JWCarlson's first discus tank

[jwcarlson]

Thanks, Shane

Their growth seems to have slowed down pretty drastically and they don't seem to eat as much as they used to. I'm trying not to get too concerned, the largest ones are somewhere around 5.5" now. I don't know if that's good/average/bad... the one that was runty and sick is now the thickest one in the tank and is growing well. I'm hoping it's just a normal slow down as they can't maintain massive growth forever. Also hoping I didn't cause some damage with what seemed like a lot of meds (particularly levamisole) when trying to get the two non-eaters going.

In any event, I've had them almost seven months now (in a couple weeks). So that means they're probably close to 10ish months old.

[CliffsDiscus]

Discus growth normally slows down at around 10 months.

Cliff

[jwcarlson]

Thanks!
What would you consider a decent size at that age, Cliff?

[GeauxDiscus]

I agree with Cliff. The growth rate slows down drastically after 5 inches, and it may take them another year to get to 6 (if they are genetically able). You've done great just getting them to 5.5" - they look fantastic. IMO 5.5" is really good at 10 months. Also, regarding the Levamisole - I've always used the Prohibit brand pure Levamisole powder and the recovery wouldn't be as bad. I tried that Expel-P junk one time, and it nearly killed my fish. I'll never use that again. Just make sure you're triple-checking the dosage, because it takes VERY little of the pure powder (less than a half teaspoon for most QT tanks).

[jwcarlson]

Thanks! I was getting pretty concerned because their growth hit a wall. They're still growing a little bit, but not anything like before. Levamisole I was good about measuring the dose so long as my little gram scale is accurate. It's not much at all, that's for sure. I was using pure levamisole, not the other stuff that comes in tabs or packets or whatever.

I do think I'm going to install my auto feeder tomorrow. I heavily feed them before work and then once I get home as well. When they were younger they seemed to eat more, so I am still adjusting. On weekends or days off they eat a lot more because I'm spacing it out and less gets blasted into the water column. So thinking if I have the auto feeder drop some vibrabites in a couple of times a day it will help me not pollute the water so much.

In any event, glad to hear that my experience of slowed growth is expected! Will be interesting to see what happens over time now. They're not quite 5.5" and they're not all the same size 5.25" is probably more accurate and of the 8 probably 5 in that range of size. I think even the smallest one is probably 4.5" now, though... he grew up quick after the metro treatment.

[CliffsDiscus]

Thanks!
What would you consider a decent size at that age, Cliff?

I think your Discus are growing at good rate. The size also depends on the type of Discus.

Cliff

[jwcarlson]

Somewhere around 225 water changes so far for these. Have missed less than ten for vacation and a couple weekends away so might be closer to 230.
Anyway...
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[Iminit]

Great looking discus! Your doing it right!

[LizStreithorst]

You've done a great job with them. They couldn't look more healthy and vibrant.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks Tom and Liz! Now to train them to stop thrashing the plants to death...

[Willie]

Somewhere around 225 water changes so far for these. Have missed less than ten for vacation and a couple weekends away so might be closer to 230. Anyway...

Yup, raising discus can be so simple!

Nicely done.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks, Willie! I cannot say that this has been particularly complex, but it has been interesting. And I certainly have learned plenty so far. I think someday I would like to try growing them out from quite small.

[jwcarlson]

Not a lot to report, the fish keep inching bigger, though I haven't measured anything for quite some time. I'm now kind of trying to sort out what I want to do as a final state for the tank as it's kind of... ugly. But still keeping the functionality that allows for the big nightly water changes. The first attempt at plants in pots failed, Tom (iminit) sent me some nice cuttings from his plants and the second set are doing just fine in a small tank. In the discus tank it fell apart slowly and I suspect the discus ripping the plant apart (when I eventually witnessed that) had something to do with that. So Monday I got a shipment of a few different types of anubias. I did a 12 hour reverse respiration "treatment" on the plants just in case, basically 12 hours submerged in selzer water to kill any hitchhikers and what-not. More on that here if you're interested: https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic...e-respiration/
Anyway, I did that yesterday and then glued them to some wood. The discus, of course, were appalled and as of this morning had only ventured about 4" farther left than they had in the picture below. Silly things.

I'm trying to decide what to do with the filters, how many I really need... where they could be relocated to. I'm thinking about moving them all over to the right side. Wishing I had a bigger tank with a sump or something like that so I wouldn't have so much stuff taking up space. I guess it's a work in progress. We'll see if these disc-holes have torn all of the anubias into pieces within the next few days. If I could get a nice stand of plants going like Tom has, then I could hide some of the filters a bit better.

There has been one sickly one that quit eating, but as of the last few days (and three rounds of levamisole) seems to be doing quite well, more here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...stopped-eating

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[Iminit]

Yes I never like the look of sponge filters. For qt and breeders they are fine but when it’s a display/show tank not so much. I understand because of your water changing you don’t need a regular filter but they do look better and open up more area in the tank. Being a 75g I’d suggest a tidal 110. It’s a hob with a huge media basket. This is a 90g I have3D774074-44DD-4205-BB5C-6402C95E230C.jpg. The tidal is on the left. Here’s the space it takes up8A054769-72BA-4890-88C8-07C54251E7EE.jpg on the right side I have an eshopps 75-125 wet/dry. 5D93828D-6036-4830-BACA-14AAF95A645D.jpg. Either one of these would be fine for your tank. Being on the upper side of the tank they give the discus more swimming area.

[jwcarlson]

I don't think I'd have space for the wet/dry unless they make a smaller one. Or I made a different stand. Does that require an overflow/drilling the tank?

I'll probably buy a Tidal, I've been passively looking at doing something for quite awhile. The discus are in for a shock though as they've never had any real flow other than during water changes. I'm sure they'll be hiding in a corner for a week.