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[Scat]

Hi

Just thought after browsing on here awhile i would post up and say hello

Im new to discus but am a experienced fish keeper, after keeping and breeding malawi`s and catfish for the last few years i have taken the plunge into discus and have been bitten badly

Im currently keeping my discus in a 7x2x2 with some cory`s and have already started reducing the number of malawi tanks im running and changing some over !

Ive also been buying books like mad and reading everything i can lay my hands on!

Here`s some of what i have atm. (please correct me if my strains are wrong)

Snow white... (just got 3 of these)



Leopard...



Golden(dont know what strain this is ?)



Red Turk...



Marlboro...



White butterfly ?



Red melon ?



Sunset...



Blue diamond....



Also have a couple of LSS but they still camera shy.

Most of my discus are around the 8cm mark at the moment and have no adults, How many adults could i keep in a 7x2x2 comfortably ?

Thanks
Craig

[mikel]

Hi Scat/Craig: I would focus on two things right now...feed often (as much as they will eat in 5 minutes) and massive and frequent water change along with good siphoning of waste and leftovers. You need to put food in them, and keep the water as clean as possible...hard to do in a planted tank, but you can do it. Or you can transfer them into a barebottom for now, and grow them out, and then transfer them all back into this nice planted tank when they are fully grown. The only way to keep them growing and prevent stunting is clean water and lots of good high quality foods. Good luck! mike

[Ed13]

Welcome to the site Craig! Mike gave you sound advice there, plenty of high quality food and lots of clean water is what they need.

Look out for Rod and Darren Burguess, both members here and fellow Aussies, with a lot of knowledge and plenty of high quality discus. See if they or others can tailor advice to your discus keeping reality in Australia.

Good luck and welcome!

[Scat]

Thanks

Atm they are being fed twice per day, with freezedried bloodworms and a homemade discus mix, Im also doing s 25% waterchange twice a week.

Ive 70 corys in there to ensure leftovers are eaten also

Ive 2 Ehiem 2028 canisters on the tank and test for nitrates/ammonia ph each week, have my ph 6.4 and nitrate is reading at 5mg/l and ammonia nil.

Cheers
Craig

[lilim10]

Twice per day? Juvies should be fed a bit more often and in little amounts. Discus have small stomachs and cannot take too much food at once. Feed little amounts and very often, 5-8 times a day. I feed my adult discus 2-5 times a day, juvies need more. If you can't feed them that often, I would suggest an automatic feeder. Also, I would suggest larger and/or more frequent water changes. The more the better!

Good luck with your discus!

[trebor69]

twice a day will not see them grow to their full potential

4-5 times a day is better for growth but only if you can change enough water to keep it clean....as you well know the more you feed the faster the nasty stuff builds up in the water/tank

that said....if you only feed 2-3 times a day and end up with 5 inch discus instead of 7 inch and you're happy with that then so what. A 5 inch healthy discus is still a beautiful fish


and 70 cories ? sheeesh I bet thats a sight

[Scat]

Thanks for the tips guys

Will increase feedings to 4 times per day and am going to move the smaller ones to a bare bottom tank also to help heavy feedings and keep it clean.

The biggest problem i have atm is doing lots of water changes because of work commitments,family ect. I can do twice weekly atm but may struggle to do much more than that atm(am studying after work also !)

Yes 70 cories look great at feeding time

Cheers
Craig