kcb203
07-10-2012, 01:32 PM
Last December, I purchased 13 3" discus from Hans. They've all been doing great in a 75 gallon tank. I know they've outgrown it, but I haven't yet decided whether to give some away or buy a bigger home. In the last month, a couple have begun to lay eggs, but someone always gobbles them up.
On June 29, a big storm came through the DC area at 10:30 pm on a Friday night. I was leaving town at 6 am the following morning for a week-long vacation. Based on advice I read here, I didn't plan on feeding them for those 7 days. But the power went out and stayed out for about 96 hours, and the temps hit the upper 90s all four of those days. I've got a good-water change system set up, but it relies on pumps and I couldn't fathom walking a friend through the manual process while he was in the dark with a flashlight. But after four days, I realized I had to do something. I guided my friend through an 80% water change, and the replacement water was cold water straight out of the tap as the water heater was out, too. Fortunately, the tap water was probably in the upper 70s.
The power came back on soon after the water change. The tank has an internal sponge filter and a large AquaClear hanging off the back. I had another friend check on Thursday, and everyone was doing fine. I came back on Saturday night, and despite the stress and lack of food, there were fresh eggs in the tank! Unfortunately, my breeding pair is a red turquoise and a blue pigeon blood, so I have no plans to try to raise the fry. In any event, these eggs were gobbled up as well.
I was fully expecting to lose everything, so I'm quite grateful that everything worked out. The only loss was three pounds of beefheart mix in the freezer.
On June 29, a big storm came through the DC area at 10:30 pm on a Friday night. I was leaving town at 6 am the following morning for a week-long vacation. Based on advice I read here, I didn't plan on feeding them for those 7 days. But the power went out and stayed out for about 96 hours, and the temps hit the upper 90s all four of those days. I've got a good-water change system set up, but it relies on pumps and I couldn't fathom walking a friend through the manual process while he was in the dark with a flashlight. But after four days, I realized I had to do something. I guided my friend through an 80% water change, and the replacement water was cold water straight out of the tap as the water heater was out, too. Fortunately, the tap water was probably in the upper 70s.
The power came back on soon after the water change. The tank has an internal sponge filter and a large AquaClear hanging off the back. I had another friend check on Thursday, and everyone was doing fine. I came back on Saturday night, and despite the stress and lack of food, there were fresh eggs in the tank! Unfortunately, my breeding pair is a red turquoise and a blue pigeon blood, so I have no plans to try to raise the fry. In any event, these eggs were gobbled up as well.
I was fully expecting to lose everything, so I'm quite grateful that everything worked out. The only loss was three pounds of beefheart mix in the freezer.