Newbie here..My first post..

[maximus]

Dear friends,
Needless to say I have been hit like all of you by a discus bug..well here's the situation..

I have a 4x2x2 tank all set with sponge filters for receiving 10 1 inch juvenile blue diamonds from a famous breeder in my country,India this sunday.. but the problem is like its really a huge tank..so changing water even upto 50 % is troublesome..but I know I need to do atleast 50 % daily..so here's what I have decided..

Can I go for a 30 inch (length)x16 inch(breadth)x14 inch(hieght) tank for 10 1 inch Blue diamonds for atleast until they get to 2 to 3 inches...I know the tank is damn small for them but I can do atleast 80 % waterchange everyday...

The other option is like I fill water only upto 12 inches in the 4 feeter and change 50 % water until they get to be 3 inches...

Please let me what you guys think...it will be really helpful...

[maximus]

Hoping for a reply friends...please help...

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

I think that should work out fine. Im not very good with putting the dimensions of the tank with how much water they hold. how many gallons are these 2 tanks ur talking about??

thanks, welcome to Simply!! :D:D

take care.

[tdiscusman]

Same here, I think the smaller tank (29 gallons) will be fine, and are better, for couple of months

Tony

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

yess, I thought it was a 29 LOL. I have 2 of those and I still couldnt tell LOL. I would have to say yes. the smaller tank should be more than enough room for 10, 1 inch fish. as they grow, move them into the bigger tank. but sometimes when they are really little, they feel a bit more secure in a smaller tank, the 1 inch fish might be kinda intimidated by such a big tank, altho Im sure they'd get used to it.

hope that helps! :D

take care.

[maximus]

Thank you so much for all those patient replies...well so as you suggest I would put them in the smaller tank for the coming 2 months...1 qusetion though...

I hope they donot get stunted as I am way overcrowding the smaller tank with the juvies??

Also let me know if BHM is absolute necessary for these little BDs as I donot have a mixer or a meat grinder to make them..I am heavily relying on frozen artemia and hikari discus bio gold for the food...plan to feed them 6 to 7 times with 50 - 70 % water change everyday...Hope this works out...

[tdiscusman]

Hi Maximus,
No you are not overcrowding the juvies, yet. I think you should move them when they get to 2" or so. If you are diligent on the water change you discus should get to 2" in about a month.
in regards to the BHM, I'm sure you will hear lots of opinion on this. IMO, water change is most important and for food, what you are feeding them is OK. However, BHM is proven to grow out juvies. So if you are concerned with juvies being stunt, then feed them BHM, juvies tend to like/attack BH much more than pellets.

HTH
Tony

[maximus]

Hey dude,thanks a lot for helping a noob like me with your advices... just 1 more of my stupid questions..

The breeder says he has golden pigeons of the same size...now thats confusing ..should I get 5 of BDs and 5 Golden pigeons or just 10 BDs..leaning towards 10 BDs for they are from the same batch and would probably feel a little more secured..but 5 each of them would bring lots of colours you know...

[tdiscusman]

It's your preference to have 10 BDs or 5 of each, since they are from the same breeder and same size, I don't see any problem mixing them

Tony

[diamond_discus]

Feed them different type of food would be best (flakes, pellets, worms, BH mix) . It's always good to train them when they are young. Keeping small fish in small tank will be fine. They won't get scare as much as in the bigger tank and it's easier for them to find food. Keep doing big water change and keep the water as clean as possible. Feed them 5 to 6 times daily, if you can. If they are healthy, they will eat a lot and very frequently.

You can find good flakes from Kensfish or Angelplus.
For pellets, you can try Colorbits, NLS pellets, or Fry Starter pellets
For frozen food, I found that using Frozen Brine Shrimp would help grow up juv fishes. I also use Frozen Blood Worm ... If you cannot make your own BH mix, you can try using beefheart flakes.

[Eddie]

I just wanted to echo the others and say that the 29 will be perfectly fine. Big water changes daily and good feeding should get them grown out of that tank in a month or 2.

As far as the 2 different types, I'd stick with all blues or all golden pigeon, just my opinion. ;)

All the best with them!

Eddie