Bitten Again

[Cosmo]

Well hello again all you old timers (newer members won't remember me :( )

Haven't been around for a few years due to some pet tragedies that kind of put me out of the mood. First I lost almost all my Discus and Angels while travelling for business, then my dog came down with heart disease and I lost her a year ago last Christmas - this will be a very difficult Christmas - BUT, my 180gal tank got down to two Discus and something switched on inside. Replaced the heaters, cleaned everything, redid the filtration and decided it was time to look for some nice fish. So naturally I went and looked in the Simply sponsor forums and found Chicago Discus that happens to be just a 20 minute drive from where I live :) Went over yesterday and met Miranda (great lady) and found myself in a Discus wonderland. My wife and I stayed for almost two hours but finally let Miranda go and left with 5 beautiful fish... once I'm sure the tank is fully stable again we're going back for more ... and more... and more.... hahahaha :bandana:

Strange but I feel more alive again :antlers:

Good to be back!

[Pardal]

Cosmo
Is great to have you back. Sorry for your loss in the past.
I am pretty sure you will have joy again in this fantastic hobby of us.

Julian

[discuspaul]

Welcome back - it's a good feeling to be bitten by this hobby once again, isn't it ? It's happened to me several times over the past 50 + years.
Great too that you're only 20 minutes away from Josie & Miranda's superb discus stock !

[Cosmo]

Julian, Paul - thanks for the welcome back! I started keeping Discus when I was in my early twenties, I'm in my mid 60s now :alien: and yes I've stopped and started again on several occassions too. Once due to young children and once or twice due to in tank disasters that devistated me. But - YES, it does feel good being back! So nice watching them interact, we're in the middle of king of the tank right now but doesn't look like anyone's going to get hurt lol

[Altum Nut]

The loss of our fury friends is never forgotten and feel your pain Cosmo.
The Discus itch always seemed to come back and glad to see a veteran hobbyist back on SD.
I'm sure the gals at Chicago Discus were a delight to meet and hope I get the opportunity to do so at Nada 2016.
You know pics are a must once they settle in....

Cheers...Ralph

[Jack L]

180....room for LOTS more!
good luck.

[Tad]

Jim,
I did not know that You had left the hobby, but I have been away for awhile myself and not very active here on Simply! I have been out for a few years, gave all of my equipment to a gentleman in the SF Bay area who was about to start a hatchery. Probably close to 5-8k worth of equipment. My bout with Cryptobia surely put the flames out of my passion. I did keep one 135gallon acrylic with plans someday to get back into breeding discus or pardon Me, a saltwater reef tank :confused:
Glad that You got the fever back again, and what ever happened to all of Your birds?

Happy Holidays to You,
Tad

[Keith Perkins]

Welcome back Jim, good to see you around again. Looking for to meeting you in Lombard, IL for the 2016 NADA show.

[brewmaster15]

Well hello again all you old timers (newer members won't remember me :( )

Haven't been around for a few years due to some pet tragedies that kind of put me out of the mood. First I lost almost all my Discus and Angels while travelling for business, then my dog came down with heart disease and I lost her a year ago last Christmas - this will be a very difficult Christmas - BUT, my 180gal tank got down to two Discus and something switched on inside. Replaced the heaters, cleaned everything, redid the filtration and decided it was time to look for some nice fish. So naturally I went and looked in the Simply sponsor forums and found Chicago Discus that happens to be just a 20 minute drive from where I live :) Went over yesterday and met Miranda (great lady) and found myself in a Discus wonderland. My wife and I stayed for almost two hours but finally let Miranda go and left with 5 beautiful fish... once I'm sure the tank is fully stable again we're going back for more ... and more... and more.... hahahaha :bandana:

Strange but I feel more alive again :antlers:

Good to be back!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: love it when they come back!:)

al

[brewmaster15]

Jim,
I did not know that You had left the hobby, but I have been away for awhile myself and not very active here on Simply! I have been out for a few years, gave all of my equipment to a gentleman in the SF Bay area who was about to start a hatchery. Probably close to 5-8k worth of equipment. My bout with Cryptobia surely put the flames out of my passion. I did keep one 135gallon acrylic with plans someday to get back into breeding discus or pardon Me, a saltwater reef tank :confused:
Glad that You got the fever back again, and what ever happened to all of Your birds?

Happy Holidays to You,
Tad

Hey There my Friend, Long time.:) Apparently the flames are still smoldering since you still visit us! You should follow Jim's example Tad, Fire up that 135 gal and give it a go again!:bandana:


best always,
Al

Say Hi to Judi for me! I often think about you guys.

[Phillydubs]

What did you get?!?!?

Jealous that you live so close to the ladies of chicago! Lucky man!!!

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
I cruised in to check out my favorite discus site and what do I see.......Some of my best old-school Discus Fish buds on here! WOW, I miss my fish and friends! Hi Jim!.....Hi Tad n Judy!......Hi Al Sabetta!!! I think I will also look into firing up a tank with my Daughter to teach her about the most beautiful fish in H2O! Hmmm, now where are those old discus books......where's my CO2 tanks......where's my Thiosulfate! ;)



Steve

[John_Nicholson]

Glad you are back and Tad nice to "see" you again. I hope at least some of you old timers make it to NADA this year. It would be a blast to sit around and talk about the old days.

-john

[rickztahone]

Welcome back Steve. You can probably ditch the Thiosulfate :)

[Cosmo]

What did you get?!?!?

Jealous that you live so close to the ladies of chicago! Lucky man!!!

yeah, it's like a kid living a block away from a candy store

So far ....

1 - Snow White (female it turns out) approx 6.5in who has already spawned with the next one on the list
1 - Albino Yellow Butterfly (male) about 6in and sire to the above's eggs lol
1 - Albino Pigeon - aggressive male I believe - about 5in or more
1 - Blue Snakeskin (male I believe) - 5in or so
1 - Red Turquose (female I believe cause she never leaves the Snakes side) - about 5in
1 - Tiger Pigeon - about 4in - no idea of the sex yet, not at all agressive
1 - Mandarin Passion - (male I think, very aggressive) - about 4in
2 - Hi Body Blue Diamonds - acted like a pair in the tank before I took them home, now... not much interaction so far - about 5.5in

All are extremely healthy and water parameters are near perfect, although still a minor struggle with the C02 infused water that comes out my tap - mixing with RO and treating as needed to bring down the ph some.

Have a 180 gal tank, so have room for a few more:p

The Snow White and the Albino Yellow Butterfly moving into a breeding tank sometime within the next week or two

[chuckiesmalls]

this thread makes me feel all warm and fuzzy lol