Well everyone the time has come!

[zchauvin]

AAAAAAKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!! straight into the tank with angels and others(probably from lfs)! GRAVEL! I see brown algae in there as well. the algae points to a problem with dirty gravel. if this dos'nt turn into a train wreck it will be a miracle!


leo

they will be black, stunted, and all have diseases within the first week... poor things.

[mattsoccer20]

No they are showing allot of color did you even see the video??? They have X2 more color in the video now. And non of the fish have diseases if they did the fish would be dead or dieing now. So guys lets not start this again. If it does not turn out well as in the get sick and die and stuff you guys then can say stuff. Thanks

[Altum Nut]

Matt,

Don't take offence to comments others may have because your the one asking.
Were glad you purchased from a very reputable source. Free informative suggestions/recommendations were offered in previous posts. The option to accept any advise is always yours in the end.
I wish you the best of luck with your new group.
Let us know how they are when they settle in....and keep up on those w/c's

...Ralph

[ericatdallas]

Matt -> This is a little OT, but... At times you get criticized for asking a lot of questions and then not listening to advice... most of the criticism is legitimate. However, let me comment that I think you're a lot more mature than I was your age and probably more so than a lot of people who are "adults". For as much criticism/sarcasm/flak that you get on this forum you sure maintain a very level temperament. You don't get into arguing matches and you never seem to get annoyed by what people say. In fact, you deflect it or ride with it pretty well. So good on you

This could be an expensive lesson for you. I'm glad you listened and only went with one source. Although going with juvies in a non-BB tank .. well, good luck and I hope it works out. I didn't listen either ... there's another guy that's new and asking advice that's not listening either. But in a few years, you may be answering questions for the next "matt" and be able to answer with personal experience.

No matter what happens, don't get discouraged and just learn from it. Even if you listened to all the advice, you're bound to make mistakes and it's inevitable things will go wrong anyway.

[wendy9722]

Trust me I would love to give you he(( but I wont. I'm not your mother but another person that loves discus and angels. I can give you the best advice I can for what I know and and what works for me. The other fish in the tank isnt a good idea at this time. They should be moved to another tank for awhile until they are comfortable in that tank. It needs to BARE BOTTOM and the bare minimum amt of decor. The decorations will keep the left over foods in the tank and spoil. That isnt healthy for the fish. I'm telling you this advice as a friend and as a mother. I tell my daughter the same thing all the time. Its a lot of hard work to remove all that stuff but it does pay off in the long run. If you should have to treat that tank for anything when you do at least a 70% change 1-2xs a day cleaning that gravel is gonna get on your nerves. More and more dirt will come out each time but you wont get it all. Therefore the disease will remain in the tank and the fish wont get better.
I had angels in with my first set of discus before and ended in a disaster. Needless they came from a LFS and I didnt know much better. I would love to mix them but the health of my discus is at stake if I should mix and vis versa with the angels. I ended up with a lot of dead discus. So now I have 4 discus only tanks and 2 55gal tanks for my angels so I have best of both worlds. All my tanks are bb except the tropical fish tank that has glow fish, molly, tetras, guppies etc. They are not a delicate type of fish. I made my angels bb due to a disease out break and made things 100% easier to clean and get rid of any build up. I wipe the glass down all hoses and heaters. I wash the decoration with a mild mix of bleach water in a spray bottle and take a sponge for fish only to get rid of the algea and left over food. Then rinse rinse and rinse some more!!!! Make sure that the smell is 100% gone and even when you dont smell it do it at least another 2x's to make sure.
The discus may not come out of there shell because of the poor water quality. You probably have a lot of build up that you are unaware about. Ask your parents to help you 1st remove the fish from the tank and place them in buckets #2 drain all the water #3 remove the gravel. It looks like it is black and will keep discus dark and not show the brighter colors. I promise you will have much better results for doing this. #4 clean all decorations throughly!!!! All heavier decor will remain at the bottom of the tank. If you have fake plants put weights on them to keep them down if you want them. If you have live plants put in a pretty dish with a small amt of gravel and keep it contained there. That is much easier to deal with especially with a out break. The tank will be fine without it and still can look pretty.#5 put the water conditionor/prime in and start refilling and make sure the temp is correct the entire time. Plug all equipment back in once filled. Then you can place discus only in for awhile. They should purk up in no time. Your can also add some aq salt to help them settle. Please do as I have asked you to do. I would hate to see those lovely fish die because you chose not to listen.

[Skip]

let him go... there are in.. we are here... if he needs

[Skip]

let him go... there are in.. we are here... if he needs

he has to learn sometimes.. and i am sure every one of newbie still went against the advice of the COLLECTIVE>>. BUT we learned from mistakes

[mattsoccer20]

Matt -> This is a little OT, but... At times you get criticized for asking a lot of questions and then not listening to advice... most of the criticism is legitimate. However, let me comment that I think you're a lot more mature than I was your age and probably more so than a lot of people who are "adults". For as much criticism/sarcasm/flak that you get on this forum you sure maintain a very level temperament. You don't get into arguing matches and you never seem to get annoyed by what people say. In fact, you deflect it or ride with it pretty well. So good on you

This could be an expensive lesson for you. I'm glad you listened and only went with one source. Although going with juvies in a non-BB tank .. well, good luck and I hope it works out. I didn't listen either ... there's another guy that's new and asking advice that's not listening either. But in a few years, you may be answering questions for the next "matt" and be able to answer with personal experience.

No matter what happens, don't get discouraged and just learn from it. Even if you listened to all the advice, you're bound to make mistakes and it's inevitable things will go wrong anyway.

Thanks. And guys ill keep up on the WC's. And i will everything i can to keep them alive. One more question. You guys said to keep the lights off in the tank for 2-3 days. And i was at a petstore today that is called preuss pets and they are pretty good with there fish and thats where i get most of my info on all my fish from. And one of the discus people told me that it takes some discus 2-3 weeks until they are comfortable in the new tank. How long do i keep the lights off for and how long did it take all your guys discus to get comfortalbe? Thanks

[Skip]

And i was at a petstore today that is called preuss pets and they are pretty good with there fish and thats where i get most of my info on all my fish from.

are you cheating on SD!

[DLock3d]

Good Luck with your fish Matt. The community here on simply ALL understand that you have to start somewhere. I think most of us understand that you have to sometimes learn that the stove is hot by touching it. There are many here who will be willing to help you no matter what and those who don't I'm sure won't choose to criticize your mistakes as we have all made them at some point.

[wendy9722]

Most everything I have read and have experienced I will only keep lights on long enough to look for health issue and snap a few photoes. They dont like the light for a couple of days. When they are starting to come out of the corners from hiding that is a good sign. They are starting to get comfortable again. yes they can take a couple more days but I dont believe weeks. You know that they are happy when they show their colors and dont mind you in front of the tank awaiting food. Yours may take more time due to all the other fish and black gravel and dirt. They may never get up to full color cuz of that.

Since all my tanks are bb they generally come around after 48-72hrs. They dont eat while I am standing there though. That does take a couple of weeks. approx 2-3. You should be able to see them eat by now.

[mattsoccer20]

Most everything I have read and have experienced I will only keep lights on long enough to look for health issue and snap a few photoes. They dont like the light for a couple of days. When they are starting to come out of the corners from hiding that is a good sign. They are starting to get comfortable again. yes they can take a couple more days but I dont believe weeks. You know that they are happy when they show their colors and dont mind you in front of the tank awaiting food. Yours may take more time due to all the other fish and black gravel and dirt. They may never get up to full color cuz of that.

Since all my tanks are bb they generally come around after 48-72hrs. They dont eat while I am standing there though. That does take a couple of weeks. approx 2-3. You should be able to see them eat by now.

Ok thanks wendy. All of these things you said should be happing so far are except for my red melon discus. If i got rid of the black gravil can i keep the black back round? Because you guys are right my blue diamond discus are not showing the true color they are sometimes a amazing blue and then somtimes a black ish blue. So tell me what you think. Thanks guys

P.S and warlock maybe i am cheating on SD maybe not..... Mwhahaha! lol lol

[mattsoccer20]

Ok thanks wendy. All of these things you said should be happing so far are except for my red melon discus. If i got rid of the black gravil can i keep the black back round? Because you guys are right my blue diamond discus are not showing the true color they are sometimes a amazing blue and then somtimes a black ish blue. So tell me what you think. Thanks guys

P.S and warlock maybe i am cheating on SD maybe not..... Mwhahaha! lol lol

Oh what i want to do is that i would switch out the black gravil for like a brown and white grail. It looks like the color of sand. Its like a mix between white and light brown, if you know what i am talking about. so tell me if that would work.

[Altum Nut]

Matt,

Your choice to remove gravel is a wise one....however, you need to remove fish before hand and save some water.
Remove filters as well. You will be surprised how much crap will cloud the water once you disturb gravel.

...Ralph

[mattsoccer20]

Ok thanks. Where would i put the fish?