saroberts
07-24-2007, 09:18 PM
Before I ask my questions, let me tell you a bit about my setup.
This is what I have:
65 gallon all-glass.
1 - Emperor 400 filter
2 - Mark 5 sponge filters
1 - 150 watt glass heater
1 - 250 watt plastic heater.
My tap water has a PH of 8.8. After aging, it drops down to 8.5.
I check my Tank parameters prior to my water change. They are:
Water Temp 84.3
PH - 8.51 (from meter)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - Light orange. I would say between 5 and 10
KH - 7
GH - 13
TDS - 311 (from meter)
I continually fight brown algae by wiping the sides with each WC.
My water change schedule is this:
- 40 of 65 gallons every other day and add PRIME directly into the tank as I am refilling it.
- I clean one filter every other Saturday by dipping it in a bucket of drained TANK water and squeezing it several times. After the water becomes brown, I dip them in a second button of drained TANK water to 'refill them' and then put them back in the tank.
- Every other Sunday I drain the tank down to about 2 inches of water then use all of the water in my water barrel (it's a 44 gallon brute). My tank ends up with about 50 gallons. I just let it run with that until the next WC. I then clean my barrel by refilling it with tap water and adding about a cup of beach to it. I let my barrel pump circulate the water overnight. The following morning, I drain the barrel into the sink, refill it and turn the barrel heater and aerator back on. I started doing this after I found my water in my barrel had a Nitrite reading of 8.
My Discus:
I started with 8 discus purchased on April 1. My kids and I drove to KC and visited Jack with DISCUS_KC. He helped me select 2 LS, 2 Turks, 2 MP, and 2 Goldens. They were all between 3 and 4 inches and were coloring up nicely.
I lost my first discus back in mid May. It was about 2 weeks after the bio filter really got started. I'm not sure of the cause of death. If it is possible for a fish to get electrocuted then I was say that was the cause. I found him on the bottom under one of heaters that had an end chipped off. I found out about the missing glass the hard way when I was trying to net him to get him out. It was a shocking experience.
The second fatality was in Late June. He/She was the smallest of all of them and was picked on a lot. It started staying in one of the corners behind a sponge filter. I found him on the bottom one morning when I did my morning feeding.
The third one I lost was the most disappointing. He (or She) was one of the goldens and was the biggest of them all. He had grown to just a little over 5 inches, showed no pepper and had a good personality. He would follow my hand around when I was doing wipe downs, and sometimes would chase my siphon tube with I was cleaning the bottom. One night after a water change when I was on the PC, I heard a different noise from the tank.
When I looked over at it, I saw him traveling around the top of the tank at a high rate of speed. He came to a sudden stop when he ran into one of the sidewalls. I watched in horror as he floated to the bottom. When I left the basement that night, he was still on the bottom. Both gills were still working and I was hoping he would be okay, but he was gone in the morning when I did my feeding.
My questions:
- Several of my remaining discus have also started doing sprints in the tank. I'm afraid one of them will end up following the path of my big golden. Is this something that I should be worried about? Is this a common practice for discus?
- Another question deals with peppering. Can this also affect the fins? My second golden started showing pepper less than a week after I brought him home. He also has very dark fins, both top and bottom. My surviving MP also has dark fins. But I’ve seen him a pale orange one day, and really bright the next. I’ve not had luck with picture taking, I think I’m too old and slow to get ones that would be worth posting. I've asked by daughter to give it a try since she has taken great ones of her angels and neons.
- Since the death of my big golden, I’ve noticed more social activity in the tank with the remaining five. Just swimming around in all areas of the tank and only minor chasing each other. My kids have mentioned the same thing to me when they see the tank during the day while they are home and I'm at work. I’m sure the death of the big fish in the tank will cause a shifting of ‘the chain of command’. Can a single fish inhibit others that much?
- Right now I'm feeding color bits 3 or 4 times a day, and in the mornings frozen bh I purchased from Jack. Has anyone used raw lean hamburger for a food?
Let me know what you think.
Steve
This is what I have:
65 gallon all-glass.
1 - Emperor 400 filter
2 - Mark 5 sponge filters
1 - 150 watt glass heater
1 - 250 watt plastic heater.
My tap water has a PH of 8.8. After aging, it drops down to 8.5.
I check my Tank parameters prior to my water change. They are:
Water Temp 84.3
PH - 8.51 (from meter)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - Light orange. I would say between 5 and 10
KH - 7
GH - 13
TDS - 311 (from meter)
I continually fight brown algae by wiping the sides with each WC.
My water change schedule is this:
- 40 of 65 gallons every other day and add PRIME directly into the tank as I am refilling it.
- I clean one filter every other Saturday by dipping it in a bucket of drained TANK water and squeezing it several times. After the water becomes brown, I dip them in a second button of drained TANK water to 'refill them' and then put them back in the tank.
- Every other Sunday I drain the tank down to about 2 inches of water then use all of the water in my water barrel (it's a 44 gallon brute). My tank ends up with about 50 gallons. I just let it run with that until the next WC. I then clean my barrel by refilling it with tap water and adding about a cup of beach to it. I let my barrel pump circulate the water overnight. The following morning, I drain the barrel into the sink, refill it and turn the barrel heater and aerator back on. I started doing this after I found my water in my barrel had a Nitrite reading of 8.
My Discus:
I started with 8 discus purchased on April 1. My kids and I drove to KC and visited Jack with DISCUS_KC. He helped me select 2 LS, 2 Turks, 2 MP, and 2 Goldens. They were all between 3 and 4 inches and were coloring up nicely.
I lost my first discus back in mid May. It was about 2 weeks after the bio filter really got started. I'm not sure of the cause of death. If it is possible for a fish to get electrocuted then I was say that was the cause. I found him on the bottom under one of heaters that had an end chipped off. I found out about the missing glass the hard way when I was trying to net him to get him out. It was a shocking experience.
The second fatality was in Late June. He/She was the smallest of all of them and was picked on a lot. It started staying in one of the corners behind a sponge filter. I found him on the bottom one morning when I did my morning feeding.
The third one I lost was the most disappointing. He (or She) was one of the goldens and was the biggest of them all. He had grown to just a little over 5 inches, showed no pepper and had a good personality. He would follow my hand around when I was doing wipe downs, and sometimes would chase my siphon tube with I was cleaning the bottom. One night after a water change when I was on the PC, I heard a different noise from the tank.
When I looked over at it, I saw him traveling around the top of the tank at a high rate of speed. He came to a sudden stop when he ran into one of the sidewalls. I watched in horror as he floated to the bottom. When I left the basement that night, he was still on the bottom. Both gills were still working and I was hoping he would be okay, but he was gone in the morning when I did my feeding.
My questions:
- Several of my remaining discus have also started doing sprints in the tank. I'm afraid one of them will end up following the path of my big golden. Is this something that I should be worried about? Is this a common practice for discus?
- Another question deals with peppering. Can this also affect the fins? My second golden started showing pepper less than a week after I brought him home. He also has very dark fins, both top and bottom. My surviving MP also has dark fins. But I’ve seen him a pale orange one day, and really bright the next. I’ve not had luck with picture taking, I think I’m too old and slow to get ones that would be worth posting. I've asked by daughter to give it a try since she has taken great ones of her angels and neons.
- Since the death of my big golden, I’ve noticed more social activity in the tank with the remaining five. Just swimming around in all areas of the tank and only minor chasing each other. My kids have mentioned the same thing to me when they see the tank during the day while they are home and I'm at work. I’m sure the death of the big fish in the tank will cause a shifting of ‘the chain of command’. Can a single fish inhibit others that much?
- Right now I'm feeding color bits 3 or 4 times a day, and in the mornings frozen bh I purchased from Jack. Has anyone used raw lean hamburger for a food?
Let me know what you think.
Steve