i am new to fish word.

[lenjaisb]

Hi everyone!

I recently received a tank for my birthday and last 2 week, i ask around and set up my tank. my tank is now up for about 2 week so i am thinking about adding fish in it. This is like my first hot water fish tank so i know almost nothing about it. My friend told me to get Chilic (sp?) fish, so i browse on web and i found an interesting fish called Discus.

so i am thinking to get few Discus, but i hear they are "difficult" fish, cuz they can catch easily disease and thing. So any comment about it?

here's a few pixx of my tank.


http://img128.exs.cx/img128/4569/tank46hv.th.jpg (http://img128.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img128&image=tank46hv.jpg)
http://img128.exs.cx/img128/8803/tank30vu.th.jpg (http://img128.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img128&image=tank30vu.jpg)
http://img128.exs.cx/img128/8995/tank27dj.th.jpg (http://img128.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img128&image=tank27dj.jpg)
http://img7.exs.cx/img7/3379/tank11ke.th.jpg (http://img7.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img7&image=tank11ke.jpg)

[Carol_Roberts]

Your tank is very pretty. You need to cycle your filter before adding fish. Some folks add a few hardy dither fish like Danios and wait 6 weeks for the "good" bacteria to grow in the filter. Other use a "fishless cycle" and add clear ammonia to the tank for several weeks. Read through the beginner INdex to find out more about a fishless cycle and to learn more about discus care. There are several articles stickied at the top of this section.

[Truelies]

Hello Carol

How are you?

Carol, what do you mean by "hardy dither fish" like Danios....Could you pls explain this. Do you keep some pics of Danios fish?

Regards,
Truelies

[separatelife]

welcome to fish world and simplydiscus! i am not an experienced one, only setup my tank half a year ago. rearing fish is really fun. they add energy and happiness (of cos sometimes sadness when u lose your favorite) into your life. no matter what happen, your fishes will never betray you and stand by your side for all times.

Firstly u need to cycle your tank. in my case i put water in and took it out the next day to make sure toxic chemical like those emitting from silicon gel is out first. then i put some powder form of baterial. it took about one week for the benificial baterial to build up.

If u dont wanna wait that long, you need to monitor the ammonia level every few hours and change water a lot every day to get rid of it. there is ammonia indicator in the market, surely u can find one. Ammonia level is very crucial in the early stage for any newly introduced fishes!

my little experience to share!! haha. discus is beautiful, but not as fragile as some people said. However, to maintain good water quality is very important to any fish! If u offer a clean home to them, they will repay you very soon.
Enjoy Fish Rearing! feel free to ask people in the forum. they are very kind and experienced and will be happy to answer you. :)

[Howie_W]

Hi lenjaisb,

Welcome to Simply. As Carol mentioned, take some time to carefully read through the articles in this section regarding set-up and care of Discus. These fish are not hard to take care of, but require a daily commitment on your part to make sure their needs are met.

What size is your tank? Keep in mind you'll want to start with a tank no smaller than 55 gallons and eventually move up to something larger.

Truelies,

Below is a picture of one of the many species of Danios. Per Carol's comments, they are an example of one of the many types of small schooling fish that some people may use to start a new tank cycling, as opposed to using a fishless cycle with ammonia.



http://freshaquarium.about.com/library/graphics/danio01smG.jpg




Howie

[CARY_GLdiscus]

Hello,
IME Discus are a very easy fish to keep as long as they come from a clean source and You like to change water.


hth
Cary Gld!