Taking the plunge! Slight help...

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Please just wish me courteous luck! I lost contact to the other breeder, again, but never could get anyone's opinion on their stock. From looking at many online stores, CL ads and then here, the majority of the bad I can see. Hoping I end up with good ones and don't miss something when I go see his fish tomorrow.
I plainly cannot afford shipping and driving to Hans isn't happening. I was supposed to pick up some rabs in the area, but I have not heard back, so going with this other guy.


I have two tanks in the laundry room, which easily go to 85-95F during the summer. One is a 20 long and the other a 75g. I could do daily w/c on the 20g, but the 75 I could only do 25% a day or 50% every other day for them. The 20 is a bare tank, the 75 has sand from my other fish I moved out, vacant for 2wks, but have been doing w/c on it for the MTS in there. I have also stirred and cleaned the sand after moving out all the fish, so it's quite clean now.
I can also place them in my 40 breeder. There are other fish in there, tank in the house, so no heater and at 79-82F. The fish in there are all compatible to Discus. The tank is very much so planted, I just cannot have a non-planted tank.
The laundry room tanks, Discus will have to move into the 40 for winter, period. Room is not insulated and I had trouble keeping good temps w/o using 2 heaters and foam to insulate the whole tank.

The other breeder offered a 'guarantee', loose fish and he will replace, unless all died. Loved that, don't expect to loose any, but there's a learning curve to every fish species. This guy I am going to doesn't seem to chat much, no guarantee that I know of yet. But if I don't like the fish I see there, I will pass on them. He is 1.5hrs from me, slightly closer than the other breeder.
I can PM the ad if anyone wants to help me and tell me what you think of his fish. One in the pics looks off to me, but the vast majority are nice.

Once they get to a good size and outgrow the 75, they can move into my 110. But it has a very strong filter, so a small section in that tank the fish would have to avoid, like the current residents know to do. Those fish, all but the Knife, would be moved back to the 75g once the time came. The BGK temp is from 73-82F, she is extremely friendly, docile and doesn't care who lives with her, as long as they don't nip her. So for the Discus, she could live at their temp.

Anyway, hope I didn't forget anything. And hope you guys can calmly and nicely help me with my questions.

[strawberryblonde]

I've read your post twice over and I'm not really sure which advice to give you. Soooo, I'm just going to give you a clear concise layout of what you'll need to do in order to raise juvies, and then I'll give my best advice on the rest, ok?

To successfully raise juvies:

1) If the discus are less than 2" when you purchase them, you can use a 20 gallon tank for a short time to raise them.

2) If they are larger than 2", you will need to use a larger tank. A 45 to 60 gallon works well for them till they reach 5" -6".

3) Bare bottom tanks are always best for raising juvies simply because of the incredible amount of poop and food that collects on the bottom during the day. They can have substrate, plants and decorations when they are full grown...the process of growing them out takes about 8 months to a year, depending on the size when you purchase them.

4) Daily water changes are an absolute must for juvies. If you don't do them, you are prone to sudden illnesses/deaths and smaller growth rates.

5) Temps for juvies should remain as constant as possible. Anywhere from 82 - 86 is acceptable. They eat more and are more lively at the higher end of the temps.

6) High quality, high protein foods are a must. Feedings should be up to 6+ times a day for the smallest juvies.

7) Never ever mix fish in any tank without doing a thorough QT. Not doing QT often ends up with sick fish.

Ok, for more personal advice. You haven't mentioned what size discus you are hoping to buy, but, having read others of your posts I'm assuming they're going to be very small. The littlest guys need consistent temps so, if it was me I wouldn't put them in an area of your home where there's fluctuating temps in the summer.

On the other hand, putting them into a tank with other fish, in the house, with the fluctuating temperatures is just asking for trouble. First there's no QT period in that scenario and second, the temps are too low for discus, especially for very small, juvenile discus.

I know this is going to be hard to hear, and it's not comfortable for me to say it, but I don't think you are quite ready for buying discus. They are expensive and I'd hate to see you spend all that money only to end up with sick or dead discus on your hands. They are a ton of work even under the best of conditions.

I hope this helps.

[Stuewart]

+1 to Strawberry,
It sounds like you shouldn't keep discus :(. If your temperature is fluctuating anywhere between 79 and 95 in your tanks, that'd do a lot to juvies for sure, Idk about adults, buying from an unknown breeder could give you bad resulting fish(not always), you can't really keep juvies with any other fish, and depending on how many and what size, a 40 gallon may not suffice. Barebottom is extremely easy to clean and clean is best for discus. If I were you, Id try keeping some kind of Apistogramma maybe? Something less expensive but with the same general water parameters as discus, just to be sure you can keep the parameters in check. Good luck

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I don't know what he has size wise, I know there are some at 2in, but they are all in the same color spectrum, red/orange. I want a mix of colors, which equals more $ because of the strain and sizes.
I had some Rams at one point, they were small and very boring. Pretty and did well, but too small. I've had many of the small [under 6in] fish, they don't interest me anymore. I can't move to Oscars or anything like that, I will not give up my beautiful planted tanks.
The 20 I can bring into the house and keep the temp stable. The 75 is an original MetaFrame, with slate bottom and tar sealant. That tank has a leak to it, w/o substrate, there is nothing to stop the leak. Cannot fix it, don't have the tar and don't have the skill working with it to do a good job. I've siliconed glass tanks up to 20gal, but any larger is out of my comfort zone and experience.
The 75 also had two light fixtures over it that really put out heat, they are over the 40 now. So I'm sure that would help somewhat with keeping the temp out of the 90s. I can put up an ever so ugly tarp outside the laundry room, it will block a lot of Sun from entering the room and spiking the temps. Fugly as all heck, but doable. It's an addition to the old farmhouse and is wrapped in windows, so basically a sun room.
All my fish get a mix of frozen cube foods; beef heart, krill/shrimp and blood worms. Then my two flake food containers are also a vast mix, from tropical to the bloodworm flake and everything in between, but no 'color enhancing' flakes. The frozen foods do that naturally. Fish get mostly frozen foods with flakes as 'breakfast.'
Lastly, the guy still hasn't contacted me back to confirm my visit, so in the end, may not get them today.
I'm posting his ad. Please tell me what you think of his fish over all.
http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/for/3115270799.html

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Adding that I have Well water, no softener or anything fancy, just a large house filter.