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Thread: Shan's First Discus Journey

  1. #31
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    None of them look stunted to me. That been said, when you grow up 10 young discus, some are grow a lot bigger than the others. They seem all to be eating very well.

    Metro is for intestinal worms. Do this treatment when you see white, stringy feces. Prazi is for gill flukes, generally not a problem until they spawn. All medication will set the fish back. If they're sick, then there's no choice. But I wouldn't do anything unless you can confirm the disease.

    As for temperature, I'd recommend you adjust the heater to 82 - 84F. You can do that immediately and the water temperature will drop on its own.

    Willie
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  2. #32
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Thanks for the knowledge Willie, much appreciated.

    I hope they are doing okay and on track as I have no experience prior. I have been working hard to do everything the right way. I have noticed 2 of my 15 are smaller than the rest but from looking at their eye to body ratio it's hard to believe they aren't stunted. I will love them either way. For example the two Marlboro reds I got were roughly the same size a month ago when I got them, but just looking at them side by side today the difference is huge. I'll try and update with individual pictures whenever I get a chance.

    From my earlier post on the previous page, I have definitely identified white poop from the cobalt that died shortly after. Also the following morning I saw a little bit of white poop from another discus as well hence the metro treatment. I will dose double the JEHMCO dosage per gallon as soon as many of this site have recommended in previous posts.

    As far as Prazi, I read a quarantine procedure and they used Metro and prazi in conjuction so I was just following suite. I haven't added it yet and if it's just for flukes I will abstain from doing so. (I'll just keep it on hand since it expires in 2 years).


    The temperature recommendation I do not understand which to follow. I am reading about raising temps to 91+ in order to help kill intestinal parasites along with the metro, and Hans has been keeping his discus at normal health at 86-87. I always thought 84F was for a more adult discus and discus that weren't being treated for white poop

  3. #33
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Hi Shan;

    I've kept discus at 93+ without killing any intestinal parasites. However, metro at the correct dosage always work for me. You can certainly keep discus at higher temperatures, although it will reduce their life span. I keep mine at 82F and use a high temperature only to break a fasting spell.

    Hans is an extremely knowledgeable guy, but his role is that of a reseller. He wants his fish active and hungry, but he's not keeping them long.

    Willie
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  4. #34
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Got my finnex non-thermostat heater and medicine from JEHMCO two days ago. Could not recommend them enough. Fast 2 day shipping, affordable pricing, absolutely recommend. 10/10

    My hygger heater only went up to 88 so my tank was roughly sitting at 87 or less. I moved on from general cure to using actual metro but I had a bit of a mishap anyways ->

    I measured out 400mg dosage which when translated to the container instructions turned out to be 0.67 teaspoons for my 55 gallon. So I used a 1/2tsp + half a 1/4 tsp (eyed it) while I did a 90% PWC. Felt real good to be able to do a large water change daily again. I've been skipping a day for the past 4 days to treat with general cure per their recommendations. Funny how I actually missed doing a big water change rather than enjoy it.

    I started to add 1 tblspoon Epsom salt per 10 gallon during my large WC as well.

    I also added the finnex heater and upped the temp to 89F. 12 hours later I just bumped it up to 90. I'll be changing it to 91 when I get home today and then continue until I hit 94 (aiming for 92-93 tank temp). I plan on leaving it at this temp for 2 weeks until I bring it down to 84 as willie suggested.

    My fish are still ignoring their BH mix. I'm going to try and make a homemade BH mix using Brian's recipe he so kindly shared with me sometime soon. But fortunately most of them are eating Al's FDBW and bloodworms so I will be feeding them mostly FDBW and bloodworms occasionally. I'm also pretty sure they eat the flake food from my auto feeder as it's all gone when I get home.

    HOWEVER, I still have a 2-3 fish that I noticed will not eat at all. One of which had white poop 2 days ago. It's been a few days and I'm worried they're gonna end up like the one I lost last weekend. God I pray not but I'm trying to do everything right so..yeah. At least I haven't noticed white poop recently. I'm not sure how to tell if the treatment is working well because they still aren't eating. But I'll be patient.

    _________

    I did screw up though. I was so busy cleaning the filter and measuring out the dosages and pouring it in properly as it mixed with flow and adding the heater that I forgot to add prime.

    Sh*t.

    After I filled the tank up all the way almost immediately I noticed a couple of my fishes darting and moving erratically. It hit me almost immediately and I teleported to my closet to grab the prime next to my aging barrel and poured in a whole capful + a bit more into the tank.

    Worst night yet. I worried like a Harvard grad intern on his first job man. But it seems like they're doing okay now. I'm still an ahole for making them go through that. smh
    Last edited by Shan_Evolved; 02-21-2020 at 08:03 AM.
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

  5. #35
    Silver Member Willie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    [QUOTE=Shan_Evolved;1334006]...Felt real good to be able to do a large water change daily again. I've been skipping a day for the past 4 days to treat with general cure per their recommendations. Funny how I actually missed doing a big water change rather than enjoy it..../QUOTE]

    Borderline obsessives make the best discus keepers.
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  6. #36
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    they are looking good and as said, some grow faster / bigger then others, nothing to worry about
    I hope you sort your problems soon, so you can go back to enjoying the fish for 100% and not worry all the time

  7. #37
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Don’t worry about the growth rate, I have had Hans’s Stendkers for about an year and they all grow at different rates.

    Hans is a great guy!!! and his fish are fantastic!
    Last edited by abijitr; 02-22-2020 at 10:12 PM.

  8. #38
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    If you have carbon in your filtration system try replacing it, it definitely helps in such situations.

  9. #39
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    I'm not worried about the growth rate. I only planned on keeping maximum 10 and I have plenty in the group that are growing well. I enjoy them a lot but im worried about their current state of not eating anything at all. I also dont deal with any carbon block, in fact I got rid of the canister all together.

    Please see this thread

    http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...47#post1334147
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

  10. #40
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Cool! My discus were going on and off on eating as well. My latest trick appear to be working and here it is:
    - I have two automatic feeders in which I rotate different types of feed - Hans flakes, Sera granules, Hikari bio gold, Cobalt pellets, Al’s Discus goldplanktus
    - Feeding time is 9 AM, 3 PM & 9 PM
    - at the time of feeding, my filtration, air pump, slimmer - everything stops
    - first feed drops at 9 AM and second feed drops at 9:10 AM, same 10 min interval is used other times as well
    - I also feed black worms, blood worms, b. Shrimp a couple of times
    - I have also been leaving seaweed for them to graze as needed
    - lights run from 8AM to 3 PM and 5 PM to 9 PM.

    I have been doing this for a little over a month and it has been working well for me so far.

    All this is a combination of advises from various threads here and some personal experiences.

  11. #41
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Cool man. That's a super varied diet!

    I stopped using my lights to help destress my discus a couple of days ago.

    Unfortunately I had a silver pigeon that was perfectly healthy just turn up dead this morning. All I did differently was redoes metro 12 hours after initial dose and 90% WC. More details in other thread.

    I'm honestly stumped and can't figure out why they're dying. My other cobalt with the spot is looking horrible and the spot had evolved into a white smudge.
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

  12. #42
    Platinum Member fljones3's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    If it were me, I would stop feeding BH (for now) and cut down feeding times. I would feed sparingly and reduce WC amount to 50-70%. I think there is a bioload issue along with a water quality stabilization. I could not tell if you added sponge filters only or just canister and pre-filter. You indicated that you squeeze the prefilter daily. What about your sponge filters? You need to stabilize the water and allow the good bacteria to establish itself. Monitor daily to check NOx levels.

    For the record, there are more knowledgeable people here on the forum. The above is just my opinion. Keep the metro treatment on the whole tank. My fish have usually started responding within 2-3 days of treatment.

  13. #43
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    I will cut down water changes to 60%. I have stopped feeding BH days ago. I also replaced the cannister filter with the 2nd sponge last week. I try and squeeze sponge filters when they look overwhelmingly dirty. For the time being I am only going to feed Al's FDBW once a day after their 60% WC. During this WC I will treat with metro 400mg/10gal and dose 5ml prime for the whole tank.

    I will repeat metro dosage and prime dosage 8 hrs later
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

  14. #44
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    how the fish doin bro? get things sorted out?

  15. #45
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
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    Default Re: Shan's First Discus Journey

    Unfortunately I ended up losing 11 of the 15 over a month and a half. For more information please check out my thread in disease and medication secion
    Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus

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