# If I see one more Discus thread......



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

.....I will probably go buy some and start my own  lol And thats what I did! So I decided to give them a try myself. Bought 6 from Fishdragon, thanks again Eric. At $6 each I figured I didn't have much to lose. They are in a temporary tank right now but soon to go into my 30" 25g tank in my bedroom. It currently just houses my Rainbow Shark, which I am moving to http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/my-75-a-25400/. The 75 will probably be the new home for the Discus when they get bigger and I upgrade it to a 6" tank for it's current inhabitants in there as they are getting pretty big now. Just hope the shark doesn't show any aggression towards them as he has been alone for several months and likes his space and privacy..
Anyway, so the first night I had them they were a bit stressed and shy, so I wrapped the tank with a towel and left the top uncovered lighting. Didn't put a light on the tank. just left the rooms ceiling light on so they could get relaxed. I had tried to feed them that night but they didn't eat. The next morning I dropped a few more granules in, left the towel wrapped around it and left for work. When I got home that evening. I removed the towel and noticed they had ate the food and was venturing around. Was very excited to see that :bigsmile:
I went ahead and fed them some more Tetra Bits and some freeze dried blackworms and got to see them eat for the first time they seem to be doing well and are pretty active for the most part & getting less shy by the day. I'm very happy I haven't lost any yet and hope I can get them all to adulthood without any issues. 
The tank they will be growing out in is a 30" 25 gal tank with a 250 watt heater (to easily maintain a 85-86 degree temp), large sponge filter, and small HOB filter that will have a small bag of purigen in it. W/C's will be every 3 days at first unless I see they need it more often. 
I am having my own grow-out contest with Kevin (kacairnes) lol he went with me to get them and got a couple himself .....so now....It's on!! lol Here is a few pix and vids of them.


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## Jasonator (Jul 12, 2011)

I am SOOOOOOO proud of you!!! :bigsmile:

You won't regret it!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Jason.....so far so good


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## Immus21 (Jun 14, 2010)

So the Discus bug has bitten another....  GL with your babies Diz!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Calvin! lol it was inevitable....working out at Ricks and seeing his beauties everyday was a hard temptation to fight. Then Fishdragons $6 babies was the icing on the cake.


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

Not sure......the discus seems to have short gill plates from viewing from the video......perhaps I am wrong.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm winning already catch me if you can =)


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Glad to see you aboard the discus club :bigsmile:


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

seanyuki said:


> Not sure......the discus seems to have short gill plates from viewing from the video......perhaps I am wrong.


The ones I got from Eric before were like that, too. It would appear that the gills did not really close entirely and there were always a gap. But I think that is just the way they are perhaps something to do with his particular strain? Rick's discus that I have do not look like that at the gills.

They seem happy swimming around though.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

seanyuki said:


> Not sure......the discus seems to have short gill plates from viewing from the video......perhaps I am wrong.


dunno, long as they are healthy and live I'm good with it....like I said for $6 I'm not out too much lol 
Since you brought it up though.... is that a big concern? Sometimes it seems their breathing is a bit fast.



kacairns said:


> I'm winning already catch me if you can =)


I think mine were a tad bigger them yours to begin with  and Rick's fish don't count ya cheater lol



Canadian_Aqua_Farm said:


> Glad to see you aboard the discus club :bigsmile:


lol Rick....it's all you fault & thanks! :bigsmile:


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

So that means that if we all start making lots of thread about saltwater tanks u will get one? mmmmmmm  mmmuuuuaaaaahhhhaaaaaaa:bigsmile:


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## Immus21 (Jun 14, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Thanks Calvin! lol it was inevitable....working out at Ricks and seeing his beauties everyday was a hard temptation to fight. Then Fishdragons $6 babies was the icing on the cake.


If it was me he'd have been paying me with Discus in no time!


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Short gill plates
Come from water quality when tiny . Not the strain.. The water. 
If they are breathing heavy or uneven .one side.. They may have flukes. But babies do breathe faster than adults.
Congrats on joining the addiction! 
Your doomed! Lol. Just start signing your paychecks over to Rick and he will help your addiction take off!
Good
Luck on the private grow out contest!


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

good choice starting with some cheap ones like i did  hopefully they all pull through they have a nice pattern


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

Welcome to the club.. For the price..Can't complain! I'm sure once you get the hang of it you will move to a much higher quality strain. My advice..Just keep it simple.. All you need is a tank, heater and sponge filter. No need for fancy equipments. Water will be the key to your success..Goodluck!


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

MELLO said:


> Welcome to the club.. For the price..Can't complain! I'm sure once you get the hang of it you will move to a much higher quality strain. My advice..Just keep it simple.. All you need is a tank, heater and sponge filter. No need for fancy equipments. Water will be the key to your success..Goodluck!


Excellent advice!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

April said:


> Short gill plates
> Come from water quality when tiny . Not the strain.. The water.
> If they are breathing heavy or uneven .one side.. They may have flukes. But babies do breathe faster than adults.
> Congrats on joining the addiction!
> ...


Is there a remedy to shrot gill plates at this stage? Are you saying it is due to not changing water often enough when the disucs were small and/or the water was not clean enough? Or does it have to do with PH/GH and that sort of things as well when you said water quality?
Thanks a lot.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

The first option. 
You can have same parents. Different batches . Some batches great . Some bad gills. Most
Breeders would cull . 
You can also get uneven dorsal rays from water quality.


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Is there a remedy to shrot gill plates at this stage? Are you saying it is due to not changing water often enough when the disucs were small and/or the water was not clean enough? Or does it have to do with PH/GH and that sort of things as well when you said water quality?
> Thanks a lot.


It can be caused by lack of minerals in the water or water being to soft and poor water quality. It's not easy to fix. It has to caught at an early age. I tried for 9 months but I the gill plates never full recovered .


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Is there a remedy to shrot gill plates at this stage? Are you saying it is due to not changing water often enough when the disucs were small and/or the water was not clean enough? Or does it have to do with PH/GH and that sort of things as well when you said water quality?
> Thanks a lot.


Lack or aeration can also cause the gill plates to curl which makes them look short. It's not reversible and I had to cull an entire batch of Brilliant Turquoise one time for that exact reason. All of their other batches which were kept well aerated were fine.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Nice to see you taking on these guys. Rather you than I 
Nice selection of fish!


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Start by setting aside a discus fund


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

Welcome to the club and who cares about the short gill plates. It's your first try at discus, grow them up big and strong, let them pair off, get over the initial fear/impression that discus are high maintence(they are not) then spend a little more $ and get some higher grade one's from Rick, April(if she brings in more of Hans' fish) or from someone like Mello or Jondis that needs to reduce their flock


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

Wow John good luck with your discus adventure, they look amazing already! keep the updates coming buddy


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Welcome to the club. It's like the Borg....resistance if futile. Now we're just waiting for Ming.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree good ones to practise on. We will be watching progress. As Joseph said not scary if you keep your water good. The saying is look after your water and the fish will look after themselves. If they get quiet do a watcher change.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Good luck. Hope to see them grow and swim around happily in no time.

After reading what Rick and April have said, I am just wondering other than cosmetic is there any concern health wise with a short gill plate, please?


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

I'll be interesting to see if a three day partial water change versus daily water change will make a difference, to the fish.


Good luck! I hope the fish make it.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Welcome to the club. It's like the Borg....resistance if futile. Now we're just waiting for Ming.


I'll just have to start calling John something like 43 of 213 now!


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Good luck. Hope to see them grow and swim around happily in no time.
> 
> After reading what Rick and April have said, I am just wondering other than cosmetic is there any concern health wise with a short gill plate, please?


No health concern at all, they will still grow and live normally.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

It's also not genetic.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Thanks a lot. Learn something new everyday.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Just doesn't look as good... Looking at the ones supplied by rick for the grow out contest and the couple I picked up when with John you can see the difference right away even though its just the gill


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Well...as long as the owner is happy and the discus are happy that is what counts.
I hope the owner enjoys keeping them and have a lot of fun raising them because that is what this is all about.
I started off with fishdragon's discus, too.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

As John said, for $6 each you can't really go wrong as a starter, will give him all the ideas of how to take care of the higher quality ones when he gets them in the future so he can start off on the right foot, know how the discus react to different things and so on. They are roughly 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" right now and about a month and a half old, good learning experience and as it just a cosmetic defect I believe I think they can even be breed and the off spring wouldn't have it unless conditions weren't ideal. Rick/April or someone else with knowledge on that might be good to chime in on what I just commented


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Any update by any chance?


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

First off sorry for the late replies, have been pretty busy and mostly working from the phone. If I missed any comments that I should have replied to, Im terribly sorry, trying to do it all in one post & lost track lol



Claudia said:


> So that means that if we all start making lots of thread about saltwater tanks u will get one? mmmmmmm  mmmuuuuaaaaahhhhaaaaaaa:bigsmile:


close already lol luckily...deep down.....I know that one will have to wait....just have to wait till the time is right lol



Immus21 said:


> If it was me he'd have been paying me with Discus in no time!


believe me I was thinking hard about getting a few lol



April said:


> Short gill plates
> Come from water quality when tiny . Not the strain.. The water.
> If they are breathing heavy or uneven .one side.. They may have flukes. But babies do breathe faster than adults.
> Congrats on joining the addiction!
> ...


lol Thanks April and thanks for the info. That night I was immediately all over the net researching the short gill issue after that comment was made and came up with that result Glad to hear the lil ones breathe faster, was a bit concerned about that but they seem to be happy so not to concerned anymore after hearing that. I can definitely see more in the future, good thing all you guys are far away from me lol :bigsmile:



MEDHBSI said:


> good choice starting with some cheap ones like i did  hopefully they all pull through they have a nice pattern


Thanks.....thats where it starts eh? lol Im hoping so too...so far , so good



MELLO said:


> Welcome to the club.. For the price..Can't complain! I'm sure once you get the hang of it you will move to a much higher quality strain. My advice..Just keep it simple.. All you need is a tank, heater and sponge filter. No need for fancy equipments. Water will be the key to your success..Goodluck!


Thanks Mello! Yes it was hard to pass up that price for starters. Trying to keep it simple, we'll see how far that goes lol And definitely see some higher quality fish in the near future 



jobber said:


> Nice to see you taking on these guys. Rather you than I
> Nice selection of fish!


Thanks Ming....buddy you need a few in your 33 



gklaw said:


> Start by setting aside a discus fund


got my sign ready to go.....*"Will work for Discus"* lol



josephl said:


> Welcome to the club and who cares about the short gill plates. It's your first try at discus, grow them up big and strong, let them pair off, get over the initial fear/impression that discus are high maintence(they are not) then spend a little more $ and get some higher grade one's from Rick, April(if she brings in more of Hans' fish) or from someone like Mello or Jondis that needs to reduce their flock


Thanks Joseph! I don't really care about the gill plates as long as they are healthy. They seem to be doing just great so I am happy thus far & just take things day by day with them. It is pretty much an experiment for me, but I am feeling pretty confident with them. Plus all the info I have quietly obtained about them here through the many experienced members threads, throughout the last few years.... has me going in the right direction I believe. I know the experts like you , Rick, April, Tony and many others are always here for support if needed....so I am feeling pretty confident with them. 



monkE said:


> Wow John good luck with your discus adventure, they look amazing already! keep the updates coming buddy


Thanks Mike! Will do my best with updates and hope for no bad ones lol I bet some would look great your tank buddy :bigsmile:



2wheelsx2 said:


> Welcome to the club. It's like the Borg....resistance if futile. Now we're just waiting for Ming.


Thanks Gary! good analogy lol I think Ming will take a bit, but perhaps come around one day lol



Lamplighter said:


> I'll be interesting to see if a three day partial water change versus daily water change will make a difference, to the fish.
> Good luck! I hope the fish make it.


Thanks LL! Just going with that w/c schedule at first to see how things go, planning in increasing filtration as well.
I have absolute faith most, if not all of them ....will make it to adult.



Fish rookie said:


> Well...as long as the owner is happy and the discus are happy that is what counts.
> I hope the owner enjoys keeping them and have a lot of fun raising them because that is what this is all about.
> I started off with fishdragon's discus, too.


Thanks Rookie! Thus far I love them! They seem to be doing fantastic for the most part, so I think we are all happy lol



Fish rookie said:


> Any update by any chance?


Yes meant to do one last night but got tied up with other things...sop next post will be an updats


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

*The 1 week update*

Ok so week one is over. I'm happy to ay they have been doing great the whole week. Active and keeping the tank cleaned of all food lol
3 times a day I have been feeding them a variety of things which include Tetra bits, freeze dried black worms and frozen bloodworms. Mostly the tetra bits as it seems to be what can be found easiest. Seems they really love bloodworms the most as when I drop them in, they look like piranhas headed to a feeding frenzy lol 
So I did their first W/C on Sat night and all went great with minimal stress it appeared. I decided with w/c I would add a bit of buffers. Since I use buffers on most of my tanks and I know the fish would appreciate a kh/gh reading of anything above 0, I thought it would be a good idea. I changed about 12 gal of water and 1 Tsp of Akaline buffer and 1/2 Tbsp of Equilibrium. Everything seemed fine & maybe it was just me , but the fish seemed a bit more colorful and active
Yesterday I finally got the time to move them to their grow out home in the 25g http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/bedroom-tank-19093/
Everything went absolutely smooth! After cleaning the tank, I filled it with 31c water treated it with the buffers. 1 tsp Akaline buffer and 1 tsp equilibrium to start. I will continue buffering my w/cs, unless something gives me a reason not to. 
Transferred the heaters and filters, which I'm thinking maybe I need a bigger air pump. Firt timer with sponge filters and not sure what the proper size pump would be for the filter. Figure that one out by the weekend lol SO I then bagged the fish & I acclimated them in a big bag for about 20 minutes, added some tank water halfway thru that and let them move in finally. They seemed to take to it very well. I plan on doing a whole tile bottom and sealing it off so food cant get underneath and maybe add a couple plants. They seem to appreciate having the wood and ornament in there and I rather like it as well, as opposed to the complete bare bottom bare tank look. I do tend to try and mimic natural surroundings as much as possible for I feel the fish are happier. Of course it will be minimal for them for now. Anyway, they were in the darker corner at first but finally started to explore a bit so, I added some food & I grabbed a couple pix and vids:



































Funny thing after all this , my camera battery went dead and it would just happen to be when they really livened up. While I was u/ling the vids I started watching the Thursday night comedies but found myself gazing at the tank more so. The tank is sitting across from my bed so I always have a great view of it, since I usually just watch TV in the bedroom at that time of night. Unfortunately, even though the tank and tv are on the same wall, they are a opposite ends of it, each to the side of our long dresser lol So the tank won my attention last night.
During the downtime of the camera, the Discus were mega-active, all over the tank and appearing to be enjoying it. We were very happy to see this, cause of course I did have a few doubts lingering. Needless to say...they are now extinct :bigsmile:

So I am really enjoying watching these guys and some of the funny things they do. Thought I'd share a couple memorable moments. 
Do you remember that spaghetti incident in "Lady & the Tramp"? you know both the dogs go for a spaghetti noodle and it end up being the same one as they are slurping it in lol well the first time I fed the frozen bloodworms I witnessed the similar thing with 2 of the discus lol cept it was more of a tug of war with it lol of course I didn't have the camera ready but I'm sure you could imagine this lol
Last night I looked over and while all the rest were double checking the bottom of the tank, one was in la-la land above the sponge filter in what appeared to be watching the bubbles go up lol was really cute from our perspective.....another moment the camera was unavailable...go figure lol Guess it appears I was a bit overdue in getting some of these myself :bigsmile:

sorry for the long update.....but it is a journal


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I am so happy to hear that you have made it not just through the first week but also through a move from one tank to another. Sounds like you know what you are doing and they are looking better and better. That is awesome. keep up the good work!


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Rookie! yea the tank switch had me a bit worried , but planned it out and executed it perfectly and was grateful there was hardly any stress from it. I would not say I know what I'm doing lol just first time lucky this far. I honestly have done very little research outside the forum. There have been alot of Discus related threads since I joined in 2010 lol being a mod for the last several months I have read just about every post on every thread lol Luckilly I have a good memory and took what I learned from the many knowledgeable Discus keepers here, added a lil of my own and put it in a tank lol Just hope things keep going the right direction.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

You know what, just 2 nights ago I noticed my youngest daughter sitting in front of the discus tank rather than the TV! When I read your comment about switching back and forth I could totally relate to that.
Joining this forum also taught me so much. Many members share their knowledge and experience here selflessly to help rookies like me; none of this is possible without this forum. You guys have done such a great job keeping this such a great community for all of us. Keep up the great work.


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## fishdragon (Nov 8, 2010)

For frozen bloodworm be careful using it to avoid internal parasite for discus.
Tetra bits and freeze dried blackworms should be safe enough for that.
As a same batch, they grown way fast than mine
With discus, anything may happen, so just be careful watching them day by day.
Good luck!


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Thanks Rookie! yea the tank switch had me a bit worried , but planned it out and executed it perfectly and was grateful there was hardly any stress from it. I would not say I know what I'm doing lol just first time lucky this far. I honestly have done very little research outside the forum. There have been alot of Discus related threads since I joined in 2010 lol being a mod for the last several months I have read just about every post on every thread lol Luckilly I have a good memory and took what I learned from the many knowledgeable Discus keepers here, added a lil of my own and put it in a tank lol Just hope things keep going the right direction.


I bought a dozen red turks from the fishdragon a few months ago. They all died!! The fact that yours are eager to get at the food is a good sign.

You're sort of going against the grain but I know where you're coming from. I dislike bare tanks so I threw a few potted plants in with my discus. The daily water change was there but the fish didn't seem to take to it. I always added Prime!! Blood worms was my food of choice but they just picked at the food. The drive to survive just wasn't there.

There are two schools of choice when it comes to keeping discus. One is large daily water changes and the other is much less, as you know. I've studied both arguments regarding water changes and they both seem logical.

I believe that you'll do OK !


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

For quality shape and size daily wcs wins hands down. You won't see anyone with trophies saying just do a wc once a week. That's for sure. 
Depends what you want to get out of it . Me..I want big thick discus.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

So true, all the books I have read from reputable breeders will tell you to obtain optium growth in juvie discus you need to keep top quality water condition, which means big daily water changes, and frequent feeding of high protein top quality food. I do not see 2 schools of thoughts--only 1.

There may be different ideas on equipment, filtration, what kind of water to use, what kind of food to feed, water parameters, even what kind of lighting but when it comes to water change it is rather unequivocal.
Less frequent water change can also result in less ideal water quality which could lead to things like short gill plates and other illnesses and problems as have been pointed out by others.

Keeping them alive, and growing them to their full beauty are two different things; growing juvie and keeping grown adults are also different.

If your discus die after you do frequent water changes it is not because of the frequency of your water change but rather the health conditon of your discus, your water quality, and/or your water change method--keeping your water cleaner cannot be worst than keeping it dirtier for your juvie discus. If your breeder keeps the juvie in dirty water and frequent water changes shock them then I have to ask why would the breeder intentionally keep less-than-ideal water quality for his juvies to begin with? Why would he not strive to keep his fish as healthy and beautiful as possible?

Top quality water is the key to successful discus keeping. Read any book by any reputable breeder who has a track record and you will see the same statement regardless. There is no 2 schools of thought as far as I can tell. Anyone can say whatever he/she wants on the internet, but if you read a book by someone who has beautiful discus to show for time after time that is when you know you can trust that person. 
Just want to say this in case some new comers may get the wrong idea. Not trying to attack anyone here.

Thank you.

There is a very interesting video (albeit a bit long) here about how various discus breeders/sellers keep their discus in various parts of Asia. There are many kinds of equipment used--some fancy and some very simple; many kinds of stores/hatchery set up--some located in a highrise industrial building, one in his own living room, and some in the countryside; some tanks have no fittings whatsoever and some are even rusted on the side; nevertheless, they all do frequent water changes especially when it comes to juvies--and they are all able to produce very beautiful discus.

Mr. Teok from Malaysia in the third video does two water changes a day. His farm looks very simple, but his fish look very nice, in my opinion. It seems that fancy equipment does not really make much difference; but water change frequency certainly does.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Good post. Here's one to watch. A water change. Big round thick calm discus.



Drain and fill. The fish are round...small eye . No pointy noses.


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

April said:


> Good post. Here's one to watch. A water change. Big round thick calm discus.
> 
> 
> 
> Drain and fill. The fish are round...small eye . No pointy noses.


Wish I have that system


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Water is water period!

The water that comes out of my tap is filtered chlorinated water. What's the difference if you siphon off 90% of your water, filter it to remove ammonia and other containments, add chlorine, remove the chlorine and reintroduce back into the tank versus using tap water?

Fishdragon and at least one other person that I know breeds discus. They do not do frequent water changes. I can't judge the quality of their fish but they successfully breed and raise them.

As far as I'm concerned aquarium water can be recycled indefinitely.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I see what you are saying and where you are coming from.

But first of all your regular filter cannot do all that(i.e. it cannot "siphon off 90% of your water, filter it to remove ammonia and other containments, add chlorine, remove the chlorine and reintroduce back into the tank"); even if it could your redox balance, dissolved oxygen content, mineral content, chemical makeup, dissolved solid content, Ph, hardness...will be different. 

In reality, as you cycle your water through your filter your filter will keep trapping more and more junk from the dirty water (i.e. rotten food, fish and plant waste, mulm...) and become a nitrate factory while repumping the supposedly re-cycled water back into your tank with more dissolved junk, higher nitrate, lesser oxygen, depleted ions and minerals, reduced redox, more bacteria and micro organism.... As you get more dirt trapped your flow will slow down and more junk will get unfiltered so your water quality will keep declining while repumping more junks back into your tank until you change your water and clean your filter--then the whole process will start all over again.

Or you can keep your water quality high--even without a filter--by doing major daily water changes. 

When I was at Rick's to pick up my juvies he showed me his tank full of juvies. He had not had one death out of the whole batch. When you keep your water quality high with regular water changes you provide your discus with the best care. I do not know if others who do not change their water daily can have a 100% survial rate with their juvies but I doubt it. 

Some breeders dump lots of medications into their tanks to make up for the less than ideal water condition due to less frequent water changes and/or dirty equipment. They do that in order to combat the higher rate of sickness and death since less frequent water change will result in poorer water which can lead to all sorts of problems. Some even use UV and such to keep their juvies alive. Once you take these fish home they could have all sorts of problems with the medication and UV no longer present. This is one reason why it is very important to get a good stock from a reputable discus seller.

With all due respect, water is not just water, just as air is not just air. There is polluted air, and there is fresh air, and everything in between.

You can recycle polluted air again and again in an enclosed room or you can open the window for some fresh air--the choice is yours.


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

As for frozen bloodworms and do not go for cheap/unknown brands and only trust the good stuffs from Hikari as bloodworms from them undergo 3-step sterilization to ensure unequalled product quality - no harmful bacteria, parasites, or foul odors according to their official website........Hikari BIO-PURE Frozen Jumbo Blood Worms - The World's Best-Selling Blood Worms For BIG Fish

some people may have an allgery when touching FBW.



fishdragon said:


> For frozen bloodworm be careful using it to avoid internal parasite for discus.
> Tetra bits and freeze dried blackworms should be safe enough for that.
> As a same batch, they grown way fast than mine
> With discus, anything may happen, so just be careful watching them day by day.
> Good luck!


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Great
Posts fish rookie. 
There's very few people ive seen raise quality healthy hungry fry. Rick, Mello, and a few in USA. Rod Lewis in Australia who is a master. How do they do it? Routine and consistency. Rod does his feeds and wcs the same times each day like clockwork. I'd say the fish farms also do as they hire employees
To do wcs and feeds in schedules. Commitment is what produces health and quality.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't think it's necessarily an all or nothing kind of thing. If John or I just want to raise a few discus for our personal enjoyment, there's nothing wrong with doing whatever it is you need to do to keep them, and if it means 2 wc or 1 wc a week, so be it. Will they be prize winning, thick, dinner plate sized discus? Nope. Will we enjoy them the same, maybe. Having run into problems and now no longer having problems, I can relate to one thing. If there are problems with your discus, the first resort is the water change. Forget meds, etc. Water change after water change. I started out doing 1 water change a week, and when I was having problems, I went to 1 a day at 50%. Now I do 3 a week at 75% or more. My wilds breed every week. Is that a sign of health, I'm not sure. I've seen fish breed in some horrific conditions. And I've seen them not breed in what are considered ideal conditions, so breeding/not breeding doesn't seem to indicate anything.

However, of one thing I'm certain, as I've seen in on thread after thread, forum after forum, failure after failure. When raising juvies, if you want the biggest, thickest, most aggressive eaters, wild or domestics, you gotta do the big water changes, as often as you can. If you don't want to do that, you have 2 choices. 1. Enjoy the fish however you can. 2. Buy adults.

John, I think not everyone has the time/money for dinner plate discus, and I think discus, like any other tropical fish, can be enjoyed just the way they are. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of yours as I have mine, using whatever method you deem appropriate.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Fish rookie said:


> I see what you are saying and where you are coming from.
> 
> But first of all your regular filter cannot do all that(i.e. it cannot "siphon off 90% of your water, filter it to remove ammonia and other containments, add chlorine, remove the chlorine and reintroduce back into the tank"); even if it could your redox balance, dissolved oxygen content, mineral content, chemical makeup, dissolved solid content, Ph, hardness...will be different.
> 
> ...


It looks like it all boils down to filtration and I agree. That really means that the filters that are available are inadequate. I used to use a diatom filter and I believe that it removed most contaminants. I'd drink the filtered water if it was chlorinated.

By the way I'm NOT suggesting that you change course with your discus. They are doing fine!

As you know I lost a dozen discus and you lost six for a total of eighteen. Based on what I know now I'd say that mine died due to too frequent water changes. I can't speak for yours!

I would have been happy to have raised them into adults. I had hoped to get breeding pairs. My objective was to raise the young away from their parents. I was not concerned with raising BLUE RIBBON fish. Wouldn't it had been better to have changed the water every three days or so and have the fish live? I think so!

You'd barf if you saw what's filtered out of tap water, over the period of a week, or so. Inline filters plug up with slimy contaminates.

I drink bottled water. The water in a reservoir is contaminated to various degrees. The part per million changes over the year depending on runoff. The water is filtered and chlorinated. If the water that comes out of our taps can be made safe for discus so can recycled aquarium water.

I'll be watching the progress of Diztrbd's discus and I have a feeling that he'll do well. In any event he can't do worse than you and and I.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

What a big difference in colour from the beginning until now. 
Glad you've got this discus tank started


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Well, sorry if I have derailed the thread. 
I wish John nothing but the best with raising his discus. 
As I said before the most important thing is that he should enjoy them and that is what counts. If he is doing all that others say he needs to do but feels too stressed out to even enjoy sitting down and looking at his fish then it is not worth it for him. In that regard I totally agree with Gary.
I still remember when I first saw my discus eat like pigs I was really excited! 
I also can recall how happy I was when I saw my juvies developed their first patterns/colours on their body and reach 3"!
I still remember those feelings and that is what makes discus keeping so enjoyable for me.
Thanks for this thread John. Please keep us posted so we can all share your joy of raising your babies.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Lamplighter said:


> As you know I lost a dozen discus and you lost six for a total of eighteen. Based on what I know now I'd say that mine died due to too frequent water changes. I can't speak for yours!


You should really discuss this with the contestants in the growout contest as most of them are doing daily water changes and many of them doing 90+%. So all their discus die then you've proven your point.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree in the point that everyone has different time issues and yes top priority is enjoyment! If it becomes a chore ten no point! 
Lamplighter I believe your fry were already cimplimised. I remember fish dragon posting they weren't eating before you bought them. Young fry lose their window of opportunity very fast. 
Also ph swings can kill young fry. Oh can swing from morning to night if your filter isn't keeping up. You also need to have a certain amount if Tds for nitrification. . 125. Or.. No filter and rely on wcs. 
I had fry once and had issues. Then I got a ph meter and starting monitoring. It would go up with a wc then swing down by the next morning. Which they don't handle. Then up with a wc. Down again. Once u watched and did a storage container and buffered all was stable and success!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Hi April,
My TDS of cold water is only about 10 or 9 coming out of my tap. Before I do my water change the 'dirty water" is about 33-35. (I perform 2 90% water changes daily and I have no filter, just 3 airsontes and a heater). Is that okay?
I read that in the amazon the discus's habitate's average TDS is about 150 or so. But then I also read their Ph is about 5.8...so may be that is more for wild discus?


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

April said:


> I agree in the point that everyone has different time issues and yes top priority is enjoyment! If it becomes a chore ten no point!
> Lamplighter I believe your fry were already cimplimised. I remember fish dragon posting they weren't eating before you bought them. Young fry lose their window of opportunity very fast.
> Also ph swings can kill young fry. Oh can swing from morning to night if your filter isn't keeping up. You also need to have a certain amount if Tds for nitrification. . 125. Or.. No filter and rely on wcs.
> I had fry once and had issues. Then I got a ph meter and starting monitoring. It would go up with a wc then swing down by the next morning. Which they don't handle. Then up with a wc. Down again. Once u watched and did a storage container and buffered all was stable and success!


I've given up on discus. Fishdragon offered me 6 FREE discus the other day but I turned him down.

I can't argue against success and Rick of CAF method works.

My feeling is that these discus that Diz is raising will also do well. Time will tell!


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

I personally don't think that there is anything 'wrong' with our water for discus. 

I do 2 x 50% water changes daily on my discus tank on weekdays and sometimes if I am working at home or watching sports on the weekend, it can be up to 6 of 8 X 50% water changes on the weekend. Many thanks to Python and hot water on demand for the technology :lol: I keep the changes very simply, drain the water, turn the faucet on to full for both hot and cold, dump in enough prime to treat the water I am controlling, dump in one heaping teaspoon of equilibrum or one tablespoon of equilibrum and one of marine sea salt and that's it.

Without any other water treatments, my fish grow just fine and are always spawning. 

I think my fish would be quite happy with way less water changes, they would just not grow as big. I know I have gone away for 2 weeks without anyone looking after the fish and I have come back to fry that have attached to the parents.

Simpliest rule to me is, don't overthink discus. Feed heavily = more water changes


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

josephl said:


> Simplest rule to me is, don't over think discus. Feed heavily = more water changes


Joseph has hit the nail in the head when it comes to raising discus . One of the most important things I have learned over the past 3 years is you need to find out what works for you and stick with that and don't try to copy what are other people are doing. What works for some else won't always work for you.

Keep up the good work John you have done an amazing job raising them..


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

If you do not like frequent water changes is yr choice for the discus health......you must have the knowledge and experience to breed discus and need to cull the bad ones b4 selling them to the market...... one bad sales may ruin the reputation the seller......just my 2 cents.



Lamplighter said:


> Water is water period!
> 
> The water that comes out of my tap is filtered chlorinated water. What's the difference if you siphon off 90% of your water, filter it to remove ammonia and other containments, add chlorine, remove the chlorine and reintroduce back into the tank versus using tap water?
> 
> ...


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

May I suggest this water change portion and so on be split to its own thread, sort of a kick in the pants to the original poster when he is trying to share his experience and its cluttered with a debate


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## MELLO (Apr 21, 2010)

kacairns said:


> May I suggest this water change portion and so on be split to its own thread, sort of a kick in the pants to the original poster when he is trying to share his experience and its cluttered with a debate


I agree.. Some discus threads here had gone overboard.. I hope all this talk haven't scared you  enjoy your new journey!


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

kacairns said:


> May I suggest this water change portion and so on be split to its own thread, sort of a kick in the pants to the original poster when he is trying to share his experience and its cluttered with a debate


You're right and I'm sorry for any part I had in the water issue.


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## fishdragon (Nov 8, 2010)

I agree too... Most people raise fish for fun and leasure so it should go as easy as it can as long as the fish are ok......

Sent from my LT15a using Tapatalk 2


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

MELLO said:


> I agree.. Some discus threads here had gone overboard.. I hope all this talk haven't scared you  enjoy your new journey!





fishdragon said:


> I agree too... Most people raise fish for fun and leasure so it should go as easy as it can as long as the fish are ok......
> 
> Sent from my LT15a using Tapatalk 2


Very well said guys. We're all in this hobby because it is something we love to do. Keep it fun and don't stress over the small stuff. BCA is one of the few forums that I regularly post on and one of the big reasons that I like to post here is because of the friendly atmosphere. There are other many other forums where topics get debated, often in a very heated manner and IMO that just isn't fun and not something that I for one want to be a part of. Of course we have an obligation to meet the care requirements of the fish that we choose to keep but what works for one person may not work for all. Over the past three years of running CAF I have had an opportunity to correspond with a vast array of discus hobbyists and I am absolutely amazed at the wide range of parameters that folks have been successful with. All I can say us take advice from experienced hobbyists, play around with it, see what works for you and go with that.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for all the tips, help and support as well. Normally I would reply to all the comments, but lil overwhelming this time around ..so again thanks for all the tips, info and kind words  Now that the water quality debate is under control lol gonna do an update.In all honesty if I wanted premium quality Discus I would have got some from Rick. But being the first time around and for the learning experience the $6 ones fit the bill  As long as they are happy and healthy and grow into adults I will be satisfied. I surely do not expect to have show quality fish but I do expect that if they make it to beautiful adults ....then I did something right and will be plenty satisfied with that as well as be a proud Discus keeper . I definitely won't be flooding the market with low quality fish if they ever breed lol and rather than cull any (what some see as defective) I would rather just give them to a loving home. Don't have it in me to kill a fish just because it's not perfect. If we did that to humans there would be less than half of the current population residing on this planet imo lol and I would probably be one of the culled ones .
Anyway, nothing really changed since the last update, though I see a slight haze to the water clarity today, so I will probably start doing every other day w/c's till I up the filtration to keep up. The fish still look happy healthier, active & hungry lol Here is a few more pix and vids for now:


























8MgrTXg8BEU
















fishdragon said:


> For frozen bloodworm be careful using it to avoid internal parasite for discus.
> Tetra bits and freeze dried blackworms should be safe enough for that.
> As a same batch, they grown way fast than mine
> With discus, anything may happen, so just be careful watching them day by day.
> Good luck!


Thanks Eric and thanks again for the fish! Really enjoying them alot and they are doin great! I've not fed them alot of bloodworms, but I do use Hikari to avoid any problems as such.
They are where I will see them the most of the time Im home so I will catch anything unusual right away hopefully.
As for now they are doing awesome that I can see...thanks again!


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

The short gills wouldn't be genetic. 
There was one human who tired to cull. Humans .. Ww11 shut him down! 
He wanted the Arian race! 
I'm sure you will do fine growing them out!


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Feeding frenzy video next! Great videos and pics.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Anyway, nothing really changed since the last update, though I see a slight haze to the water clarity today, so I will probably start doing every other day w/c's till I up the filtration to keep up.


That's a good idea John. The bio is probably a little behind with the way discus like to eat. I'm sure it'll be caught up after a couple of more water changes. I hate that problem in my 20 gallon when I was using for a quarantine on and off. It would be cloudy until I got the extra fish out and then it'd be fine and it would happen over and over until I figured out to do more water changes when I added fish until the bio caught up a bit.

Those little guys sure look happy.


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

Those fish look like they are putting on size nicely and that feeding frenzy is a good sign. Keep up the good work


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

April said:


> The short gills wouldn't be genetic.
> There was one human who tired to cull. Humans .. Ww11 shut him down!
> He wanted the Arian race!
> I'm sure you will do fine growing them out!


lol Im sure there have been more than one, but he is definitely the most memorable
Yea I figure if I get that far with them... they fry will be fine. Long way to go before worrying about that lol and Thanks April!


jobber said:


> Feeding frenzy video next! Great videos and pics.


Thanks Ming! Not really had any major frenzy yet, but working on that :bigsmile:



2wheelsx2 said:


> That's a good idea John. The bio is probably a little behind with the way discus like to eat. I'm sure it'll be caught up after a couple of more water changes. I hate that problem in my 20 gallon when I was using for a quarantine on and off. It would be cloudy until I got the extra fish out and then it'd be fine and it would happen over and over until I figured out to do more water changes when I added fish until the bio caught up a bit.
> 
> Those little guys sure look happy.


yea I figured there is no bio yet as that was a new sponge filter & the ac mini was just for circulation/added aeration purposes, but I think I will add some ceramic rings and a sponge to it today after the W/C. Trial and error is good as long as everybody survives lol
They do seem pretty happy, as well am I lol 


josephl said:


> Those fish look like they are putting on size nicely and that feeding frenzy is a good sign. Keep up the good work


Thanks Joseph! I believe i myself detect some growth already too, over the last 10 days. They aren't eating like Piranhas yet but they are eating good. Trying to get them liking the FD blackworms, but they seem to desire the bloodworms and tetra bits more.Though when it gets down to it, if it's food they devour it eventually lol I have been leaving the loose FDBW's floating & have noticed they are finally locating them and eating them from the surface. Trying to not get them dependant on eating solely from the bottom if that makes a difference. Whether it does or not it's cool to see them up high feeding


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Great to hear that they would come up to the top for food! You are taking great care of these guys. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Journey is what is seems to be lol but a fun one so far

so a couple days ago I noticed a bit of aggression from a couple of the Discus, shoulda got a vid but was too lazy lol Anywa, that seems to have passed so Im guessing thats probably just natural. Grabbed a couple more pix & vids before I do the next w/c today. Added some java fern to one of the ornaments to get some live green going on. Hope it does ok with all the w/c's Everything still seems to be going ok

this guy appears to be the biggest one and the one who was being the most aggressive the other night


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Hey, looks like your babies have grown.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Looking even much better with some greens . 
Too bad you can get a nice big red lotus with it's big leaves providing some shade from above. 
These guys are growing pretty fast.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The Red Lotus will fail in discus conditions for 2 reasons: too much heat and too low nitrates. So don't bother with that. Need plants that can tolerate heat and low nutrients. Stems like L. repens are good. Mine are growing like weeds. Anubias petite nana are also. My poor tiger lotus withered to nothing in weeks.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Ming: Thanks and you know I would love to have a tiger lotus in there, but Gary is right it would be a goner in no time. I have had the temp at 32C since I got them and the Jave Fern doesn't seem to be liking that so I think Im gonna drop the temp to 87F and see how that works out


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

*3rd week update:*

And then there were 5  yes sadly I lost one yesterday. Ever since that mild aggression I mentioned, the littlest guy became an outcast so it appeared. Was staying away from the rest of the group and hanging out around the surface alot and barely , if at all eating. Since everyone else seems to be doing great, I have to think it stemmed from being picked on.
I am going to pick up some Prazipro tomorrow and do a treatment just to be safe.
Other than that the remaining fish are doing fine as far as I can tell. There is noticable growth and I believe I am even seeing some hints of blue on a couple. One has a blue stripe on his lower fin ( can be seen in the vid, will be the one swimming behind the sponge filter) 
Though they spend alot of time behind the filter, they do all come out at the same time to feed. The vid was when they were all out feeding. The small, darker one in the far back is the one who passed away, the vid was actually from the day before that. He wasn't quite as dark as he looked in the shadows there, but was darker than the rest when out in the light.
Anyway, it happens and hopefully that will be the only one I lose.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Java fern should be able to withstand 86F, or at least that is the upper limit for it, it could be lack of nutrients though that are harming it.

Nice looking decoration and java fern looks good too although you're killing it like you told me you would!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with the rest.
Where are you going to get parzi pro if you dont mind me asking, please? 
I dont have it but last time I checked they were quite expensive (it was over $50 for a bottle).



Diztrbd1 said:


> *3rd week update:*
> 
> And then there were 5  yes sadly I lost one yesterday. Ever since that mild aggression I mentioned, the littlest guy became an outcast so it appeared. Was staying away from the rest of the group and hanging out around the surface alot and barely , if at all eating. Since everyone else seems to be doing great, I have to think it stemmed from being picked on.
> I am going to pick up some Prazipro tomorrow and do a treatment just to be safe.
> ...


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Rookie...Thanks! J&L carries it in 4oz bottles for $12, good for 480 gallons:
Hikari Liquid Prazipro - 4oz.



kacairns said:


> Java fern should be able to withstand 86F, or at least that is the upper limit for it, it could be lack of nutrients though that are harming it.
> 
> Nice looking decoration and java fern looks good too although you're killing it like you told me you would!


Hard to believe you can actually kill Java fern lol Probably combo of temp and nutrients, Probably better if I attach t to the real wood as opposed to the cool ornament I got from you lol


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Hard to believe you can actually kill Java fern lol Probably combo of temp and nutrients, Probably better if I attach t to the real wood as opposed to the cool ornament I got from you lol


Just remember that I still have like 10-15x of the java fern that you took off my hands... so you can keep trying and trying and help me get it out of the future discus tank =)


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah, it's not the temps. It's the lack of nutrients. Are you adding any GH boosters to the water after water changes? A bit of potassium would probably keep them alive, even with the meager amounts of N and P in the water. I also lots of java fern in the tank if you need some John. I decided against Java Fern in my cube because it overruns all my other plants and in my low tech tanks I'm only using Anubias. I got lots of Anubia nana petite in the cube and in all my low tech tanks. I have Java Fern in my 125 which is CO2 injected to help with nutrient uptake and some in my 46 bow for the same reason, but the stocking is very light in the 46 so the Anubias are growing much better than the Java Fern because the Anubias grow much slower. High growth rate = high nutrient uptake and hence the failure in tanks with lots of water changes.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Gary, I have read somewhere (but I cannot remember where LOL) that iron is important for java fern and anuibias...but I am nto sure...could be having one of those senior moments. LOL
May be add some equilibirum and a bit of micro to the water could help....what do you think?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I do not add iron to any of my tanks anymore. I used to do it to try to get more red in my red plants in the CO2 injected tanks. I just rely on the water changes now for that. But for Anubias, a GH booster like Equilibrium will definitely help. They also like a bit more phosphate (I got that information from Bien) so I dose a bit of phosphate in my tanks heavy in Anubias.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Ha Ha. i guess you could only dodge that bullet for so long. welcome to the club.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I do not add iron to any of my tanks anymore. I used to do it to try to get more red in my red plants in the CO2 injected tanks. I just rely on the water changes now for that. But for Anubias, a GH booster like Equilibrium will definitely help. They also like a bit more phosphate (I got that information from Bien) so I dose a bit of phosphate in my tanks heavy in Anubias.


Interesting. In my case in my low tech tank for my axolotl, which house some anubias (nana, bertei, and coffee), they have grown much better since I add a bit of iron once in a while. Not sure if it is related but my java fern do not have those black dots anymore, and are greener and softer.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Interesting. In my case in my low tech tank for my axolotl, which house some anubias (nana, bertei, and coffee), they have grown much better since I add a bit of iron once in a while. Not sure if it is related but my java fern do not have those black dots anymore, and are greener and softer.


Iron is utilized in such small amounts (hence "trace") that it should not make such as dramatic difference as fixing pin holes. To fix that it would be a macro nutrient such as NPK. Anyway, I don't want to troubleshoot a plant problem in John's journal. Perhaps you want to put it up on a plant thread here or on plantedtank or on Barrreport as plenty of those guys would have better answers than me.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Iron is utilized in such small amounts (hence "trace") that it should not make such as dramatic difference as fixing pin holes. To fix that it would be a macro nutrient such as NPK. Anyway, I don't want to troubleshoot a plant problem in John's journal. Perhaps you want to put it up on a plant thread here or on plantedtank or on Barrreport as plenty of those guys would have better answers than me.


I think you misunderstood me.
I was nto trying to ask you to trouble shoot for me at all.
Just saying after I added iron that is what I have observed, but that is just what applied to me. 
Just sayinf may be if John wants to keep his plants he may want to try equilibrium and perhaps a bit of trace/fluourish. I think it may work is all I was trying to say.
I was not talking about pin holes; just black dots on ferns. But anyway...
I dotn really go to planted tank or barr report.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Just sayinf may be if John wants to keep his plants he may want to try equilibrium and perhaps a bit of trace/fluourish.


Equilibrium is full of K. Way more than the standard GH booster ratios. That's why it'll work, not because of the iron. Black dots/pinholes are signs of K deficiencies.

Anyway, John, if you're interested in some replacements for the Java Fern and to try some Anubias, let me know.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Scherb said:


> Ha Ha. i guess you could only dodge that bullet for so long. welcome to the club.


lol Thanks!.... it was inevitable I suppose :bigsmile:

Gary & Kevin , Since I have chatted with with both of you since my last post, no sense in repeating it all here lol Big thanks for the offers and info though.

Quick and simple update...everyone seems to be doing great. Never got around to getting the Prazipro, but doesn't seem it was needed. I do plan on getting some , just to have however. Little over one month now and they are starting to all show some coloring as well as seem to be growing pretty fast. Feeding twice a day As they come out on their own time to eat unlike most on my fish lol But they seem to be healthy and active for the most part, so thats all I can ask for lol Sooner or later they won't be able to hide behind the filter as much as they do, but I am am thoroughly enjoying them when they are out and about. Really nice having this tank in the room I spend most of my time as I gt to monitor them as much as possible. 
Anyway, here the most recent pix and vids from last night:







































































before the last w/c


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

awesome john, they look great.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks buddy! Im actually surprised I still have 5 out of 6 at this point lol Can't wait til they really start filling in with color.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Very cool. I would be very happy if my first batch of discus would swim around and eat like yours do. Keep up the great work. *thumbs up*


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## phyeung (Feb 10, 2012)

John, They are looking great and swimming beautifully. Their color are real good and black bars show up. They are not shy and not scared of your camera or camcorder. Great work. Mine are hiding in the corner or beside heater.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks guys. They would still hide behind the filter probably if I didn't have it shoved in the corner and blocked off lol hence the reason for the couple ornaments and plants. I know lots keep them in bare tanks. But I just cannot, for the life of me, subject them to that kind of life. Thats kinda like keeping a goldfish or Betta in a bowl imho. Borrrrrring life and I would hate to be one of those fish lol No offense to those who keep their in a bare tank please. I just feel they are much happier having something to hide behind for security or pick through looking for food. They are still shy and the only food they will come running for is frozen blood worms. Amazingly I think they sense or somehow know which one is coming as the will come to the top to get the bloodworm before I get them over the top lol. Everything else is 50/50 whether they dart out for it or take their time coming out. But when they do come out it's pretty nice to watch them. They seem to get more active in the late day/early evening.

As for an overdue update....it's not the best one. I lost 2 more within a week right after the first one died. The 2 died with the same symtoms and it wasn't the same as the first death. Not too mention, by the time I realized it , it was to late and they passed within the following 15 hours. Yea it sucked and I didn't even want to update this due to that. Thought maybe I'd just wait to see if they make it to adults before updating again. SUrprisingly the remaining 3 are doing great! One is bigger than the other 2, but they all seem to get along fine and starting to see some color in each one now. Hopefully I am not jinxing this by doing an update lol But once again I am feeling confident so here is a quick pic. I will try to grab a vid later, too hard to get a good pic.










the second picture on my previous update (post#93) is the big guy in the above pic, so you can get idea of how much he has changed since then


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

These guys have grown up so much. I can tell they're also getting thicker. Don't spoil them too much 
Just great....another discus picture as temptation.


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## Canadian_Aqua_Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice, they are starting to get lots of colour.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

They look pretty good in that pic John. And as for the losses, discus can be easy or they can be hard and it seems to not depend on how much you work at it. If you've seen my updates on the square tank you'll know that I lost a little Tefe that's been skinny since day 1 and been with me for over a year, when I added the new fish. I did nothing different but add the fish and it stressed him out enough that he didn't make it. So don't be so hard on yourself.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

They are getting thicker and showing much more colours.
Keep feeding them bloodworm if that is what they like.
You are doing a great job and I really hope you can raise them to adulthood successfully. 
You may not have done anything wrong, they could have died from many reasons beyond your control.


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice looking fish, those colors are coming in nicely and as others have said, fish sometimes die for a reason but we don't know what it is. 

If they are still skittish, you might want to add a few dither fish, a male betta and a few females would fit in well


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

*Sorry for the late reply here, thanks for the comments guys. Sad to day the big guy in the previous update died about 5 weeks ago in similar fashion as the 2 before him. Was pretty upset as he was close to 4"  But I am happy to say the final 2 are doing great.....then again so were the others previous to their deaths 
Anyway most know I acquired 2 sick ones (http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/freshwater-chat-9/whats-wrong-my-discus-update-5-4-a-38134/ ) about a month ago. They ended up becoming tank mates with these 2 and all are healthy & getting along great for the most part. Little overdue for an update so here it is in a few vids:














Hopefully the next update will show them in the 75g *


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Stop updating your discus thread and go find those bnp a home and make sure you take good care of that baby one, its the first of my spawn that I've given away! =)


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Shouldn't you be at Target or Chuck E. Cheese or sumthin ? lol They did get a new home and thank you very much again. the lil fella and the albino are in the 33g which I think could use a updating as it is the always changing tank lol while adding them to the 33 & debating where the other 2 were going to go....one look at my 75 and the algae it has and it was a instant decision lol Since they are my first BN's I will be putting therm to the test in that tank and see if they are as vicious to algae as I have often read lol no shortage in that tank probably 3 different kinds lol . I see one has been on the glass since I released it in there lol


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

*In the late afternoon/early evening the sun shines on this tank for about 45 minutes. The Discus seem to really enjoy it and it really shows thier colors well. Playin' with the new camera, thought I'd take a couple HD vids of the Discus. Really impressed with the new camera as I took this from my bed about 10' away and zoomed in on them. You may have to change the video quality settings to 720p to see the HD quality. And before anyone says anything about the small one being a runt & shoulda been culled.....he is probably my fav, so be nice! However you can give me a hard time for the dirty glass lol *


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Wow John, the colors are so vivid... what camera are you using? Great job on the discus by the way.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Mylon...the natural sunlight really makes the colors pop....wish I could have raised the other 4 I bought too ....but things happen. Plan on getting more in the near future once I get the 75 ready for them. The camera I am using is a Kodak Z5120 I picked up at XS Cargo for my b-day present. They were just marked down from $200 to $140ish before tax. Nice camera for the price....16mp, 26x zoom ...im loving it  More info on them if your looking for a new camera: Amazon.com: Kodak Z5120 Digital Camera: Camera & Photo


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Thanks for the info John... wow for that price and quality of the video.... that's a steal!

By the way, I was laughing when I saw your post regarding the runt and dirty glass...:lol: your tank is way cleaner than my grow out contest tank.  As I always say... my discus were raised in cloudy and stinky water. :bigsmile:


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

He only said that because I told him in private message he should cull the 3 big ones because they are normal... who wants normal discus? keep the runt please and thank you ikuynaes=)


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