3's the magic number...?

[nodder]

Hey all,

Lots of very helpful information throughout these boards, but in the spirit of generating conversation, maybe I could ask each of you the following 3 questions:

1. What is one helpful piece of advice you couldn't keep discus without?
2. What mistake still irks you and what would you have done differently?
3. What discus keeping myth would you most like to debunk?

Go!

[Iminit]

1) change water! Ignore the bs and change water.
2) cross contamination I had in 21. Thought I did my qt right but I guess it moved on my hands.
3) nothing I want debunked but I’d like breeders to try to breed stronger fish. So many die. Just seems they’re being bred just for sale. Make some amazing colors with whatever’s available grow them big fast and move them along.

[brewmaster15]

1. Quarantine always... every fish ... every time.. and Quarantine for at least 6 weeks.

2. Mistakes that irk me? Hmmm. I have made a lot but I think the one that I regret most was not keeping all of a spawn of fish I had that was special. I figured I could just breed more.... and that never happened . Years latter I had to start all over.

3. I could do a good long list on this one but I really dislike when people say discus are weak fish. Its a myth made up by people that never took the time to give the fish what it needed to thrive . Its a way to rationize their failed foray into Discus. Maybe a tad harsh on my part but I stand by it.

[jeep]

1. Quarantine!!
2. I bought from Uncle Sams - HUGE MISTAKE!!
3. Myth - Discus require low ph and soft water. Potassium Permanganate is a good choice of meds. Discus need to be dewormed once a month.

[Iminit]

1. Quarantine always... every fish ... every time.. and Quarantine for at least 6 weeks.

2. Mistakes that irk me? Hmmm. I have made a lot but I think the one that I regret most was not keeping all of a spawn of fish I had that was special. I figured I could just breed more.... and that never happened . Years latter I had to start all over.

3. I could do a good long list on this one but I really dislike when people say discus are weak fish. Its a myth made up by people that never took the time to give the fish what it needed to thrive . Its a way to rationize their failed foray into Discus. Maybe a tad harsh on my part but I stand by it.

I would’nt Like This

[Sandip]

1. What is one helpful piece of advice you couldn't keep discus without?
- Change water often. Change with aged water and make sure the temp match.

2. What mistake still irks you and what would you have done differently?
- A group of discus of the same color look better than 10 discus of different colors. If I redo, I would want to keep a school of discus of the same color and breed.

3. What discus keeping myth would you most like to debunk?
- That discus are finicky eaters. No, they are not. My fish beg to eat, every time I walk past my tank. Even just 15-20 minutes after I fed them.

[brewmaster15]

I would’nt Like This

Lol.. figured that would ruffle some scales. But its true

[brewmaster15]

1. What is one helpful piece of advice you couldn't keep discus without?
- Change water often. Change with aged water and make sure the temp match.

2. What mistake still irks you and what would you have done differently?
- A group of discus of the same color look better than 10 discus of different colors. If I redo, I would want to keep a school of discus of the same color and breed.

3. What discus keeping myth would you most like to debunk?
- That discus are finicky eaters. No, they are not. My fish beg to eat, every time I walk past my tank. Even just 15-20 minutes after I fed them.

Sandip thats an easy regret to fix.. just set up another tank

[jwcarlson]

1. Willie convinced me when I was starting that it could be simple (change water and feed a lot, he was right).

2. Wish I wouldn't have waited so long to random people telling me not to treat and lost fish because of it.

3. I am not experienced enough to say anything with authority. But it seems to be all the rage now for people to buy full grown fish, keep them in dirty soup water for a month, and then declare that discus don't need any special care. To strattle the weak vs strong discussion above, I think it's all about giving the fish the right environment to succeed and that if someone did a big genetic study of discus we might see a bottleneck. Some people basically buy discus to kill them with their poor care. When they might as well throw them off a cliff and complain that they couldn't fly.

[farebox]

This is what I would do:
1. Do water changes, don't follow all the info being out online on how to keep discus.
2. Get your fish from SimplyDiscus.com sponsors period. You will be more successful with your fish in the long run.
3. Join SimplyDiscus.com and just soak in all the valuable advice in keeping discus fish.

[bluelagoon]

1. What is one helpful piece of advice you couldn't keep discus without?
- Change water often. Change with aged water and make sure the temp match.

2. What mistake still irks you and what would you have done differently?
- A group of discus of the same color look better than 10 discus of different colors. If I redo, I would want to keep a school of discus of the same color and breed.

3. What discus keeping myth would you most like to debunk?
- That discus are finicky eaters. No, they are not. My fish beg to eat, every time I walk past my tank. Even just 15-20 minutes after I fed them.

I would do your number 2 also.

[nodder]

Thanks all - love the responses - and the commonality in the advice.

@jeep - I'd be interested to hear more about the PP and worming lessons...

@JWC - when do you dose now - you go early as a safety measure or sit tight until you are sure there is an issue?

[jwcarlson]

@JWC - when do you dose now - you go early as a safety measure or sit tight until you are sure there is an issue?

Sorry I never saw this. I'd go with Al's QT treatment procedure and follow it to a T. I let people convince me I should wait for this/that. I think the main issue was really that I saw all fish "eating" but some were eating and then spitting it back out.

[Willie]

Amazing how all the conclusions are the same: high quality discus, big water changes, quarantine, good food.