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Thread: Well Hello There..

  1. #1
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Well Hello There..


    Hello Simply Discus!

    My name is West and I have been in the freshwater hobby for about 14 years now. I started with African cichlids way back then, and for the last 6 years I have kept mostly discus in my aquariums. I currently have two 40 gallon tanks, one of them is currently being cultured to become a breeding tank, while the other is housing my 3 siamese algae eaters, 3 clown loaches, and an electric blue jack dempsey (everyone gets along ), an 80 gallon that currently houses my 11 discus and school of white mountain cloud minnows, bristle nose pleco and a purple mystery snail, (I'll post photos soon), and two more 20 gallon tanks that I use for quarantine, and hopefully a grow out . In the 80, I am currently using a fluval 305 canister filter to mechanically clean the water as well as sponges to pick up some of the load. The 40 housing my EBJD and friends, is currently running a Penguin 150 biowheel. The other tanks currently house no livestock so they are just running with sponges. 30% Water changes happen 2-3 times a week in all tanks, and I usually do a 80% every 3 months, usually in between media change outs.

    All of my fish are on a diet of mostly homemade foods. Their main diet consists of a mixture of blended beef heart, shrimp, tilapia, green peas, spirulina, and anasthaxin. They occasionally get frozen bloodworms, and pellets. They are all voracious eaters, and will literally take the food from my hand.

    I made the jump from the africans to discus because I had so much success that I became bored of keeping them. Not to say that I don't appreciate them, I had just found that I reached my peak with them and need something a bit more...challenging. I did some reading and watched a lot of videos on Discus care and thought I was up for the challenge. Well 6 years later Im still going at it, and loving every second I spend with these amazing curious creatures. I will admit my first year into this species was pretty rocky, but once I understood first hand how these fish behaved and what they need to thrive in a closed environment, it has been nothing but a pleasure interacting with these fish.

    I came to simply discus forums because I believe the community here is passionate, supportive and willing to help others in the hobby, and I would also like to be a part of that.
    Anyone who wants to ask me anything feel free to ask.

    -GT

  2. #2
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Good Morning West and welcome to SimplyDiscus. Definitely looking forward to pictures of your tank. Which strains are you keeping? Am I right in guessing that breeding discus is your next challenge?
    Pat
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  3. #3
    Registered Member Pices's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Well aren’t you two up and at it early this morning? West, your gif cracked me up! Welcome to SD. I was into African Cichlids too, especially Tanganyikan cichlids. I’d always had a tank or two, and had also become bored. Discus cured me of that. I’m glad you found this site. Look forward to hearing your plans and seeing pictures, hint. hint....
    Patty
    If the discus are happy, I’m happy

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  5. #5
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

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    Sorry for the wait I've been busy today dealing with my first problem in 4 years... Nothing serious one of my guys has a bit of a bloat problem. I am positive its not a bacterial infection, and its constipation due to the new pellets I fed them last night. Ive removed the poor guy into quarantine, and added some epsom salts to the water, hes been in there for about 5 hours now and has since corrected his balance. Of course this happened because I want to show off my tank :|


    You guessed correctly Pat, I am hopeful to see some breeding happening soon as my two largest have paired up (last photo). As soon as i can confirm they are a pair, they will be moved to the breeder tank.

    I used to keep Lake Malawi': Yellow labs, Blue Mbuna, White Labs, just an assorted bunch nothing too special
    Last edited by GoodTimes; 12-01-2018 at 09:27 PM.

  6. #6
    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Hi and welcome, I too progressed to discus from African cichlids (still got mine). Also intetesting to see that the white mountain minnows are doing fine in the discus tank

  7. #7
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Thanks Paul, yeah funny thing about the minnows, I originally bought some as feeders for my EBJD. One survived for a really long time and I got to see how it matured. It was then I realized why they are called the "poor mans neon". So I thought what a great specimen for a dither fish. I doctored them with Metroplex for about 3 weeks, and when the day came to add them with the discus I was really excited to how they would react with them. To my surprise the discus actually tried to eat them, but quickly realized they were not food. I think I added about 20-25 of them and they are all doing amazingly well and are starting to show their colours!

  8. #8
    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Thanks for sharing and please keep posting about them, I think most discus keepers are reluctant to have them because they are suppised to thrive in fat cooler water but you may be proving this reasoning as unfounded. Can't knock it untill you try it may hold true!

  9. #9
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    From what I have read about the cloud is that they are quite versatile, being able to survive in high or low Ph ranges as well as waters ranging from as low as 60ºF to 89ºF. They are super easy to breed, wont eat the eggs or fry, and pose zero threat to any other fish you might want to keep with them. I when i read about this I was quite surprised to find out that many LFS sell them as feeders, it's a shame really..

  10. #10
    Homesteader Paul Sabucchi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Thanks again, this is the great thing about forums: sharing knowledge and experience. Wishing you a nice Sunday

  11. #11
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    UPDATE!

    My one guy who was suffering from bloat is making a full recovery! Other than some minor swelling in the belly, he is now swimming in a correct manner (upright and not crashing into things)!! I know its only been about 18 hours, but I am relieved to have him back to a normal state. I am keeping him in quarantine for another 24 hours for observation, and if all is good he will be returning to his original home.

  12. #12
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Update #2

    Lights just came on, I went to check on him and he was very active following me around the tank. I gave em' a small portion of food and it was gobbled right up! I am fully confident about adding him back to his original home later!

    Side note,
    The last thing he eat before today was Tropical cichlid omnivore floating pellets. I wont be using this brand anymore or floating pellets in general, in fear of another situation like this. I am very relieved it was just constipation and not an infection.

  13. #13
    Homesteader Altum Nut's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Sorry for chiming in late but welcome to Simply Discus West.
    Good to see yet another Canadian passionate for getting into the Discus hobby. Where I am in Toronto, Ontario Africans, Plecos and Saltwater hobbyist overrides us Discus keepers and as yourself I also did Africans in the past but wanted a change...so Discus it is for the long run.

    ...Ralph
    "Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
    -John Wooden

  14. #14
    Registered Member GoodTimes's Avatar
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    Default Re: Well Hello There..

    Thanks for the welcome Ralph, better late than never! Say...Were you at the Pet Expo at Mississauga International Centre about 2 weeks ago? From your profile picture (which I assume is you), you look like the gent I was talking too.

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