Member to Member- a trip to remember:

[Smokey]

Howdey; Well I'm back in my little village. A little lighter in the pocket; However, I do have a heavier tank load! I had a very enjoyable visit with Darcy H.; Medicine Hat; Talk about a full house, cats, dogs, birds, children, discus tanks, and oh - yea somewhere there is a wife, a very tolerant wife ! lol. I had a few hours time talking and comparing notes. WOW - has he some beautiful mature discus !!!
Ron R. - keep this in mind if you are looking for breeder stock.
April - I now ""WANT YOUR FRY"" . no ha ha's !!! AND - ""YES"" , I STILL HAVE THREE EMPTY TANKS WAITING.
With a bit of arm wrestling, I convinced Darcy to part with 15 baby discus - ~ one inch big. Little beauties !!! However, one is lost (????), not sure where it jumped ship, and 3 are residing in Lethbridge. A buddy has a lonely gorgeous turquoise pigeon blood( likely female). Rob B. was a fish biologist with the provincial government( one smart cookie) and now he runs a local fish shop. Rob B. also fixed me up with a black ghost( the only fish I revere more than discus ) and 2 Asian Koi. The Koi are for a customer. sounds like I will be building a very large pond, come thaw-up.
It's funny, two people can chat on a board, SimplyDiscus, comparing experiences and successes; however in just a couple of hours, person to person, walk away renewed with optimisims and visions of greater things to come !!! I certainly did. After seeing six and seven inch large discus,
just how much I enjoy this (*obsession*) Hobby. And to get my butt in gear and feed, feed, feed these discus of mine. After all, not just you people can have the best. LOL.... All in all, it was a very surprising and welcome visit with a fellow member. Next time will be with larger fish bags !!!!
http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/950/friendship.gif
D.J."Smokey" Urban
P.S.- Lock up your tanks and hide your discus....I'm looking!!!
http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/950/hides.gifhttp://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/g/bluegrab.gif

[Kagan]

Hi Smokey,

Hope all of them turns out fine. btw, I guess I am the last one to worry about my tanks ;D.

Kagan

[darcy]

Thanks Smokey!!!!!
It was a pleasure to meet you and exchange different ideas!! You should have waited a day cause that pair layed eggs again on Thursday!!! It was very nice to have someone that knows about discus finally come and see some of my"culls" LOL!!!! Now I think we should take a trip to see April and Tony and raid their tanks!!!!!
Darcy

[ronrca]

Ahhhh, Darcy! >:(

Count me in too! ;D

[darcy]

Ron
you betcha buddy!!!!! My Mom lives in Leduc so the next time I'm up I would like to come knocking on your door!!! Maybe I will have a bag or two for ya!!
darcy

[ronrca]

Its family day on Monday! Are you coming to Leduc this weekend????? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D J/K!

I better get my rack finished then! Im pretty excited already (Im not sure if I will be able to sleep from now on)! 8)

[darcy]

Ron
nope not going anywhere I'm sicker than a dog!!!!! just gonna stay home watch my fish,watch hockey day in Canada and :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( and moan!!!
Darcy

[ronrca]

Ahh! Im sorry to hear that! A real drag being sick! I think I can hear you moan too if I really listen! Hope you get better soon! ;)

[Smokey]

http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/q/crying.gifhttp://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/q/crying.gifhttp://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/q/crying.gif. Your not sick Darcy... you are just going through empty tank withdrawals LOL . http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/3/nono.gif.

[April]

sounds cool smokey.but you never once mentioned what kind of fry you stold from darcy.
are they ......pigeons? or ......what?????
good idea...darcy and smokey can come on a trip to the good part of canada.
only way you'll get them.....

[darcy]

Oh Oh!!!!
I think we have to start planning a trip!!!!!!!
Darcy

[Smokey]

The ''MALE'' , father to the fry, is a huge 14 bar Red Turquose x Snakeskin; about 2 years old. What a beauty!!!
I mean.. just watching him was impressive; confident, proud and what an attitude. When Darcy approached the tank - the male just cast him a sideways glance( ok - I know you.. you may enter my domain!).
However when the Male discus saw me...fins went up, eyes flaired, and he just EXPLODED ! I thought he was coming through the glass to get at me.
.... I MEAN, IF LOOKS COULD KILL.. I WOULD BE! One big, dominant fish, he is.
All the time I was in front of the tank, Papa TURQ. never once took his eyes of of me.
Meanwhile... The ''FEMALE'' , mother to the fry, is a lovely 9 bar Red Turquose; about 1 1/2 years old. She is slightly smaller, about 6 inches. MOMA Turq. just swam around minding her own business, never once even so much as giving me a glance! I think she new, with Papa Turq. there, she was in no danger, what-so-ever. And she was right!!!
No way was I even going to think about putting a finger in the tank....
Moma, swam about, showing off her beautiful colours and form, hmmmm,, just like a women; and occasionly pecking and cleaning "her" breeding spot. I must say, it was an expierence I will not soon forget.

The colours of the parents was stunning, vibrent and mesmerizing. WOW - hope the fry turn out as beautiful as the parents... only time will tell.

Well, once again, Thank you Darcy for the memerobile expierence, and oh yea... the lovely fry!!!! LOL. I'm sure the parents will bear some more of these little beauties..for you.

Smokey... a proud new father !

[darcy]

I'm glad you left my Zoo happy Smokey!!!!! Momma and papa are watching a new batch as I type!!!! The orgy tank is going to bear me a new pair so it seems!! The big PB and the cobalt were going at it this morning!!!

darcy

[Smokey]

Well It has been 3 days now. the discus babies are doing fine, Eating everything that hits the water.

They love my Beef Heart, garlic and all. LOL.


more later

smokey

[darcy]

Good deal Smokey!!! I tried to train those little buggers to eat everything!!! I guess I fluked out and actually did something right! How are my tower's coming along?
Darcy

[Smokey]

Hi Darcy; the fry are doing extremely well. I am sure they are growing in front of my eyes! They have big bellies. I am trying to keep up with the 3x a day water changes. They are in a 80 Liter tank, yesterday I added a 90 Liter sump.. total water ... 150 Liters.. equipement.. a BIO-FILTER. Model - 14V-3H; a 400 gph pump, and a 20 liter mechanical filter.
YOUR _ TOWER - BIO-FILTERS@ are next on my list.
I had to build a couple; - to accomodate the fry and one for the KOI, customer's fish. MY- god KOi arer sh*****g machines!!!

Smokey

[Smokey]

YOUR fry are doing great...lots of water to swim in , 'cept they all hang around the front glass... food-feed-food-feed- is this what ya teach flatlander fish???
Soon they will be MOUNTAIN DISCUS. roar like a grizzly, run like an elk, soar like an eagle. Boy do they like my beef-heart.... mmmm mmmm good!!!
There are showing great colores already !!!! and being so young, good sign.

Rod has giving me the oky doky to breed them with his Red Diamonds. In a year or so ! Could be some very colourful discus in the future.
OR with the rsg x red turq's.

Hey , I think we should start plannin' an ambush... You know... to the west coast... I have the address !!!!

How are the new eggs!!! I was talking to Rob Sayers, Grande Prarie, sounds like he could be interested in the fry.
By the time the fry are old enough, it should be warmin up [??????] yea right.. its minus 39 right now, up hear in the mountains.... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Towers, Towers, Towers... yup, got the glass cut an starting to do the layup.. I will be E-ng you soon for the final dimensions... Just finish two for some locals... really nice.

[Smokey]

Gusee what -----
You might be interested, I am presently setting up a brand spanking new system; for a customer !
12 - 40 gallon tanks, steel stand. 3 high 4 across .
Each tank, 40 GALLON UNITS - Hagen built.; requires 45 lbs. of gravel; two 10 Kg. bags.... I hand wash the gravel, to remove the dust and small particles... Guess what, each bag ( Hagen product) is $24.95.. oooch!!! 12 tanks x 2 bags each = $600.00 JUST FOR THE GRAVEL - WOW.... and people think power heads are toooo expensive.
By the way .. care to arm wrestle ???? LOL>
Each tank has under gravel plates. reason the why gravel.
The air supply ---- """ THE PUMP"""". NICE UNIT $$$$$.
Well, today I got 5 more tanks up and running,,,a total of 10 so far..... The electrician finally showed... for 4 hours only. He got 6 of the 12 fluorescent light wired in.
Finally got the rest of the flour. lights, today... still need to be installed.. hahaha ... all the tanks now have water in them. The electrician is NOT IMPRESSED !!!! HAHAHAHA.
Still waiting for the Hagen rep to show up.. putting large sponge filters in each tank also...
Tomorrow - the last two tanks; then start transferring fish; I hope!!!
Going to use Bacteria in a bottle to seed the water. Hope the stuff works !!!! never used it before.

oh my poor back..
By the way .. my 33 gallon tank.. the one with the adult discus in... the 258 Liter system .. sprung a leak... somewhere. got home water sitting on top of the styroa foam... hmmm not impressed.. the tank is only 12 years old !!! Spent the evening transferring the discus into two 20 gallon tanks and hooked them up to a flow through system with a 20 gallon sump. I HATE WATER LEAKS... ESPICALLY WHEN IT IS THE TANK !!!
Now, I have to get busy and build a new bigger tank.... hmm maybe a 75 - 100 gallon unit.. Have to check my glass inventory. I find its easier to build a new tank; rather than take an old one apart to repair.. specially since I don't know exactly the leak is.
The adults never batted an eye, mind you they did not like to be netted. I have been planning to split them up ; but not tonight !!!! Oh well.
The baby discus are doing great, I had to steal their sump; for the other two tanks,, every body is on separate systems still.
The two KOI are still in the other 80 liter tank,,, still haven't got their new home finished; yet.. pretty impressive looking bunch of tanks... each tank has a large BIO-TOWER@ on it with 400 gallon per hour submerge pumps... there goes my electrical bill... all this is stuffed onto a 6 foot steel stand !!!
Maybe Tomoe I'll straighten out all the electric chords and air lines...lol.
And finish emptying the 33g. and the 50 gal. sump.. there goes my weekend... . Oh well, I was thinking of moving the 258 L. system, now I have to !!!!

Guess what ????? - I have just acquired a complete old STAINLESS STEAL tanks and stand setup..This thing has 15 tanks in it. Purely classic 1950's. all tared joints. I have been looking for one of these for years and years...
Not sure, but I think total water cap. is about 210 gallons... neat!!!!!!

This will be day three on the job... got 2 more tanks to set up and then... back to work on my poor system.

Smokey

[darcy]

Sorry to hear of the leak Smokey!!!! Maybe you can set me up a new system???????? Glad the fry are doing good!!! I have another batch on the go!!!! No rest for the wicked!!!
Darcy

[Smokey]

Well it's March 2 already; all the tanks, except one is up and running. The electrician quit and swore he will not come back until he has the room, and no tanks full of water, .to work around...sour puss.
All tanks have the tronic 50w heaters 2 each per tank.. Finally got all the fish transfered, some which the customer never even knew he had !

As for my 33 leaker, it's sittin of the back porch; I'm using the 50 gallon sump for a fresh water resouvior, now. lol.
Had too juggle the discus around, the adults are now in two seperate tanks, on a central system. the fry lost their sump.. using it for the adults. The KOI are still using up one of my tanks grrrr.. but I have busy setting up the new customer system; no time to work on the KOI system. The BIO-FILTER@ is done; however their 30 gallon tank is not !

Darcy, like I mentioned; your TWO BIO-FILTERS@ are next on the to- do - board !!! REALLY.

This is the first day off; that I have had time to think; Kinga invited me out for breakfast; fresh veggie ommmlet, mmm mmmm good. Stopped on the way back and picked up 10 of the old Italina slate bottomed chrome trimmed tanks; remember the 1950's system I bought...hehehehehe..Got home and all day i have been doing water changes... You would think the discus would appreciate the new fresh water... Yah right.. boy are they pissed.. You know, the look.
Had to console them with bloodworms!!!. Lots of blood worms.

Smokey

[Smokey]

Well, it has been 2 weeks now. the baby discus are doing fine. Very aggressive when its feeding time. They took to beefheart right away. AND grown.... soon I will have to divide them up into two or three tanks. Friendly... hand feed, every one.
Thanks Darcy for the lovely discus.

Smokey

[darcy]

Hi Smokey!!!!
Glad the babies are turning out nice for you!!!! I made sure I had them on beefheart before I sold them to anyone!
My eight are doing great also!!!! you got any pic's we need some pic's!!!!!!! I should have more different babies on the way here real soon!!!!!!!
Darcy

[ronrca]

Babies? Did someone say babies? :inquisitive:

[April]

Darcy.....Smokey is a camera buff...with many nice cameras stored away in boxes. If you can convince him to break those cameras out of their storage boxes..then you are amazing. lol.
I would strongly suggest you take a nice ride to his place...and start clicking so we can all see his setup..and fish. etc etc. ;D
As a matter of fact.....im not sure i should let my baby manas go to his house untill ive seen pics and approve of the adoption!! How does that sound?

[darcy]

LOL Pril
I think that sounds great!!!!!! Smokey no more fish for you til you prove your a good foster Dad!!!! Pic's',pic's is the only way out of this one!!!!
darcy