Check my work! (Future Stendkers)

[JLee]

Hey everyone!

First time discus owner, long time aquarium enthusiast. I am sure my story is very similar to probably 99% of you, but I laid eyes on discus when I was a little kid (5ish?) and have always dreamed of owning some. Throughout the years I've contemplated, researched, and backed out for various reasons, but today I want to let you know that I've begun my discus journey!

So this is where I need this wonderful community to 'check my work'. My main question has to do with water quality and the second is just affirmation of things I'm doing right. This is a big deal, and I want to do my best with what I have to ensure that my discus live a long and healthy life.

The set up
75 gallon, bare bottom tank, 4 driftwood with some java fern, anubias, amazon sword and a handful of duckweed
Penn-Plax Canister Filter 1500 (up to 150 gal, sponge filter (for 75gal), and a uv sterilizer filter (up to 100 gal) (only on for a few hours 3 times a week)
500w heater (water currently set at 83F)

The cycle
Taking biomedia from an established tank, I squeezed all that chocolaty gooshy stuff into my new canister filter and let it run. I introduced a school of ember tetras 5 days later, all are still alive alive.

Today is 7/10, so that means I am on day 12 of the cycle.

Water
Ph: 7.6
ppm GH/KH: 196.9 (11dKH)
-unsure of ammonia spike... but it read 0.25ppm yesterday before water change.

The discus
I haven't purchased them yet, but will buy from Hans. I plan on getting 8-10 2.5", assuming losses along the way, but hoping to have a minimum of 6-7.

I intend to purchase these discus at the end of July or the first week of August, which will give me about a full month cycle. I understand that cycles typically last 6-8 weeks, but my justification is that I put in some media from an established tank.

My Questions
- I do not intend to breed. Are my water parameters going to be okay for Stendkers? I worry about the KH/GH the most. I know 7.6 is an okay pH for Stendkers. Its not sustainable to get an r/o unit, nor set up a 55gal barrel of aged water. I plan on doing 25-30% water changes every 3 days.

- Is it wise to assume discus loss and therefore legitimize purchasing over ideal number?

- Do you think I should wait longer for the tank to cycle (wait full 8 weeks?) Would you recommend any turbo starter instead? If so, which one?

- If you were in my current tank stage, what would you do differently?

- When you think of all the 'essentials' of keeping Stendkers/discus, is there anything that I am absolutely missing?

Thank you guys for taking the time to give me some feedback. I really appreciate it! I can't do this without you guys!

Here's a picture of my tank on day 1 of the cycle. Since then I have a school of embers and my water is brown with tannis from the driftwood.

131636131637

[LizStreithorst]

I have never cycled a tank in the normal way. I just change a ton of water every day until the filter catches up with the bio load. You most certainly should not expect losses. The the only reason I will buy more fish than I will need when they are adults is so that I can choose the ones that I like the best and find homes for the ones that don't suit my standards. Stendkers are a good choice.

[JLee]

Thank you so much for your speedy reply! Can you clarify what you mean by the filter catching up with the bio load? How did you measure that to make sure it was ready to go?

[Iminit]

I also have never cycled a tank. Since you have other tanks running just take media from them and add that to the canister. Hans is a good choice. But at 2.5” you should be changing 50% water daily till about 5” about 6 months. If going this way cycling won’t mater cause they’ll be getting new water daily. They will also need to be fed a lot 6-10x a day. So being your just starting you will probably want to start with bigger fish. Bigger also means you get what your looking for. At 2.5it hard for the seller to know if it’s going to look like the picture. Bigger means you can change water at the pace you added.

[Rick S]

Everything sounds good, you seem very enthusiastic and determined. This is needed in case you have problems to deal with in the future. On that note there are a couple of things I would do different. I would get that water barrel for ageing because we can't always rely on what's coming out of the tap. And I would up the water changes to 50% daily. Good luck.

Rick

[LizStreithorst]

Thank you so much for your speedy reply! Can you clarify what you mean by the filter catching up with the bio load? How did you measure that to make sure it was ready to go?

The beneficial bacteria exists in tap water it just needs to be fed to the filter by the discus poo. It takes a couple of weeks of huge WC for the filter to adjust to the amount of waste that the Discus produce, same as when you add ammonia. Personally, I don't ever test the water when I've done that. I just watch the fish. I can tell by how they are feeling if the filter has cycled. I'll change 90% daily for 5 days, then drop down to 75%, then to 50% until I get to the amount of water I generally like to change daily in a Discus tank. 50% daily works for Discus.

But since this is your first experience with Discus use the test kit every day both before and after you change water. You eventually want 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and about 5 nitrate.

[Shan_Evolved]

Shan In blue


Hey everyone!

First time discus owner, long time aquarium enthusiast. I am sure my story is very similar to probably 99% of you, but I laid eyes on discus when I was a little kid (5ish?) and have always dreamed of owning some. Throughout the years I've contemplated, researched, and backed out for various reasons, but today I want to let you know that I've begun my discus journey!

So this is where I need this wonderful community to 'check my work'. My main question has to do with water quality and the second is just affirmation of things I'm doing right. This is a big deal, and I want to do my best with what I have to ensure that my discus live a long and healthy life.

The set up
75 gallon, bare bottom tank, 4 driftwood with some java fern, anubias, amazon sword and a handful of duckweed
I would be careful with driftwood. I started with some manzanita pieces and they started getting odd algae and reacted weird to heavy feedings. Also once you medicate the tank, I was always offput with the driftwood still harboring nasties post medication.
Penn-Plax Canister Filter 1500 (up to 150 gal, sponge filter (for 75gal), and a uv sterilizer filter (up to 100 gal) (only on for a few hours 3 times a week)
No need for canister my friend. In fact they do more harm than good. My experience with them is horrible too. They will pull up so much beefheart and nasties because of the high feeding dosages and it's become dirty and gross. It's so much easier to just run sponges, surface agitation and easily siphon up poop and debris throughout the day. Trust me.
500w heater (water currently set at 83F)
Do 84-86. Or even 88 while cycling.

The cycle
Taking biomedia from an established tank, I squeezed all that chocolaty gooshy stuff into my new canister filter and let it run. I introduced a school of ember tetras 5 days later, all are still alive alive.
I don't f around with cycles anymore. I strictly did ammonia and fishless. I would get rid of the tetras and absolutely make sure your tank will cycle at least 3ppm ammonia in 24 hours. NO EXCEPTIONS. At least for me personally having nitrites really REALLY hurt. Months later even. Hours of hard work down the drain. Also just add in sponge filters now ASAP. Get them cycled too. You'll thank me later lol.

Today is 7/10, so that means I am on day 12 of the cycle.
Don't count the days, please! Just measure your parameters once or twice a week. Please be patient. Hit me up about all cycling questions here or on facebook (faster response).

Water
Ph: 7.6
ppm GH/KH: 196.9 (11dKH)
-unsure of ammonia spike... but it read 0.25ppm yesterday before water change.
If youre unsure, keep testing until you ARE sure.

The discus
I haven't purchased them yet, but will buy from Hans. I plan on getting 8-10 2.5", assuming losses along the way, but hoping to have a minimum of 6-7.
Don't expect losses. Do your best and ALL will survive. If your tank is properly cycled and you do the water changes you will literally be GOLD.

I intend to purchase these discus at the end of July or the first week of August, which will give me about a full month cycle. I understand that cycles typically last 6-8 weeks, but my justification is that I put in some media from an established tank.

My Questions
- I do not intend to breed. Are my water parameters going to be okay for Stendkers? I worry about the KH/GH the most. I know 7.6 is an okay pH for Stendkers. Its not sustainable to get an r/o unit, nor set up a 55gal barrel of aged water. I plan on doing 25-30% water changes every 3 days.
Make life easier for you. Get a barrel or trash can. Fill it up and take water from there (heater airstone w.e). Do more than 30% every 3 days. Especially if you feed a lot. Get a pump to make water changes easy. On a 75 I would do half a 55 drum's worth every other day.

- Is it wise to assume discus loss and therefore legitimize purchasing over ideal number?
Expect no losses. Even runts should not die. Only bad water and lack of water changes will kill them. They hardy AF.

- Do you think I should wait longer for the tank to cycle (wait full 8 weeks?) Would you recommend any turbo starter instead? If so, which one?
Dr tims bottled bacteria purchased directly from him helps, but what helps the most is being patient and seriously testing your water every week. Make SURE you can go through 3-4ppm ammonia into straight nitrate in 24 hrs.

- If you were in my current tank stage, what would you do differently?
See above.

- When you think of all the 'essentials' of keeping Stendkers/discus, is there anything that I am absolutely missing?
Too much focus on specific numbers. More focus on just stability and making life easier for you.

Thank you guys for taking the time to give me some feedback. I really appreciate it! I can't do this without you guys!

Welcome to the forums btw. I'm giving you the hard nails. But honestly you will love them. Please hit me up for more questions I only want my bros to suceed.

-Shan

[Willie]

Shan just lived through your experience and prevailed over some newbie mistakes. I want to focus on two of his key learnings.

1. Get your tank fully cycled. The only way to do this with a new tank is to measure ammonia and nitrate regularly. Don't guess, buy a kit. The most basic rule of quality control is that you cannot tell what's going on just by looking at it. I'm glad to provide anyone with a cycled sponge, so PM me if you need one. Alternatively, DrTim's Aquatics makes a great inoculum. Note that you have to use this before getting discus.

2. Make big, daily water changes so your Stendkers will grow to 7". My grow out tanks get 100% daily. As long as you prepare for this, changing out a 75 gal tank takes about 25 minutes. You'll need a conditioning tank of similar capacity, hoses and a pump. If you do that, your discus will look like Shan's. If you don't, it doesn't really matter what else you do.

Good luck, Willie

[JLee]

My dude, thank you so much for your wisdom and advice. I was able to read through your journey and I admire the hard work you did! Watching your quick videos proved it. Reading about your canister/worm ordeal is FREAKING me out lol. I am confronted with a lot of hard choices in the next few weeks- from the hardscape all the way to the filtration system... I've already dumped a lot of money and I need to be wise with what I take out/keep. I did purchase an r/o filtration system, and I'm trying to figure out how to install it as it currently does not fit the specs from my bathroom sink (RIP).

I do have an extra sponge filter that I am thinking about adding. I purchased a prefilter sponge for the canister hoping that will solve future problems.

I am scheduled to leave the country for a week in September and if I purchase stendker juvies (let's say in mid august) and then dip for a week, that could potentially be bad (correct me if I'm wrong). I know that there's a whole system of leaving discus for a week, but if these guys are relatively new in my tank, it could be risky simply because of the lack of oversight/care for them while I'm gone. Sooooo perhaps when I come back the tank will be for sure cycled and I can begin my discus tank then. Patience is key, so I gotta play that game.

I do have a water kit. I checked today and the readings have been consistent: Nitrate: 5.0ppm, Nitrite: .25ppm and Ammonia: .50ppm. I'm assuming that I'm getting close?

Should I continue to do daily water changes?

Thanks again, Shan!

[JLee]

Shan just lived through your experience and prevailed over some newbie mistakes. I want to focus on two of his key learnings.

1. Get your tank fully cycled. The only way to do this with a new tank is to measure ammonia and nitrate regularly. Don't guess, buy a kit. The most basic rule of quality control is that you cannot tell what's going on just by looking at it. I'm glad to provide anyone with a cycled sponge, so PM me if you need one. Alternatively, DrTim's Aquatics makes a great inoculum. Note that you have to use this before getting discus.

2. Make big, daily water changes so your Stendkers will grow to 7". My grow out tanks get 100% daily. As long as you prepare for this, changing out a 75 gal tank takes about 25 minutes. You'll need a conditioning tank of similar capacity, hoses and a pump. If you do that, your discus will look like Shan's. If you don't, it doesn't really matter what else you do.

Good luck, Willie

Willie, thank you for your advice. I do have a water test kit. Today's reading was: Nitrate: 5.0ppm, Nitrite: .25ppm and Ammonia: .50ppm. Do these numbers mean I am getting close?

Which Dr.Tim's product are you referring to? The "one & only nitrifying bacteria"? Would Fritzyme 7 be a good option as well?

I just bought an R/O filter, so I hope that will help with water quality. I don't know if it's sustainable to do 100% WC every day, but my goal is to do at least 50%WC a day.

Thanks again for spending your time answering my (dumb) questions!

[JLee]

The beneficial bacteria exists in tap water it just needs to be fed to the filter by the discus poo. It takes a couple of weeks of huge WC for the filter to adjust to the amount of waste that the Discus produce, same as when you add ammonia. Personally, I don't ever test the water when I've done that. I just watch the fish. I can tell by how they are feeling if the filter has cycled. I'll change 90% daily for 5 days, then drop down to 75%, then to 50% until I get to the amount of water I generally like to change daily in a Discus tank. 50% daily works for Discus.

But since this is your first experience with Discus use the test kit every day both before and after you change water. You eventually want 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and about 5 nitrate.

Thank you for your feedback! So even though my tank is cycling to get to the ideal water quality, I should continue to do daily WCs?

[JLee]

Everything sounds good, you seem very enthusiastic and determined. This is needed in case you have problems to deal with in the future. On that note there are a couple of things I would do different. I would get that water barrel for ageing because we can't always rely on what's coming out of the tap. And I would up the water changes to 50% daily. Good luck.

Rick

Thanks Rick. The water barrel isn't going to work since I'm on the second floor and space is super limited. However, I did purchase an r/o filter that can run from the bathroom faucet straight into my tank. Hopefully that will be a good compromise. And yes, 50% daily changes will be my goal! Thanks for your advice!

[JLee]

I also have never cycled a tank. Since you have other tanks running just take media from them and add that to the canister. Hans is a good choice. But at 2.5” you should be changing 50% water daily till about 5” about 6 months. If going this way cycling won’t mater cause they’ll be getting new water daily. They will also need to be fed a lot 6-10x a day. So being your just starting you will probably want to start with bigger fish. Bigger also means you get what your looking for. At 2.5it hard for the seller to know if it’s going to look like the picture. Bigger means you can change water at the pace you added.

Thanks really good freed back! Thanks Tom. I've been thinking a lot about getting bigger discus and I think I want to stick with the 2.5"s and try my luck!

[Willie]

Willie, thank you for your advice. I do have a water test kit. Today's reading was: Nitrate: 5.0ppm, Nitrite: .25ppm and Ammonia: .50ppm. Do these numbers mean I am getting close?

Nitrification is not a linear event. As long as you have any measurable nitrite, the tank is not cycled. When you consistently see 0 ppm nitrite, then you're good.

Which Dr.Tim's product are you referring to? The "one & only nitrifying bacteria"? Would Fritzyme 7 be a good option as well?

I haven't had any experience with Fritzyme. These two products are direct competitors, so I presume both would work - but no experience with Fritzyme.

I just bought an R/O filter, so I hope that will help with water quality. I don't know if it's sustainable to do 100% WC every day, but my goal is to do at least 50%WC a day.

You absolutely do not need R/O water to raise Stendker fry. It just adds another level of complexity to what you're doing. Changing water is far more important than getting a specific pH/KH.

Thanks again for spending your time answering my (dumb) questions!

Good luck with your journey. I would not order the discus until you've finished your travels.

[JLee]

Willie, thank you for your advice. I do have a water test kit. Today's reading was: Nitrate: 5.0ppm, Nitrite: .25ppm and Ammonia: .50ppm. Do these numbers mean I am getting close?

Nitrification is not a linear event. As long as you have any measurable nitrite, the tank is not cycled. When you consistently see 0 ppm nitrite, then you're good.

Which Dr.Tim's product are you referring to? The "one & only nitrifying bacteria"? Would Fritzyme 7 be a good option as well?

I haven't had any experience with Fritzyme. These two products are direct competitors, so I presume both would work - but no experience with Fritzyme.

I just bought an R/O filter, so I hope that will help with water quality. I don't know if it's sustainable to do 100% WC every day, but my goal is to do at least 50%WC a day.

You absolutely do not need R/O water to raise Stendker fry. It just adds another level of complexity to what you're doing. Changing water is far more important than getting a specific pH/KH.

Thanks again for spending your time answering my (dumb) questions!

Good luck with your journey. I would not order the discus until you've finished your travels.

Thanks Willie. The justification with the r/o filter was to 'make up' for the inability to have a barrel for aged water. It seems like aged water/ ro water is a 'must' or at least 'highly recommended'. Perhaps people across the board in discus keeping will vary on this. I understand your point on Stendkers though, which is why I wanted to raise them than any other strain of discus. I'm guessing there's a forum on this already? I'll look around, but would welcome your thoughts here. Thanks again!

[Shan_Evolved]

Just make sure your water is proper temp and it doesnt have PH fluctuation 24h after the date

[JLee]

Hey everyone, just wanted to give an update and ask a few more questions.

As of today, my tank is fully cycled! It took almost 4 months. I ended up purchasing some Fritz Zyme to help with the process. I added a second sponge filter as well and I'm glad I did.

Here are my questions:

1. Is it necessary to paint the bottom of my BB tank? I still have a window to do that before discus arrive. (I have NO idea how I would paint it except to take every single thing out of my tank, flip it over, and paint it).
2. 3inch Hans or 2.5 inch hans? Is .5" really that big of a difference? They are are $20 difference, which adds up as I'm aiming for a total of 7 discus.
3. I leave for 7 days the second week of September. Do I wait until I come back to purchase the discus OR should I be okay if I buy them by the next week?
4. Is there a thread that talks about different temperaments of Stendker strains?

Thanks for your guys' help!

[Iminit]

No need to paint bottom. That’s your preference. The hammered spray paints look good though.
Not much difference between 2.5 - 3” discus. Both still have a lot of growing ahead and both will still need the big water changes and lots of food.

[JLee]

No need to paint bottom. That’s your preference. The hammered spray paints look good though.
Not much difference between 2.5 - 3” discus. Both still have a lot of growing ahead and both will still need the big water changes and lots of food.

Thank you Iminit! If big water changes and lots of food is required, me leaving for a week with no water changes and no food is probably not a good idea... dang it! I have to wait for 8 more weeks!

[Willie]

As someone who's kept fish for a long time, discus is only different in one respect. If you don't change water, they won't grow - and there's nothing as ugly as stunted discus. You have a great setup, but success depends on how much you've invested in water changes. Do you have a siphon system ready? Do you have a tank to condition water? This is really the only requirement for success. Discus can thrive under virtually any water parameter as long as their tank is sparkling clean all the time.

Here's a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ7Rb48JZxs) I posted a month ago on 3" Flachens I got from Hans. Flachens is the brand name Georg Stendker uses for cobalt discus and Discus Hans is his sole distributor in North America. They have been in my tank for 4 months and received daily 100% water changes (120 water changes at the time the video was shot). Lots of people will tell you such treatment is unnecessary, but here are the result:

1. These fish grew 1/2" per month and were 5" long after 4 months. They'll slow their growth from this point forward, but all will reach 6" at least. Stendker discus can hit 7" with no problem. (These guys are in a 40 Breeder, and their growth demonstrates that water changes are far more important than tank size for healthy fish.)
2. You can tell stunting by looking at the size of the eyes in ratio to the body. For cobalt strains, these fish have the appropriate eye to body ratio. If the eyes are large, that means the body isn't growing.
3. Stendker discus will round up if they grow fast - water changes. If they don't round up due to a lack of water changes, you'll get footballs.

Other than the water changes, the tank has a sponge filter and a heater. So having a system that makes water changes easy should be the most important part of your set up.
...
1. Is it necessary to paint the bottom of my BB tank? I still have a window to do that before discus arrive. (I have NO idea how I would paint it except to take every single thing out of my tank, flip it over, and paint it).

Painting the bottom of your BB tank is primarily an aesthetic consideration. Discus will be skittish at first with an unpainted bottom, but they'll gradually adjust. In my experience, a black or very dark color on the bottom produces a look of depth. You may also consider painting the sides to hide the wires and airlines, and also bringing out the color of your fish. Given how much care you put into the aquascaping, I suspect a bare bottom is going to bug you. :p

2. 3inch Hans or 2.5 inch hans? Is .5" really that big of a difference? They are are $20 difference, which adds up as I'm aiming for a total of 7 discus.

If you're ready to do daily water changes, then the 0.5" difference is just one month of growth. But the larger discus are usually the better ones.

3. I leave for 7 days the second week of September. Do I wait until I come back to purchase the discus OR should I be okay if I buy them by the next week?

I recommend that you wait until afterwards to get your discus. You're new to the species and there's no reason to take unnecessary risks. As long as you pay Hans, he'll set aside the fish for you.

4. Is there a thread that talks about different temperaments of Stendker strains?

If you get a large batch (> 6), they'll all get along.

Thanks for your guys' help![/QUOTE]

[Iminit]

Yes big water changes and lots of food equals big discus. Smaller grow out tank is also helpful. Easier to change water and less water being changed. My first group started at 2.5 in a 125 and grew to 5+”. My next group I started ina 45 doing much bigger and daily water changes. They are still growing a year behind the first group and most are bigger than the first group. I have some Hans in both tanks.
So yes I’d wait till you get home to start. Also have another tank available for qting sick discus. A 29-40 are good options.

[Moreetta]

Everything sounds good, you seem very enthusiastic and determined. This is needed in case you have problems to deal with in the future. On that note there are a couple of things I would do different. I would get that water barrel for ageing because we can't always rely on what's coming out of the tap. And I would up the water changes to 50% daily. Good luck.

Rick

I second this guy, I love the enthusiasm. Please don't rely on tap water for this.

[JLee]

Okay friends, I'm in need of some wisdom once again.

1. My tap water reads .50ppm ammonia. My tank is at .25ppm. No discus yet, still those embers swimming around. Tank has been running for about 6 weeks. To start the habit going, I've been doing 50% water changes almost every day. I do a full cap of Prime before I add water. Once the tank is topped off, I add another half cap of prime afterwards. Nitrite is 0, Nitrate is <5. Thoughts? At one point, ammonia was 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate <5. I do have a UV sterilizer filter that I use maybe once a week for close to 12-20 hours. I don't know if I'm killing beneficial bacteria which is causing the ammonia to go up.

2. Because my tank is on the 2nd floor, it's not possible for me to lug a 55gal barrel up because there's literally no room for that. I also don't have room for a staging tank, and therefore I don't really have any place to age water. I honestly have lost sleep trying to figure out something that would be sustainable and would make sense. I thought about getting one or two of those big 5 gallon water jugs and put them behind my couch... but that's only 10 gallons when I'm taking 35-40 gallons of water out a day. I don't think that will work either. So- what's my next step?

Eager to hear your guys' feedback. Thanks again for taking time out of your schedules to help me out! I appreciate yall!

[seanyuki]

Ultraviolet light does not discriminate about what it destroys. If good bacteria passes by the light it will be destroyed. Beneficial bacteria are colonized in your filter and along the sides and bottom of your tank.The only time those will be affected is if it becomes free floating and passes through the UV.

[Willie]

Adding on to Francis, the only 'floating' bacteria you can control with UV is blue green algae. If your water goes green, UV light will clear it up. Otherwise, I've never understood the value of UV because the overwhelming bacteria population reside on solid surfaces.

Note that water conditioning is most important when you live in a cold environment and the water comes into your place with high dissolved gases. You may be okay for much of the year in Dallas with using straight tap, even 100% daily. If it drops below freezing outside, you can probably just lower the amount of water per change. Going 25% is better than doing nothing, especially if you're vacuum up the crud on the tank bottom and wipe down the sides.

[JLee]

Adding on to Francis, the only 'floating' bacteria you can control with UV is blue green algae. If your water goes green, UV light will clear it up. Otherwise, I've never understood the value of UV because the overwhelming bacteria population reside on solid surfaces.

Note that water conditioning is most important when you live in a cold environment and the water comes into your place with high dissolved gases. You may be okay for much of the year in Dallas with using straight tap, even 100% daily. If it drops below freezing outside, you can probably just lower the amount of water per change. Going 25% is better than doing nothing, especially if you're vacuum up the crud on the tank bottom and wipe down the sides.

Thanks Willie. Your response has significantly reduced my anxiety. I purchased my Hans Discus and it'll come in about a month. Excited to get this going!

[pablos]

Keep in mind that Stendker’s prefer higher nitrate. Hatchery recommends even 100ppm of NO3. I see it my fish as well. If I keep keep nitrate low <20ppm they are whitening and kind of losing colours. With a higher >50ppm their colours bloom. Even with 3 time feeding and weekly water change I could not achieve high level of nitrate, so I end up with adding KNO3. Discus and plants love that :)

[Iminit]

Wow 100ppm nitrate! That is so counter what the hobby preaches. Any freshwater forum or Facebook site will tell you keep nitrate below 20 ppm. I’m not just saying discus I’m saying all. For me I never test nitrate. Just never mattered. As long as you change water nitrate doesn’t matter. Took the Germans to prove it :)! Oh and I blame the whole nitrate thing on the pond guru. He’s a great salesman! How many of us use bio-home media?

[pablos]

It might sound extreme, but it’s their recommendation 131784

[bluelagoon]

I see the lower the nitrate the more improvement. Says: "and if customer then has 50 mg/l it is again an improvement and ideal for the fish". But, in most cases when nitrate is over 50ppm it becomes toxic to most fish. I guess Stendker is in the business of selling discus. We have seen many Stendker discus keeper on this forum not being able to let their water get that dirty and depleted without issues.

[pablos]

I keep mine with black neon tetra and SAE. All are doing well. Only apisto didn’t like that tank, but I believe it’s more about high temperature rather than nitrate

[JLee]

**FUN UPDATE**

Hi friends! So they've finally arrived. It was a great and fulfilling moment. The customer care from Hans was above and beyond I could imagine. He knew that it was my daughter's birthday so he threw in a free Cobalt as a surprise birthday gift. So instead of 8 juvies, I've got 9!

They are all doing great, I was so surprised how fast most of them came up to me after the first day. I'm still hesitant to turn on the aquarium lights, but I've included a small clip for yall to enjoy.

I'm currently feeding them a variety of foods to see what they like, so that's been fun and interesting to watch. It's also fascinating to see them figure out the pecking order too.

It's not shown in this video, but the marlboro red seems to isolate him/herself from the rest of the school. When it's feeding time, it'll approach me but I haven't seen him/her eat or have nearly the same appetite as the other 8. It also seems a bit more inactive than the other 8 as well. I'll hopefully be able to take a quick video of it for yall to see in the following days. Looking forward to read what you guys think and if there's any advice.

Temp is at 86.


https://youtu.be/64RPFqD3AD8

[seanyuki]

Adjusted the video


http://youtu.be/64RPFqD3AD8

[Willie]

Do daily water changes, pump the food, and they'll grow into slabs in no time. My 3" Stendkers put on 1/2" every month until they got to 6"!

[JLee]

Thanks for doing this Francis! How did you adjust it?

[JLee]

Okay, I finally had some time to capture some footage of the red marlboro. This was right before feeding. You can clearly see the difference of activity, and the Red basically stays in that corner the whole time. Only during water changes does it school up with everyone else. I haven't seen the Red eat for the past 3-4 days. Temp is at 87. I'm putting in a variety of foods- blood worms, beef heart, sera discus granules, ocean nutrition prime reef flakes, and hikari vibra bites and Red hasn't taken any interest. It seems to be very infatuated with it's reflection. I don't know enough about discus pairing behaviors, but I highly doubt at this size/age that it's already trying to do that with it's own reflection. Would love some feedback here! Thanks friends! Yall are amazing!!


https://youtu.be/4kKv-jrFURU

[JLee]

Do daily water changes, pump the food, and they'll grow into slabs in no time. My 3" Stendkers put on 1/2" every month until they got to 6"!

Ahh! I'm so excited to see them grow! I've been successful so far with daily water changes. averaging about 60-70% a day. Just keeping an eye on them as I an unable to age water. I've been doing a pretty slow water flow from the tap to not shock them with water temp changes. However, there is about a 3-4 degree difference after the water change. So far the discus don't seem to show any sign of stress. I could do a slower water flow but it'll obviously take much much longer to complete the water change.

[seanyuki]

131977


https://youtube.be4k/Kv-jrFURU

Delete s from http

It should read as http://YouTube.be4Kv-jrFURU

131978


http://youtu.be/4kKv-jrFURU






Thanks for doing this Francis! How did you adjust it?

[JLee]

131977


https://youtube.be4k/Kv-jrFURU

Delete s from http

It should read as http://YouTube.be4Kv-jrFURU

131978


http://youtu.be/4kKv-jrFURU

Noted! Will do that for future videos. Thanks!

[dambledar]

Oh wow, your discus look awesome. Keep posting more.