Sandip's discus journey - Starting August 2023

[Sandip]

Time for some photos after 12 days in my tank.
Here are the Day 1 vs Day 12 of some of fish:

RED SCARLET SNAKESKIN 1



RED SCARLET SNAKESKIN 2



RING LEOPARD



These are iphone photos. Not digitally manipulated by any editing software.

[Sandip]

Folks...I need your advice.
One of my discus (the smallest and the most bullied one in the group), suddenly has a big cut on its head. Its like someone has scratched it's head with big nails! It is otherwise healthy looking...maybe a tad bit darker than I would like it to be. I am hoping this is not a hole in the head disease.
I am still doing daily 25% water changes and my ammonia & nitrite is 0. Some green dust algae on the wall due to long exposure to direct sunlight.
pH is 7.2 to 7.4. Temp at 84-85
I planning to use seachem stress coat while changing water today.
What else should I do?

IMG_1066.jpg

IMG_1074.jpg

[Iminit]

Looks like it ran into something. Keep changing the water and it should go away.

[Sandip]

Some quick updates.
My new 4 feet X 2 feet tank is here along with a beautiful stand from UNS.
The tank will be in my living room. My wife said, only way she will allow it in the living room is, if the color and theme matches her other white furniture! It was not an easy thing to achieve.
Spent an hour today trying to get the background done. Used a white privacy film to cover the background.

Take a look.

[Iminit]

Looks great. One thing though. Cover the bottom. If you don’t you will get a reflection. The fish will see a reflection. ACFBCD27-9F6A-4BB9-BB8E-68621539E2C4.jpg. Notice in this pic. My stand has a green top and I thought that would work but it doesn’t. Need something covering the outside bottom. Some people paint them. But I think the privacy film will work.

[Charlyc11]

I had to paint the bottom to get rid of the reflections. I tried all kinds of film but none were looking good then I opted you use white enamel with a roller and that did it.

20230903_114629.jpg

[Tshethar]

I think the marble on the bottom and the tank overall look great! Congrats on getting the go ahead to move operations into the living room... a huge achievement that should be celebrated!

[Charlyc11]

I was just commenting on the reflections. No doubt the tank looks great I like that clean look.

[Iminit]

Yes tank looks great. But in my pic when empty you saw the green under the tank. When full you get that reflection. Thing is the fish see the reflection and may chase it or fight it. That’s the problem.

[Sandip]

Looks great. One thing though. Cover the bottom. If you don’t you will get a reflection. The fish will see a reflection. ACFBCD27-9F6A-4BB9-BB8E-68621539E2C4.jpg. Notice in this pic. My stand has a green top and I thought that would work but it doesn’t. Need something covering the outside bottom. Some people paint them. But I think the privacy film will work.

Yes. I am aware of the reflections that I am going to see. I know the fish get spooked by the reflections. I thought a lot about this. A lot.... I just couldn't come to terms about painting a brand new tank. Also, I am worried about any chemicals leaching from the paint in to the water in the long run.

[Sandip]

I had to paint the bottom to get rid of the reflections. I tried all kinds of film but none were looking good then I opted you use white enamel with a roller and that did it.

20230903_114629.jpg

Beautiful tank! The bottom of this tank is what I wanted. But, did not have the heart to paint a brand new tank.

[Sandip]

I think the marble on the bottom and the tank overall look great! Congrats on getting the go ahead to move operations into the living room... a huge achievement that should be celebrated!

The marble on the bottom look is actually a kitchen cabinet paper that I placed on top of a 1/2 inch aquarium mat. It's not going to be visible to the fish when I put in the water. The fish will see reflections like a mirror. Only visible if I look into the tank from the top. It does look cool though.

[Charlyc11]

You are painting Glass you can scrape off anytime and if you wanted to add substrate it won't matter. It's easier and less mess with a roller. I had the same reservations with an bran new acrylic tank but nothing took the reflection away.

[fljones3]

I would (and did) paint underneath the tank. There would be no paint exposure to the water.

[Charlyc11]

I would (and did) paint underneath the tank. There would be no paint exposure to the water.

Correct paint outside bottom glass and I used matt finish.