Alanquer grow-out log

[Eddie]

Actually he is keeping his fins tucked in. Starting to get more worried. He seems more active now then he was earlier though..It also doesnt help hes the smallest of the group but ive not seen any of them picking on him.

Give him more time. If he drops off from the group and isolates himself, then it might be an issue. Just keep an eye on him.

[matt56]

Update day 2 10/5/12

From now on the daily update will be posted in red so you can skip the other discussions in this if you like.

Today i started them on their real feeding regime. I feed them at 9 am, 12 am, 3 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm. 3 feedings of flakes/pellets (whatever they decide they like the most), 1 feeding of bloodworms (just until i get my freeze dried blackworms from ken i ordered otday), and 1 feeding of beefheart. I do the 50% water change after their last feeding at 9pm. It currently takes me 15min to do it but with the system ive devised it should only take me about 10min once i get the tubing and the extra pump for it. Will post pictures of it when i get it set up on here. I vacuum up anything i see 10min after each feeding and enough water to take about 10% out and fill it back up(i dont do this intentionaly it just gets this low after vacuuming so newer people please dont think you have to do this lol). Total time i spend each day on them is around 25minutes if you dont include the 10min or so after each feeding. Seems like alot of work but to me and im sure everybody else this doesn't feel like work at all. (im sure i wont feel the same way after a year though lol). They, to my surprise actually liked hte veggie flakes more then anything (except the beefheart of course). Was afraid they wouldn't eat them but they gobbled it up. Since they wont eat from the surface yet i just soak the flakes in a small bowl of tank water and dump it in, most sink right away and they take it from there. Same goes with the pellets. They dont seem too interested in the bloodworms but most did eat them, im sure they will go nuts over the blackworms when i get em though. As ussual i had to feed em 2 servings of the beefheart they couldn't get enough of it. Theres still 2-3 that arent really eating but they are showing interest in it so i hope within a few days they will get their appetite going. As for their coloring i can already tell a difference in some of the blue on their heads. Its much more visible today and pretty much all them have really lightened up. 3 of them you can hardly see their bars at all, except for the one that isnt looking so great. If you want to know more on that read above this. They are also starting to go to the top of the tank when i go up and lift up the lid now so i was excited about that as well lol. That pretty much wraps up my daily update for today now onto the pics.

They are starting to settle in more


This guys colors are really starting to show


This guy is the best eater of them all he is willing to leave the group to grab some flakes. Hes always the first to rush across the tank and attack the food.


Wont have too big of an update tomorrow because i will be going out of town for half the day, but will definitely still do an update. Thanks everybody so far for the comments and help provided, really appreciate it.

[matt56]

Give him more time. If he drops off from the group and isolates himself, then it might be an issue. Just keep an eye on him.

Will do eddie, thanks for the advice.

[Eddie]

Not to deter you from your current regimen but what is the goal of the 10% after each feeding?

And an easy way to get the flakes to sink is to pinch the flake food and stick your fingers down into the water. No waiting

[matt56]

There isnt it just gets that low after i vacuum it up they arent fully eating so theres still left overs lol.=lots of vacuuming . Also the water pressure isnt the greatest in our house we needa get it fixed so it taks a second for the food to actually get into the tube. Hope that makes sense lol. Im actually gonna edit that part i dont wanna confuse people lol.

[Eddie]

There isnt it just gets that low after i vacuum it up they arent fully eating so theres still left overs lol.=lots of vacuuming . Also the water pressure isnt the greatest in our house we needa get it fixed so it taks a second for the food to actually get into the tube. Hope that makes sense lol. Im actually gonna edit that part i dont wanna confuse people lol.

I guess it does if there is a good bit of food left.

[matt56]

I guess it does if there is a good bit of food left.

Yeah and im not over feeding im just giving extras to see if the shy ones will start to eat but they havnt yet so i have to vacuum up quite a bit. Id rather give extra and have to vacuum it up then not let the others get their fair share.

[matt56]

The little guy had his fins completely out this morning and now they aren't fully tucked in, they are out more then they were yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow he will be back to normal. He is still eating fine.

[matt56]

Update day 3 10/6/12

Continued my normal feeding regime and they all ate the flakes much more then the pellets. I saw all of them actually eat today, still about 3 just nibbled instead of really eating. Most though were coming to the top of tank every time i lifted the lid up and actually ate from the surface today so ill be getting an auto feeder soon for the flakes. Not much difference in color, but the little guy who wasnt do so great is keeping his fins untucked now and was the first to come eat every feeding, taking food from the surface. I shouldnt say little guy because he actually turned out to be one of the biggest in the tank. Didnt realize how much bigger their fins make them until i saw it. I hope he will lighten up tonight.

This guy is looking much better. Hopefully he will be all better in the next few days. And yes this is the same one that was doing bad i cant believe how fast they improve.


A shot of the smaller ones picking up what the big ones left behind.

[Eddie]

Looking good

[matt56]

Thanks Eddie!

[matt56]

Update day 4 10/7/12

Continued the feeding regime everybody ate today. Some have started to eat flakes right from my finger and every time i approach the tank they all swim to the surface wanting to be fed. Nobody has been picked on so far but i did see one pecking at the others trying to assert himself(didn't look like it was working because the biggest one didn't even flinch at him). The one that wasnt looking good has pretty much fully recovered and lightened up. His colors are awesome. I will be getting new heaters very soon because one is making an annoying clicking sound when it turns on and off. Several others have also dropped off most of their bars.

The sickly looking one has recovered nicely and his colors are awesome


Group pics



This guy is gonna be amazing when he grows up


Thank you everybody who has commented and followed this so far i plan on doing a video update on day 7 so keep an eye out for that.

[Eddie]

Nice job, keep up the great work.

[DLFL]

Those are one of my favorite discus. Great looking juvs!

Dick

[matt56]

Thanks eddie and dlfl. They are my favorite as well but i have to admit some of the PB and Cobalts on here look stunning. I would love to have all the different colors if i was doing a planted tank since it wouldn't be natural in the first place, but im going with a natural biotope for them so i figured these would look the best without having to get wilds. Hopefully i can get a pair out of these i cant wait to start raising some fry after i get these guys grown .

Matt