If you build it, they will come - Jims Discus Journal

[fishy_jim]

I agree re the wood, such a great center piece and makes for easy maintenance as well. Nice list of discus strains. Whereabouts did you make your purchase?

Purchased them from Gabe from Jack Whattley. T-minus 2 days till I pick them up at the ATL airport !!

[fishy_jim]

Good morning all !! Today is the day and the fish are now at 30,000 feet headed to their new home. Flight lands in Atlanta at 8am, so getting ready to head to the airport. Think I should hold up a sign for them ? LOL. Anyways, on a serious not, did a 100% water change last night, added an air stone, cranked the heat up to 86, and turned back the sheets for the new family members. Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, and after the 100% water change Nitrates measured 2.5 ppm. I had been half dosing ammonia daily and getting 0 ppm readings the next day but added no ammonia last night. Next post I will have pics of the fish finally !! Wish me luck !

[Adamski77]

Fingers crossed! Looking for next update.

[brewmaster15]

Good morning all !! Today is the day and the fish are now at 30,000 feet headed to their new home. Flight lands in Atlanta at 8am, so getting ready to head to the airport. Think I should hold up a sign for them ? LOL. Anyways, on a serious not, did a 100% water change last night, added an air stone, cranked the heat up to 86, and turned back the sheets for the new family members. Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, and after the 100% water change Nitrates measured 2.5 ppm. I had been half dosing ammonia daily and getting 0 ppm readings the next day but added no ammonia last night. Next post I will have pics of the fish finally !! Wish me luck !

Good Luck Jim!

Al

[fishy_jim]

Hi folks - well today was bitter/sweet for me. The pickup at the airport was flawless with no issues. The package was in perfect condition with no signs of being dropped. I then made the drive back to the casa. I opened the package like a 5 year old on Christmas day in anticipation of what was inside. My wife who had been questioning this venture was also excited to see the fish. Upon cutting open the bags I saw movement on all but 2. One of the bags had a funk smell to it and I knew something was not right. It was the bag containing the Blue Diamond. It was DOA with no signs of life or breathing. Even dead the color looked fantastic, so needless to say how disappointed I was. Another bag that contained the yellow checkerboard panda also was questionable and it was on its side not moving much at all. All the others were upright and moving around. I texted Gabe and he said to continue the acclimation process and see what happens, and that they could possibly be just sleeping, wiped out from the trip. So I did just that. After the acclimation it was time to put them in the tank I had painstakingly prepared. All but one made it successfully except the blue diamond. It was gone. The yellow checkerboard panda however that I originally assumed was gone, turned out to be just fine after all. I called Gabe after, and let him know the situation and he is going to send out my replacement and I will do the same next Saturday picking it up. I asked him if I could add a second blue diamond to that, so next Saturday will get them both. That will bring me to my desired number of 8 in my 80 gallon. Here are some pics of the fish. I am very pleased with them and the size of them. They are almost as big as my hand. Being a newbie, everyone said get the biggest you can afford, and I did just that. I threw in some discus chow a little bit ago and they looked at it on the bottom, but nobody ate any, so I will be sucking that out of the tank tonight. They all look nice and meaty in the head and are all swimming around from time to time checking things out. No fins are clamped either and they all like to hang out under the driftwood all together. Some of the fins need to heal up and I put in some stress guard and a little salt. I also am pleased they don't seem spooked at all and even come to the glass when I stand next to the tank. I hope you enjoy this pics !!

Driving to the airport - Downtown ATL
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[brewmaster15]

Jim shipping fish is stressful on them and they sometimes just dont make it. The others look like they traveled fine. I would wait until tomorrow to try feeding them and go with the fdbw first... getting them.eating aggressively and settled in ..then introduce pellets..

Discus can take a few days to a week or so to settle in after shipping so be patient with them.

Best of luck and welcome to the Hobby officially!

Al

[fljones3]

Especially if there has been any ammonia burn. Give their a couple of days like Al mentioned.

[fishy_jim]

Well, everyone made it through the night. I'm keeping an eye on the Tiger Blue Panda. Last night he kept leaning onto its side and then the next minute upright as normal. I also am noticing it seems to be breathing a tad faster than the others but then again the next minute is normal. It is swimming around with the rest as normal so maybe it is still stressed from the flight yesterday. When the lights went out last night they are really came to life moving about the tank. They all were picking at each other to take their spot around the drift wood. This was entertaining to watch. This morning I fed them a cube of FDBW. Eventually I did see all of them eat some but definitely with some hesitation. Still comforting to see them eat at least something and I can only assume as the days go by it will get more and more energetic at feeding time. The other thing I am noticing is that the Red Melon will fade considerably when the light is on. The minute they go off it becomes a much deeper red. That one actually ate the most this morning. Here is a pic with the light off and only room sunlight. The red melon is the top fish in the pick and the one I am watching his breathing, the tiger panda, is on the far left. I'm going to do a 50% WC and see if that helps. Last night I also was reading a slight ammonia reading (0.12 ppm) but this morning it was 0 so that's good. I did add some Stability also last night as one other member suggested to help any mini cycle. Nitrite was 0, and Nitrate was below 5 using API kit. My PH is 7.2. Here are a few pics.

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[fishy_jim]

After only the second time trying to get them to eat the blackworms they now attack them. I do have a few questions about feeding the blackworms.
1 - how many cubes should I feed 6, 4" discus
2 - what do you all do about the food that floats to the top of the tank? Leave them in so they hopefully get them, or pull them out?

https://youtube.com/shorts/MvM8NjSOT...iuAml2Fl6LSC-E

[fljones3]

I have 4, plus one aged discus. I feed two cubes. I leave the food at the top (sometimes turning off the lights). Most of it is gone within an hour or so.

[Iminit]

I feed the cubes by hand. You’ll be surprised how quickly they get up the courage to eat out of your hand. 2 is fine. When feed by hand the aggressive eaters tear it apart and the others will be waiting behind them to grab whatever is floating. Not much floating at the end. Great looking discus. May be Gabe is sending out better fish than a few years ago. Congrats and good luck!

[fishy_jim]

I feed the cubes by hand. You’ll be surprised how quickly they get up the courage to eat out of your hand. 2 is fine. When feed by hand the aggressive eaters tear it apart and the others will be waiting behind them to grab whatever is floating. Not much floating at the end. Great looking discus. May be Gabe is sending out better fish than a few years ago. Congrats and good luck!

Yeah - they are already eating out of my hand. I just did 1 cube and all their bellies are fat now. 2 seems too much right now. Yes - I supper happy with the fish Gabe picked. My replacement blue diamond that didnt survive the trip comes saturday.

[fishy_jim]

Well ... you all said you wanted lots of pics ... here ya go !! They are all eating great already only after having them 2 days. Reading 0.25 ppm ammonia tonight due to them eating and pooping in full swing so its water change time ! Hope you enjoy the pics.

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[brewmaster15]

Hi Jim,
They look to be settling in . You may see some labored breathing or flared gills initially. Theres some ammonia burns on the tails and fins from shipping that I can see which will heal in a short while..but that ammonia burns the gills too.

You might want to add salt for a few days of 1 tablespoon per 10 gals. It should help with the gills functioning and will protect against any nitrite spikes from your mini cycles.

Al

[Discus Fever]

I agree with Al, you can definitely see the ammonia burns from the shipping but that will go away. Discus look good and we never complain about pictures.