I'm Thinking of making a purchase?

[CAGE-RATTLER]

I stopped by an LFS near my sisters house yesterday on my way home to see if they carried any discus. They had a tank with about 8 small to medium size discus (all different kinds) and one i really took a shine to.

It was the smallest one in the tank and it really did seem to have a cool attitude .... lol.

It followed me everywhere i moved to and was actually bullying the others out of the way like he was trying to get my attention ... lol. It looked liked he was trying to be the center of attention and jumping around saying ...... PICK ME ....... PICK ME .....lol. I thought it was kinda cool and im thinking of going back and getting him (or her).

The manager wasnt there and the girls that were there werent sure what kind it was and there are so many strains ............ i dont know for sure either. I think it may be a snakeskin.........but i'll leave that up to the experts to let me know.

I started searching thru discus pics to find one that looked like him and actually found one on this site that looked similar. Im going to post it below by quoting the post i found it in. It was post by JMARTIST and since im doing it as a quote i hope thats OK. I've seen some get aggravated when others use someone elses pictures and i dont want to make waves here as ive been enjoying this site and find myself spending way to much time on here reading thread after thread and looking at all the gorgeous fish and absorbing info like a sponge.......lol.

This fish im thinking of getting is only about 2 - 2.5 inches at the most and has gorgeous coloring already. I didnt think they would be that colorful at such an early age and by comparing its size to the eyes ..... i dont think its stunted........ hopefully.

Can a discus that small be that colorful?

My community tank has 2 discus in it and i want to get more. My 2 are 2 years old and 15 months old and i believe they are stunted since they are only about 3 & 4 inches now and large bulgy eyes. (they came with my tank purchase)

I figure with this guys attitude he wont have any problems getting to food even know he is so small.

So what do you guys think?


7 months into keeping Discus and so far so good. The Wadimi Blue Discus and the 2 German Red Turquoises Discus were dime size when I got them..OK the blue one was a little larger and has grown the fastest. When they were about 3 inches, I added two other fish.
I love keeping these fish.
I'm also having great fun photographing them, trying to get the best pictures I can. Also I want a record of them as they grow.
I've seen a lot of really fantastic images on this site and must say to all, Excellent Work!
Here are a few of my lastest images.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=8362&stc=1&d=1127559636


Its the one on the far left that looks similar to the one im talking about. He isnt that big but actually has more color than what the pic shows.

[JMArtist]

Hey Cage,
I'm not Rattled by your referral to my Post or pictures. In fact, it's rather flattering in a way.
The fish you are referring to in the photo is one of two German Red Turquoises Discus I have.
I got him/her from a now retired well known local breeder here on Long Island.
The large solid blue one is a Wadimi Blue Discus from the same breeder and the yellow one is a Golden Sunrise I got at my brothers shop. There's also a PB, not shown in that shot.

[Lafayette Jeff]

Greetings from a fellow newbie

Most experienced/pro discus folks here will tell you to avoid LFS discus. I tried discus 20 years ago only to watch them die a slow and painful death. Wifey banned me from buying more. Then I discovered this board. Learned about higher temps and water changes and decided to try again.

Last Christmas I treated myself to a blue discus at our LFS; Aquarium World in Lafayette, Indiana. It looks very much like the blue fish in the picture you attached. The thing that attracted me to it was it was very upfront and active in the tank. Much like the fish you described at your LFS.

11 months later that fish is not only still alive (much to the surprise of my wife) but has grown from 3" to almost 5". I have a 75 gallon pre-drilled Jet Stream with a Tide Pool 2 filter. I'm planning on adding more fish but not sure about mail order. Butch in Chicago is 2 hours away and I hear there's a guy in Kokomo that's one hour away. I'm concerned because I don't have a QT set up and/or it additional fish will cause aggression problems.

If you're picking up a good vibe from the LFS fish .... go for it.

[AADiscus]

If you do get the one from the LFS make sure you QT it. You don't want any diseases (if any) to get to the fish you already have.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

What exactly is the best way to QT?

If heard of some de-worming and such.

Is there some preventative meds i should use?

[candyl70]

Cage,
I think from what i have learned (and will be corrected if wrong :) ) is that you put in a smaller tank and watch them for at LEAST 3 weeks and look for an signs of illness. Then Carol suggested to put one discus in the QT tank with the new and see how they do together, again watching for signs of sickness. If all looks good, you can then add them back to the main tank. :)



Candy

[FischAutoTechGarten]

If you live in Balto, you really ought to take advantage of seeing what Hans has. He seems to be a colorful personality with allot of very nice fish. If you're up for a good road trip, there are allot of folks in CT.

I'd also spend a few hours reading over the forums too. There is so much information here.

My best fish have always come directly from recommended breeders.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

If you live in Balto, you really ought to take advantage of seeing what Hans has. He seems to be a colorful personality with allot of very nice fish. If you're up for a good road trip, there are allot of folks in CT.

I'd also spend a few hours reading over the forums too. There is so much information here.

My best fish have always come directly from recommended breeders.

Yeah ive been wanting to take a trip to see hans's hatchery along with another popular local hatchery...Jim Thodes Gwynbrook farms.

When i do that i'll probably come home with a box full to grow out in a seperate tank to possibly get some breeding stock and im not ready for that yet.

I just kinda fell in love with that little guy and the funny thing is my nephew (who has a saltwater tank) stopped by there today and said they got a new shipment in today and all he talked about was that little blue one that i saw ..... lol.

I know it takes awhile to get the QT tank cycled but i may get it setup and possibly go pick that guy up this weekend............... if its still there.

Thanx for the advice.

[jeep]

I know it takes awhile to get the QT tank cycled but i may get it setup and possibly go pick that guy up this weekend............... if its still there.


You will be ok with a QT tank and no filter as long as you feed sparingly and maintain your regular water changes. One fish does not put out that much waste.

If these fish are as active as you describe then there's a good chance they are pretty healthy. Don't let that fool you! I QT new fish for a minimun of 8 weeks no matter who I get them from.

Being alone in a QT tank, your fish will probably be a little scared and may not eat much. Don't let this change your QT proceedure.

I introduce the fish into QT tank and add 2-3TBS plain salt per 10 gallons. Raise the heat to 86-88. The next day I raise the temp to 90 and the next day I raise it to 92-93. I leave it there for the first 3 weeks and the lower it to 88.

After 6 weeks I add a cull from my existing stock for 2 weeks. If the cull and the new fish are ok after 2 weeks then there is a good chance all your fish will be ok together.

[RyanH]

I have to agree with Jeepster on the 8 week quarantine.

I know alot of folks here think it's overkill but these are people that usually haven't had to deal with a catastrophic outbreak. I've been wiped out before where I lost thousands of dollars worth of fish. I personally have too much money, time, and emotion invested in my fish to take anymore chances with disease.

I would bet big money that the disease section wouldn't be half as busy as it is if people followed the quarantine regiment that we recommend when introducing new fish.

JMHO
-Ryan

[jeep]

Well, I've never been hit by a disease but I know many who have. It's an ugly site, to say the least!!

Another thing... If my new fish do show ANY sign of illness I automatically double the QT period... One batch I QT'd for 8 months, LOL...

And QT means separate tools and separate rooms. A lot of these diseases we deal with are airborn ;)

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Wow ..... thats got to be tough to go thru watching all your hard work just die off like that.

I'll definately do an extensive QT.