New to the site, and new to discus

[Pale Blue Eyes]

Hi all. I thought I would join the forums as I have just started keeping discus, finally. I have a 240L SA community tank that has been up and running for about 10 months. In addition the the breeding pair of pigeon bloods I just purchased, I also have a pair of apisto cacs, 12 cardinals, 6 silver hatchetfish, and a bristlenose. My tank is planted, sand substrate, running 2 Eheim Ecco Pro 200's, a 300w Fluval E, and at 83F.

I have been reading everything I can about discus for the past year as my tank has been doing pretty well and have always wanted to keep them. My ph is 6.2 and my water is very soft. I purchased a breeding pair from a breeder here in the UK as I decided to go this route, rather than trying to grow out juvies, especially in a planted tank ( don't really have room for another tank to grow discus bb right now). I look forward to learning more as I go along so I am going to be reading this forum a lot I think. I will most likely stick to my 2x a week 30% wc routine, and feed a combo of flake, Prima, Tetra Discus Pro, Hikari discus granules, brine shrimp, etc., and either frozen bloodworm, beefheart, daphinia, or mysis about twice a week. I got this pair on Saturday afternoon, they have been settling in pretty well, eating a bit, and when I came home on Tues evening, boom!! Eggs all over my heater. Didn't expect that that soon! Nice to meet everyone.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/gs1976/image_zpse15e157b.jpg
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/gs1976/image_zps83ffb512.jpg

[strawberryblonde]

Welcome to the forums. You have stunning discus, just gorgeous!

It sounds like you've done your homework and are well set for keeping those discus healthy and vibrant. About the egg laying thing...yep, discus don't much care what's going on around them when the urge hits to make babies. We have one woman who is treating sick discus and a pair formed and laid eggs right in the middle of the meds, the upheaval and the illness. LOL

[Pale Blue Eyes]

Hi there, thanks for the reply. I just wondered about the wc's? My discus are 6"+, so pretty grown. Do I need to do more than what I am currently doing, twice a week? I usually vacuum the sand with tubing every night to remove any bits, but that often takes about 8 litres or so of water out, so I generally don't even top that up until I do a wc. I know young discus need daily wc's but do these guys need more than I am doing? Obviously my parameters are fine, and my nitrates stay at 20 and phosphates at 2 for the plants- I dose ferts.

[strawberryblonde]

You aren't overstocked, so that's not a problem. I'd say the water changes are fine for now, but if you can keep nitrates at 10 or below it would be better for the discus. They get stressed if nitrates consistently hang at 20ppm. I'm not saying that it won't work, but you might run into problems down the road... a lot will depend on their immune systems.

The rest of the setup all looks great! I liked your reasoning behind purchasing adults, and the fact that you chose a mated pair since you were only buying 2 of them. In fact, I wish they'd make a sticky out of your thread because all too often people do a planted tank with young discus, overstock the tank and then wonder why their discus don't grow, or get sick.

[Pale Blue Eyes]

Yeah, some of the nitrate is from the inorganic that I dose from the ferts, as I dose liquid carbon, but I will keep an eye on it. Maybe I will see what some of the planted discus keepers do.

[strawberryblonde]

Good idea! Have you checked out the planted tank section of the forums yet? Those guys really know their stuff! I tried a planted tank 2 years ago, but gave it up because it was a pain in the butt to keep it clean. LOL

Yup, now you know, I'm lazy and want my water changes to be easy.

[Pale Blue Eyes]

Yeah I still haven't invested in a python because they are super expensive over here and I need the long one. I glanced at that section of the forum but I will definitely be reading much more if it! I actually started out planning for a SA biotope but went off that idea as I started getting bored with looking for only SA plants; I like crypts and anubias too much...

[chaoslite]

Welcome to Simply!

Mishka

[Pale Blue Eyes]

Thanks! Van Nuys... I am from Whittier originally.

[Red Turk]

Great looking PB's .. what size are they ?

Lets see a full tank shot ! :)

[Trevor W]

Welcome to Simply!
You have a very nice pair and its great to see you have done your reading.
I am sure you will find plenty of great info in this awesome forum.

[Mary10]

Very nice fish !!!

[papyol]

Nice pigeons there....

[sandy]

Nice pigeon and are you going to add more discus


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[Pale Blue Eyes]

Hi thanks. They are about 6"+ just now. I will definitely take a tank shot later when it's gets dark.

[Pale Blue Eyes]

I've got fry.... They got moved to underneath a piece of driftwood about halfway up the top of the tank. Looks about 30 or so? How many do discus usually have?

[strawberryblonde]

They generally have fairly large batches, but 30 live fry for a first batch in a planted tank is awesome!

Will they let you get close enough to get a picture of them, or are they hiding them too well at this point? Congrats and I can't wait to see the babies once they're out and about.

[Pale Blue Eyes]

They aren't attaching so I don't have too good a feeling about it! I have a feeling it's because they are in a planted tank though?

The other thing I am wondering about is that they don't seem to interested in food really. I know that I have only had them for just over a week, but they aren't eating much. If I feed them Prima, Discus Pro, Hikari, flake, beefheart, etc., they might nibble a bit but then it just drops past them... The only thing they seems to show much interest in is bloodworms. They like to hang out near the tip of the piece of bog wood that I have, and I have to place food on there, and they will go pick at that afterwards, but really don't seem interested in feeding from the water column. I know that they can be picky eaters but how long before they start feeding normally after they are on a new tank do you think?