FLBlue's Discus

[FLBlue]

I'll be using this thread to keep track of my journey into discus.

I'm currently in the process of rearranging my small fish room and setting up another 125 gallon, this one will be housing 8 4" discus that I'll be ordering from Discus Han's later this month.

The stock list as of now will be (4) Brilliant Turquoise, (2) Blue Diamond, (2) Fire Red.

I'm currently waiting for (4) ATI Hydro Sponge Pro Filter #4 that will be filtering the tank until the discus are full grown, at that point I would like to switch them over to a HMF. I'll be seeding these new sponges with a sponge from my clown loach tank and then will use Fritz PRO - Ammonium Chloride to bring up the other sponges so that they can process 4ppm over night. I run all the filtration on my tanks by sponges powered by a central air pump.

The tank will be bare-bottom, I've applied an opaque film on the rear and white contact paper to the bottom. Sadly, I missed a bunch of air bubbles on the white contact paper on the bottom. It's bothering me, but I eventually want to put down a thin layer of sand when they are full grown and these bubbles will be covered up.

I have two 55 gallon Brute garbage cans on the side of the house near the window to my fish room that will house the aged water I will be using for the water changes. I live in South Florida so keeping them at 84-86 should not be an issue. I will using a 1/3 HP Superior pump to complete the water changes as quick as possible, easy water changes are more likely to be done!

Feeding will be done with Tropical Granules, Ocean Nutrition Reef Flakes, NLS Thera A pellets, Jack Wattley's beefheart mix, and Al's FDBW once they arrive.

Now it's just a matter of waiting until the cycle is complete with the new filtration and then ordering the fish.

My only concern as of now after all the reading I've done is whether I should use egg-crate in the 125g to keep the fish contained in a smaller area until they grow out more to make it easier to feed. At 4" is that necessary? Thoughts?

[Johnny95132]

Seems like you have all the bases covered in your setup. With a relatively low stocking level of 8 in a 125, you should be able to keep the water pretty clean. And at four inches, the discus will be well established and easy to raise. On the water changes, I think you'd find it helpful to connect all your equipment to a power bar so you can turn them off easily with a push of a button. You don't want to have to unplug the heater, filter, etc, each time during the water change. And for the egg crate recommendation, it won't be necessary as four inch discus are robust enough to find food. You won't have to babysit them as you would with 2 inch discus.

[FLBlue]

Thanks Johnny, I was worried about them having an issue finding the food!

[Iminit]

No issue finding food they should come right to you when they realize your feeding them. 4” is a good size to start. Follow Hans instructions for new fish and you should be good. You’ve read up and have a solid plan! Good look and subscribed.

[Shan_Evolved]

Looks good! Sounds good!

Get more discus!

[FLBlue]

130326

An updated photo of the 125g with the filtration installed and heaters. I've cycled the tank with Fritz Ammonium Chloride, Fritz Zyme 7, and filter squeezings from my clown loach tank.

I have the temps currently at 86 and kept my old 75g setup as a water aging tank for now.

I should be ordering from Han's by the end of the week or start of the next one.

I keep going back and forth on the stocking though whether to get less and go for 4" or get more and get 3". I need to decide size, numbers to order, and finally make a decision on the strains.

When you have so many choices it usually makes it harder to choose!

I've also picked up Ocean Nutrition Reef Flakes, Tropical D-50 granules, San Francisco Bay Beef Heart, Aquatic Foods California FDBW cubes and have NLS Thera A/NLS Algaemax/Xtreme Kill Flakes pellets on hand from my other tanks. A larger order from Al's Australian FDBW cubes is also in but they are currently backlogged.

I also went by Wattley's in Miami in search of beefheart but they had none in stock but said by February they should have it in stock.

[Shan_Evolved]

Get more and get 3" - my vote. Turqs are gorgeous and cobalts grow well

[matt parsons]

Sounds like you have done your homework and are set up for success.
As for feeding the fish, what I find that works best is to keep your air pump on a separate 6 way surge protector. As Johnny95123 mentioned. I always shut my air off before feeding any food. It lets the fish know food is coming and keeps the food in one small area. The fish learn fast and will meet you in the same area every time the air goes off. My wife enjoys petting the fish and she started by just holding the food in between her fingers in the same area every feeding.Once the air goes off they swim right to her .slowly she gained their trust and now she won’t feed them until she gets to pet them.It makes me laugh.
I would also get more, smaller fish. You have a lot of room for them to grow out and I enjoy watching the discus change in color and pattern as they grow. Hans will let you know what each fish is ( he labels each bag with the strain) but from juvie to adult their patters and color really can change.
I’m sure whatever you decide you will enjoy the babies Hans sends. He really does have great fish.
I would wish you good luck but luck favors the prepared. You got this!
Respectfully, Matt

[Iminit]

Tank looks great! Only question is why are the heaters both on the same side? Put one on both sides. Also are you using an ink-bird controller on the heater?
Remember as they are going to be smaller you will need to change more water. Most change daily at that size. So you may want to start your discus in a smaller tank. Making water changes easier and Less water. Plus give your 125 more time to cycle.

[seanyuki]

Hans sells his Custom Beef Food Mix .

[FLBlue]

Tank looks great! Only question is why are the heaters both on the same side? Put one on both sides. Also are you using an ink-bird controller on the heater?


Thanks. I put them on the same side because the cord on Eheim heaters won't reach the ink bird controller if I put it on the other side. I plan to get a short extension cord so that I can place it on the other side near the bottom in the future. I do have a a small powerhead aiming at the heaters to move the warmer water around the tank and they are also under a AC 110.

[FLBlue]

Sounds like you have done your homework and are set up for success.
As for feeding the fish, what I find that works best is to keep your air pump on a separate 6 way surge protector. As Johnny95123 mentioned. I always shut my air off before feeding any food. It lets the fish know food is coming and keeps the food in one small area. The fish learn fast and will meet you in the same area every time the air goes off. My wife enjoys petting the fish and she started by just holding the food in between her fingers in the same area every feeding.Once the air goes off they swim right to her .slowly she gained their trust and now she won’t feed them until she gets to pet them.It makes me laugh.
I would also get more, smaller fish. You have a lot of room for them to grow out and I enjoy watching the discus change in color and pattern as they grow. Hans will let you know what each fish is ( he labels each bag with the strain) but from juvie to adult their patters and color really can change.
I’m sure whatever you decide you will enjoy the babies Hans sends. He really does have great fish.
I would wish you good luck but luck favors the prepared. You got this!
Respectfully, Matt

The air is currently being run from a larger air pump that also supplies the other tanks in the room, but its not a bad idea. I may place the pump on a Kasa controller to shut down the air for a few minutes during feeding. Thanks for the suggestion.

[FLBlue]

Remember as they are going to be smaller you will need to change more water. Most change daily at that size. So you may want to start your discus in a smaller tank. Making water changes easier and Less water. Plus give your 125 more time to cycle.

I thought about starting them in the 75 gallon that I'm using to age the water, but decided to go with the 125g as it's already purchased and it'll be their future home. The tank has also been set up in front of the new fish watching recliner I set up in my little fish room! The water changes will be 75 gallons everyday or every other day until I get them to a larger size and I'll be using a 5 gallon bucket and siphon to clean up any uneaten food/poop that starts to accumulate. I'm hoping the 75 gallon water changes on the 125 gallon will be enough, but I also have two 55 gallon brute trash cans I can set up if extra water needs to be aged.

[FLBlue]

Hans sells his Custom Beef Food Mix .

I saw that, but with shipping the beef heart ends up being extremely expensive. I'll be calling Wattley's in next week or so to see if they have more in stock then, if not I'll purchase more of the SFB Beef Heart cubes.

I was planning on only feeding the beef heart at the end of the day and maybe every other day. Is this something I should be feeding more often when they are small? I was hoping once they are adults to have them on 100% prepared foods except for the occasional beef heart treat.

Any other foods I should look into or do you think my bases are covered for now?

[FLBlue]

This is the current plan of what I'll be ordering. I don't believe I have any PB based discus in it unless the Fire Red are pigeon bloods?

I'll have to go with the 4" Leopard's as it doesn't seem like there are any 3" available and I really like the pattern.

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[Willie]

How often you're going to change water is a key factor in choosing discus by size. Regardless of whether they're Asian or European in origin, they've been raised with one or more water changes daily. If you plan to do daily, large water changes, it makes sense to get smaller discus and save the money. Get larger discus if you don't plan to do so, because growth will be slower and their adult size will be less with fewer water changes.

[Iminit]

Good choices! Now what Willie says is true. Since your will to do the water changes you could get his 2” discus. My first group I did this way. I bought 2” but grew them to about 3” in a 45 qt tank. 6 than added them to 6 similar sized store bought discus. Grew that group of 12 up in a 125 planted tank. All went well but water changes were big and daily till 4-5”. So a lot of water. Bought a second group of 8 again at the 2” size and grew this group to around 4” in the 45. This took about 3 months and much less water than the 125. Than they moved into a 75 for a few months while i qt’d 4 Kenny’s discus in the 45. Both groups added to a 125 just before Christmas. Changing water every other day now.

Just an idea of what I did and am doing :). They take time. I have most of what you’re planning to get and yes the only possible pigeons would be those red so ask Hans when buying. Good luck and waiting on pice of the new arrivals.

[smsimcik]

Yes. Fire Reds are pigeon blood.

[FLBlue]

Yes. Fire Reds are pigeon blood.

Thanks! Good to know.




Remember as they are going to be smaller you will need to change more water. Most change daily at that size. So you may want to start your discus in a smaller tank. Making water changes easier and Less water. Plus give your 125 more time to cycle.

Why did you have to say this?!? lol, Now I'm second guessing whether I should grow them out for a few months in the 75g and use the 125g as the water ageing station. :confused:



Speaking of cycling, I ordered another API Master Test Kit as mine was purchased in 2018.

I was finding it strange that my old kit was not showing nitrites after the drop in ammonia. Well, with the new test kit it shows my nitrites are pretty high. It looks like my cycle isn't complete even though it's showing some nitrates. Attached are the results using the new test kit and test strips. I'm hoping the cycle completes soon, I've moved a sponge filter from the clown loach tank into the 125g to see if it speeds it up.



130331
130332

[Iminit]

Lol I have one from 03 and it tests the same as the new one :eek:. Go figure! Also funny how the color chart changes as the colors run out in the printer:eek:.

It’s just less water to change. A 75 would be great. Still lots of room and water for the fish. A 125 holding tank makes water changes easy too. You could do 2 a day. :). Lol. If you go for the 2” they could be in the 75 for 3-4 months. And you could get off of that 13# and get 14 :). I like the fact that your mixing up the types of discus. That’s what I do. Now your getting fish from many different hatches instead of all from 1. Makes the odds better for strong fish. Also by having all around the same age may keep from older ones being bullies. With 14 if some fall off you’ll still have a nice group. Seems there’s allway a straggler or 2.

[Shan_Evolved]

Do not rush the cycle. I did this partially and regretted it hugely. Absolutely make sure you go through the 4ppm of ammonia in 24 hrs before purchasing the fish. Patience is key.

[FLBlue]

It’s just less water to change. A 75 would be great. Still lots of room and water for the fish. A 125 holding tank makes water changes easy too. You could do 2 a day. :). Lol. If you go for the 2” they could be in the 75 for 3-4 months. And you could get off of that 13# and get 14 :).

Well, I ended up stripping the black paint from the 75g and painting it white to grow out the fish. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the cycle to complete in the 125g, hoping it's soon as I've dumped quite a bit of filter squeezing from my established tank and have added more Fritz 7. Once it completes I'll move the filters over to the 75g.

130339

[Iminit]

Do you have other tanks running? You know if you move used media over you can instantly start your tank.