My Babies' New Home

[krazykat]

Just upgraded my baby discus to their new home. They were in a 29 which was getting crowded. This is a 90 Gallon Oceanic Show tank.

Equipment List:
(2) 200 watt Visi-Therm heaters
(1) AC 110 with (2) Foam blocks
(1) Fluval 304 with blue-bonded filter pads cut to size in all media baskets
except (1) with (1) carbon on one side
ceramic rings in the other
1 inch of gravel substrate

Livestock List:
(15) juvenile discus ranging 2-3" TL
(5) Corydoras Sterbai
(6) Lemon Tetras
(1) Bristlenose Plecostomus

Potted plants in Flora base topped with gravel.

I moved the AC 110 from a 65 gallon tank which I broke down afterwards. The lemon tetras, bristlenose pleco, and corydoras sterbai came from the 65 AGA. So did the potted plants and the massive java moss clump.

[rickztahone]

im sure they'll love the bigger tank. 15 is still a bit tight and for sure too small for 15 adults. will you be moving them after a while? you will need to do daily WC to grow them out. good luck. pics welcomed

[krazykat]

I was worried that they would feel lost in the bigger tank, but looking at them in the 90, I wondered how they ever got along in the 29! Working on uploading pics but I had to resize those and now they are lost in my files, lol! I will thin out the herd to 8 as they grow. I already have a taker for my culls!

[krazykat]

Let's try this for the fourth time. :mad:
Some pics. They were nickel sized when I got them I believe in August?

[rickztahone]

i cant fully see the pics since im viewing on my phone but the tank looks great from what i can see. great plan with only keeping the 8. really smart, that way you keep the best of the brood. cant wait to get home to see the pics properly

[rickztahone]

the pictures look nice. what strain are the discus? what type of plant is that in the middle? and what size WC do you plan on doing in this 90?

[krazykat]

Thank you for the kind words!

The "plant" in the middle is a HUGE clump of java moss that should be trimmed, but everybody from the discus to the cories seem to love getting into it. The discus are Leopard Snakeskin, according to the Kacey, but several have quite a few red spots. There's a couple which are covered all over with red spots, and I will definitely be keeping those two. Most likely will keep the ones with the most consistent markings (lss or the spotted ones). I'm thinking of doing 20% water changes at least twice a week. I used to have 6 adult discus in this tank when it had a black background. I moved them to a 75 that has a blue background and they look better. So I changed the background to blue in this tank. It seems to help keep their colors lighter. I am very pleased with the tank, but my photo-taking skills and my equipment both need improvement. My husband has promised to take pictures with his fancy digital camera with an SLR this week. I will post pictures of both tanks when he does take the pictures. He promised macro shots of the adult discus which I'm very fond of.

[rickztahone]

Thank you for the kind words!

The "plant" in the middle is a HUGE clump of java moss that should be trimmed, but everybody from the discus to the cories seem to love getting into it. The discus are Leopard Snakeskin, according to the Kacey, but several have quite a few red spots. There's a couple which are covered all over with red spots, and I will definitely be keeping those two. Most likely will keep the ones with the most consistent markings (lss or the spotted ones). I'm thinking of doing 20% water changes at least twice a week. I used to have 6 adult discus in this tank when it had a black background. I moved them to a 75 that has a blue background and they look better. So I changed the background to blue in this tank. It seems to help keep their colors lighter. I am very pleased with the tank, but my photo-taking skills and my equipment both need improvement. My husband has promised to take pictures with his fancy digital camera with an SLR this week. I will post pictures of both tanks when he does take the pictures. He promised macro shots of the adult discus which I'm very fond of.

i recommend doing at least 2 50-75% WC a week since you are still growing out. this IMO and in the mind of many members here is the bare minimum amount of WC to do to grow out nice discus. some people do not have the time or try to save on the water/electricity bill but to each his own. i think you would be able to do 20% if you wanted but on a daily basis. keep in mind your bio-load is big and it will just get bigger and bigger as they grow. my 2 cents

[krazykat]

I can do a couple of 50% WCs a week. I am seriously thinking about thinning out the gravel, also. The stand has a hole to make room for a drilled tank, that's why I have the substrate in there to hide it from the discus. But I can get it as close to BB as I possibly can. I have some pool filter sand that I would like to use, but I can't rinse it out until the weather gets warmer outside - can't risk plugging up the bathtub drain, you know :p. Anyway, I would like my discus to reach their potential, so I will do my best to help them get there! I think the first order of business is to thin out the herd. How do I know which ones to keep? Go by size, uniformity of markings, finnage, body shape? BTW, what does a "chipped eye" look like? How many should I keep in the 90 now with the 2x weekly 50% WCs, etc? Thank you all for your help!

[rickztahone]

I can do a couple of 50% WCs a week. I am seriously thinking about thinning out the gravel, also. The stand has a hole to make room for a drilled tank, that's why I have the substrate in there to hide it from the discus. But I can get it as close to BB as I possibly can. I have some pool filter sand that I would like to use, but I can't rinse it out until the weather gets warmer outside - can't risk plugging up the bathtub drain, you know :p. Anyway, I would like my discus to reach their potential, so I will do my best to help them get there! I think the first order of business is to thin out the herd. How do I know which ones to keep? Go by size, uniformity of markings, finnage, body shape? BTW, what does a "chipped eye" look like? How many should I keep in the 90 now with the 2x weekly 50% WCs, etc? Thank you all for your help!

as far as what to keep there is a sticky on "what not to buy" which would be helpful although you are not buying. also, your discus should be better than LFS so that also might not apply to you. just generally check size, growth potential, pattern, eyes (chipped eyes are noticeable by not being completely round), many other things. whenever you are getting ready to thin the heard post some pictures here and members will be more than happy to help you with that