What are you keeping today?

[brewmaster15]

Whats in your tanks everyone? Are you cutting back on Discus or expanding your stock? Are you Just getting into the hobby or on the way out? How about Breeding? Do you have any going on?

I like to run threads like this from time to catch the heartbeat of the hobby, see where people are in it? Be great to hear from you.


al

[Debow]

Al,
I am wishing to expand my discus portfolio lol Also I want to start keeping shrimp of different kinds. Just yesterday I painted the bottoms of 2 ten gallons, 1 twenty gallon in preparation for something just not sure what yet.

[Disgirl]

Hi Al, good thread. Right now I have a 75 gal with 7 adult Tiger Turk discus. Also a 75 gal. with superveil angels. And a 65 with a
full grown Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. He is as colorful as any discus, honest! And my last tank is a 35 with mixed Endlers. All tanks have live plants but bare bottoms. I am beginning my goldfish pond in the backyard.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

I only have 3 tank of Discus ATM, a 100 with 7 adults, a 40 cube with a pair I had to rescue from the 100 gallon before the male got beat to death, and a 75 with 9 4 inchers of my own breeding.

All the rest of my tanks are filled with Angels of many different strains. Several years I bought some WiFi Blue Marbles. From breeding sib to sib, and nephew to niece etc, I have blue ghosts, blue clowns, platinums, blue silvers, blue blushers, gold blushers, and Sunsets. Many are pearl scales. Every time I think that they are done surprising me they present me with another strain. It's been quite the adventure.

I haven't been able to do any breeding for the past few months but I hope to start again in a month or so. The wholesaler needs to buy a few hundred more fish before I have the tank space to breed more. My fish room is supposed to look like this110811
Not like this110812

[Second Hand Pat]

You have fry in those large vats Liz?
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

That's why those ugly things are in the middle of the fish room. My glass tanks were bursting at the seams with fry. The wholesaler suddenly went from buying 200 to 300 fish every two weeks to 100 every once in a while. Had I known that was going to happen I wouldn't have been cranking out fry at such a furious pace.

The vats hold 190 gallons of water and the fish grow like crazy in them. It must be due to the large surface area.

[sanjay21]

I only have 3 tank of Discus ATM, a 100 with 7 adults, a 40 cube with a pair I had to rescue from the 100 gallon before the male got beat to death, and a 75 with 9 4 inchers of my own breeding.

All the rest of my tanks are filled with Angels of many different strains. Several years I bought some WiFi Blue Marbles. From breeding sib to sib, and nephew to niece etc, I have blue ghosts, blue clowns, platinums, blue silvers, blue blushers, gold blushers, and Sunsets. Many are pearl scales. Every time I think that they are done surprising me they present me with another strain. It's been quite the adventure.

I haven't been able to do any breeding for the past few months but I hope to start again in a month or so. The wholesaler needs to buy a few hundred more fish before I have the tank space to breed more. My fish room is supposed to look like this110811
Not like this110812

What a beautiful fish room Liz !! I would love to have one like that plus the "sofa" lol :guitarist:

[sanjay21]

Whats in your tanks everyone? Are you cutting back on Discus or expanding your stock? Are you Just getting into the hobby or on the way out? How about Breeding? Do you have any going on?

I like to run threads like this from time to catch the heartbeat of the hobby, see where people are in it? Be great to hear from you.


al

I am currently placing a big fish order (discus of-course) with some special fish (Discus of-course). Will be starting a thread on that soon, can't wait :)

[DJW]

I'm keeping a few discus, wild rams, angels, gouramis.

My fish room will never look as nice as Liz's. :) It doubles as an office and I can hardly walk through here.

[White Worm]

This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_HSGGBnZsc

[White Worm]

This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjKagXEh8M

[White Worm]

This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lon_865MWHo

[LizStreithorst]

I love their color and the dark place on the nose. What do you call them. Where did they come from? Good fish!

[White Worm]

Thanks Liz. I love your fish room! I picked up some young angels from a good LFS before they went out of business to decorate my planted tank. Didn't really plan on breeding anything but mother nature had other plans. A pair (Silver/Marble) laid eggs on an anubias leaf and my wife wanted to give it a shot. Got her a breeding box and walla (Young Angels Video)! Here we are about 5 batches in now. They are her pride and joy and she does it for fun plus a couple of bucks we can get for them at a couple fish stores. I consider them to be silver marbles but I'm not claiming any name branding, lol. Then the female paired up with another marble so we are waiting to see what they look like (Angel Fry Video) as they get older. Here is the grow outs that I am watching. We Hand-Picked 6 of our first batch to work with later. They are in with some Koi and Blues for future pairs (hopefully) in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y7rLG9hMNc&feature=youtu.be

[White Worm]

Plan on getting some pearl scale and red/orange koi to add to the collection and I really like the look of the zebra's

[LizStreithorst]

They are not silver. They are brown. They are very unusual. I'm going t ask my Angelfish guru to take a look.

[Lindad]

Currently, we have 19 tanks running. My 13 year old has a 10 and a 37 gallon for livebearers, and an 8g with a crayfish. Hubby has a 75g with African cichlids. The remainder are mine - 55g with central and South American cichlids, 55g Amazonian tank, 55g angelfish "dating" tank, several angelfish breeding and grow-out tanks ranging from 5 to 29g, and finally, a 55g with my first discus. I have 7 babies I'm trying my hand at growing out. I got them ranging in size from about 1 to 2", and except for my runt that just isn't growing, they are currently 3.5 to 4". I'm gonna need to either sell off a couple soon or get a bigger tank! I would love to take a run at breeding discus down the road.

[Poppa Ryno]

These are a new toy in the fish room. I won them in a contest from James Perrenod @ Discus R Us.
https://youtu.be/vtpSs7gc2gw
I was thrown way off guard by this, as they are still very young.

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks Liz. I love your fish room! I picked up some young angels from a good LFS before they went out of business to decorate my planted tank. Didn't really plan on breeding anything but mother nature had other plans. A pair (Silver/Marble) laid eggs on an anubias leaf and my wife wanted to give it a shot. Got her a breeding box and walla (Young Angels Video)! Here we are about 5 batches in now. They are her pride and joy and she does it for fun plus a couple of bucks we can get for them at a couple fish stores. I consider them to be silver marbles but I'm not claiming any name branding, lol. Then the female paired up with another marble so we are waiting to see what they look like (Angel Fry Video) as they get older. Here is the grow outs that I am watching. We Hand-Picked 6 of our first batch to work with later. They are in with some Koi and Blues for future pairs (hopefully) in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y7rLG9hMNc&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for the compliment on my fish room. Are those Marbles really brown or is it the lighting that makes them appear brown?

[Neptune]

Adding another display tank of discus. I have to wait until the end of July so I don't have to travel for work anymore.

[White Worm]

Thanks for the compliment on my fish room. Are those Marbles really brown or is it the lighting that makes them appear brown?

It seems to be the lighting in the video that gives them the brown appearance. They look silver and black to me in person.

[gunnerschh2]

Started with a 450 90 gal sump & africans. 150 with 11 discus,6 sterbi 3 bolivan rams, 185 with 11 discus,7 electric blue rams,8 sterbi, 4 apisto, both tanks have sumps.46 bow 3 apisto, tiger pleco,multipuntis i bred, 10 cardinals& 5 cherry barbs, 55 with 6 electric blue rams,1 angel,tiger pleco,5 rasbora,1 whip tail?????.40 tall 6 german blue rams,1 male hongi apisto also one in the 46. I'm sure i forgot some. Have 4 gold rams coming & have a 30 long waiting for a happing. Well AL you asked for it.

[Filip]

My 65 G. discus growout tank :

110921
110925

And my overcrowded 3 Gallon "Betta sorority" tank in my kids room:

110922
110924

[Discluv]

I have 1- 60 gallon tank with 5 Adult Discus and some Rummy nose tetras.

1- 30 gallon with a relatively rare species of tetra, Imperial Tetra Hyphessobrycon sp. "Peru"

1- 180 gallon (soon to be set up) with either wild Geophagus argyrostictus or neambi ( depending on whats available when I'm ready to stock) , corydorus duplicareus or adolfi, and a couple schools of Hyphessobrycon species.

111211 The Imperial tetras.111212111216

[LizStreithorst]

I wanted to ask where you bought those Betta so I could get some from the same place. Then I saw that you live in Macedonia, dang it! That tank is beautiful and I've never seen such beautiful females. The male is a stunner but he doesn't outshine the females. Very impressive.

[Poppa Ryno]

Some Piwowarski Cobalts & Ring Leopards that I've been growing out. Hoping for a few pairs from them in the end.
https://youtu.be/O98xfC2Foik

[Kyla]

wow nice fish rooms and fish guys! I've slowed way down in the hobby, sold off all but one fish tank, so I'm just running a 180gal tank of 11 discus of assorted strains. I am enjoying the hobby twice as much since I downsized all my tanks and have a bit of breathing room. I just passed up buying a whole bunch more discus from another fish keeper in town, which was really tempting. Fish and fish tanks seem to find their way to my basement. I was just given back and old tank I'd rehomed to someone a while ago, with all their fish... I found new homes for their fish and now I have to put the tank on Kijiji before I accidentally fill it with something else.

[LizStreithorst]

Don't sell it! If you do you will regret it.

[Jenene]

Just talked my husband into upgrading my 75 gallon into a 125... I have no idea how. He does not know that means I need a new sump as well. One baby step at a time. This will be a process. Our tank is built into a wall between 2 rooms. This means we need to cut a hole 2 feet longer in the wall and rebuild the cabinet on the working side.... I have my reasons though. Will post them very soon.

[Filip]

I wanted to ask where you bought those Betta so I could get some from the same place. Then I saw that you live in Macedonia, dang it! That tank is beautiful and I've never seen such beautiful females. The male is a stunner but he doesn't outshine the females. Very impressive.

Thanks for your compliments Liz.
I bought my bettas totally impulsively and without any previous reading if they can live together or not.
I just saw this 20 G . Tank in my LFS , full of hundreds of beautiful females swimming together in harmony and I was in love the same moment :).
On my luck , a year after I bought this 5 females and this 1 male , they live together in this 3 gallon tank without hurting each other .
Here is a close up of the lucky guy sharing his apartment with 5 females :

111296

[Belkar]

I have one pair red snakeskin + blue snakeskin and a "Panda" pidgeon as adults in a 750 displaytank. Here I also have 3 diamond angels, 1 marble angel, 4 blue rams, 2 electric blue blue rams, 10 sterbay, 2 l200 and 40 rummynose tetras. In growout I have 16 fry from the red+blue snakeskin pair and 8 l066 for breeding. They are in a rack system with a sentral sump.

[Filip]

I have one pair red snakeskin + blue snakeskin and a "Panda" pidgeon as adults in a 750 displaytank. Here I also have 3 diamond angels, 1 marble angel, 4 blue rams, 2 electric blue blue rams, 10 sterbay, 2 l200 and 40 rummynose tetras. In growout I have 16 fry from the red+blue snakeskin pair and 8 l066 for breeding. They are in a rack system with a sentral sump.

Please share some photos of your display if you have any Belkar .

[Belkar]

I am getting some new akvastabil lumax led`s today or tomorow. I will snap shome shots then as the lighting there is terrible now. Old scaping was so horrible that I do not wish to share it :P. I am NOT a scaper I have figured out :P

[Darb]

Currently i have a planted 75g tank with 8 4-5 inch discus 6 sterbai amd 8 black neons. Planning on getting a couple plecos to help clean up duties amd eventually going to either a 120 or 125 not sure yet. Then double my stock of discus, they are addictive little guys lol. I also want a school of cardinals and rummynose tetras.

[Ryan925]

Aside from the discus tank have a 65 tall planted tank for my son. He picks the fish so it's a mix of 1 Senegal bichir, 4 roseline sharks, 1 rainbow shark, 4 serpae tetras, lemondrop bnp, 2 bossemoni rainbows and 2 other rainbows forget the strain. Just ordered some neon dwarf rainbows and some western

[LizStreithorst]

I'm getting back in to breeding half black Angelfish. I bought some nice ones but they are inbred and need to be out crossed to a different line. FInding half blacks is hard.

[Ryan925]

I'm getting back in to breeding half black Angelfish. I bought some nice ones but they are inbred and need to be out crossed to a different line. FInding half blacks is hard.

My lfs guy breeds discus and angels. He has some really nice looking angel fry. They ate zebra x Philippine blue

[Surf&turf]

Just getting started.

[Ryan925]

Just getting started.

Welcome

Start yourself a thread and ask lots of questions

[Surf&turf]

Welcome

Start yourself a thread and ask lots of questions

Thanks, I have a reef tank. Have always wanted to keep discus.

[Neptune]

Just restarted my high tech tank last week.

Got a lot of growing out to do. Should have a hair grass and baby tears carpet. Baby tears is starting to spread.

FYI...another successful tank start with Stability. Filled it up, followed directions for 7 days, Been running strong.

[Ryan925]

Just restarted my high tech tank last week.

Got a lot of growing out to do. Should have a hair grass and baby tears carpet. Baby tears is starting to spread.

FYI...another successful tank start with Stability. Filled it up, followed directions for 7 days, Been running strong.

Nice start. I neglected mine a bit so got some bba to deal with

[Neptune]

Nice start. I neglected mine a bit so got some bba to deal with

ohhh if you only knew! This was a green swamp last week, tore it all down, bleach, rinse, saved a couple good crypts and restarted!

[Ryan925]

ohhh if you only knew! This was a green swamp last week, tore it all down, bleach, rinse, saved a couple good crypts and restarted!

My crypts are growing great. Getting bushy. I removed some of the faster growing plants because I did like all the roots growing off of the side stems. Just added back some faster growing stuff.

[AquaWoman]

Currently, we have 19 tanks running. My 13 year old has a 10 and a 37 gallon for livebearers, and an 8g with a crayfish. Hubby has a 75g with African cichlids. The remainder are mine - 55g with central and South American cichlids, 55g Amazonian tank, 55g angelfish "dating" tank, several angelfish breeding and grow-out tanks ranging from 5 to 29g, and finally, a 55g with my first discus. I have 7 babies I'm trying my hand at growing out. I got them ranging in size from about 1 to 2", and except for my runt that just isn't growing, they are currently 3.5 to 4". I'm gonna need to either sell off a couple soon or get a bigger tank! I would love to take a run at breeding discus down the road.
Lindad, lucky you to have your whole Family involved. My Family pretty much think my Fish obsession is a bit over the top but they do agree that Discus are beautiful. I've kept Aquariums of one sort another my entire life and always hoped my kids would enjoy the hobby as much as I do but they have zero interest. So I am a bit envious of you.

[AquaWoman]

111823111822I have 5 Discus in a 65 gallon tank which just today I put a divider in as a pair have once again started some romantic bowing and shimmying. Crossing my fingers that the divider will stop the Male from eating all the eggs. I have three blue Pigeons, one blue Snakeskin and one Turquoise all of them Stendkers. There is a phantom Green Pleco and three albino Cory cats in there too. I also have a 55 gallon Fancy Goldfish tank and an 8 gallon planted nano. I'm dreaming about a Koi pond but for now that's about it.

[B&FGuy21]

Currently have a 36 Gallon community with German Blue Rams, Tetras, and Harlequin Rasboras. A 3.7 Gallon male betta tank, and an in progress 60 Gallon with Rummies and Lemon Tetras, potentially Discus later down the road.

[LizStreithorst]

My best pair of RSG's spawned last night some time. I'd sworn off breeding Discus, but when my two best started being friendly I put them in a 40 cube. I couldn't help myself. I half hope that dad didn't make runs. Every time I get obsessed with Discus it ends in disappointment. If I get free swimmers attached I will only have myself to blame.

[pitdogg2]

I'm getting back in to breeding half black Angelfish. I bought some nice ones but they are inbred and need to be out crossed to a different line. FInding half blacks is hard.

Not as hard as finding true black non veil angels. It has been years since i seen any. Yea i see 99% black marbles but they all seem to be veil of some sort. Last time i was at the gcca fish trade event some guy had nice half blacks he called medium veils. What is it with the veil tails everywhere?

[Adam S]

Mostly plecos. L134, German super red, Czech super red, claro and a couple others. The super reds are being crossed with longfin albino to eventually produce longfin super red. The males are bit young though and still not letting anything near their caves.


Not as hard as finding true black non veil angels. It has been years since i seen any. Yea i see 99% black marbles but they all seem to be veil of some sort. Last time i was at the gcca fish trade event some guy had nice half blacks he called medium veils. What is it with the veil tails everywhere?
Not a fan of veils either, but those are what sell fastest locally.

What do you mean by true black and black marble? If you want blacks without bars, you want double dark blushings. Angels Plus and Dacyums on Aquabid occasionally have them.

[pitdogg2]

What do you mean by true black and black marble? If you want blacks without bars, you want double dark blushings. Angels Plus and Dacyums on Aquabid occasionally have them.
Most black angels i see today are not like the balck angels i had back in the late 70's. I had several that i grew HUGE from dime size. They had no marking what so ever. The blacks i see today seem the me are just a very dark marble as you can see some darker markings on them.

[LizStreithorst]

Have you checked Aquabid? I see DD blacks listed quite often.

[pitdogg2]

Have you checked Aquabid? I see DD blacks listed quite often.

Nope.

[Jack L]

my tank is holding steady, don't have time to add more. new fish additions recently due to person leaving hobby. Not Discus, but tank mates. some hatchets and more black neons.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Whats in your tanks everyone? Are you cutting back on Discus or expanding your stock? Are you Just getting into the hobby or on the way out? How about Breeding? Do you have any going on?

I like to run threads like this from time to catch the heartbeat of the hobby, see where people are in it? Be great to hear from you.


al

I currently have seven Discus in my 180gal, these are between 5"-6.5". Although with what I've gained in experience the past year I believe I could keep these remaining seven just fine going forward but I'm now evaluating whether to continue in the hobby or not. Now that I have a better idea of the commitment involved I'm weighing this against the commitment/reward of keeping other types of fish in my tank.

I really like Discus but I realize I'm limited in what more I can do with them, given the size commitment I can give.

[Filip]

I currently have seven Discus in my 180gal, these are between 5"-6.5". Although with what I've gained in experience the past year I believe I could keep these remaining seven just fine going forward but I'm now evaluating whether to continue in the hobby or not. Now that I have a better idea of the commitment involved I'm weighing this against the commitment/reward of keeping other types of fish in my tank.

I really like Discus but I realize I'm limited in what more I can do with them, given the size commitment I can give.

180 G tank for 7 grown discus is more than understocked Kenny , and I doubt that you really need any serious commitment or time spen to keep them thriving in there.
You can easily enjoy them with no more than weekly WC and maintenance, so I don't see any reason for giving up on them , if discus is still what you want .

[adrian31@outlook.com]

180 G tank for 7 grown discus is more than understocked Kenny , and I doubt that you really need any serious commitment or time spen to keep them thriving in there.
You can easily enjoy them with no more than weekly WC and maintenance, so I don't see any reason for giving up on them , if discus is still what you want .

Filip,

I'm still doing >50% daily WC since my fish have recently recovered from illness due to mixing in new batch of Discus without prior quarantine. But that is a good point.

Part of what I'm feeling is that I bought this expensive aquarium setup and envisioned a school of large beautiful Discus in it. But that hasn't happened for me yet and I'm thinking that may never happen.

When the illness I mentioned above occurred I had just received my 2nd shipment of adult Discus from the same supplier, which made 13 total - a nice mix of Rafflesia, Cobalt, Blue Snakeskin, and Red Marlboro. I was extremely pleased with my complete schoool of fish and thought I was settled now in my setup. But I didn't quarantine this 2nd batch and within 5 days all 13 fish got sick.

I suppose I would be happy with getting 3 more large, nice-looking Discus, making 10 total. But I'm not genuinely satisfied with just having 7 Discus in there. But therein lies my problem: how do I get 3 more large, beautiful (nice shape & color) Discus, and also successfully add them to my existing setup?

1. Obtaining 3 Discus that I'm happy with: half the fish I've received from Discus USA I gave away as I wasn't satisfied with them. Wattley's was much better in this respect since I was satisfied with ~90% of the ones I received from him. I could fly up there and personally select my fish, but this comes to my second problem (below).

2. Quarantine: over the past year I've mixed 3 new batches of fish that I imported from overseas, to my existing setup - without doing prior quarantine; no issues with the first 2, but the 3rd (my perfect school of Discus) was when they got sick. For reasons I won't get into I don't see having another tank for quarantine as an option. So I ask myself, should I make another attempt to get my school of Discus that I'm satisfied with?

This better explains my thoughts at this time.

[Filip]

TFS your bitter experience Kenny .
You are standing in front of a though choice here buddy and idk what to advise here . All I know is that I wouldn't risk without a QT after your disaster again IIWY .
Its your call and also a though one ,indeed.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

TFS your bitter experience Kenny .
You are standing in front of a though choice here buddy and idk what to advise here . All I know is that I wouldn't risk without a QT after your disaster again IIWY .
Its your call and also a though one ,indeed.

Thanks Filip,

I'm actually still learning some of the finer things about their care. But I am definitely in a holding pattern right now, I will continue as is and not do anything for the time being.

[White Worm]

One option would be to sell what you have and purchase a whole new group of 10-12 sub-adults from a reputable source of your choice all at once.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

One option would be to sell what you have and purchase a whole new group of 10-12 sub-adults from a reputable source of your choice all at once.

Yes that's a good suggestion, I'd rather get adults though since I have little interest in even partially raising them. If I did this I'd need to personally select them since each of the four times I've ordered batches of fish there have been some I wasn't happy with. I honestly don't feel like making this effort right now but maybe that will change and I'll decide to do just that.

Thanks,

[White Worm]

Check with Kenny (Kennys Discus), you should be able to get pictures or even video of actual fish and select the ones you want. He has really nice discus of all sizes.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Kenny's Discus was my first preference when I entered the hobby late last year and I spoke with him briefly at that time. But his health certificate didn't meet my Department of Agriculture's import requirements - a health certificate issued by a US Gov't employed veterinarian, endorsed by the USDA. I talked to him again shortly before my last order from Wattley's about this and he said he would make some calls and look into it, but I haven't contacted him since. The suppliers I've imported from are familiar with this process and of course charge a fee, but I guess Kenny has no need to export because of his popularity. Really nice guy.

[Jenene]

One option would be to sell what you have and purchase a whole new group of 10-12 sub-adults from a reputable source of your choice all at once.

That is a great idea Mike. A do-over. Although with the sound of it the time it would take to do another grow out may not be an option.

Hi Kenny! It has been awhile. Sorry to hear about the problems you have been having. That must have been awful. I would hate to see that be the end of discus for you though. Hoping you can hang in there.

[Ryan925]

Kenny's Discus was my first preference when I entered the hobby late last year and I spoke with him briefly at that time. But his health certificate didn't meet my Department of Agriculture's import requirements - a health certificate issued by a US Gov't employed veterinarian, endorsed by the USDA. I talked to him again shortly before my last order from Wattley's about this and he said he would make some calls and look into it, but I haven't contacted him since. The suppliers I've imported from are familiar with this process and of course charge a fee, but I guess Kenny has no need to export because of his popularity. Really nice guy.

Bummer to hear you aren't fully satisfied. I know you put a lot of time, effort and $ into into your setup.

If you are quite getting the wow factor with your group maybe tank mates? Obviously QT is important. There are some beautiful tanks here with discus and angels, geo, dwarf cichlids etc

[Jenene]

Bummer to hear you aren't fully satisfied. I know you put a lot of time, effort and $ into into your setup.

If you are quite getting the wow factor with your group maybe tank mates? Obviously QT is important. There are some beautiful tanks here with discus and angels, geo, dwarf cichlids etc

That's another great idea Ryan. A big school of something would add a dramatic effect. There's hope here Kenny...

[adrian31@outlook.com]

That is a great idea Mike. A do-over. Although with the sound of it the time it would take to do another grow out may not be an option.

Hi Kenny! It has been awhile. Sorry to hear about the problems you have been having. That must have been awful. I would hate to see that be the end of discus for you though. Hoping you can hang in there.

Hi Jenene,

It's been awhile since we've chatted, thanks for the well wishes. Kenny's Discus would be the only one I'd order from, short of actually visiting Gabe and hand picking new fish. So that would be great if he is able to provide the documentation. But I'm going to keep my current 7 for awhile longer before deciding. I just want some stability for a time before making any changes.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Bummer to hear you aren't fully satisfied. I know you put a lot of time, effort and $ into into your setup.

If you are quite getting the wow factor with your group maybe tank mates? Obviously QT is important. There are some beautiful tanks here with discus and angels, geo, dwarf cichlids etc

Hi Ryan, yeah I guess that's pretty spot on. I definitely thought about tankmates, I would like a school of complimentary fish, but I guess it still comes around to the need for quarantine.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

That's another great idea Ryan. A big school of something would add a dramatic effect. There's hope here Kenny...

I think that something like this might be just what I need.

[Ryan925]

Hi Ryan, yeah I guess that's pretty spot on. I definitely thought about tankmates, I would like a school of complimentary fish, but I guess it still comes around to the need for quarantine.

I think now that your fish are grown you can toy around more with scape and tankmates. Of course there is always the dreaded qt process

The one guy with the 600G tank with that big group of geos is amazing. Also the guy that had the group of dantum angels.

Honestly I kind of wish I was where you are. My tank is maxed although I love my group. My thoughts for the future would be a large tank half stocked with single strain of discus along with some nice tank mates

[adrian31@outlook.com]

I think now that your fish are grown you can toy around more with scape and tankmates. Of course there is always the dreaded qt process

The one guy with the 600G tank with that big group of geos is amazing. Also the guy that had the group of dantum angels.

Honestly I kind of wish I was where you are. My tank is maxed although I love my group. My thoughts for the future would be a large tank half stocked with single strain of discus along with some nice tank mates


Ryan,

This has me thinking once more about the possibilities:) Having a single-strain group like some nice Cobalts or Rafflesia, along with a few Rams or a school of dither fish sounds really nice.

But I question whether I can get a group of large well-rounded, nice colored, *defect-free fish all in one order though. For example, in my four orders, in three of those orders each had one fish which had flared gills. Meaning as soon as I unpacked the fish into my tank I noticed their gills were flared and the issue never resolved over time, and none of the other fish had or developed the issue. So I assume the flared gills were a prior defect. I'm willing to pay extra for really nice fish, and I've mentioned that but it seems like the suppliers are too busy to do custom orders. At least that's my experience with my four orders.

Ah well, thanks for the suggestions I do appreciate it. I'll take some time now before taking my next step(s), but I am leaning toward staying in the hobby. It has been an experience for sure.

Kenny

[Ryan925]

Ryan,

This has me thinking once more about the possibilities:) Having a single-strain group like some nice Cobalts or Rafflesia, along with a few Rams or a school of dither fish sounds really nice.

But I question whether I can get a group of large well-rounded, nice colored, *defect-free fish all in one order though. For example, in my four orders, in three of those orders each had one fish which had flared gills. Meaning as soon as I unpacked the fish into my tank I noticed their gills were flared and the issue never resolved over time, and none of the other fish had or developed the issue. So I assume the flared gills were a prior defect. I'm willing to pay extra for really nice fish, and I've mentioned that but it seems like the suppliers are too busy to do custom orders. At least that's my experience with my four orders.

Ah well, thanks for the suggestions I do appreciate it. I'll take some time now before taking my next step(s), but I am leaning toward staying in the hobby. It has been an experience for sure.

Kenny

Very interesting, especially since you purchased from reputable sources.

Could it be you just had some bad luck? I can't imagine it's is a common issue to get fish with defects from these sources, especially at a larger size.

Can you take a vacation to the states and pick your fish? :)

[White Worm]

I'm sure Hans could get you some nice fish.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Very interesting, especially since you purchased from reputable sources.

Could it be you just had some bad luck? I can't imagine it's is a common issue to get fish with defects from these sources, especially at a larger size.

Can you take a vacation to the states and pick your fish? :)

Hi Ryan,

RE: Reputable sources: I have no problem recommending Gabe (Wattley's). Of the 14 total I ordered from him, it was a ~6" Cobalt that had slight but noticeable flared gills. This fish was very thick, and nice color. No idea why the flared gills. Otherwise Gabe's had large beautiful fish for very good prices. My experience with DiscusUSA wasn't as positive, in both orders the fish I received from them were smaller yet more expensive, the fish weren't in as good shape on arrival (some deaths). But they had good shape/color. Nice/friendly guy.

RE: visiting suppliers: this place is so small you get used to jumping on a flight to go anywhere really, so not a big deal. I might just do that.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

I'm sure Hans could get you some nice fish.

Hi Mike,

I've heard he has really nice fish but in my contacts with them it seemed they were a bigger operation and what I really want is a more customized experience. But I might take a look at them again.

[Ryan925]

Hi Ryan,

RE: Reputable sources: I have no problem recommending Gabe (Wattley's). Of the 14 total I ordered from him, it was a ~6" Cobalt that had slight but noticeable flared gills. This fish was very thick, and nice color. No idea why the flared gills. Otherwise Gabe's had large beautiful fish for very good prices. My experience with DiscusUSA wasn't as positive, in both orders the fish I received from them were smaller yet more expensive, the fish weren't in as good shape on arrival (some deaths). But they had good shape/color. Nice/friendly guy.

RE: visiting suppliers: this place is so small you get used to jumping on a flight to go anywhere really, so not a big deal. I might just do that.

Do the same rules/laws apply if you were to come here and purchase fish and then ship them home?

Maybe you can entire Kenny to come visit your beautiful island and bring some fish along lol

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Do the same rules/laws apply if you were to come here and purchase fish and then ship them home?

Maybe you can entire Kenny to come visit your beautiful island and bring some fish along lol

Yes unfortunately its the same procedure to import. The process involves applying to two gov't agencies for the import permit, providing req'd documents, then arranging for the 'live shipment' to arrive here within their deadline. It would be so much easier to hop in my car, buy my 10-12 perfect Discus in person, drive them home :)