Happy to be here

[Megan1967]

Hello everyone!

My name is Megan McGuire and I am new to discus. Several months ago I purchased 8 wild “Novo Airao” Heckel Discus from Jeff Michels (aquaticclarity.com). They have been doing well under my care, so I'm venturing into the world of linebred discus. I have been in the hobby for about 5 years now. I started with the gateway fish, rift lake cichlids, moved on to S. American cichlids, added cory cats to the mix and now finally felt ready for discus.

I ordered 2 of each of these from ChichagoDiscus.com: Red Turquoise, Blue Cobalt discus, Red Pigeon, and Red Panda. They will be joining my Heckels in my 125 gallon. I realize I will be stocked a little heavily at that, but hopefully I'll get some pairs which I will place in their own tanks. I'm very excited about this. The new fish are mostly 5" with one kind being 4.5-5". They will be arriving next week on Wednesday.

[jeep]

Welcome Megan!! Chicago discus has a great reputation so I'm sure you will be happy! Please post some photos when you have them settled in...

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Megan and welcome to Simply. :D Any pics of the heckels? You can't go wrong with Chicago Discus!
Pat

[Filip]

Hi and welcome Megan .You had a very interesting and unussual start in discus hobby starting with Heckels to progress to domestics .
I'm curious did you keep your Heckels on tap water right from the start and at what water parameters you keep them ?

I would advise you to be carefull about mixing discus from different sources and be strict with your Quarantine procedure to minimise the risks of mixing .

I would love to see photos of your tank and Heckels .

[Megan1967]

Welcome Megan!! Chicago discus has a great reputation so I'm sure you will be happy! Please post some photos when you have them settled in...

Thank you! I will definitely post pictures.

[Megan1967]

Filip -

My water is very hard. It is usually at 8.5 from the tap so I've been mixing it with 1/2 RO water. I'm afraid I don't know the ppm readings. I have the equipment to measure it, but no idea how to use it. A friend is coming over to help me this weekend. I'm a little embarrassed about that.

The Heckels are wild, but the person I got them from is very experienced with wild fish and not only quarantines for at least 2 weeks (he had these fish for a month), but also checks for and treats parasites so that they fish he sells are clean.

[Megan1967]

Hi Pat!

Thank you for the welcome. I will try to get pictures of the Heckles soon. Their tank isn't really aquascaped right now because I am "storing fish" in the 125g while my fish room is being redone. I will have to get the visitors out of there this weekend, however, to prepare for the new Discus.

[Megan1967]

I'm watching Al's video right now. I'm going to set up several quarantine tanks for the new fish, even though I trust Josie implicitly.

[jeep]

I'm watching Al's video right now. I'm going to set up several quarantine tanks for the new fish, even though I trust Josie implicitly.

Good for you!! It's not about trusting Josie, it's about knowing the nature of pathogens. If I were to buy from Chicago Discus today, and then again in 2 weeks, I would still QT for at least 6 weeks...

The possible problems are not worth the gamble...

[danotaylor]

I agree with Brian. I am certain Josie is trustworthy as well but she cannot control what different groups are resistant or sensitive too. The QT process really has little to do with the reputation of the supplier, moreso being wise about protecting our stock from stuff they may not be resistant too. Good discusare too valuable in every sense of the word to risk it IMHO. Peace :)

[Megan1967]

Here is a video of my Heckels which I posted to the SimplyDiscus Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/megan.mcguire/videos/10219372308321904/?multi_permalinks=2325096880904527&notif_id=1558369955021001&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

[brewmaster15]

Hi Megan,
Welcome to the forum! Im glad to hear that you are purchasing from a quality fish supplier. Discus are an amazing fish to keep but can be a little trying at times when introducing them to stock from different sellers.. Both sellers can have what looks like very healthy stock but when you mix the fish one or both groups can get sick..It happens alot! Id hate to see you run into it as for a novice with discus it can be devastating. Quarantine is too critical a step to skip.

Please have a look at this entire thread...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?21044-Quarantine-*questions/page9

particularly post 124 . The thread spans years and though peoples procedures may have evolved over time the gist of it is to take your time when introducing new stock. It will make your journey so much more enjoyable.


Welcome again,
Al

[Adam S]

Welcome to SD, Megan. I'm looking forward to seeing your 125 progress.

[Megan1967]

Welcome to SD, Megan. I'm looking forward to seeing your 125 progress.

Thanks, Adam! The Chicago Discus fish just arrived about 15 minutes ago. I've never received fish so carefully packed before. Impressive. The one fish I've "unwrapped" is BEAUTIFUL.

[jeep]

It's an exciting day, isn't it!!! :bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2 :

[Second Hand Pat]

Definitely need pics Megan :D
Pat

[Megan1967]

It's an exciting day, isn't it!!! :bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2::bounce::bounce2 :

It is! Like Christmas!

[Megan1967]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10219389670995960&id=1337329312

[jeep]

They look great!!!