How do i move my discus from my 200liter BB aquarium to 540liter?

[darkpandora]

hi

how do i move my discus from the 200liter bear bottom aquarium to their home 540liter?
i need advice on:
-how do i move them from a tank to another tank
-what to do before i move them
-how to move them without damaging/hurting them accidentally
-how do i hold them with my hands
-any other advice that helps me

info about the 540liter:
a simple biotop setup with many wood/roots with some catappa leaves. there are 15 Corydoras sterbai and 2 Otocinclus affinis in the 540liter.
2 eheim 2028 filters. water change 25% twice per week.
the aquarium been running for 2 weeks now. 1 filter is new and running for 2 weeks and the other filter is old and it was in the 200liter BB aquarium with lots of good stuff in the pump.

thanks for the help.


http://akvaforum.no/images/aquarium/18720_110328211305.jpg

http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_476542_1.jpg
http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_476542_3.jpg
http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_110328222029_1.jpg
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http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_110328222052_3.jpg

[TURQ64]

Use a plastic bowl, a plastic ice cream bucket, or most any option other than your hand; that's an aquired skill....

[Jason K.]

if only a short distance, just scoop them out and plop them in. if not 5 gallon bucket airstone heater if for any lenght of time...
by the way love the fish!

[Northwoods Discus]

Some of my fish are very calm and can be lifted out with my hand. I cup them in both hands gently and can transfer to another tank if close or to a bucket with tank water to carry them to the other tank. A large soft net is needed for some of them. You will get wet. When putting them into the other tank slide them in head first and try to point them away from the wood. Sometimes the take off and can injure themselves. I have never tried the bowl method but that may work better than a net, I'll have to try that one sometime. Watch the ottos, some may attack the discus to eat the slime. Other ottos are peaceful. I had one that was very bad. He went to the ba....rd tank. Nice tank setup they are going into.

[saltydog]

plastic bowl would work great. just scoop it in and sccop them up. Nice wood by the way. where did you find that peice?

[darkpandora]

thanks everyone, i appreciate it.

im gonna try to move them tonight. but i still haven't made my mind on how to move them... more help are appreciated.
thanks

[darkpandora]

plastic bowl would work great. just scoop it in and sccop them up. Nice wood by the way. where did you find that peice?

i bought it in a local fish store in Norway :D the XXL root in the middle is 95cm, the other roots on the XXL root are medium roots =)

[darkpandora]

when i bought 10 discus a year ago i was planning to have them in a planted discus tank with CO2.

this is the 540liter planted discus tank before i changed my mind and turned it into a discus biotop.
http://akvaforum.no/images/aquarium/18720_110328212129.jpg


this is how big my discus were when i bought them (5cm)
1 week
http://akvaforum.no/images/aquarium/thumbs500/18720_100712163747.jpg

18 weeks
http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_448891_1.jpg

23 week
http://akvaforum.no/images/forum/18720_456144_1.jpg

[tdiscusman]

If you going to plop them in the new tank, making sure that the water parameters are matching as close as possible.

Very Nice planted tank and discus

Tony

[ericatdallas]

Some of my fish are very calm and can be lifted out with my hand. I cup them in both hands gently and can transfer to another tank if close or to a bucket with tank water to carry them to the other tank.

You should probably use a bowl or large soft net anyway for them. If something spooks and they flip out of your hands they could get hurt. That's awesome though that they are so calm and trusting of you though.

[Vee]

Thanks for posting. How long did it tanke them to grow that large? How many inches are they? I bought my first discus 9 months ago at LFS and he's grown 1 inch to 4 inches. I bought 3 more last month and they measure just under 4 inches. I don't have any advice being so new to discus.

[Altum Nut]

thanks everyone, i appreciate it.

im gonna try to move them tonight. but i still haven't made my mind on how to move them... more help are appreciated.
thanks

Great looking Discus and great job growing them out.
If you have concerns about using your hands, then don't do it. As mentioned already, use a large soft mesh net and craddle your hand under net to hold weight of fish.

...Ralph


Thanks for posting. How long did it tanke them to grow that large? How many inches are they? I bought my first discus 9 months ago at LFS and he's grown 1 inch to 4 inches. I bought 3 more last month and they measure just under 4 inches. I don't have any advice being so new to discus.

Hey Vee,
Just start a new thread in the beginner Discus section along with your questions and you will get all the advise you need.

...Ralph

[TURQ64]

I'm not a fan of netting; I do it on occaision, but the increased leverage of your arm and the net handle sooner or later can harm the fish, along with the obvious net scrapes and stuck fin rays..with the bowl method, you either have them, or you don't...That said, millions of fish are netted daily without damage..Just be cautious, whichever method you should choose....Gary

[Skip]

i don't understand the bowl method? do you just scoop them into it.. don't they just swim out of it?! is there a YOUTUBE video of this?!?

:angry: :argue: :computer: :gossip: :scared: :waaa:

[Skip]

Dp.. did you lose a couple or did you cull them?

[TURQ64]

I have very poor connection , so I'm not a 'you tube' person, dunno..As for the bowl, just go slow, they'll kind of end up in it moving slow, then wright it and come out of the water a bit faster..I did 19 yesterday transferring to a 180, and didn't have a mark, nor stressed fish...

[Dudley Eirich]

I just net them with a large fish net (ca. 6 in. by 8 in), but I have had their dorsal fin stick in the netting at times. I've never tried the plastic bowl method. I have a plastic sieve that would probably work well. The water would go through it and would allow catching them more efficiently.

[Harriett]

here is how I do it: I have a childrens beach type plastic sand bucket holding about a gallon. I lower
the water level to just a little over the height of the fish, move anything in the tank that could get in the way [including heaters, etc]. I keep myself in almost a slow motion type zen mode because if you get speedy or jerky, you scare the hell out of them before you begin. If they dart, just stay slow. I would sort of herd them over to one area, gently dip the sand bucket into the water and move it towards the fish you want and corner it against the wall of the tank. They usually just move into the bucket. Then tip it, put your hand over the top in case they make a jump for it, and move them. Prepare for some splashing from the bucket but they will be fine and no damage to gills or eyes. I don't like to use nets for grown fish. When I walk to the new tank I just tip the bucket and in they go.

Best regards and good luck,
Harriett

[White Worm]

shallow plastic spaghetti strainer. Do it right before they wake up after a good nights sleep.

[Discus Origins]

A large net is the safest way to move the fish without dropping them out of your hand or the fish banging into the sides of buckets/bowls when they freak. Make sure the net is wet as dry net will rub off more slime off the fish and move slow in the tank to catch one fish at a time. When you lift the fish out support the weight of fish with your hand under the net and move to their new tank as fast as possible. I make sure to let the fish slide out of the net head first so they swim right into the tank and not get tangled in the net.

Double check the water parameters making sure the new tank's ph and temp is very close to their old tank. A row of towels on the floor between the old tank and new tank helps with the water drips.

Good luck!! Mark

[Darrell Ward]

I've always used a large net for discus, and never had a problem. The only time I've ever had a problem moving fish was about 10 years ago, when a 28" silver arowana that didn't want to be caught, jumped out of the tank, and slammed into a wall about 6' away, before dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes. The fish was amazingly, unharmed.

[Northwoods Discus]

Hey Eric
It doesn't work for all of them. You have seen the hand held shots the breeders show. It seems once they are flat on your hand out of the water they relax or go into a frozen mode. Kind of like a rabbit on its back or a bass by the lip. I'm still careful with something underneath them if I take them more than just the next tank in the same room. It is kind of cool that some relax that way. Try it sometime in the tank at water change time so they won't get out onto the floor.
Good luck in the move.

[darkpandora]

thanks everyone for replying and for helping.
i moved them yesterday and it went very good. no harm/scratch to the fish and they didnt even get stressed that much. i used the bowl method. i used a white bowl and
white dish plate. i slowly put the bowl in the aquarium and slowly trapped a discus in it and very slowly put the dish plane on the bowl white it was in the aquarium and while the discus was in it. i took the bowl out and put it in the new aquarium. the fish didnt even notice i was moving him to another aquarium :D

but i have another problem, they dont have apetite to eat like they were in the old aquarium. they smell the beefheart mix and taste it and spit it out and leave it there. im glad i have corydoras in the aquarium, they eat the food rests.
i dont know if they have gill flukes because the blue diamond discus left gill is opening very little and the right gill opens fine, and it breathes faster then the other discus, hes left gill is almost cloed.

some pictures:
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/5285/88945769.jpg

this blue discus at left seems to have gill flukes.
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7533/img5023t.jpg
this is the same blue discus:
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/9561/img5025b.jpg
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/9718/img5035y.jpg
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/5855/img52035.jpg
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/534/img50235.jpg
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/746/img50315.jpg