The Plan!

[pcgamer02]

Okay my 50 gallon tank is cycled, and since I like hearing myself talk :P I thought I would post my plan for putting discus in it. Comments are very much appriciated.

Ok I have a 50 gallon tank thats been cycled with amonia, then I have a 20 gallon tank that had angelfish in it, but its now beeing feed with amonia. (both tanks are BB)

So What im thinking of doing is buying 4 discus from cichlidsandsalt (www.cichlidsandsalt) they are a LFS and I want to support plus cheap good discus. (those will go in the 50). hepsdiscus.com I think.

Then I will order 2 checkerboardPBS and 2 yellow PBs from mike hepner. And put them in the 20 and QT for 2 months.

The reason why im not buying from JEFF for Cary is because theyre prices are too insane for a 1st run at discus. I dont care too much about having the perfect discus. Also I know the 55 will be overstocked but hey, I want reason to buy that 120G for 120 at the LFS :P :P

ph is 7.5

Thanks for listening :p

[RandalB]

Good Luck,
a 20 is too small for 4 discus over 2.5" IMO if you are expecting any kind of growth in that 2 months. If they are smaller, you should be OK.

As far as pricing goes, you will find out that you get what you pay for in this hobby.

With Cary and Jeff you are paying for experience and quality. If you have problems, you can contact a person who knows all about discus and their problems. They will also have good suggestions on how to deal with potential problems. Experience pays and is worth the extra $20-30 per fish.

I was in your boat not too long ago (wow, almost 3 years ago!) and wasted $$ on fish from local breeders. I bought fish that were from ugly parents and of weak stock just because of price. 3 years later, I don't have any of them. They died, Runted out, or were just so bad I had to get rid of them. I sure saved some money though. The quality fish I got from Jeff and Cary and others are still with me and spawning.

Not matter what, enjoy yourself and don't get too stressed about the fish. It's learning curve time. If you have problems, you know where to go for help. Right here at Simply.

Last Advice, WC WC WC WC WC WC WC 50-75% per day.

HTH,
RandalB

[pcgamer02]

Thanks for your reply.

Couple comments... The fish from the LFS arnt ugly, the guy specializes in cichlids so its not like he has hundreds of crappy fish. I added up how much it would be to get discus from jeff and honestly I cant do it. Mike has some nice looking fish so I might be in luck. I wouldnt mind runts though, this is just a trial run to get my feet wet.

[ckll]

I think one of the best strategies would be to get the best fish you can for a given number and amount of money you have. 5 would be a good number since the general rule is 1 discus per 10 gallons of water, and you have a 50g.

It's no fun if your fish keep falling sick and if you have no one to give you good advice. Fish from reputable breeders are of a certain quality else they would have a hard time maintaining their reputation ;)

I got my second batch of discus from a good breeder here in Singapore (Chai Discus Farm) and boy! I love them leopards! They have very good character, very outgoing and not very skittish, unlike my first batch from an unknown breeder. Out of the 4 from the first breeder, only one turned out great. Another died within a month, and the other 2 were runts :(

[Howie_W]

pcgamer,

I also agree you should not scimp on the quality of your first Discus.

When I first started out, one of my earliest purchases was from Cary. I highly recommend firing off an email to Cary, and seeing if he has some suggestions...he may have a few options for you...at the very least its worth the email.

Howie

[pcgamer02]

THe reason I dont want to buy 40 dollar discus is because if they get sick or die, that would be the end of my discus keeping. With prices like that I could never get anymore. This way if some die I can figure out what I did wrong and improve.

[SSrowr]

I totaly understand your perspective. I don't have any over abbundance of funds either. The only thing is that if you don't get good fish, they may die any way, and it may not be your fault! Ok, think of the scientific method if you will. How many variables do you test for? Only one at a time; otherwise you won't be able to tell what caused your results. You have already told us that you want to test out your skills and learn what you can w/ your first attempt. That is one variable. If you do not buy discus that you know are healthy, I see that as one more thing to go wrong; one more variable. And if they die, how do you know if it was your fault or the seller's? You really don't. I hope you see my point.

That being said, I don't think you need to go with the most expensive fish either. Ask around; I'm sure there are reputable dealers with good prices on decent fish. You are just starting. You don't NEED perfect fish.

hth with your decision,
-Seth

[hexed]

I believe you are talking about hepsdiscuscenter.com. He has beautiful discus, man I want some of his LOL! ;D
I agree with Seth :D
I got my first discus from Nades at discusdance.com and they didn't cost me that much. I got 4 red turks for about $70 with free shipping on Aquabid.com. I still have them and boy they are growing out beautifully. You can also get some babies from people on Simplydiscus, the parents look really nice and if you can find one of the members in your area you can save on shipping. I'm sure if you have a problem they will be willing to help. If you are getting your discus from a LFS, ask were they came from and how long they had them? Most LFS only feed one or two times a day and that's not good. My LFS does twice a day and when I'm in there I'm feeding them and yelling at them telling them they need to be fed at least 5-6 times a day. The poor smaller ones hardly get any food :(
It's best you do some homework before buying your discus and ask questions. Just because they sell cichlids doesn't mean they do it right. All LFS sell them, half my LFS is cichlids. If you decide to buy from an auction ask for a picture of the actual fish, do not buy any discus if the seller can't send you the pic. I purchased 4 solid dark blues and what I got was red turk striated and the ugliest I've ever seen. One is actually a square shape. Sometimes you get lucky when spending less and sometimes you don't. But Mike has beautiful discus and if I lived near him I would be shopping everyday ;D

[DonnaMite]

PCgamer,
Just a thought, but did you check out the Starter package from Jeff ? You get a total of 7 discus for $195, and I think it includes shipping too.....airport to airport I think......dang -- shoulda checked before I posted...LOL
Anyway, check it out in the Breeders section here. Awesome deal.

HTH
Donna 8)

[pcgamer02]

PCgamer,
Just a thought, but did you check out the Starter package from Jeff ? You get a total of 7 discus for $195, and I think it includes shipping too.....airport to airport I think......dang -- shoulda checked before I posted...LOL
Anyway, check it out in the Breeders section here. Awesome deal.

HTH
Donna 8)


But I dont really get to pick out the discus do I? That seems sort of a gamble to me, there are types of discus taht I want and ones that I dont.

[jrpatter]

Ok one suggestion to make your life alot easier!

Buy all of your fish from the same place, wether it is from jeff of the LFS i wont comment on that. There are alot of people who brred and raise quality fish who dont do it enough to sell online so they use there LFS as an outlet. I would make sure to read the threads about how to pick a healthy fish and make sure you SEE the fish eat. And i mean eat come to the top of the tank and take the food and swallow not nip at it as it falls to the bottom.

Ok if you get all your fish from the same place then you can put em all into your larger tank and not have to worry about QT.

john