My RT's before and after

[susantroy1]

Thought I'd share some before and after shots of my RTs

8/2007


8/2007


8/2007
[IMG]

and Today:













Just want to thank you all for such a great site and hospitality. I could not have done this without you all I look forward to your expert advise again soon enough....Got another shipment coming from Kenny (your advice as well)

All the Best

Troy

[Discus-n00b]

Wow nice fish. Love their color and shape. They look THICK, how large are they?

[dpt8]

Awesome job Troy. They don't even look like the same fish.. Blue turqs ?? What do you feed them ??? Thanks, David T

[susantroy1]

Thanks Matt The male is a big 7" small 8, and the female is a solid 6. I got them from a breeder in Sarasota FL. in July of 07. I originally had 6... I had to euthanize one (Runt) he never did well, I would have kept him but no matter what he was always dark and stressed, I felt like he was suffering... the other I lost to my ignorance as well She was a good breeder, another
7" fish.. took me a couple of months to get over loosing her. I now have 4 adult and an empty 55G waiting for Kenny's shipment. These guys share the 140 display with 20 Rummy nose tetras and 9 cardinals as well 2 SAE.

Troy

[susantroy1]

Awesome job Troy. They don't even look like the same fish.. Blue turqs ?? What do you feed them ??? Thanks, David T

Thanks Dave,

The breeder said that they where Red Turks...they do have reddish base but its getting hard to pick that up in the body all except their fins... I call em RTs but I may be wrong...wouldnt be the first

I bought a Beef heart from a chain market here in N.Tampa when they where young and thought not to ask on how big that was I thought maybe 4-5 LBS Yea, right..... 22LBS of beef heart goes a long way!! Still feeding them off of that. I got a tip from this site:http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=34961

I have been salad shooting ever sense So now they turn their noses up at most everything but.....Spoiled Brats

Troy

[Rod]

Nice solid looking turk Troy, beautiful.

[mikel]

Troy, what a great job you did with those! I really enjoy seeing them. They really dont even look like they are relatd to the earlier fish, let alone they being the same fish, except much bigger and far superior in shape and color. It is a real testament to your care and devotion to them. I just love the "fat chin" look of those well fed and loved discus...It really give their faces amazing character, and a real sense of strength and royal gravity. Great work! Mike

[casw]

Very nice! You've done an incredible job raising these guys.

Btw, what is that plant on those pieces of wood in the 2nd to the last picture, the one with the pair with eggs. Is that algae from being an old established tank or java moss?

[susantroy1]

Very nice! You've done an incredible job raising these guys.

Btw, what is that plant on those pieces of wood in the 2nd to the last picture, the one with the pair with eggs. Is that algae from being an old established tank or java moss?

Thanks casw
The tank is only 2.5 months old the Turks have been in for 1 week, guess they like the 100% R/O I set this tank up with the sole purpose of displaying The Kings of the aquarium I wanted to keep all my plants low and give the Discus full 30" of height and the full 6' of length. I love a planted tank but I feel that most planted tanks that are set up with Discus and are heavily planted, seem to compete with each other, as the Discus seem to not stand out as well as in a open scape. My Kids (Turks) come before the scape so I tried to reach a balance that complemented the Discus.



Flame Moss newly tied to 9" tall drift wood


More Flame as a ground cover will get about 3-4" tall


Love the Fissidens Fontanus takes a while to establish but very delicate



This is the piece that you were referring to another piece of Flame Moss Very hardy and is really a strong grower:


The Flourite substrate "hills" in the rear of the Tank are planted with Micro swords and various grasses. Hopefully you wont see any substrate after the grasses and swords fill in.... I'm trying for the "rolling hills" of the dunes before giving way to the Beach sands in the front of the scape.

all the Best

Troy

[Wahter]

I like the flame moss and the fissidens!

What conditions were they your fish in when you grew them out - did you always keep them in a planted tank? What size? Water change schedule? Type of food and frequency of feeding?

Thanks!


Walter

[susantroy1]

I like the flame moss and the fissidens!

What conditions were they your fish in when you grew them out - did you always keep them in a planted tank? What size? Water change schedule? Type of food and frequency of feeding?

Thanks!


Walter

Thanks Walter
I started them out in a planted 55G in 07/2007 but discovered very quickly that the planted tank/discus dream is really for the adults and not ideally suited for grow outs, I was limited in the number of tanks I had so I went with it.... I fed 5 times a day and I would have done it differently had I found this site sooner but lessons learned. I now drop by here whenever I have a decision to make on the setup with them and sense then I have not had a problem. The biggest trouble was water quality and a under performing filtration system (Fluval305 for the 55G) WCs where done about every other day with tap H20. It was a gamble after every WC as to their liking it or not.....very frustrating to say the least having to watch these guys "lay down" or get tail burned because of H20 quality after the WC . I finally told the wife I was getting a 150-210G display and settled for the 140. Went with the TidePool II wet/dry Bio wheel sump and that proved to be the best decision for these guys health. I also am going 100% R/O in the display as well and I believe these changes in Filtration and H20 have made the biggest difference. Their diet was 90% BH 5% blood worms 5% Red Wigglers. I now feed them once maybe twice a day with the tetras. The last 3 months the Turks have been in their old 55G but as a "BB tank" until the 140s sump cycled and the tetras went through their quarantine in the 140. So I would say 6 months in a planted and 6 in BB.