not sure if growth was reduced, but the water was clean when I got back this morning.

After the water change, I certainly felt better. I counted 10 fish and saw no floaters, so everything is good.

fry1.jpg

I'm envious of Brian's grow out. Like him, I believe that males and female fry do not grow differently under optimal conditions. I use to have a partner in the game, where I bred discus and he grew them out. My friend was disabled and stayed home all day. So the fry got a 40% water change after every meal. He only fed flakes, but they grew like champions. More importantly, you could not pick the males out from the females at 2".

That's not going to happen with my travel schedule. I'm gone again on Wednesday for four days and there won't be any feedings until I get back.

Willie

I know you can do it

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Wille, sorry to hear you are in the road so much. It appears your better half is doing a great job
Pat

[Willie]

Just got back from a funeral in the Bay Area. Got a chance to visit Kenny and left with discus (of course).

Gone 5 days, with the wife this time, so no beefheart for anyone. The fry got some flakes from an automatic feeder. After their water change, everyone seems to be in good spirits and noshing away. Crappy iPhone pictures to follow.

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Even under the crappy light, you can see the color highlights.

Picture2.jpg

Wish I could get the same uniformity as Brian's batch, but that's just not meant to be.

Willie

[danotaylor]

Lookin good none-the-less Willie, you have some really nice ones in the group for sure...it's hard when you're away...I reckon the biggest take away for me from following this challenge is the need for unyielding consistency day in day out...it's a huge commitment to get premium results...many people simply can't give their fish that much attention for 3 months solid...I know I couldn't

[Willie]

Thanks, Dano. Your point is well taken. Consistency is the key to success to keeping discus, and for most things for that matter.

I would take your comment on 3 months further. These fry are getting exactly the same attention as all my fish. They get the same water changes, at the same time, as the rest of the fish room. They get fed the same time as I feed everyone else. My heavy travel schedule for the past month means that they haven't kept up with the other contestants. But then, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Willie

[jeep]

But then, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Willie

[Second Hand Pat]

...But then, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Willie

This

[Willie]

Only one trip this week, so they only missed one water change. Here they are during the morning change.

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Sorry for the bad picture. They're growing up in my 10-gal hospital tank and the bottom of the tank is not covered.

Willie

[sanjay21]

Nice ! I can see colors starting to show on the one in left. Healthy looking batch ! good job Willie !