Sandip's discus journey - Starting August 2023

[Sandip]

Hello friends,

Back to the hobby of keeping discus after a long 12 years break.
I have been cycling my tank for a month now. Bare bottom, rimless tank with a OASE 350 canister filter. This is a large canister that holds lot of bio-media.
I was doing fishless cycling using pure ammonia. I used bottled BB from Fritz and Brightwell. Not sure if they work though. They promise quick cycling. But, I experienced the cycling to be anything but quick.
My ammonia started going down after 2 weeks and was going to zero in less than 24 hours after 20 days. The nitrites took a long time to go down. Cycle lasted 4 weeks!
Current water parameters measured with API test kits:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5ppm
pH: 7.8
Temp 84

Ordered 6 discus of 4" size from Lynda Warner of Golden State Discus. The fish is supposed to come in tomorrow.
Initially I ordered 5, because my tank size is approximately 50G. But, Lynda suddenly posted this single ring leopard suddenly and it was of the same size as the others. Picked it up. Hopefully, I will have a 75 gallon in future and will move the fishes to it.
Wish me luck. Will post pictures when the fish comes in.

[brewmaster15]

Exciting! Looking forward to the pics and your journey!

Al

[Iminit]

Welcome back! I was away from discus from 04 to 19. Good luck on your new journey. My recommendation is even though there big start with daily water changes and at least 3 feedings a day. They’re still young and growing. For me after 4 weeks and all fish doing well I would treat with polyguard for 3 treatments. It’s a mild med but will clean them out of whatever is in them.

[Sandip]

The fishes are in. They have been in my tank since morning.
5 of them are doing well. 1 pigeon, I am little concerned about. Its fins are still a bit clamped and dark.
I have kept the lights off and shaded the tank to keep them in dark for the 1st 12 hours.
Turned on the lights now and just now fed them blackworms that I got from Al. Thank you Al!
Here are the photos and a short video of them starting to eat.

1.jpg
2.jpg
3.jpg
5.jpg
ring_leopard.jpg

The below is the one I am concerned about:

I am concerned.jpg

Here is short video of their first feeding:

[brewmaster15]

Nice Healthy looking group of Discus Sandip! Just a tad tail burn from shipping which will heal in no time with clean water.

Congratulations!
Al

PS.. My pleasure on the blackworms Sandip... glad they got there in time.

[AquaticNerd]

Agree with Al here - a very nice healthy looking group (albeit with the little bit of tail burn).

I don't think you need to be concerned about the pigeon at this time. That fish was front and bottom center in the video and appears to be doing just fine.

[Iminit]

Great looking discus!! Pb looks fine!

[Sandip]

Thank you Tom, Al, Jake.
Lets see how this goes.
On a surprising note, my wife said yesterday that I need a bigger tank! I never heard her say that!!!

[Vanman]

Get it fast before she changes her mind.

[Sandip]

Day 2 update:
They are doing ok. Seemed to be in better shape than they were yesterday.
The pigeon is no longer keeping its fins clamped. It's still a bit dark in its peripheral fins, but I think its better than what it was yesterday.
In the evening when I fed them the black-worms, they went crazy aggressive. I was mentally not prepared to see this much aggression on fishes that look so docile! They fought like true cichlids.
I need help with estimating the food amount though. Initially I gave them half a cube of black-worms, which they finished in less than 30 seconds. Then I gave them the remaining half. They again finished that in 2-3 minutes max. I stopped at this point. Am I estimating this correct? 1 cube for six 4 inch fish?

Two things in the water.
1. A mini cycle has started to my disappointment. I tested 0.25ppm nitrite. I used some salt after seeing this.
2. I am seeing significant drop in pH. The pH of the water dropped automatically from 7.8 to 7.4 ish. Not sure what is going on. Is this result of nitrification? Any suggestion?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Sandip, a mini-cycle is not surprising when you add a new bio-load to the tank. The bacteria need to adjust to accommodate the new bio-load. Generally 50% daily WCs will help to handle that.

Do you age your new water before using in the tank?

Pat

[Iminit]

Yes new fish so the bacteria is building up for the new waste load. May take a week for it to catch up. They are big fish. 50% daily water changes for at least the month to make sure they’re healthy strong and adapt to your water. Oh and there should be daily pictures .

[Sandip]

Hi Sandip, a mini-cycle is not surprising when you add a new bio-load to the tank. The bacteria need to adjust to accommodate the new bio-load. Generally 50% daily WCs will help to handle that.

Do you age your new water before using in the tank?

Pat

Yes Pat, I age my tap water for approximately a day in a barrel with an airstone and heater. Before changing water, I add prime and now add salt.

[Sandip]

Yes new fish so the bacteria is building up for the new waste load. May take a week for it to catch up. They are big fish. 50% daily water changes for at least the month to make sure they’re healthy strong and adapt to your water. Oh and there should be daily pictures .

Difficult for me to do 50% water changes at one go. I am doing 25% twice day after aging water for 12 hours instead of 25.

[Iminit]

That’s great! Why adding salt? How much are you adding?