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Thread: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

  1. #16
    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    The heat energy will exchange through any surface where there is a differential. It's not dependent on gravity. But since the water will move, yes, more probably goes out the top. But we're moving the water already anyway. I haven't done it, so just saying, insulating some surfaces should help.
    Last edited by RogueDiscus; 08-19-2019 at 04:47 PM.

  2. #17
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    That was my thought - I know one of the advantages of plywood tanks is that they are much better at keeping heat than acrylic or glass, but getting something like pondarmor in SA makes plywood builds fairly pointless from a cost perspective.

    On the food front, one of our SA guys was importing blackworm at one point, but hasn't been active on the forum since 2017, so it's difficult to get in contact with him. Checking out blackworms.au, where he got them from, has been pretty informative. On average, how many grams per day of blackworm would be about right for 6 juveniles? And is there any benefit to the plus spinach variant?

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    Registered Member bluelagoon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    If you can't get freeze dried black worms, can you get freeze dried blood worms. Protein in both are about the same if they're freeze dried. I've been using them for a few years now. They are also great to get fish prepped for spawning mood. A few folks may be allergic to the protein in the blood worms. Sort'a like protein in peanuts. Feed what ever the fish will consume with no left overs. How much can vary a bit with each feeding. Always good to feed different types of food.

  4. #19
    Registered Member bluelagoon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    oops double post

  5. #20
    Administrator jeep's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    If you're wanting to insulate, check out this thread. It's pretty old so I imagine many of the photo's are long gone. Reflectix is very thin and easy to work with... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ight=reflectix

  6. #21
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    Not sure about freeze dried, but we can get the Ocean Nutrition Frozen Blood Worm packs, as well as the Tetra FreshDelica Blood Worm packs, which seem to be a sort of blood worm mix bound with gelatine.

    I'm still in the process of trawling local forums for the food of choice for discus fanatics down here. Apparently beef heart isn't as popular here in SA due to our cattle being fed steroids, which affect discus health and fertility. It might be possible to get some game heart rather than beef heart, but will need to confirm on that.

    I had a look at Danziger Discus in Israel, and they claim to only feed their fish Tetra Discus, which seems counter to what is being advised here. I understand the advise on this forum better than sticking to 1 food, so i'll go with all the types of food i can get

  7. #22
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    Quote Originally Posted by jeep View Post
    If you're wanting to insulate, check out this thread. It's pretty old so I imagine many of the photo's are long gone. Reflectix is very thin and easy to work with... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ight=reflectix
    I came across that thread a few months ago when the idea last popped in to my mind

    Not sure about reflectix or local version availability, but i'm happy to go stomping around the nearby mega hardware stores (i have 3 different big brand shops within about 5 miles of my house, so i'm a bit spoilt for choice)

  8. #23
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    I'm terribly late to this thread. Please forgive. "I need all the help I can get" kind of spooked me. I don't know why. Sorry.

    You have gotten excellent advice from everyone so far. Please go BB, at least at first. I consider plants like Anubis glued to a piece of driftwood to be the same as BB because you can clean around it. After that, plants in pots is the next step, and after you've kept the fish healthy take it from there. Even a show tank with adult Discus, and I strongly recommend adults, is a work in progress.

    You remind me of another newish member here. She's also starting from scratch and like you is digging deep here to find the best way to solve her problems. Her user name is Mudpuppy. People like you are what make my job here a joy.
    Mama Bear

  9. #24
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    Hi Liz

    Apologies for the extreme title, but it accurately reflected my knowledge at the time. Not that it is much improved yet...

    The tank is going to be completely bare while i get into routines and habits of looking after discus, whether i go with juveniles or adults. Doing a slow transition from BB to epiphyte plants to pots to full planted does make a lot of sense, and will allow me to get everything dialed in gradually

    I managed to get in contact with the breeder around food, and his advice is as follows:
    "As far as food goes, we make our own mixes but also feed comercial foods like benkers frozen mix, a good flake and a good pellet, no tetra anything as it can cause bloat. The mix consists of ostrich fillet, brine shrimp flake, spirolina flake, rasp berries for vit C as well as acai for colour. I also put EPA powder in my mix."

    Also, realised that i was being a bit silly for not considering sump filtration. If i set it up with a beananimal overflow and design the stand carefully, i should be able to comfortably fit another 260 litres/70 gallons of water volume, have an area in the sump for some fast growing plants to act as nitrate scrubbers and get all the extraneous tech out the tank, which will also be great. No discus getting caught between heaters and tank wall etc. Having an overflow will help with surface skimming and gas exchange too, and i can set up the output to spray across the bottom of the tank and get all the muck into suspension so the overflow can take care of it.

  10. #25
    Registered Member Cove Beach's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hello from sunny South Africa. I need all the help i can get

    Welcome to the forum! I’ve been running sumps in all my setups for years, and like you said it gets the equipment out of sight and provides for larger water volume= stability.
    Another option for covering the bottom or sides for that matter is privacy film that you should find at your mega hardware store. It is used for bathroom windows or to provide shade. I have used it on the sides and bottom of breeder and hospital tanks with great success, and it can be removed later if desired.

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