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First off, my apologies to my friend Al and the Simplydiscus team in general for my less than aggressive participation to this contest. Prioritizing time has never been one of my strong suits, and with my day and evening work schedules I just have not been around that much. That being said, I also want to thank Al and Simply for not only allowing me to participate in this contest but also to acquire some high quality crosses that will hopefully be a part of a successful breeding program someday!
I know some others had issues that have been hard to diagnose, but I assure you all that these fish have been nothing less than perfectly healthy, aggressive eaters and have grown steadily since the day I received them. Of the six, one is slightly larger and one is obviously smaller than the rest. This has been my experience with almost every group of discus I have acquired since I got back into this hobby five years ago.
My regimen at first was daily water changes and feedings 6-8 times per day, including color bits and my homemade beef heart recipe. Unfortunately, I have slacked off of this consistency but I still have had really good luck with strong, healthy stock to begin with. The smallest is around 4” at this point and the largest is around 5 ½”. All but the smallest have nice shape (although the smallest is slightly footballish), their patterns are consistent with the strain, bars are evenly spaced and all have nice red eyes. In addition, 2 of them have been finding serious interest in the breeding cone and have been pecking at it for a few weeks now. I’d like to cross these guys back to the Golden Albino’s that I got from Frank a couple of years ago, or maybe with some Rose Reds or MP’s and see what happens.
I can’t really say I learned much more than this forum has taught me over the past few years, other than to head-off potential problems. I did have one start to stick its head in the corner and slacked off eating for a few days. I immediately cranked up the heat to 93f for 10 days and added salt. It rebounded immediately and now is just as aggressive an eater as the rest.
They've come a long way. Hope you enjoy the before's and after's...
Thanks again for this opportunity and best of luck to all the others who participated!!
First arrived...
Today...
I know some others had issues that have been hard to diagnose, but I assure you all that these fish have been nothing less than perfectly healthy, aggressive eaters and have grown steadily since the day I received them. Of the six, one is slightly larger and one is obviously smaller than the rest. This has been my experience with almost every group of discus I have acquired since I got back into this hobby five years ago.
My regimen at first was daily water changes and feedings 6-8 times per day, including color bits and my homemade beef heart recipe. Unfortunately, I have slacked off of this consistency but I still have had really good luck with strong, healthy stock to begin with. The smallest is around 4” at this point and the largest is around 5 ½”. All but the smallest have nice shape (although the smallest is slightly footballish), their patterns are consistent with the strain, bars are evenly spaced and all have nice red eyes. In addition, 2 of them have been finding serious interest in the breeding cone and have been pecking at it for a few weeks now. I’d like to cross these guys back to the Golden Albino’s that I got from Frank a couple of years ago, or maybe with some Rose Reds or MP’s and see what happens.
I can’t really say I learned much more than this forum has taught me over the past few years, other than to head-off potential problems. I did have one start to stick its head in the corner and slacked off eating for a few days. I immediately cranked up the heat to 93f for 10 days and added salt. It rebounded immediately and now is just as aggressive an eater as the rest.
They've come a long way. Hope you enjoy the before's and after's...
Thanks again for this opportunity and best of luck to all the others who participated!!
First arrived...
Today...
Genetically speaking there is a Small chance that some of the Alenquers I sent out have a recessive Albino Gene.....Crossing back to an albino Golden should be a very interesting goal...The albino siblings I kept from the Fry I sent out...look similar to albino goldens.. I've thought to cross my wild type alenquers to San merahs as well...so good luck on what ever you do there..
yep, pretty good indeed!
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