Withdrawn: Drew's Dark Angel Contest Fry, Batch 1

[DiscusDrew]

Ok guys, heres a new video. Kinda lost track of time so I looked at a calendar, these guys are just under 4 months old so about 16 weeks right now. They look great and are growing at a good rate. Usually about half way through a fish's first year I will do a clean out of the fish, then from there forward never touch them with meds again. While I do actually agree to an extent with the use of medication please realize that I am very strict on when and what medication I use, the water quality while medicating is being done, etc. That said within the next few weeks I will run them through about a one month process in medicating the tank SAFELY and effectively. I see too many people throwing meds in the water in this competition, my fish grow quickly because of their maintenance schedule, feeding schedule/diet, and water change schedule all are in a delicate balance and kept up on well. So I am going to list what I do as essentially a very uncommon, once in the fish's lifetime clean out, I have been doing this for some time, I pray nobody takes that to mean they need or should be throwing meds into their own tanks without at the very least consulting someone first. My fish room has a microscope, and that is key in maintaining a healthy hatchery.

So heres the course of what I will/do run on my fish when they reach about this size. Note the amounts of the medications and longevity of treatment is different from what I generally recommend in the disease section for a fish that is suffering from an infestation/disease and poor water conditions. This treatment course is for a healthy fish with an immune system that is keeping all parasites/pathogens in check.

Week One:
1)Gill Flush, Skin Scrape, and Feces Sample taken and analyzed
2)Metronidazole @350mg/10gal for 7 days
3)Prazi-Pro Started @ regular dosage (1/4tsp/20gal if I remember right) for 7 days (done at same time as metro)

Week Two:
1)Gill Flush, Skin Scrape, and Feces Sample taken and analyzed
2)100% water changes done daily

Week Three:
1)Gill Flush, Skin Scrape, and Feces Sample taken and analyzed
2)Piperazine Powder @ 1/4 tsp / 20 gal (1g/20gal) On Days 1, 3, 5.
3)Water Changes done daily at 50%, on days where full dose is not administered (days 2, 4, 6) replace only the medication lost in water change
*****IF GILL FLUKES WERE DETECTED (my fish room is generally clear of all flukes) I USE FLUBENDAZOLE NOT PIPERAZINE*****

There is a time and place for medication, please do not misconstrue what I am saying, this is basically a pro-active treatment done in the interest of maintaining consistently healthy stock and aquariums. Also so that the fish I sell are always high quality and free of potential problems on arrival at their destination.

Anyway, HERES THE FISH!!!!

[Kingdom Come Discus]

They are looking great Drew. Thanks for sharing your method on cleaning up your fish.

[shoveltrash]

They do look very good - and I'm impressed with your "clean up" regimen, thanks for sharing.
Quick question for you.....what does "Gill Flush" entail? Just curious

[DiscusDrew]

Heres the update.

P.S.- Trish, I will get back soon and let you know how I do a gill flush, I dont have time to type right now but I wanted to get this video posted so one thing down. When I get a minute Ill write out how to get a good gill flush without hurting the fish....

[Cosgrovb]

Two thumbs up. Looking great!

[shoveltrash]

well done Drew! their color is really starting to show .

P.S.- Trish, I will get back soon and let you know how I do a gill flush, I dont have time to type right now but I wanted to get this video posted so one thing down. When I get a minute Ill write out how to get a good gill flush without hurting the fish....

no worries Drew - I was just curious, hadn't heard of this before.

[Eddie]

Looking good Drew!

[DLFL]

Drew they are really nice fish!

[DiscusDrew]

[DLFL]

Drew they are looking great.

[Jeff O]

They look great and they are showing beautiful color! Great job...
-Jeff

[kimbo]

Beautiful fish great job!

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Awesome job Drew. Nice coloration starting to form.

[DiscusDrew]

Well these guys have different parents (Same mom, different Dad) than my other batches but I have 2" DA up for sale in my sponsor section, and in the near future Ill sell off some more from this batch as well. So if your interested in bringing drewbus discus home let me know. Shipping available.

[DiscusDrew]

Ok guys, it saddens me but here it goes....

For a few different reasons I have opted to withdraw myself from the competition. It has been a pleasure and just so everybody is aware I will still pick two or three of these guys that I will be keeping and growing out for the year, which I will continue to track for the purposes of record keeping and teaching. It will be up to the moderation of this section to determine if they choose to delete the thread but one thing even I will make entirely clear, I WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANY AWARDS OR JUDGING. I hope you all can understand and I hope the moderation will at least allow all the work Ive put in to stay here so that hopefully someone will gain something from it. Its been my pleasure and it pains me that I have to do this.

Reasoning:
1) I simply dont feel quite right about being a sponsor and being eligible to compete.
2) Until I increase my grow out area in the new shop, I need to maximize the useablity of my existing space. 8 fish in a breeder is not what I generally do to grow out my fish, and I need to be fair to them and the rules of this comp.
3) I need the time and energy to focus into my business right now, with so many moving pieces right now I don't want to sacrifice any of my fish's well being, or the well being of this forum and competition. I appreciate the opportunity this competition has given and wish I could justify staying in it. But for now I need to put my attention to my investment and hopefully starting a bright future for my business. On the bright side, all your chances just went up of winning!!! So play hard, ethical, and fair everyone!!

All the best,
Drew Harris
Drewbus Discus