Daniel's First Discus Tank

[LizStreithorst]

Daniel, I'm in the process of sterilizing tanks and cycling tanks myself. After I get them clean and free of chlorine I immediately add fish and dose with Stability. I've already moved 2 pairs of Discus, a large group of Black Rams, a smaller group of Gold Rams, and a pair of Black Rams. Everything is going well the first tanks will get their final Stability dose tomorrow. I highly recommend this product. Much easier and less time consuming than a fishless cycle.

BTW, I'm not doing this due to a disease outbreak. I just got sick to death of fighting the stubborn hair algae that has transferred to all my tanks. Also, I'm dealing with the dread duck weed. It's so much easier to kill it with Clorox than to spend hours on end scooping it out. I learned a lesson about not treating new plants when I get them in. You never know what tiny bit of this or that are on them because you just can't spot a single leaf of duck weed.

[karmicwheel]

Well the tank is cycled (again) and I have placed my order with Hans (again). We'll see how this attempt goes.

[LizStreithorst]

Fingers crossed, Daniel.

[Charlyc11]

Hans is getting a new shipment on the 28th for all concern. When I was there last week he was wiped out on adult discus somebody had purchased a large lot from him.

[karmicwheel]

I ordered all juvenile fish, and they are arriving tomorrow by 1:00pm MST. I'll post pics once I get them acclimated and in the tank.

[karmicwheel]

So far so good. All 15 arrived safely yesterday and are in the tank. Initially several were very stressed and spent some time laying on their sides on the bottom, but this morning everyone was up and swimming, and while they are still clearly skittish, no one is obviously stressed. Here's a pic of all of them:

IMG_1315.jpg

I ordered the following from Hans:

4 Brilliant Turquoise
4 German Wonder
4 Checkerboard
3 Tefe

[LizStreithorst]

NIce selection!

[Iminit]

Nice!! Good luck with them!! I see many water changes in your future .

[karmicwheel]

Indeed. I'm doing the first one right now. Plan is to do 50% water changes daily. They are still settling in, and get spooked easily. They have eaten, and seem to really like the freeze dried black worms. They picked at the beef heart, but didn't eat much of it.

[karmicwheel]

The first week plus has gone very well with the new fish. All are still healthy, all eat well, no signs of any distress. When I put the FDBW in the tank, most of them will eat it out of my hand before I stick it to the side of the tank. There are two that tend to hang back & eat the worms that get pulled out of the cubes. I am about to do the Praziquantel portion of Al's quarantine procedure. Overall I am much happier with how things are going this time around.

Here's some random pics taken during a water change.
IMG_1327.jpg

IMG_1326.jpg

IMG_1325.jpg

[Iminit]

Instead of the cubes I use the loose worms. I soak them in a cup so they sink. This sends worms all over the tank and removes the aggression at the cube.

[karmicwheel]

How long do you have to soak them before they sink?

[Iminit]

Just a minute.

[Charlyc11]

Beautiful looking fish enjoy them.

[karmicwheel]

Thanks.

I'm a little behind, but I started the prophylactic PraziPro as per Al's Quarantine procedure. In a few days I'll need to do the general deworming. Al's procedure specifies levamisole. I have Wormer Plus, which is Flubendazole. Can I substitute Flubendazole or should I stick with levamisole?