my little fishee

[neo9]

hi can someone help me, i recently purchased 4 discus fish from a breeder near my house for $45 aus each they're about 12cm. i purchased 2 first and a few weeks later when i had more money i purchased another 2 from him. one of the discus i purchased afterwards was considerably smaller and it now strays from the other 3 fish. he seems lonely swimming in the corner by his lonesome self :( they only come together during feeding time. is there a way to make them swim together
o by the way how do

[neo9]

that is a picture of the two i purchased first
here is a picture of the ones i purchased afterwards
the one on the right is the smaller one

[neo9]

would anyone know wat sort of fern that is growing on my piece of driftwood? its hard to see buts it that green thing in the right hand corner. i was just wondering would that fern break down nitrite/nitrate?
thx neo

[Howie_W]

Hi neo,

Welcome to the forum! :)

Can you please post a bit more information about your set-up? What size is your tank? What is your cleaning regimen?...how much water is being changed and how often? Water readings are also helpful ammonia, nitrate, etc.

In general, young Discus are more comfortable in groups, as they are schooling fish...6 to 8 is usually a good minimum to start with. Fish groups establish a pecking order...when a group is that small, the one on the end of the totem pole often gets pushed away by the others, and if not feeding properly will get sick.

Starting out with a larger group spreads out the agression more evenly.

Howie

[neo9]

umm okay
well i have a 120L tank approximately
i do a change the water twice a week with a 70% change each time. i just get water straight from the taps as the water is supposedly good down in melbourne.
i have a little plant which i keep in a container as u can see, so i could move it while i sif through the gravel and 2 piece of drift wood with some sort of funky looking fern growning on it.
in the tank i have a pictus catfish and a clown loach. they usually hide under the pieces of drift wood.
i have a 150W heater.
a wall unit filter, i dunno wat it is tho. but its pretty weak.
an air pump
and about 1-2cm of assorted gravel
i feed them a mix which i have made consisting of beef heart, colour bits, fish and shrimp, blood worms and the colour bits on its own. i feed about 3-4 times a day
about the ph level, ammonium, water hardness, and all those other things; sadly to say that i don't have a testing kit for any of these...the breeder just told me that everything would be fine if i did regular water changes. i have some geo liquid tho :) the label reads that its 100% natural and ballances out the whole system.
well these are my specs
neo

[neo9]

also i was wondering. the breeding in which i bought these fish off said that one of the fish was rare and couldn't be found anywhere else in the shop. it had an orange belly or something which can only be found in wild discus. is this true? or is he just pulling my leg?
the one with this orange belly is the one in my first picture, on the right.

[Howie_W]

Hi neo,

Thank tank size is a bit small for housing anything more than a pair of adult size Discus. A tank size of aprox. 55 gallons or larger is ideal for growing out a group of juveniles.

In addition, adult clown loaches get quite large...they are also schooling fish and do best in groups.

For starters you should get test kits for ammonia and nitrate asap to check your water conditions...I would also increase the number of daily water changes, while at the same time making sure the tank and any equipment stays clean.

Regarding the fish on the top right, there is nothing rare about it...it appears to be a Red Turquosie or Red. Turq. X

Howie

[neo9]

should i get another 2 discus and do daily water changes? or just leave it as it is and do daily water changes?
???

[oodi]

Hi neo,

I wouldn't recommend adding any more fish. But as Howie already suggested, I would check your water conditions, and do daily water changes.

Judi
:)

[neo9]

wat percentage of water should i change daily? my dad is a pessimist saying that daily changes in water is a waste ::)
i could use the water to water the garden...
i was also wondering at wat age do the discus stop growing? cause i want to get my discus as big as possible :)
from wat i have read and learnt i believe that clean water, stable ph level of about 7, a veried diet should maximise the growth of my discus fish. please correct me if i'm wrong.
also wat can stunt the growth of my discus?
another thing ;) do ferns break up ammonia or nitrate?
thx judi and howie i really appreciated it

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Neo,
I would get a couple more fish of the same size from the same place you bought them. I would remove the gravel considering you have the plant attched to the wood. The gravel will only increase the bioload in your tank and a hassle to clean. When changing water make sure your tap water parameter is close to the tank water, otherwise you might need a storage tank to age your water.

Hard to tell what kind of plant you have. Here's a link to help you determine what kind.
http://www.tropica.com/plant_print.asp

dan

[neo9]

thx for the web site dan
i think the fern i have growing is called the "java moss"
it grows abandantly on my drift wood :)
so does it break down ammonia?
hmmm...bare bottom ey? i'm not too sure about a bare bottom cause its just bare and plain...i shouldn't be complain with the gravel i have atm
::)

[Howie_W]

wat percentage of water should i change daily?

i was also wondering at wat age do the discus stop growing? cause i want to get my discus as big as possible :)
from wat i have read and learnt i believe that clean water, stable ph level of about 7, a veried diet should maximise the growth of my discus fish. please correct me if i'm wrong.



Hi Neo,

If your goal is to grow out the largest fish possible, the best way to achieve this is with; a larger size bare bottom tank containing 6 or more Discus, daily water changes (at least 50%), a varied diet of small feedings throughout the day.

pH does not have to be 7, but rather remain constant. It's also important that water changes be done with matching water temp. In addition to daily water changes, it also helps to perform occasional small siphonings from the bottom of the tank to remove feces, and any uneaten food to maintain maximum cleanliness.


Howie

[neo9]

o okay
i thought that when u change the water each time u were suppose to syphon the feces and uneatten food from the bottom... cause i do that everytime i change the water.
then i guess it wouldn't be any different from a bbt if i syphoned my gravel everytime i change that water? it only takes me about 5 minutes to syphon the water out and another 10 to refill the water in with a 2-3 degree difference in temperature. i bought the largest vinyl hose i could find at the hardware store :) it gives me almost enough suction to take out the gravel.
does stiring up the water at night and scooping out all the gunk with a net help alot?

[Howie_W]

Neo,

Dan's previous post says it all...gravel is not recommended for a grow-out tank...increases your bioload, subsequently defeating your purpose.


Howie

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I siphon the bottom everytime I change water. I also feed after a water change. I don't like the thought of them eating with poop on the bottom. They also learn to associate waterchanges with feeding.

Dan

[neo9]

i see
thx for the advise
is there anyway to make a bbt remotely attractive? :o

[GulfCoastDiscus]

You can get a large root and tie plants to it. A good species for plants with low requirements are Anubias and Java ferns.

Dan

[neo9]

thx dan.
can i make the anubia grown on a rock or something? so its at the bottom of the tank.

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Check out my webpage and you'll see the Anubias tied to the driftwood. It can also be tied to rocks.

dan

[neo9]

nice fish :) i have the exact same one ;D
i just went to the aquarium before to buy an anubia plant. while i was there i asked the owner how many times he changed the water a week and he told me once a week! he said there was no need. he used geo liquid stating that it breaks down all the harmful substances in your tank. he had bare bottom fish tanks aswell with a gold fish in each. y a gold fish i asked him. he told me its actually a pretty good idea, the good fish eats all the feces off the bottom! so minimum water change is required!
gold fish rids the tank of feces and the geo liquid (which is 100% natural made in japan) ballances the tank.
he also feeds his fish 3-5 times a day aswell :D
do u think if i copied his set up i would only need to change the water once or twice a week ??
btw his tanks look really clean too
does anyone use geo-liquid here?
i also bought a blue diamond for $19 AUS its pretty small 5cm

here's a photo of them huddling up with the blue diamond hiding behind them

[neo9]

following ur advice i've taken all the gravel out :)
it looks so much cleaner! here's a picture of it

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hey Neo,
Don't put a goldfish in your discus tank. Discus and gold fish have different temp. requirements. Goldfish likes cold water and Discus are kept in minimum temp of 84F.
Goldfish also carries diseases that will kill your Discus.

I have never used Geo-liquid. I like changing water. It's my interaction with my fish. My discus aren't afraid when I do a w/c. In fact I have to chased them away so they don't get suck up by the siphon.

IMO I wouldn't listen to that guy. Putying a goldfish with discus is disasterous.

Dan

[neo9]

the gold fish in his tanks are fine.
diseases aren't nice at all...i guess i won't put gold fish in, the thought of a super low maintenance discus tank was nice.
how come when i change the water all my fish cower in the corner, they also look really stressed out. how do u get ur fish to like the water changes? i tired feeding them after a water change but they don't eat, it takes them like 30 mins to an hour to start eatting.
another my fish get spooked really easy, well i guess thats the consequence for putting it in the hallway...
i just read about geo liquid, its an all in 1 magical 100% natural mix, ballances out the whole tank in terms of elements physically and even provides the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow.
y use like 3-5 types of chemicals when u can just use geo liqiud ;)

neo

[neo9]

hey dan,
how long would it take for my anubia plant for attach itself to the rock i rubber bannded it onto?
neo

[Carol_Roberts]

i see
thx for the advise
is there anyway to make a bbt remotely attractive? :o


You will be amazed at how attractive a bare bottom tank is filled with healthy, erect finned, large discus.

Your discus are young and afraid. Change water everyday and you will soon be pushing them out of the way with the siphon tube.

Warm, Clean water and a basic dechlor product is all the magic you need.

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Exactly what Carol says. :) :) :) No magic to clean warm water. :)
Dan

[neo9]

thx carol
with the bare bottom and my hang on wall filter it seems that all the waste is pushed to one end and siphoning it all out would take about 2 mins tops.
i have a 2 pieces of drift wood and 2 plants in the tank, my fish seem to be hiding behind it alot now, after a period of time would they continue cowering?
i was just curious is the hang on filter creating to much current for the discus?
neo

[Carol_Roberts]

Give them places to hide and they will ;) Your hang on the back filter on one side of the tank is fine. Discus don't mind current if they have a quiet place in the tank too.

[neo9]

thanks for helping me out with my discus tank. ;D
i wish i had this much motivation to study for my exams :P
time to hit the books
thanks a million