first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

Ok thanks; I'll up their feeding a little; also between dosages of expel i'll turn on the uv system to kill any worms that are free floating. Hopefully this will improve things - i'll be 2 or 3 months before i report back unless something catastrophic happens like they all die.

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

Just a tiny update; but i'm feeding them nearly 3x more worms; but i am also hand feeding the smallest one - my process is to scoop out some water into a cup from the tank put all their food in it and then feed the other fishes in the room before dumping it (this allow the cubes to break down); however i am also taking some of the worms and hand feeding it to the smallest fishes - this process has really calmed them down a lot as they no longer hide when i do other things in the room. The meds are suppose to arrive later this week and i'll do 3 weeks of treatment per recommendation (3 treatments one a week). It'll be a while before i report back - at least 2 months to see if it helps. Hopefully they are just suffering from too little food and don't actually have worms

[Charlyc11]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

I found this seller on Band in NY Valley Stream NY. Is this the one?

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

I found this seller on Band in NY Valley Stream NY. Is this the one?
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That is not the seller I used; and the price i paid was approx 1/3 to 1/4 of what they are charging. Well around 1/3; also bit confused by their water. the seller I used is in ny but his water is soft acidic. I know another guy in ny (not a seller) that keeps discus and his tap is also soft acidic. I think ph is naturally around 6.5. Btw the person i used might import wild discus on request (not sure) but he has not imported any or sold any since i purchased his last group - he said he had a hard time selling them (which is why he gave me very low price); he normally imports catfishes and schoolers (exotic cory, pleco and tera); some of the species are quite uncommon. I of course do not buy fishes because they are exotic; however i do love dwarf cichlid and he has imported a lot of uncommon species of apistogramma (at the request of someone else). I will say that the various species of apistogramma have very different behavior.

[gimaal]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

also bit confused by their water. the seller I used is in ny but his water is soft acidic. I know another guy in ny (not a seller) that keeps discus and his tap is also soft acidic. I think ph is naturally around 6.5.

New York is a big state. Valley Stream is on Long Island where the water source is underground aquifers. I'm in Manhattan where the water source is any one of several reservoirs upstate. Big difference. As is the case with your friends, my water comes out of the tap between 6.5 and 6.8ph depending on which reservoir is being tapped and how long the water has been stored in the cedar water tank on the roof of our apartment building. Regardless, my fish seem to like it. And my Discus have all lived long lives.

[brewmaster15]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

That is not the seller I used; and the price i paid was approx 1/3 to 1/4 of what they are charging. Well around 1/3; also bit confused by their water. the seller I used is in ny but his water is soft acidic. I know another guy in ny (not a seller) that keeps discus and his tap is also soft acidic. I think ph is naturally around 6.5. Btw the person i used might import wild discus on request (not sure) but he has not imported any or sold any since i purchased his last group - he said he had a hard time selling them (which is why he gave me very low price); he normally imports catfishes and schoolers (exotic cory, pleco and tera); some of the species are quite uncommon. I of course do not buy fishes because they are exotic; however i do love dwarf cichlid and he has imported a lot of uncommon species of apistogramma (at the request of someone else). I will say that the various species of apistogramma have very different behavior.

Have your seller get in touch with me if he wants to try importing wilds and marketing through SimplyDiscus. I get asked for supplier recommendations all the time.

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

Have your seller get in touch with me if he wants to try importing wilds and marketing through SimplyDiscus. I get asked for supplier recommendations all the time.

I don't think he will do discus again; 'cept maybe as a favor for one of his regular customers. He just one person and he found them a real pain. Also cory/pleco have a much better mark up. Tiny fish that goes for $25 to $80 depending on species.

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

It took a long time for the meds to get here - around 10 days since ups routed the package incorrectly. I will treat them monday morning to fall into regular water change; but before i do so i wanted you to take a look at this updated picture. I've nearly tripled the amount of food they are getting and to my eye they are putting on weight (i.e, do i still need to use meds?); these picture are not as good as earlier one since the plants are causing issues - also they are pooping a lot more and it is all grey/black:

[brewmaster15]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

They do look alittle better. Are they eating all the food you are feeding?

my eye they are putting on weight (i.e, do i still need to use meds?);

The choice to deworm is a personal one. I always do it with new fish when I get them . If you feel they are gaining weight and are healthy and want to give them more time to see if they were just not getting enough food...thats a common sense approach too. If they decline even though you are feeding then deworm.

hth,
al

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

I went ahead and did treatment one this morning since i didn't see your comment early enough; and will do treatment 2 next monday - though i was reading up on worms and expel-p only work on one type there is another med for the other type but not sure if discus will have those. I had hope to see white poop but never saw any. I'll probably skip treatment 3 unless i see some sign it is needed.

I'm pretty sure they are eating all of it since i am hand feeding them (i soak the cube in water while i feed the other aquariums so they are soft); i focus on the smallest discus. I'd like to wean them off of worms since i think it is not healthy though right now they probably need the fat. I do have some frozen myst shrimp - not sure if it is a good option for them.

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

Here is an updated picture in case you have opinions. I think i'm feeding them too much worms - i'm up to 7 cubes a day (3 in the morning 4 at night); i hand them the worms which has actually settled them down a lot but i do it to ensure the smallest one gets a good helping; they are very polite eaters waiting till i over them a bite though one - a middle sized one with no stripes seems to object to the others eating even when it doesn't want more food; long term i want to cut down on how much worm i'm feeding them but right now i think they need to put on more weight:

[brewmaster15]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

Here is an updated picture in case you have opinions. I think i'm feeding them too much worms - i'm up to 7 cubes a day (3 in the morning 4 at night); i hand them the worms which has actually settled them down a lot but i do it to ensure the smallest one gets a good helping; they are very polite eaters waiting till i over them a bite though one - a middle sized one with no stripes seems to object to the others eating even when it doesn't want more food; long term i want to cut down on how much worm i'm feeding them but right now i think they need to put on more weight:

[ATTACH]141681[/ATTACH][ATTACH]141682[/ATTACH][ATTACH]141683[/ATTACH]

They look very good. I don't think you are feeding too much.

1 cube per 2 adult fish per feeding is usually appropriate and your fish have thrived on what you have been feeding .Do they eat it all? if yes..then you are doing fine.
al

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

They eat about 90% of it - some of it gets spit out; hand feeding them have really helped to calm them. The amount i feed depends on how hungry they are - i usually start with 3 cube and if they still want more than give them the fourth - i soak them in water for about 5 minutes before feeding but sometime they are a little tough. The soaking part is easy since i have 8 specialized aquariums in the room so i visit everyone else while the cubes are softening up.

The biggest change is i can now turn the light on in the room without startling them; though they still hate water changes and turn black during the change; but at least last time they explored the python before fleeing.

[Charlyc11]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

I don't think he will do discus again; 'cept maybe as a favor for one of his regular customers. He just one person and he found them a real pain. Also cory/pleco have a much better mark up. Tiny fish that goes for $25 to $80 depending on species.

Still not telling who is the vendor? We might be interested in other species also.

[anewbie]

Re: first time with discus - qt'ing of wild discus

His name is Alex and he is found on band (only).