JWCarlson's first discus tank

[jwcarlson]

I got my 10x 2.5" Stendkers from Hans this afternoon.

Two early observations. First, they're significantly more colorful than I would have guessed. I kind of expected them to be tough to tell apart for a month or more.
Second, they didn't skip a beat. No on laying on their sides or anything. They're schooled up just cruising around slowly. Understandably jumpy, but we're talking about a couple hours in the tank is all.

I know that 5-6 hours isn't a great sample size, but so far so good.

Currently black window film background and a minor amount of "play sand". I'm wishing I would have painted the bottom a light color, but at this point it's a little late. The background I can change pretty easily to blue. Wonder if I could slip something under the bottom if I emptied the tank.

Current plan is nightly water changes, currently can only age about 30 gallons of water, but hoping to get a 55 gallon drum later this week.
Tank is 75 gallons, so we'll see where the stocking ends up as they start growing.

Thanks for looking!

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[mleibowi]

Congrats and enjoy!

[jeep]

Congratulations! Pound them with clean water and lots of food, Your plan for a 55g barrel is a good one. With 10 discus in a 75, you will be a bit over stocked but as long as you keep the water clean they should grow out good...

[LizStreithorst]

Nice looking group.

[Iminit]

Good looking group! Good luck with them! Lots of water changes and food!

[jwcarlson]

Water change #1 down, everyone survived. They weren't too spooked by it. They ate a little food today too as long as I was far enough away from the tank. One of them has fins clamped a little, but still good color, schooling tightly, and seems to have them extended on/off, maybe just more slowly adjusting? Pretty sure she was pecking at food too.

I think I'm going to take the sand out. I siphoned some out, I suppose I can do it a little at a time until just the heavier stuff is left and I can clean it out.

[jwcarlson]

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One week and six water changes (still just 40% every night). Working on getting the 55 gallon barrel ready and will do ~70%, it had cucumbers in it... in what the label said was something like a light pickling solution. Basically smells very weakly of pickles, sounds like maybe it's used for temporary shipment for use as fresh or nearly fresh? Not that it matters. I've been soaking it and probably need to give it a good scrub still.

Thankfully they've ended up liking Al's FDBlkW cubes. I don't know how to gauge how much I should be feeding them, so still learning there. They don't consume the cubes particularly quickly, but most of the cubes hold together pretty well. Occasionally one will unravel and float. They don't seem to eat as well on floating stuff, but do clean up a decent amount of the floating worms.

One thing that's got me scratching my head is I'm not seeing a lot of poop at all. That's not to say I'm seeing no poop, but just very little. It's all been good, brown (not white parasite looking stuff) seeming to fall off quickly. The stuff I've seen on the tank bottom has looked the same. Should I be seeing them cruising around with strings of it hanging off of them? Or is it probably just crumbling up too quick for me to see? Perhaps it's because their guts are still getting loaded up as it's only been about three good days of eating. Not terribly concerned about that, was just wondering.

I've got praziquantel and levamisole powders to start doing "Al's Quarantine", but I have no vodka to dissolve them. So I might brave the ice storm after work to get a bottle of the stuff.
Either way, bellies are certainly getting full. I've been feeding them about 6-7 of those cubes per day. And sprinkling in some Vibra Bites (that they will peck away at off of the bottom).
Got some beef hearts coming so I'll make them up a (straight) mix of that as well. They are curious enough to peck at just about everything that falls to the bottom, but they've only seemed excited to eat the FDBW so far.

[jwcarlson]

Processed about 30# of a 60# box of beef hearts. The beefhearts came butterflied and were missing almost all of the "inside" parts of the heart, so I got about 50% yield (just short of 14#). Much easier to deal with than full hearts I've done before for people or for raw dog food. Basically had to lop the outside fatty part, skin the outside, lightly 'skin' the inside, and then it was good to go. Double 'fine' ground it, froze it in sheets, and then I'll cube them up as I use them.

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And a video my daughter made the other day... ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-VVwHWRAuU

Later this week or this weekend I'm going to fully drain, spray paint 'textured' bottom (on the outside), and then change the background window film from black to blue. They fish seem to be doing great, one was a little sulky during levamisole, but that was pretty short-lived. They're swarming to the front when I walk over looking for food, even when they look full. Also will eat out of my hand or swim into my hand when I'm doing water changes.

[jwcarlson]

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Couple updated pictures. Had a mishap that took down one of the blue diamonds, he was 3.25" after a bit short of a month. Thankfully it was just that one and after some tank flipping and flopping... everyone has been back and doing well for a couple of weeks. The one who was lagging behind is now the first one to the beef heart or worm cubes. Is growing... finally. Hopefully that holds. They sure are interesting fish to watch.

They missed their first water change Saturday night as we were out of town. :sorry:

[Willie]

Except for that one turk, everyone is looking good. With discus, not every fish is going to turn out. When I buy 10 fish, I'm counting on getting 2 really good ones, 4 average ones and 4 that I'm not going to keep. If I get 3 really good ones, it's icing on the cake. When you see pictures of beautiful discus, it's often 1 out of 1,000.

[jwcarlson]

I have a totally uneducated eye and I don't plan on breeding anything, so as long as they grow up and don't look stunted, I'll be happy.
The turq has been a strange little thing and my inexperience with discus probably hasn't helped him. But he is at least eating and filling his little belly up now. Will be interesting (to me) to see how much that sets him back overall. If after a year he is still noticeably smaller or if it will end up looking weird/stunted. Right now he's kind of a neat measuring stick because he is basically the size they were I got them still. So it's really obvious to see how much they've grown. He is now pretty obviously larger than he was.

I experience a similar distribution in my queen bees. Out of ten or so I'll get one that might be worthy of breeding if she survives a couple of winters and has similar temperament and production as her mother. On the flip side there's usually one or two that just never take off. They might sustain a small colony, but they're 'useless' for anything. And the balance of them are good, serviceable queens. They are usually suitable for honey production, but they will be a little 'hotter' than I'd like or maybe her worker bee daughters are really runny on the combs or something. Or they might only last one (or zero) winter.

I'm happy with how they're coming along and am astonished daily by how much food they can put away and still want more.
I have observed that they don't seem to ever get really full looking on beef heart, but when I feed Al's FDBlkW they look more full. I'm not concerned or anything, but I do find it interesting. I am considering turning on my auto feeder to give them a couple small doses of pellets/vibra bites during the day. I feed them at 5:30 and then again around 6:15 when I walk out the door to work. And then they don't currently eat again until 4:30 or so when I get home. And I feed them pretty heavily (most days) until about 7:30 or 8 when I do my nightly water change. I don't *think* I'm missing out much on potential size gains by how I'm feeding them because they seem to be growing well.
I've been nervous about doing the auto feeder because the tank is still in the process of cycling. But in ~48 hours without a water change this weekend there were zero nitrites when I tested. So it might be closing in on cycled. I would obviously start really small on the auto-feeding whenever I do press the power button.

[jwcarlson]

Tomorrow marks two months. I just fished the two biggest out last night and they are right at 4" or maybe a hair bigger. They weren't happy and my tank light timer shut off so no pics. Of the other seven still living, five are probably 3.5" and the turq and flachen are still quite small...for whatever reason the flachen has joined the turq being whatever. They eat but not as aggressively as the others.

[jwcarlson]

Here's a couple of two month pics, it's pretty wild how quick they seem to be growing.

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Thinking about adding my rummy nose from community tank. But am nervous enough about doing that that I probably won't... we'll see. Also really want to see rummy nose in a 4' tank. Actually a 40' tank would be cooler yet.

[jeep]

They're looking good.

[jwcarlson]

Forgot a pic of this guy.

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[Willie]

Great job. Keeping discus can be so easy with just big water changes and beef heart. These fish are on their way to becoming monsters!

I've given up on rummy nose tetras with my discus for two reasons: 1 - they don't seem to handle big water changes well, 2 - they don't get very much color in a bare bottom tank. Their red eyes seem to pick up color from tank decorations: plants, gravel, rocks, etc. The ones I've been keeping with good success in bare bottom tanks recently are red eye tetras and lemon tetras. I can find both for ~$2@ around here.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks for the compliments, Willie and Brian.

I processed the rest of the 60# box of beef heart yesterday. In total it yielded 26# of feed (43% of my $110, 60# box - so about $4.25/pound). There's probably 23# in the deep freezer, which I am guessing is PLENTY for quite some time. Hopefully it keeps OK.
In about two months I've gone through approximately three pounds of beef heart (feeding other stuff along the way as well, of course). I wish I had a frame of reference for if I am feeding too much or too little. I'm finding that the big ones eat anything at any time. One of the runty ones (turq) has also kind of joined them, so I'm thinking he'll eventually get going (even if he won't ever reach the potential of the bigger ones). The one that has kind of joined him (flachen) will pick around at stuff, but won't join the fray when the others are eating. Since I have no frame of reference, I don't know what's normal. He is doing the same thing as the turq before he snapped out of it. In any event, if I keep a bit of vibra bites or sinking pellets in the water fairly frequently, he will eat them (and so will all the others, even if they just ate beef heart or black worms).
I'm hoping if I keep a bit of that available most times, that he will at least limp along and not look grotesque in a year.

I did a round of levamisole at the schedule of "Al's QT", but the second round would have hit during the disaster in which I lost one (or shortly thereafter), so I waited.
So I'm thinking I should probably to two rounds of that again. I occasionally vacuum up a small white glob which I kept contributing to a small piece of fat or vessel that I missed in the beef heart, but I'm starting to wonder if it's the flachen pooping every few days. Not sure what the right move there is.

Interesting with regards to the rummynose. I wonder if they're just not particularly happy about being in warmer water? The ones in my community tank have very nicely colored noses, but like you're saying it's got river rock gravel, driftwood, and a black background. Part of me just wants to see them in a longer tank because they school so well. I (likely) remain too scared to add any fish to the tank, if I'm honest. I had someone suggest that when they added some dither fish that their discus seemed to calm down. Mine are pretty calm, but occasionally something will catch them just right and send them flipping. In any event, I am probably too chicken to add anything anyway. :D I do like lemon tetras though, yellow would be a nice addition to the mix. I'll have to think about that. They're about $4 locally, I think.

[jwcarlson]

Two levamisole treatments trying to get these two non-eaters rolling makes this month feel like a loss almost. Coupled with a big scare on Friday the 13th with what is apparently chloramines and a fish keeper forgetting to use prime (on aged water).
Overall a lot less food consumed mostly because of levamisole. I hadn't noticed much of a decrease in food consumption, but with the two treatments two weeks apart it has shown itself quite a bit. Still two non-eaters, we'll see if they kick off here in the next week.

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Most of them are back to lightly snacking, at least. I haven't measured any at three months, I might give that a shot during tonight's water change. But I'll probably wait until month four because they've dealt with enough the last few weeks if I'm honest. I do think I'm finally going to punt on these two non-eaters and move them to QT and see if they'll get going.

[jwcarlson]

I did measure the bigger checkerboard tonight and he's right at 4.5". He might not be the biggest anymore there's four others who look very similar, maybe a bit bigger. So I guess they gained more than I'd thought. Are there any rules of thumb for age vs size? Just wondering.

[jwcarlson]

Four months now...
Finally lost the non-eater. Last ditch effort was a 12 day course of metro. The good news is that the one other non-eater (the flachen/solid turquoise in one of the group pics) has remained ravenous and is growing quite well. Levamisole non-eating seems to be mostly "gone" now, but it sure did affect them for a very long time. Three weeks quite a bit and it still isn't quite back to normal, I don't think. In any event, they didn't grow much this month because of all these factors. But hopefully month five is less... eventful. There are bigger fish in the tank, but the checkerboard I have been measuring is a bit over 4.5" now, less than 4.75". I don't take much time or flattening when I measure them, just trying to get a general idea. He's the only one I measured. There's at least two in the tank that are bigger than him, I think. Water changes have increased to 90%+ daily. Turns out my "55 gallon" pickle barrel is much larger than that. Which makes sense because it's quite larger than any 55 gallon barrel I have ever seen!
Pics are right after a water change and me chasing a couple around to get pictures of in-hand, so they're not particularly well colored.

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[JustaG0ldfish]

Four months now...
Finally lost the non-eater. Last ditch effort was a 12 day course of metro. The good news is that the one other non-eater (the flachen/solid turquoise in one of the group pics) has remained ravenous and is growing quite well. Levamisole non-eating seems to be mostly "gone" now, but it sure did affect them for a very long time. Three weeks quite a bit and it still isn't quite back to normal, I don't think. In any event, they didn't grow much this month because of all these factors. But hopefully month five is less... eventful. There are bigger fish in the tank, but the checkerboard I have been measuring is a bit over 4.5" now, less than 4.75". I don't take much time or flattening when I measure them, just trying to get a general idea. He's the only one I measured. There's at least two in the tank that are bigger than him, I think. Water changes have increased to 90%+ daily. Turns out my "55 gallon" pickle barrel is much larger than that. Which makes sense because it's quite larger than any 55 gallon barrel I have ever seen!
Pics are right after a water change and me chasing a couple around to get pictures of in-hand, so they're not particularly well colored.



Thank you for sharing your experience. I've been lurking posts that mention Hi PH. Happy to hear your discus are doing good!

[jwcarlson]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I've been lurking posts that mention Hi PH. Happy to hear your discus are doing good!

You're welcome, I've found the discus quite interesting. A shame on the two I've lost. I have been kicking around the idea of getting a second set to grow out and selling or giving away the ones I have. But I'm unlikely to do that, honestly.

[jwcarlson]

Five months now. Biggest ones are somewhere near 5.25". The smallest Flachen is growing quite nicely. Appetite much improved over the previous month with metro and apparently levamisole hangover.

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[JustaG0ldfish]

Wow! They're looking great. I showed me co-workers. They're in awe! I'll be buying some Discus within the next 2 months. Thank you for the updated photos!

[jwcarlson]

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Sitting here thinking it's not a "monthly update" and then realizing it happens to be six months today. So I should have measured a couple. Oh well... The plant was given to me by Iminit (Tom) and have also added six lemon tetras, but would like to add more. Or I might decide to move my rummynose from community tank over. Remains to be seen.

[Iminit]

Tank and discus look great! Nice first plants :D. I’ve got rummies in my 180. First time having them and they are a great schooling fish. Always in a group or sometimes the group splits for a bit. Strong fish too. I keep finding one or 2 in my overflow. Always look exhausted but look great once back in the tank. Have yet to lose one!

[jwcarlson]

Yes, I really like the schooling from the rummys, I think they'd be really fun to watch in a longer tank. I made the mistake of buying a 37 (or 38?) gallon abomination that's tall, but not wide. I should have bought a 40 breeder. I hate the footprint and the lid isn't a standard size. The discus seem a little more "bold" with the tetras in there. Not sure if it's just perception or what, but they've been less spooked (though it's only been a couple days).

Thanks for the kind words, Tom!

[Iminit]

I’ve found that the constant moving of dither fish releases the stress from discus. Very little jumping or dashing in my tanks.

Also with the small tetras from the store. This is another reason to put them in qt. This gives them time to grow. Most of your lfs fish don’t eat till they get to the store. So they could be days in transit. The store also isn’t wasting money on fish food they’re just looking to sell them. When you get them home they are stressed and some close to death already. Qt will keep many alive. This is why the quality discus sellers qt their incoming discus. They give them a couple of weeks before they move them on.

[jwcarlson]

These tetras were >1", but I know when he gets cardinals and neons in they are EXTREMELY small. So assuming that these come in similarly sized, they'd absolutely need to be grown up a bit. If/when I get another batch of them they'll likely spend some time in QT growing out some. I am really really thinking hard about putting the rummy nose in the discus tank though. I think they'd be an interesting addition. Though I'm not sure if I'd like two types of dithers or just one bigger school of one kind. That said, it seems like most schooling fish will at least school *sometimes* with different types. So maybe the lemons and rummys would spend a decent amount of time together. Even the sterbai corydoras like to swim with the rummys sometimes.

[GeauxDiscus]

WOW, Jacob - GREAT job on this grow-out! You have really committed to it!

[jwcarlson]

Thanks, Shane :)

Their growth seems to have slowed down pretty drastically and they don't seem to eat as much as they used to. I'm trying not to get too concerned, the largest ones are somewhere around 5.5" now. I don't know if that's good/average/bad... the one that was runty and sick is now the thickest one in the tank and is growing well. I'm hoping it's just a normal slow down as they can't maintain massive growth forever. Also hoping I didn't cause some damage with what seemed like a lot of meds (particularly levamisole) when trying to get the two non-eaters going.

In any event, I've had them almost seven months now (in a couple weeks). So that means they're probably close to 10ish months old.

[CliffsDiscus]

Discus growth normally slows down at around 10 months.

Cliff

[jwcarlson]

Thanks!
What would you consider a decent size at that age, Cliff?

[GeauxDiscus]

I agree with Cliff. The growth rate slows down drastically after 5 inches, and it may take them another year to get to 6 (if they are genetically able). You've done great just getting them to 5.5" - they look fantastic. IMO 5.5" is really good at 10 months. Also, regarding the Levamisole - I've always used the Prohibit brand pure Levamisole powder and the recovery wouldn't be as bad. I tried that Expel-P junk one time, and it nearly killed my fish. I'll never use that again. Just make sure you're triple-checking the dosage, because it takes VERY little of the pure powder (less than a half teaspoon for most QT tanks).

[jwcarlson]

Thanks! I was getting pretty concerned because their growth hit a wall. They're still growing a little bit, but not anything like before. Levamisole I was good about measuring the dose so long as my little gram scale is accurate. It's not much at all, that's for sure. I was using pure levamisole, not the other stuff that comes in tabs or packets or whatever.

I do think I'm going to install my auto feeder tomorrow. I heavily feed them before work and then once I get home as well. When they were younger they seemed to eat more, so I am still adjusting. On weekends or days off they eat a lot more because I'm spacing it out and less gets blasted into the water column. So thinking if I have the auto feeder drop some vibrabites in a couple of times a day it will help me not pollute the water so much.

In any event, glad to hear that my experience of slowed growth is expected! Will be interesting to see what happens over time now. :) They're not quite 5.5" and they're not all the same size 5.25" is probably more accurate and of the 8 probably 5 in that range of size. I think even the smallest one is probably 4.5" now, though... he grew up quick after the metro treatment.

[CliffsDiscus]

Thanks!
What would you consider a decent size at that age, Cliff?

I think your Discus are growing at good rate. The size also depends on the type of Discus.

Cliff

[jwcarlson]

Somewhere around 225 water changes so far for these. Have missed less than ten for vacation and a couple weekends away so might be closer to 230.
Anyway...
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[Iminit]

Great looking discus! Your doing it right!

[LizStreithorst]

You've done a great job with them. They couldn't look more healthy and vibrant.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks Tom and Liz! Now to train them to stop thrashing the plants to death... ;)

[Willie]

Somewhere around 225 water changes so far for these. Have missed less than ten for vacation and a couple weekends away so might be closer to 230. Anyway...

Yup, raising discus can be so simple! :o

Nicely done.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks, Willie! I cannot say that this has been particularly complex, but it has been interesting. And I certainly have learned plenty so far. I think someday I would like to try growing them out from quite small.

[jwcarlson]

Not a lot to report, the fish keep inching bigger, though I haven't measured anything for quite some time. I'm now kind of trying to sort out what I want to do as a final state for the tank as it's kind of... ugly. But still keeping the functionality that allows for the big nightly water changes. The first attempt at plants in pots failed, Tom (iminit) sent me some nice cuttings from his plants and the second set are doing just fine in a small tank. In the discus tank it fell apart slowly and I suspect the discus ripping the plant apart (when I eventually witnessed that) had something to do with that. So Monday I got a shipment of a few different types of anubias. I did a 12 hour reverse respiration "treatment" on the plants just in case, basically 12 hours submerged in selzer water to kill any hitchhikers and what-not. More on that here if you're interested: https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/24465-reverse-respiration/
Anyway, I did that yesterday and then glued them to some wood. The discus, of course, were appalled and as of this morning had only ventured about 4" farther left than they had in the picture below. Silly things. :D

I'm trying to decide what to do with the filters, how many I really need... where they could be relocated to. I'm thinking about moving them all over to the right side. Wishing I had a bigger tank with a sump or something like that so I wouldn't have so much stuff taking up space. I guess it's a work in progress. We'll see if these disc-holes have torn all of the anubias into pieces within the next few days. If I could get a nice stand of plants going like Tom has, then I could hide some of the filters a bit better.

There has been one sickly one that quit eating, but as of the last few days (and three rounds of levamisole) seems to be doing quite well, more here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?139240-One-of-my-fish-stopped-eating

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[Iminit]

Yes I never like the look of sponge filters. For qt and breeders they are fine but when it’s a display/show tank not so much. I understand because of your water changing you don’t need a regular filter but they do look better and open up more area in the tank. Being a 75g I’d suggest a tidal 110. It’s a hob with a huge media basket. This is a 90g I have133815. The tidal is on the left. Here’s the space it takes up133816 on the right side I have an eshopps 75-125 wet/dry. 133817. Either one of these would be fine for your tank. Being on the upper side of the tank they give the discus more swimming area.

[jwcarlson]

I don't think I'd have space for the wet/dry unless they make a smaller one. Or I made a different stand. Does that require an overflow/drilling the tank?

I'll probably buy a Tidal, I've been passively looking at doing something for quite awhile. The discus are in for a shock though as they've never had any real flow other than during water changes. :D I'm sure they'll be hiding in a corner for a week. :D

[Iminit]

I’ve had the tidal for 4yrs with no problems. Now the eshopps isn’t that big. I bought that from market place for $100. Had to buy a pump for around $70. No holes to drill it comes with an overflow similar to an HOB. Also a great filter.

[jwcarlson]

I've got a Tidal 110 on the way. Will give it a shot. I suppose I'll get it running and then start eliminating a sponge a week or something. Seems a shame to "waste" all these cycled sponges. I suppose I'll probably leave one in either way.

Thanks for pushing me over the edge and I'm pretty comfortable with HOBs as I've always had them. My oscar tanks always had Penguins years ago, I think I had two 450s on my 75 back then. I always liked those, but I've read nothing but bad stuff about them since. :D

[fljones3]

I've got a Tidal 110 on the way. Will give it a shot. I suppose I'll get it running and then start eliminating a sponge a week or something. Seems a shame to "waste" all these cycled sponges. I suppose I'll probably leave one in either way.

Thanks for pushing me over the edge and I'm pretty comfortable with HOBs as I've always had them. My oscar tanks always had Penguins years ago, I think I had two 450s on my 75 back then. I always liked those, but I've read nothing but bad stuff about them since. :D

Just cut up your sponge and put it in the tidal (perhaps on top of the new sponges). Don't waste good bacteria. :)

[Iminit]

Nothing wrong with the marineland hob. Before the eshopps that’s what was there. With the tital you can add the sponges right into the media basket add some matrix or your favorite media above the sponges just the transfer the bacteria. In mine I have at the bottom the sponge that comes with it then enough floss to cover the sponge at about 3” than a bag of matrix to cover that floss. Being discus I rinse it all out twice a week.

[jwcarlson]

I can cut up the sponge, but unless the media compartment is the size of a small canister filter, there's no shot it's going to fit all the sponge. :) I'll come up with a plan once I lay eyes on it.

[jwcarlson]

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They're dealing with the new surrounds alright now. :)

[jwcarlson]

My Tidal 110 showed up and I got it set up this weekend. It perfectly fit the sponges from one of the big tower sponge filters, so that went into the basket. There's two more on the ground that I want to get rid of, but I am holding off because I have a bunch of new tanks coming. A friend of mine from high school is selling his 125, 90, 55, and 40 bowfront (all with stands and filters) for $350 which is less than I paid for my 75 with stand. Trickster knew how to get me... wife even approved it. We have about 1300 square feet of unfinished basement and she said as long as they end up down there she's fine with it. So it will shake up how everything currently stands. I think the discus might end up in the 125 with a larger supporting crew (more tetras and probably some sterbais).

Then am pretty seriously considering growing out another set of discus, maybe some of Liz's if she has another batch available. My struggle is that I might have great interest in growing them out and then less interest in the adult/display aspect... if that makes any sense. I am a sucker for breeding stuff, though. So that's a legitimate concern if any of these fish start laying eggs.
I am in no hurry and the new tanks will probably mostly sit empty for quite some time. I'll likely transfer the current community tank in a 37 (a footprint that I hate) into the 40 maybe. I haven't thought much on it yet, though.

Anyway, as far as this crew goes, they were pretty photogenic tonight and I measured a few of them. The solid turquoise is right at 5" and he was at least 1.5" smaller than the others when I got him to start eating this summer. So now that the blue diamond is eating again, I hope he starts growing well as well. But I know some amount of potential is already squandered there. I measured two others and they were both right at 5.5" or perhaps a bit over.

Here's some on the refill after the water change tonight.
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Thanks for looking! :)

[fljones3]

Sweet looking group!

[jwcarlson]

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Tom (iminit) was nice enough to ship another set of cuttings for my discus to destroy. Haha

[solasis]

Looks good! My amazon swords are getting destroyed as well haha :p

[Iminit]

Got to say I’ve never had discus eat plants. Have you guys seen them eating the plants? 133886133887. The second tank you can see my wet/dry. They come like this with the media and an overflow box. For me these are simple and work great. Instead of a ball pit this one used a plastic and floss roll. 800gph flows through that dense roll. Goes through a few sponges and some media and back to the tank. A sump does away with the ball pit. The water goes into socks that remove all the large pieces of waste. You clean these socks often. Then the water flows into whatever media you add to the next stage or stages. Then it goes up and flows into the return sump. The overflow here oxygenates the water before going back into the tank. I’ve never used a sump.

[jwcarlson]

They don't eat them, Tom, they just rip them to pieces and leave the plants floating. Then swim off with a smug look on their faces. :D

Thanks for the pics, I am really struggling with what I should do with my new tank windfall. Part of me wants and oscar again, but another part of me wants more discus, and then another part of me thinks it would be cool to breed them (discus) just once. And then a bigger part of me understands that I can tend to struggle with impulse control. So the 125, 90, 55, 40, and 29 are going to sit empty for a bit. Gotta figure out how I want to set everything up in the basement too.

I'll have to blow up the pics on my computer, tough to see much other than the obvious beauty of your tanks on my phone!

[Iminit]

Here’s some better pic. First system came as is I just added the pump. Aqua link from eBay.133888133889133890.

[Iminit]

This unit is an eshopps. This unit is for a 75 to 125g tank. Again came as is I just added a pump. Bought this off marketplace for $100.133891133892133893

[Iminit]

And this last unit I bought at different times. First for $60 I bought the sump.133894 this sump was a wet/dry to begin with and came with all the parts but the media. That I bought off eBay for about $20. I also bought new hoses a bulkhead seal cause this was designed for an outside pump. And some pvc 90s and other parts to give me more head room. Also needed a different overflow box. 133895133896. This overflow can move 1000gph my pump is good for 1200. So I’m not running it at full power. These dc pumps are very nice and cheaper to run. They run on 12 and 24v. These filters are very cheap to run. Maintance is cleaning sponges in tank water while doing water changes. For the 2 with the rolled media about twice a year I clean them. I rinse them in tank water till clear. The black media is a harder plastic the white floss. This is a harder to find media but lasts longer. That stuff is about 4yrs old and has been cleaned about 8 times. The above system the green part is’nt as tough as the black part. This stuff works great and seems to fill the whole chamber but it does seem to wear down quicker. The first bay on the left has been replaced with new media about 2 months ago the second now has the media from both the original bays. The water pressure falling on it crushed it. I will replace this side in February. This media is cheaper. About $20 a chamber but seems to only last about a year. And that’s it nothing else get replaced. The ball pit I’ve never even attempted to clean.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks for the pics, Tom! That helps me visualize. Aqua Link looks a bit cheaper than Eshopps. There's also wet/dry or sump kits to fit, say, a 29 or whatever that you just silicone in... I'm not sure the parts and pieces gathered in and cobbled up saves any money from just buying one. No big rush for me, so I'll probably just wait around and try to remember to do some looking in the used market.

[jwcarlson]

Tomorrow marks 11 months with these Stendkers. As you can see... the plants that Tom keeps sending me just don't make it in my discus tank. This time it was not the discus, it was my "sanitation" which I have done before without problems. But it nuked these plants. The ones Tom shipped and also some of my own. I don't understand because the process was no different. It's called "reverse respiration" where you submerge the plants in seltzer water for 12 hours in the dark. For whatever reason the plants were utterly destroyed when I put them in. Really disappointing. :(

The big sponge filters have migrated to my new Apistogramma hongsloi tank. The discus are enjoyed the added floor space and I am enjoying the fact that their food doesn't end up under the filters where they can't get it half the time. It does still get under the driftwood, but that's expected.

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The blue diamond continues to eat, thankfully. It seems to be eating more than the others. I am hoping it starts gaining some weight and size. It's the only one I'm really disappointed in other than the two that I lost, but I understand you "can't win them all". It is the most aggressive discus in the tank, but I hesitate to even use that word. He ONLY chases the other blue discus. The solid turq and the dark angel. I have never once seem him chase any of the red ones, full stop. But he will blast across the tank to scare the dark angel off the beef heart. I think it's hilarious.

I remain unsure of what I will do with the 125. Part of me wants to put the discus in there and add two the rummy school and the lemon tetra school. Keeping it bare bottom. Probably add a bristlenose or two or maybe some sterbai. That would free up the current discus tank to do something planted so my wife would get off my back about "WHY ARE THE PRETTIEST TANKS IN THE BASEMENT?!?" :sorry:
The prettiest fish are absolutely not in the basement, though!

Thanks for looking! :)

[Iminit]

Discus look great! For the driftwood. Is it on a slate bottom? If so I cut 2 small pieces of air tube and place a piece under each side. Lifted it about a 1/4” but added water movement to keep the waste moving. If not on slate. 2 pieces of slate one on each side to lift it up. My plants keep growing so if you want more let me know.

[brewmaster15]

You've done really good with your journey so far Jacob. You ended up with a really nice looking group of fish. Good work! Any plans to try and breed Discus?:)
Al

[jwcarlson]

Any plans to try and breed Discus?:)
Al

Knock it off, Al! :D
If it happens relatively organically (meaning some of these pair up and want to do it, I could pull them to a tank and give them appropriate water), I could see myself trying but strictly just to say that I've done it once. However, with what little I know about discus, I think basically any two of these fish breeding would be problematic as far as getting a desirable outcome (from a color standpoint)?
Part of the reason I bought some apistos was they're supposed to be relatively easy. I never never bred many fish other than livebearers (guppies, mollys, platys, and now some swordtails that are maturing). Also accidentally bred some mouth brooder yellow labs many many years ago before going to college. So I have not purposely bred anything for like ~20 years. The biggest hurdle for me would be upkeep of the young fry. I am away daily (at work) from 6 AM until 4:30 PM or so... so trying to feed the little ones enough would be difficult, I think.

At this time, I also have no desire to undertake another aquarium in which I feel obliged to do large, frequent water changes. :)
I'm still doing daily 90%ers on these guys. Would not necessarily want to be doing that on another grow out. If that makes sense. The good thing about aquariums is that I can do a lot of the maintenance when everyone else in the house is asleep. And I'm very very strongly leaning towards getting out of the honey bee business as well, which (in theory) gives me some additional free time in the spring and summer months.

[jwcarlson]

Discus look great! For the driftwood. Is it on a slate bottom? If so I cut 2 small pieces of air tube and place a piece under each side. Lifted it about a 1/4” but added water movement to keep the waste moving. If not on slate. 2 pieces of slate one on each side to lift it up. My plants keep growing so if you want more let me know.

Most everything you've sent me has done well as long as it didn't go in the discus tank. I'm thinking about taking the temp down from 85 to 82 as maybe that's also something that is negatively impacting the plants. As long as you let me pay shipping or swap honey for them, I'll take them. I'm still learning the planted side of things. It's more complicated that I imagined when I started back into this whole aquarium thing.

[Iminit]

I would have to believe it’s more your water than the temp. The temp in my tanks is 84-86. My ph is 7. Gh 1 and kh 4. Done with api liquid tests.

[jwcarlson]

That probably is a big part of it. However, it's in the same water in the basement tanks and they're fine. pH 8.2-8.3, GH and KH are... sky high. like 18-20 degrees on each of them. Can't remember the exact numbers.

[brewmaster15]

However, with what little I know about discus, I think basically any two of these fish breeding would be problematic as far as getting a desirable outcome (from a color standpoint)? Nope... You have everything you need. Pigeon X Pigeon, Non-Pigeon X Non-Pb, and for a radical approach, Those 2 blues x your Pbs (preferably the fine lined ones) for a crap-shoot chance at white or Blue Butterflies:):) oh and most important you have the forum for all the info needed.. yep you could do it.:ime::evilgrin:

al

[jwcarlson]

Well, marking one year of discus (tomorrow). It's been an interesting journey and I have learned a lot. And changed a lot of water. But I think they're turning out well.
In about a week it will be 365 water changes, which is the real and true year with discus... I think. While I do not consider it hard or difficult work, it has been a... commitment. Honestly, it's kind of ruined me to ever be able to do lazy discus. I see pictures of some other people's attempts and I think it's pretty easy to tell if they've taken a lot of shortcuts. I still do not necessarily know what the future holds for my discus or discus hold for me, if I'm being honest. I could see myself starting even smaller and growing out another batch of fry someday. Mainly because I feel like I left a lot on the table (in the tank?) on these with various issues along the way. And two entirely preventable deaths, which I'm still not happy about. That said, the solid turq and the blue diamond are absolutely rescue cases. I think they've done a great job recovering from their plights and are still actively growing well and putting on weight. It's amazing how they can snap out of parasite issues and more-or-less catch up to the rest of the group. The BD has a ways to go, but the flachen has really been impressive. His tail is kind of droopy, which might be a result of whatever he had going on (hex and maybe worms as well).

That's about it... every day I half expect to come home and find eggs somewhere... but no one is really doing much flirting. And that is completely fine as I do not really think that's something I want to try tackling yet. I'd like to get a batch of apistogramma fry under my belt first. :D

Thanks for looking and thank you more for the help. There's a whole lot of members on here who have been instrumental getting me over the hump to begin with (Liz and Al's YouTube talk), Willie for telling me how simple it can be and for showing videos of fish laying on their side in a fraction of an inch of water which gave me the courage to do even bigger water changes... and to just grind up beefheart to fed them. Brian has always be extremely helpful from a treatment standpoint and Francis always has the right dose in his replies. And Tom has been a great help and inspiration as well... my discus have greatly enjoyed the plants (snacks) he has sent for them multiple times!
I'm sure I'm forgetting some people, but I do greatly appreciate this community!

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The BD has gone from sitting in a corner at feeding time to going HARD every time there's something edible dropped in.

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[Iminit]

Well congrats on the first year. And those are still the best looking Stendker discus!!

[Second Hand Pat]

Took me about 10 minutes to watch your guys grow from little ones to near adulthood. Nicely done Jacob :D
Pat

[jwcarlson]

Well congrats on the first year. And those are still the best looking Stendker discus!!

I appreciate the compliment, Tom. Even if I don't believe you! lol


Took me about 10 minutes to watch your guys grow from little ones to near adulthood. Nicely done Jacob :D
Pat

Is that all the longer it's been?! :D

Thanks, Pat!

[Second Hand Pat]

Is that all the longer it's been?! :D

Thanks, Pat!

Would be nice if it could go that way Jacob :D
Pat

[jwcarlson]

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Haven't really be active on any forums lately. I've gone down to three 90% changes per week. The fish don't seem to mind. They're all right at 6" +/- 1/4". So they're still growing a bit, I haven't measured them for quite awhile.

Thanks for looking. :)

[brewmaster15]

Beautiful group Jacob! You have done really well!

Al

[Iminit]

Yes they still look great!

[Discus Fever]

Yes those discus turned out really nice from the time you got them till now, congrats job well done.

[AquaticNerd]

Bang up job. A great testament to how simple you can make discus husbandry when starting with good stock and keeping up with the basics. You should be proud of the fish you've raised!

[farebox]

Love watching other people taking the time and effort to have nice looking discus. Congrats on your fish, keep it up, just love it.

[jwcarlson]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! :)

[jwcarlson]

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Random picture, this is the "whirling" survivor now 10 months with no reoccurrences. She (?) probably has the worst shape of all of them, but might have the biggest attitude, though none of them seem to do much other than occasionally swim at each other.

[ravvlet]

She’s gorgeous!

[jwcarlson]

This... guy? has been nose to the uplift tube on the sponge filter for 2-3 days. Every time I come around the corner. He still comes up to beg for food, but his nose is stuck to as soon as I walk away and he doesn't venture far from it.

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Just snuck the camera around the corner a couple minutes after walking away. Seems mesmerized.

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[Iminit]

It’s the bubbles!! Had one doing the same thing for weeks.
http://youtu.be/CTzxmbZqJ70?si=QtF5BUOcGii6j78C. Shut the bubbles off for a few days and it’s stopped for now. Reminds me of the fish from finding Nemo.

[jwcarlson]

I thought it was thinking of spawning there maybe. It chases the blue ones off but one of the checkerboards he doesn't mind being around. I might cut the bubbles, but he has lost some interest as of this morning.

[brewmaster15]

Fairly sure the discus is taking up what it perceives to be a good potential spawning site... in the hopes that another Discus comes along and thinks so too.

Its a common theme in nature where there are limited good breeding areas.

[jwcarlson]

Ok, today he is chasing basically everyone away. Fairly tolerant of the checkerboard though.

[jwcarlson]

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[Iminit]

That’s what mine was doing. Chasing everything away.

[brewmaster15]

138022
Move the cone to the far left and shift the.wood to the right and it could get real interesting in there.:)

[jwcarlson]

I just resealed their 125 today. It will probably leak, but they might have a new home relatively soon. I did move the cone, but hadn't read this. Maybe I'll move the wood too. Everytime I move the wood some of them get stuck under it at water change.