New to the forum

[mountain_bike]

I wanted to say hello and thanks to everyone on this forum, I gained a lot of information from this site and really appreciate it. I started keeping fish about a year ago and quickly fell in love with the hobby. After reading a lot (mostly from this site) I decided to try discus, and well it seems I have caught discus fever and am loving every second of it.

I would also like some feedback on my tank and fish. If you guys and gals see any problems with my methods or setup, all feedback is welcome. I am running a 55 gallon (soon to be 75) with 6 discus, 2 of which are very small. I keep the temp at 86f with a pH of 6.8 and use aged tap water. I use a fluval g3 (for ease of maintenance) and 2 sponge filters. I change 25% of the water twice a day.(no mini cycles yet)

My first fish, a cobalt named Liam was a little over 3" when I got him in september (think he is male, but who knows) and now he is over 5.5"

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/Tank%20update%2001%2014/image_zps191031e5.jpg

I also have blue diamond i got a few months later at only 2.5 in which seems to be growing faster and is around 4 inches, maybe more

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/Tank%20update%2001%2014/image_zpsbffcb43c.jpg

I recently picked up a silver pigeon

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/Tank%20update%2001%2014/image_zpsba5e273a.jpg

And here is one of my little guys, a red snakeskin
http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/Tank%20update%2001%2014/image_zpsd1bd3ada.jpg


Like I said would love some feedback and ANY advice is greatly appreciated. I am new to the hobby and look forward to being on this forum.

Thanks,

Rocky

[mountain_bike]

Tank update silver pigeon and snakeskin have grown a bit. Could someone tell me do they look stunted? The silver pigeon is over 6" and the snakeskin took awhile to take off but is now over 4.5" please any advice is appreciated (also the snakeskin is usually not such a dark blue, it just gets upset when fighting for food)

http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Mountain_bike/media/image_zps49409ec4.jpg.html

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/image_zps59f3d980.jpg

[mountain_bike]

also the blue diamond is 5" maybe more but after she started laying eggs she stopped growing. Looks great but I still feel like 5 or 5.5" indicates I did something wrong. But I guess she might grow a little more since all my discus are under 2 years. Appreciate any advice

[mountain_bike]

Just measured the snakeskin he is 5" but still is 5" too small if he was 2.5" in January?

Also before anyone says anything about the green algae on the sand, I am taking care of it. More w/c's and way less light ( I was being selfish and on a 12/12 schedule)

[Second Hand Pat]

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/image_zps49409ec4.jpg (http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Mountain_bike/media/image_zps49409ec4.jpg.html)

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/image_zps59f3d980.jpg (http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Mountain_bike/media/image_zps59f3d980.jpg.html)

[mountain_bike]

Thanks for that I tried with the link but I guess my phone didn't allow it

Also sry the first batch of pictures looked so bright. My current usa satellite fixture broke yesterday morning, and I used to think it was a weak light. Now I know my coral light just dwarfed it, all other 24" lights I've tried are really weak compared to the satellite.

Here's a pic of the satellite and the coral tank next to it


http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w611/Mountain_bike/image_zps92f3afaa.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks for that I tried with the link but I guess my phone didn't allow it

You need to use the IMG code when viewing the picture in photobucket. Just copy and paste it here.

[mountain_bike]

My fault not the phone, sry didn't use the img like you said

[Second Hand Pat]

My fault not the phone, sry didn't use the img like you said

No problem, just a little info for next time you wish to include a photo :)
Pat

[mountain_bike]

Appreciate advice any time thanks pat. But out of curiosity what do you think? My fish look okay?

[Second Hand Pat]

Mike, they look good. Perhaps a wee behind in growth but they should still be growing. :)
Pat

[mountain_bike]

I thought as much when I've seen some jumbos. And I do have a dark princess who's growing at a rate the others couldn't touch, but do 6-6.5" discus remain healthy? Because I believe they will all reach that length and all I really care about is their health. My lfs buys beef heart mix straight from Hans and that's all I feed so I know it's not the food.

[Second Hand Pat]

If course they will be healthy at that length with good care :)

[mountain_bike]

Yea I am doing less wc's as I am studying for my MCAT and work + school is not helping. But I do at least 3 wc's a week at 50-60% and vacuuming waste in between if I see a lot. My fish seem happy and all eat with a ferocious appetite but I met some people with some crazy set ups (some that constantly drip in clean r o and dose nutrients like a sps coral tank). Their discus were all 7"+ I don't know if they grew them out but I would not doubt it as the couple had two different phds in bio. But it made me realize unless I'm back to 2 wc's I'm not even close

[rickztahone]

Yea I am doing less wc's as I am studying for my MCAT and work + school is not helping. But I do at least 3 wc's a week at 50-60% and vacuuming waste in between if I see a lot. My fish seem happy and all eat with a ferocious appetite but I met some people with some crazy set ups (some that constantly drip in clean r o and dose nutrients like a sps coral tank). Their discus were all 7"+ I don't know if they grew them out but I would not doubt it as the couple had two different phds in bio. But it made me realize unless I'm back to 2 wc's I'm not even close

You are doing a great job so far. Discus tend to slow down dramatically in growth past the 5" mark as opposed to them growing out from fry where they put on a lot of size in a smaller amount of time. The last few inches are the hardest. Your best chance to get them that large would be daily water changes and high protein diet like the BH you are already feeding. The only limiting factor that I can see here is the lack of daily water changes, but even without dailiy wc's, you should still be good.

[mountain_bike]

Really good to know! I was worried because they slowed down growth so much but I am very glad to hear that's normal. I wish I could do daily wc's like I used to but right now it is impractical to spend that much time on a hobby for me. Soon though, I will be back to daily wc's. I will say though if it wasn't for using purigen I would have to do more wc's. My nitrates stay much lower when I run purigen instead of carbon.