New discus keeper.

[eRRin]

Hi everyone. I figured I'd finally stop lurking and start posting. I've always been interested in keeping discus but been too intimidated in the past. After seeing some sad looking discus in my lfs I started doing more research again and felt like I was up to the challenge. I figured it was finally time to take the plunge in mid October and I bought myself 10 HB red turquoise from Martha Morris for my birthday. I'm happy to report that as of 7am this morning when I left for work they were all alive and seemed in good health! I've been following Kraig's Hobbyist Challenger Log since his fry are siblings to mine and they seem to be about the same size. I did notice that mine were starting to look a little skinny so I upped the amount I was feeding and they fattened up fast so hopefully no harm done.

The only minor problem I have with them is that they hate pellet food and will only eat it if its been 24 hours since their last feeding. Flake food they are a little bit more accepting of and will eat it when I get home from work because its been 8 hours since they've eaten. They eat freeze dried black worms and frozen brine shrimp and blood worms with gusto so I know nothing is actually wrong with their appetites. My daughter even has them eating freeze dried black worms out of her hands :D we are having so much fun with them that I have an order from Kenny coming next week. I let my daughter help pick them out so they are romper room colors lol

I have been keeping a photo and video log for myself so after I reach my 10 post mark I can post pictures and videos of my discus.

Thank you for this great forum! Even though I haven't posted questions (yet) i have done tons of research and feel like the reason I have had so much success so far is because of all the information I gathered here.

[darcy]

Welcome to the "GOOD" side!! This place is the best out there. Post it up and lets see some pics!

[eRRin]

Thank you darcy. Only seven more posts to go lol

[Teshi]

Just keep posting on this thread til you reach 10 posts.. then pic away!

[discuspaul]

Your good success so far is no doubt attributable to the research you did beforehand, and all of the things you learned here while lurking on SD, BUT also, without a doubt, is the fact that you got very good quality stock from Martha Morris in the first place.
That was a good move on your part.
Anyway, keep up the good work, and all the best to you in future.

[Fishwhispererpam]

Hi eRRin.

Welcome! I rarely ask questions cause if I just search around... Someone has already asked it! Lol!

Sounds like your fish are spoiled on yummy food (mine too). If your okay with the cost of all that frozen food then you don't need to worry about flake or pellet. Looking forward to pictures. You can just say "nice fish" on some other posts! :)

[eRRin]

I don't mind the cost of frozen food although I'm sure as their appetites and food bill increase I might start to mind. I was actually worried that they might not be getting enough vitamins so I went out and got them a liquid vitamin supplement. I officially take better care of my fish than myself.

[Second Hand Pat]

I don't mind the cost of frozen food although I'm sure as their appetites and food bill increase I might start to mind. I was actually worried that they might not be getting enough vitamins so I went out and got them a liquid vitamin supplement. I officially take better care of my fish than myself.

Welcome to the club lol :)

[Tazalanche]

I officially take better care of my fish than myself.That seems to be the normal around here. I'm starting to feel that way too. :D

[discus6628]

Good job. Look forward for the pictures.

[eRRin]

OK one post so I can post a picture lol

[eRRin]

I'm hoping I can figure this out right! Its been a long, long time since I posted a photo on a forum. Here are my HB Red Turqs from mmorris. They are eating frozen brine shrimp less than an hour after being released.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e281/errin_mcdonald/photo.jpg

[eRRin]

And here is a video of them eating FDBW about 2 weeks ago. As you can see I need a tank with a lighter background. This was originally meant to be a planted tank but I changed my mind and went for discus instead. I thought since I wasn't getting PB fish that I would be ok but they are look kind of dark especially when they are near the back of the tank. I've tried to scrape the paint of the back but its ridiculously hard so I gave up. They are do for an upgrade soon any way since this is a 30 gallon and there are ten of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuHu2qHjVYA&feature=plcp

Sorry the quality isn't that great I took this with my iphone.

[sanjay337]

Hi I Have been doing my research and i wanted some advice since you just started out
i will be getting some juvi discus soon

[eRRin]

Hi sanjay337! Not sure what advice I can offer that hasn't already been posted on the forum! This place is an amazing source of information.

[eRRin]

76996 drained the tank and scraped the back. I think it looks better but I still need to put up white paper on the back.

[Eddie]

Very nice looking group. Lots of potential! They look happy and healthy.

[eRRin]

Thanks Eddie! Some day I'm going to get the hang of posting pictures right. I'm not sure why that one is so small. Must be because I used taptalk for the first time.

Here is a normal sized version.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e281/errin_mcdonald/photo-1_zps5e747600.jpg

[Tazalanche]

That is a very nice school of discus. :thumbsup:

[eRRin]

A very nice school of discus that I lost half of on Monday! I can't believe it. As far as I can tell I must have killed biological filter when I had it unplugged on Sunday while I emptied the tank for scraping. I noticed that they were a bit sluggish Monday morning but thought it was just from the light coming on. When I got home three of them were already dead and two were suffering. I immediately started a water change and tested my ammonium 2ppms! I couldn't believe it. I did a 90% change and Tuesday am it was back up to .5ppm did a 50% change Tuesday am and pm. This morning I was too slow to do an am change and i just did a test and its back up to .5 ppms but that's a heck of a lot better than 2ppm. I'm so upset, everything was going really well and I've been working my tail off to keep these fish well fed and in clean water but I guess some times sh*t happens.

On a positive note my fish from Kenny are doing well and the hb turquoise that I didn't like that I put in with them isn't dead. Although, I think fish karma bit me in the butt for putting him in there a week early.

[eRRin]

I should explain that the reason I put him in there early was that my fish from Kenny were very uneasy and not eating well. I figured this was because there were only four of them. I had ordered five but one was DOA. One of very few of Kenny's doa's ever I should say. Yes, I have crap luck! Kenny was amazing to deal with and gave me a full refund. His fish are beautiful and his packaging was incredible! Just a bit of bad luck that one didn't make it. Any way I put the red turquoise I didn't like in there and it worked like a charm. They saw him eating fdbw off the glass and joined him. Before they were hiding behind the filter intake and eating what ever floated by. They have been much braver since and the red turquoise escaped a very close call with death.

[100fuegos]

Most say that BB will die after around two hour, how long was the filter off?

Sorry for your lost, I know what it feels like :mad: