I little help Please?

[Nick+Noel+Sydney]

Hello

My name is Nick. I am just starting to get into Discus. I plan on breeding in the near future. My plan is too get 6-8 Discus from Kenny (his next shipment should be coming in soon) and put them in a small 20 gallon long for a little while (1 or 2 weeks). They will be small so I can watch them grow up (2-2.5"). I am getting 3 55 gallon grow out tank in about 2 weeks. And one 55 gallon will hold all of the Discus I am getting from Kenny. I am also getting a couple 29 gallon for breeders. I know that it will take 1 year to get them to breeding size but I plan on getting the babies and getting use to daily water changes and so on and then hopeing to get my first pair and then work up from their. I have breed fish in the past.

I use to breed angels.
But I am switching from blue crayfish to Discus because the blue crayfish babies it every thing in the tank including each other. I would start out with have 200 babies and only end up with 20. I was going to get a contaminate system but then it was not worth it. I don?t have that many babies left. I plan on taking them to a LFS and selling them their for store credit for my new pair.

Here?s what I need help with. I don?t know what Discus to chose? I love the Super checker board pigeon, the Melons but. I don?t know. So it would help me out allot if you could tell me what Is the best Strain for me to get. I know you are most likely going to stay that all the strays are just as hard but I want to know what you would get.

Right now I am doing 50% water changes daily. All the is in the water are 3 apple snail and one pleco that will not be in there when I get the Discus. Ph is 6.7 and ammonia is 0 and everything else is great. And temp is 86degrees f.

My filter are a top fin 20 and a nice howe made sponge filter.

Thanks!!

Nick

[Ryan]

If this is your first time with discus, I wouldn't go for the really expensive ones. There's a learning curve with discus. Get something that you like the looks of and that is in your price range.

You may eventually considering a few more sponge or power filters to keep the water circulated well and to increase the bio filtration. I raised 10 discus to 4.5" in a 55 gallon with only two Hydro IV sponge filters, but I also did 90 - 100% water changes everyday. Now that I've upgraded to a 150 gallon, I've added Aquaclear power filters and more sponges just to get a little more circulation in the tank and to avoid "dead spots."

Feed them frequently with a variety of good foods and stay on top of your water changes and they should turn into nice fish regardless of the type you get.

[Nick+Noel+Sydney]

For the 55 gallons I plan on having a sump.

What food should I feed beside blood worms and BH?

Thanks

Nick

[White Worm]

Live food, tetra bits....anything they will eat. Freeze dried, flake, pelet, live, etc, its all good to give them. Think about getting a canister filter. It has made a huge difference in water quality for me. I was doing lots of water changes with just sponge filters in my 75g with 8 discus. With the canister and a pre-filter, amazing the difference in cleanliness. I just rinse the prefilter daily which takes about 2 minutes and I can do water changes every 3rd day but I have adults too. With babies, you will want to keep up on daily w/c's until you get some experience with them. They will let you know if its not enough and then you can start to experiment with what works for you. As far as what to pick......one of each!!:D

[Nick+Noel+Sydney]

lol

I wish. But that would be alot of Discus in a 20 gallon. I don?t know what pair I wont though either. lol That I might have to get off of aqua bid.

I might have a canister filter around her somewhere.

Can you post a link?

Also should there be carbon in the filter?

Thanks!

[Ryan]

You only need carbon to remove meds. Fill filters with floss, sponges, ceramic noodles, or other media to increase the surface area for beneficial bacteria. With a good water change routine, carbon would pretty much be useless.

[Nick+Noel+Sydney]

ok

How do you make BH? I have hear so many different ways?

thanks!

Nick

[White Worm]

You can get just about anything you need here with the sponsors. I would surely go with the sponsors here before using aquabid. There are some shady characters selling on aquabid. Not all of them.....but a good number of them. Kenny @ international discus can get you just about anything you need as far as discus and accessories. I am glad that I chose the Rena XP3 canister fiter. I use the sponges, filter floss and black stars in the filter. A pre filter over the intake keeps the canister clean longer. I got it for $100 with shipping included from BigAls.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp17290/cl0/pg2/marinelandmagnum350micronfilter/0000000074.99.000139471217290?oldParentID=&item_orderbydirection=ASC&item_orderby=si_price&ctl_nbr=3684&keys=&attrib_cnt=&attrib_search=&attrib_id_0=&attrib_value_0=&viewType=Category&specialOffers=&merchgroup=

Kenny will make sure you know and have everything you need.
Go to the top and do a search for other things.....beefheart
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=24193

[Apistomaster]

I recommend red turquoise discus. They have lots of color, breed true, and are always easy to sell. They are always available at a reasonable cost.

I use a wet/dry filter with sump but I also use an Ehiem 2217 Classic. It seems to "polish" the water more than the wet/dry alone.
I use Purigen in a phosban filter and keep a filter bag of carbon in the sump. These are not really necessary but I appreciate the contribution to dissolved waste removal they make.

[AADiscus]

I would say go with what you like the most! This will be your future stock. There is alot of things to learn with raising discus so remember that. You might want to start reading on breeding so when you get there you know some what of what to expect, etc. Once they get to breeding size they may be runted or not the quality you prefer but you still have the genetics there to work with. Kenny has some great fish and will do you right. But once you get them it will be up to you to raise them properly. Keep your tank temp around 84-85, bb, 4-5 feedings a day of a variety of food and large daily wc's. Within a year you will be posting pics of your breeders. lol :D Best of luck and anxious to see what strain(s) you get.

[Kenny's Discus]

Nick, it was nice talking to you. Let me know anytime if you have other questions. May I also recommend checking with Andrew and Angela at Green Country Discus(also a sponsor here), they have awesome homegrown discus that might suit your needs.:)

Mike, thanks for the kind comments. How's the relocation coming along?:)

Angela, thank you great advice given by you as always!:)

Kenny

[White Worm]

Nick, it was nice talking to you. Let me know anytime if you have other questions. May I also recommend checking with Andrew and Angela at Green Country Discus(also a sponsor here), they have awesome homegrown discus that might suit your needs.:)

Mike, thanks for the kind comments. How's the relocation coming along?:)

Angela, thank you great advice given by you as always!:)

Kenny
Looks like I will be moving sometime next summer :o
That still gives me plenty of time to stock up on some red fish from you.